Lets talk Power Tools

SixPapaCharlie

SixPapaCharlie

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I am a "sorts by price guy" and that has led me to a situation where I have zero power tools that can share a battery. I literally have another tab open on Temu looking at Dremel's. Mine died today.
I went to a friends hangar and he had a shelf that contains a large set of cordless power tools that matched and a shelf on top with all of the batteries charging.
Currently I also have a large selection of corded tools because I have always thought corded power tools are just better / more powerful.
He let me use his drill and it puts mine to shame. It is also lighter and more compact but significantly more torque.

What is the brand to align with? Maybe more importantly what is the brand to avoid? I have Black and Decker, some knock off Harbor Freight stuff, What's the blue brand that Lowes sells? I got some of that. I have a craftsman saws-all and a knock off one of those vibrating things that makes a loud noise and tears crap up, head on. Oh, and my sanders are B&D but.

What do you swear by and what do you avoid when it comes to power tools? I would like to standardize, and convert to cordless so they can play together.

Thx.

P.S. This is aviation related because above I mentioned visiting a friend's hangar. There was a Bonanza, Grumman, and a Cherokee 140 in the hangar. So this is very aviation centric.
 
Meh....for the occasional user the big box brands are fine. I spent 7 years as a test engineer for DeWalt power tools. Although that was some time ago....all my DeWalt batteries are dying and I've switched over to Lowe's Kobalt brand. I'm not a heavy user and my tools will likely live as long as the batteries hold up.
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
Meh....for the occasional user the big box brands are fine. I spent 7 years as a test engineer for DeWalt power tools. Although that was some time ago....all my DeWalt batteries are dying and I've switched over to Lowe's Kobalt brand. I'm not a heavy user and my tools will likely live as long as the batteries hold up.
Click to expand...

The drill that impressed me today was DeWalt.
 
If they're corded, I shop by category of quality without much concern about standardization. For something I'm going to use a lot, or where I just want high end, I lean toward Bosh or Makita. For low to medium end, DeWalt, Milwaukee, Harbor Freight. I like to find a review from Project Farm on youtube, it's about the only site I trust for that.

For cordless, I do try to standardize on a couple of brands just to reduce the different types of batteries. For many things I have ryobi, mostly because they've used the same battery for a long time. For higher end, I like Makita and their 18V line. I was burned by DeWalt switching things around, so they're not my 1 or 2 choice, but I do have a couple of their 18v (labeled 20v) tools. Also have a couple of Amazon adapters to let me use Makita batteries for Ryobi and DeWalt 18/20V.

Drills? 18v cordless I like Makita. Cordless rotary hammer I also like Makita. Corded 1-1/2" hammer drill I like Bosh. 1/2" corded right angle I like Makita. I may have too many tools.
 
Pro grade are DeWalt, Milwaukee, Rigid, and maybe Makita. Homeowner grade are Ryobi, Craftsman, B&D, Harbor Freight, and a few others.

Main difference is durability. Pro grade are built to use all day, every day.

That said, I have Ryobi tools that I have abused for 20 years and are still functional. Home Depot always has various things on sale, including batteries and chargers. I've probably got at least 30 Ryobi gadgets and 15 batteries. I am addicted to work lights, which are great for hurricane season.
 
Albany Tom said:
I like to find a review from Project Farm on youtube, it's about the only site I trust for that.
Click to expand...
Second that. The gold standard of tool and oil reviews.

SixPapaCharlie said:
He let me use his drill and it puts mine to shame. It is also lighter and more compact but significantly more torque.
Click to expand...
Cordless power tools benefited immensely by the introduction of brushless DC motors with rare earth magnets and lithium batteries. I think modern 36V packs can deliver in excess of 50A, which adds up to more power than you can get out of a standard 120V outlet.
 
Circling it back to an airplane thing, I first learned about brushless motors flying RC planes. So much better than brushed...not just in power to weight, but that they don't degrade with time. A brushless motor just doesn't seem to wear out. Even if they still run, the performance of a brushed motor degrades with time...at least that's been my experience. If the power tools use the same tech, they're really 3 phase AC motors driven by a DC inverter with a rare earth permanent magnet field. Great technology, as pointed out above.
 
There’s a ton of meme jokes and videos making fun of the apprentice that shows up with Ryobi tools. But my 1+ tools all have worked very well for several years now.
 
All my power tools are cordless DeWalt. No regrets.

If youre a "sort by price" shopper, go on OfferUp and you can often get them for a lot less if you don't mind used. Someone gave me that tip on here a couple years ago and it paid off.
 
