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This is my strategy. Most of my power tools are corded ones I inherited that are older than I am. This does require you to have someone to inherit them from. Unfortunately I can’t afford a house/workshop so haven’t gotten to use them as much as I would like to.
Garage and estate sales might be a source on old corded power tools.
True but it’s not a handmedown in that case.
Be prepared for endless mockery no matter which direction you go. Best of luck sir.
Dewalt if you want it to last forever
Milwuakee if you want to put it in a cool box
Ryobi if you’re broke but dont live near a harbor freight
Festool if you have a trust fund
While I generally agree, I must say that my Ryobi tools are doing just fine after 15ish years of use. Primarily the drill is what’s used, and it’s seen some shit but aside from a little cosmetic issue (rubber peeling off here and there) it’s in great working order. I can afford better now, but I’m happy enough to keep what I’ve got.
I’m just a handy home owner, so it’s not like I’m abusing these things.
I started with Ryobi but they kept busting. I’m the type of home owner thatll remodel a kitchen or bathroom so I use them a little above average.
Red boxes fit all brands :)
Burn the heratic
I wish Dewalt could make half do half as good as the pack out but every new system has been a big miss.
I’m a cheapskate, I usually end up with ryobi.
I went with Ryobi under the rubric of “if you use it enough to break it then buy a good one”. I have a wall of green tools because most of them are used only occasionally. My hammer drill is the one that is gonna go. And yeah. I will buy something f’in awesome. Because using an underpowered hammer drill sucked.
Hilti. Or Duss.
After three and a half years of semi professional use, my ryobi impact driver has a lot of play in the shaft making it rather difficult to use and it can no longer do heavy jobs. But for the price, 3.5 years was worth it.
Plus I like obnoxious green as a color.
Yeah I’ve got DeWalt drills and Ryobi everything else
Bosch: never the best choice, but always a good one.
Depends on what you’re doing, and how often you’re going to be doing it.
For mechanical tools, I like both Harbor Freight and Gearwrench. I like Gearwrench a lot more, but I haven’t managed to break any Harbor Freight tools yet that weren’t air or electric. For basic sockets, etc., it will be fine for almost everyone. (Spend more for torque wrenches though; don’t cheap out on those.) HF tools have pretty limited sizes though; they don’t have anything really large, like about around 25mm. Unless you are a professional mechanic, you probably shouldn’t waste your money on Matco or Snap-On.
For most cordless general and woodworking tools I like Makita. For more specialized powered hand tools I love Festool, but do not try to fill a shop with them. Just get the ones that no one else makes an equivalent of, like their Rotex sanders, or the domino joiner.
For woodworking shop tools–things that aren’t portable–buy old Delta or Powermatic, particularly stuff that is in no way shape or form portable. Trying to do any serious cabinetry on a job-site table saw is an exercise in frustration and wasted material. A tabletop jointer won’t give you good results.
And for hand-powered cutting tool, like chisels, pull-saws, planes, etc… Be prepared to start spending a lot of money. Hand planes alone can set you back a few hundred each, like for Lee Valley ‘Veritas’ planes. And that’s not even getting into the water stones that you’re going to need to keep them working in perfect condition.
Second harbor freight and dewalt. I work industrial maintenance and use Pittsburgh impact sockets and wrenches,and dewalt for power tools. No problems at all. If you want tool truck quality,def gear wrench and even icon(their wrenches were tested and proven to beat snap on),for a fraction of cost. I use and abuse a set of icon chrome sockets,and they take a beating and keep going.
I’m sorry, is this some sort of suburban thing that I’m too metrosexual renter to understand? All I have or need are sundry decent-quality hand tools and a plug-in electric drill.
I mean that’s all most people would need. It’s more of the “oh I have this tool and this is other tool on sale and it takes the same batteries”.
I’m also in an apartment so I just have basic hand tools and an electric screwdriver.
My dad gave me a set of tools when I moved out. The choice was made for me.
Same. I got a set of porter cable tools that are still going strong 19 years later (though I am on my third set of batteries).
I always start with harbor freight. When I break that one, I buy a nice version of whatever it was. I don’t buy “nice” tools very often. HF is nearly always “good enough.”
I had a Harbor Height cordless drill that worked just fine for like six years, to my surprise and delight. I’m a light duty user, so I upgraded to a brushless Ryobi.
My wife and I have been abusing our Ryobi for like 10 years. I thought it was finally dying, but then I got a new battery, still going strong.
Meh, fuck brand loyalty. Keep an eye out for used tools. If it’s tough enough to make it to round 2, its demonstrated some selection bias. For some stuff you just need to weigh how much you’re going to use it to decide how much you want to spend. If you’re using it enough to be frustrated with it every time you take it out, time to upgrade that one.
It’s the batteries that keep you in their ecosystems, they’re expensive as hell.
Just use corded except for the hand drill.
I’m an electrician, and cordless tools are ten times easier to manage on a jobsite. There are also plenty of times like where I’m doing a service panel upgrade, corded tools aren’t even an option when there’s no site power, and I’m not lugging a generator around.
At the end of the day, cordless tools just make the entire day easier. The battery situation is annoying, but I’ll gladly pay the price for the convenience, especially when time and efficiency gets me paid quicker and home sooner. All those little efficiencies add up over the course of a day.
the battery is the problem, I don’t know why UE is so focused on a charging cable and seems to completely ignore this issue.
Genuine question, is there some reason you can mix and match tools?
assuming you mean *can’t
if cordless: batteries
else: brand cuckery
Power tool batteries are expensive and are not interchangeable between brands (without 3rd party adapters that can be a bit risky). I only own DeWalt power tools because I want one set of batteries and chargers.
I have no brand loyalty to hand tools, however. Well, except for Knipex. My pliers-wrench has been life changing.
Depends if you use your tools to make money.
I do, so I spend good money on good quality with good warranty.
In Australia that’s snappon for hand tools and Milwaukee for power tools.
It costs me a lot of time if I have to go back and buy a broken tool again.
Time is money
I have an old corded Milwaukee drill that I inherited from my dad. The torque is so strong it will fly out of your hand if you’re not careful, and the whole body is made of metal. If you happen across old tools like that, snatch em up.
In honor of my dad, I also bought a new Milwaukee to go along with it. I adore that thing.
