Power tools, what brands do people recommend?

[daddyshortlegs]

Starting a project in the spring, lots of rust, just getting my shopping list together, what brands of power tools do people recommend, I don't want cheep stuff that is not going to last.

[kevstarlet]

After burning through a hell of a lot of 4.5" grinders I cant recommend Metabo enough.

[namless]

if you looking at cordless Ryobi are good for diy

[Dez]

A few years ago I’d have said makita for everything but they’ve really dropped in quality over the past few years.
Their actual cordless batteries are still good but a lot of the tools are toss now, especially the drill bodies.
Their angle grinders were beyond compare when they were the older squarer bodied ones, now they’re the thinner ones with longitudinal ribs they’re rubbish.
I also now have moved over to metabo. . I’m a pro user and I have 4 on the go, one each for cut/grind/flap/knot wheel, and I have no complaints about them.

[dodgerover]

For cordless I use DeWalt 18v lithium tools (the ones sold as 20v max in the States) however 3 years of regular use had seen all the batteries significantly degraded by this winter and I'm now at the state with 4 batteries I'm still out of power whilst waiting for the first one to go flat to charge back up.
I've killed one drill and scavenged a recip saw with a melted wire. They are in use every day although not continuously.

[comfortablynumb]

I had this very conversation in the pub a while ago
One of my regulars was laughing at my preferred brand, which was bosch at the time
Well bosch don't seem to be what they used to be, and you can buy three cheapy ones against the price of some of the branded stuff, so mine are now various. Recently I've leant towards screwfix stuff because my local branch takes ANYTHING back under the two year warranty, and after two years I've pretty much killed it
And they're open on Sundays
Ive no connection with them otherwise

[daddyshortlegs]

Thanks, I have a cheepo angle grinder at the moment, will be looking for corded power file, DA sander, polishing machine etc, Screwfix are local to me.

[slater]

Bosch or Milwaukee for me. Avoid dewalt, makita, snap off and anything cheap really.

I've use them all too so its not just me being a fanboy. They are genuinely worth paying a little bit more for.

I'd also reccomend Bosch wireless battery setup too. Great for workshop use.

[welshpug]

id still recommend Makita but certainly avoid the cheapest versions, lots of the stuff you find in the usual suspects arent pro grade nor fit the lxt batteries.

[chris y]

After asking a similar question about power file / finger sanders I bought evolution, via an Ebay seller.
Its great, the bearing in the end of one of the arms failed and once I'd told them which ebay seller I bought it off they sent a new one quickly and no further problems with a fair bit of use.

For angle grinders, I have good experience of Hitachi and DeWalt, but other people have experience of other good brands. All I would say is that this is one tool not worth skimping on.
Some cheapies will die quickly, but although some others will last its still worth paying more. Other than life, a decent quality angle grinder is much easier to use as they are much smoother, less vibration, and easier for access into tight spaces as they are usually better packaged.
One with a quick release guard is a great help when working on cars, if you can quickly swivel it to any position you will be less tempted to remove it.

[skkylinedave]

Angle grinders I have always rated makita. I am a welderfabeicator by trade , doing all sorts from light fabrication to heavy industry. I used makitas for 11 years at one place and I went through two. That's using it for at least an hour each day , up to maybe 2 1/2 hours .
That's sanding grinding smoothing cutting and polishing. Others would burn out a grinder every few months and that's because they did not use them properly. You could hear them pushing it hard into the material and the motor slowly slightly, so top but obvious tip , let the motor do the work!
They did something like 12 different models and I would go for a mini one . It had a quick release flip around guard and I liked one with a paddle switch , almost like a dead mans switch ,never liking the buttons that locked it on after having one eat my shirt with me still in it .
Also being the mini version it had the same 100 or 125mm head and same watt motor but a slimmer light body. After a hour having something that's 20% lighter is much more noticable.
I would get another in a flash but expect to pay around £45. And try googling them rather than just local b and q screwfix etc because if your getting a decent one you will find others places that sell the whole range rather than the cheapened ' I'm trade really ' versions those places sell .
Recently bought a dewalt drill through work , similar spec to a 8 year old one we have already that's still going strong. The thing is absolute pony and the chuck has screwed up in a way were it still works okayish but cannot be taken apart and fixed.
In all honestly I would either go dirt cheap if its occasional use and your not worried a bout weight or ergonomics or spend much more , maybe £50 and route a proper version from a seller with a good range than the stuff the diy places sell as ' industrial trade , etc

[outrage]

I’d recommend anything German: Bosch, Metabo, Flex, Fein
Bosch: There are two series: green for DIY and blue for professionals (with respective differences in price tags), but it’s worth taking a closer look at the exact model you’re interested in. Sometimes the green stuff is made in China while the blue ones are German or Swiss made, sometimes the only difference is the spare part number of the housing…
Fein is top notch quality for professional use, expensive but lasts forever.