I have a fleet of Ryobi stuff. One of the keys is replacement battery cost. When I had Dewalt, the replacement batteries were tons more expensive than Ryobi and that ultimately tipped the scales to Ryobi.

The other thing I will say is that Ryobi has a tool for everything. From drills to string trimmers, the same battery fits 'em all. I don't know that many other brands have quite the span of tools that can be served by the same batteries.
 
I've had good luck with Ridgid brand cordless tools from Home Depot, I like the feel better than DeWalt. Lowes Kobalt is pretty good too, I have their chain saw and blower because Ridgid doesn't make them. I've had poor results with Ryobi batteries so I stay clear of their stuff now. But I always keep a corded drill on hand because batteries go dead, and I stick with corded for the less used stuff so I don't have to worry about the battery when I pull out a tool that hasn't been used in a year.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I am a "sorts by price guy"
Click to expand...

I can possibly assist here. The most expensive power tools I have ever encountered (on the other side of a security barrier) were by Festool.

Look them up, you will be impressed. Judging by the price they might be very good.
 
We talked a lot about this in an electric lawnmower thread a few months back.

Here's my view. Dewalt (yellow) , Makita (teal), Milwaukee (red). Those are the industry leaders, and looking at an entire lineup, make the best stuff. Hilti is probably the highest quality, but has a very limited range and availability. Bosch is similar quality but again, doesn't have near the variety of tools. Ryobi is owned by TTI along with Milwaukee, and is positioned as the more homeowner level stuff. Kind of a sweet spot of quality vs value. They offer probably the largest variety, and have some unique offerings. I'd recommend sticking to one of these.

Harbor freight "Hercules" has actually come out with some decent stuff recently, but i just can't trust harbor freight. If you're a "sort by price" guy though, that might be an option. Stanley, B&D, skil, porter-cable are kind of junk these days. Dewalt ("Stanley-Black & Decker" ironically) owns Craftsman and seems to be trying to position them as the ryobi alternative, but the range isn't there yet. Ridgid is home depots house brand and arguably 3rd tier TTI (kinda like Hart from Walmart...). It has its fans though. Lowe's Kobalt has had some surprisingly good stuff, but i think they might be getting discontinued

This chart is always enlightening

power-tool-manufacturers-who-really-owns-them.gif

Red & yellow can be found anywhere. Makita is less available locally, but has good presence on Amazon and other online stores. Red & yellow on Amazon have a problem with counterfeits, so be careful there.

I ended up on team teal. I bought the first Lithium powered drill and driver on the market in...2002ish iirc. I'm still using that drill (to build an airplane!), and used the impact daily until i ran it over with the forklift a year or so ago. Makita invented the cordless drill, as well as the lithium drill, and I think also the brushless drill. Their lithium batteries are compatible with nicd dills they made 40 years ago. I'm confident that a makita, Dewalt, Milwaukee, or Ryobi purchased today will still be working and have batteries available in 20 years. I wouldn't say that about any other brands.

I'm up to like 18 batteries and maybe 30 tools that share them. The convenience is that when I need a tool, I have batteries ready to go, even if I'm using multiple tools or left some somewhere else. If I'm doing a big project or using a power hungry grinder, I can grab a couple spares, and I never have to wait for the charger. Also, I can buy "bare" tools as I already have plenty of batteries. The only downside is that when ryobi for example comes out with something really cool, I can't have it. Usually with the big three though, they all come out with their own version eventually.

I also have a handful of Dewalt 12V tools. They are much smaller and not as powerful, but a great size for small house projects. They mostly keep Teresa from stealing my big tools. That's also what I keep in the hangar, as you really never need a huge powerful tool to work on an airplane. Milwaukee and makita also have 12v lines.

I have some high end Milwaukee corded tools... somewhere. Haven't touched them in 20 years. The Milwaukee "Magnum Hole Shooter" and original Sawzall used to be the gold standard, but lithium brushless stuff just make them look silly now. The only corded tools I use regularly are the circular saw and jigsaw, and only because I have nice ones and don't use them enough to justify replacing them. The cords **** me off every time.
 
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Broadly speaking, what’s you’re favorite color? Pick that brand and run with it.

Yellow (DeWalt) red (Milwaukee), blue (Makita), green (Ryobi), orange (Rigid) will all do fine. You’ll next figure out voltage and brushless are your next decision points, because inside the brand there will be standard and brushless models of the same voltage and may not have interchangeable batteries.

SixPapaCharlie said:
The drill that impressed me today was DeWalt.
Click to expand...
Yellow is a fine product and is suitable for an airline pilot’s salary, although green is probably a better value unless you are building decks for a living.