I have several angle grinders in use, I bought them second hand. one is fitted with cutting disc, one with wire brush etc, you get the idea, to avoid time-consuming change of discs.

[martin42006]

Have had an old style Makita 4.5" angle grinder for as long as i can remember. its been beaten and abused with heavy use but still going strong.
Have had to fix it twice once was a bad wire and once the pin got stuck down and it chewed through the gears (new parts are cheap and available).
Would have another one anyday whereas we bought one of the new model makitas and burned it out within a day.

For cordless drills i have always had green Ryobi they get used everyday for quite a number of years by my dad and me occasionally. Recently i have noticed the smaller batteries arnt lasting as long as they should.

For regular hobby use id avoid cheap power tools (ebay specials) and get something in the cheaper end of the professional tools.

[neilsdavies]

I've used all sorts. At school we've currently got a Clarke power file (nice enough, bearing at the end rather than a rubber roller, arm swivels around) and a Clarke angle grinder (much nicer trigger than the Einhell one it replaced). Also got a Keilder cordless dril which I really like too.

Edit - my dad has got a grinder with a soft start, which is awesome. Wish I could remember which brand it is... 

[melle]

Most of my power tools were free or cheap, but broken, when I got them. Nearly all are good quality brands, mostly from the '60s–'00s. I like tools that I've fixed myself because a) you get a lot for your money, b) it's interesting to figure out how stuff works and c) it's satisfying to fix things, even more so when they're things to fix other things! Also, I live far away from my workshop (I need a bus, a plane, a train and another bus to get there), but I can fix power tools at home in the kitchen.

I bought my second brand new angle grinder last year. All my 125mm ones (I have 5 or 6) work fine, but I wanted a lighter one for sheet metal work. It's a blue Bosch GWS 850C, not cheap (especially by my standards!), but I love it. The first new one I bought (20+ years ago) is a cheap Skil, which is still going strong despite the abuse I put it through over the years.

Apart from one cheap 18V drill and an old 18V Makita with a dead battery (£10 when the battery still worked), I don't have any cordless tools. I simply don't use them regularly enough to keep the batteries in good nick and I generally don't mind cords anyway (I always install nice long 5m rubber leads on tools I fix).

[mrbounce]

I bought a cheap grinder and killed it within 14 months. It seemed that there were plastic parts in it and unsurprisingly they wanted out after a while. I went back to the shop (Machine Mart), and told them "I'm not expecting my money back, but I would like one to not break - here's my budget" which at the time was £45. They pointed me to a yellow Clarke "Contractor" model at about £42 and simply told me "We've never had one of these back". I bought it and 9 years later I haven't come close to breaking it. It's done cutting, grinding, flap work and removing lots of rust with wire wheels. Plus it has a satisfying kick when you switch it on. It certainly isn't a massively expensive or well-known bit of kit, but it does exactly what it says on the tin.

[dodgerover]

Hmm, doesn't match my experience with the other yellow Clarke professional type power tools, in fact when I took a load of new stuff back they did I should just buy some one else's as theirs weren't designed for trade use....
Maybe the angle grinders are better.

[Paul Y]

I have a real mixture and have been looking at consolidating them down to a brand for ease of battery usage etc.

That being said I have a Titan grinder and reciprocating saw both of which are now 4 years old plus and are great for the price - don't get used everyday but do get a fair amount of abuse when I am using them. These are both corded

De Walt drill...mmmm... won't be buying another one as it has a mind of its own when it comes to how long the battery will last and if it will actually drill a hole or just make a terrible noise and act as a great hand warmer. Not impressed at all.

Bosch drill. Much better than the De Walt - its a blue one by the way - but the batteries have now died and all teh online tricks have failed in getting them to take a charge.

Milwaukee - This was a Christmas prezzie so only a few weeks old, a drill and small impact driver. Drill work well and the impact has a huge amount of power for its size - time will tell.

If the Milwaukee is as good as teh internet says then I might make an investment in a ratchet and start building my collection.

P.

[dodgerover]

Jan 13, 2020 13:09:51 GMT Paul Y said:

De Walt drill...mmmm... won't be buying another one as it has a mind of its own when it comes to how long the battery will last and if it will actually drill a hole or just make a terrible noise and act as a great hand warmer. Not impressed at all.

P.

I cooked my Dewalt 18v drill and it spat a load of plastic out, i think the issue is when using it you tend to restrict the airflow with you hands - bit of a design flaw really, I've bought another of the same model which oddly is much better than I remember the first one being so maybe there are some bad ones out there - the build date on mine was either 2014 or 2015