When it comes to brand, you can get yellow at both Lowe’s and Home Depot. Red and green are only at HD while Black & Blue (Kobalt) or Black & Red (Craftsman) are only at Lowes. I think Orange is only at HD.

Black & Red / Black & Blue / Black and Decker are somewhere above Harbor Freight quality, but below Red/yellow/green color.

Finally, the best deals will come around Memorial Day to Father’s Day, although just about every brand runs a loss-leader drill/driver combo. They’ll get you with buying a battery and charger to go with it. The big sales in a couple months will usually nab you a drill, driver, saw, charger, battery or two, and a couple randoms thrown in at
$300/$400/$500 price points. If you can wait a couple months, I encourage it. Spend your remaining days to class perusing the various brand websites and figure out which brand has the tools you’ll most likely use…each one has some unique to them products that may sway you one way or another.
 
I’ve committed to Makita for three reasons, 1) the battery interface has not changed in the past 15 years, 2) the batteries last a VERY long time, and, 3) the tools are nearly indestructible. I got tired of other brands switching interfaces and having orphaned batteries and chargers.

Edit- My comment about battery life pertains to overall service life, not Amp/hrs. I still have some original batteries in service from my first Makita 3/8 impact driver I bought at least 15 years ago.
 
Makita, DeWalt for professional use. Milwaukee is also good though I don’t own any. The batteries are where they get you. It’s like ink jet printers (though batteries last longer thankfully). I have a mix though the rationale of standardizing makes sense.

I just spent multiple days doing carpentry and sheet rock with my son. He’s got the 12V Makita drill and impact driver. I’ve got 18V versions. I was impressed that his 12V impact would drive 3” wood screws. Just not nearly as fast as my 18V. If you only do small projects, they’d be plenty.
 
Oh, one other data point. I have a DeWalt oscillating saw. My wife bought it for me for Christmas with one relatively small battery. I was using it about 18 months later and the battery croaked. I bought a new battery from Home Depot ($100!!!) and finished the project. Then I looked online and found the battery was under warranty. I submitted a claim and DeWalt sent me two 5AH batteries. So their customer service is good.
 
For the most part, 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. It's really not much different than Cessna vs. Piper.

Personally I have only Makita. Not because they are known or proven to be better. I just got a set (18v drill, driver and flashlight) one year so now that's all I get. My neighbor has all Dewalt. They work fine. Another guy I know is all about Milwaukee. I don't see any difference.

I will say, that when it comes to batteries, there IS a difference. The Makita brand batteries last longer (per charge and overall) than the non-branded batteries. And there are also batteries that say Makita but really aren't.

 
I can’t believe no one has said “TEMU?!??!? Are you effing kidding me??!?!!?”



I picked up a Kobalt combo set from Lowe’s and it’s done well for basic stuff. Going on 15 years or so.
 
We should start a power tool line for pilots.
Brand name: Bonanza.
They'll cost 10x any alternative.
Batteries will be available only after a six to nine month wait.
Holes up to 1/4" you can do your self, but anything bigger will require sign off by a licensed inspector.
Gonna have to figure out leaded electricity.

Edit: lead-acid batteries...duh.
 
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I’ve pledged me allegiance to DeWalt tools because in college a friend’s dad was a DeWalt devotee. He was the only influence on tool choice I had at that age, and when I realized that I had some genuine crap for tools I figured I’d give that a try. So I suppose I’ve got ones that are on the order of almost 20 years old.

I haven’t had any of them break on me and the batteries all still work. It feels like they barely ever need charging, but part of that is because I’m usually using them for a small number of operations, definitely not all day professional use.

The main problem now is that somewhere along the line they switched from their 18V batteries to 20V (I think the 20V ones are lithium - they’re significantly smaller and lighter). So I end up having different battery types, but I have enough tools of both that it’s not a big deal.

Sometimes I’ll buy a different brand of corded tool, but pretty rarely since I’ve had such good luck and consistency with the DeWalt stuff.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I am a "sorts by price guy" and that has led me to a situation where I have zero power tools that can share a battery. I literally have another tab open on Temu looking at Dremel's. Mine died today.
I went to a friends hangar and he had a shelf that contains a large set of cordless power tools that matched and a shelf on top with all of the batteries charging.
Currently I also have a large selection of corded tools because I have always thought corded power tools are just better / more powerful.
He let me use his drill and it puts mine to shame. It is also lighter and more compact but significantly more torque.

What is the brand to align with? Maybe more importantly what is the brand to avoid? I have Black and Decker, some knock off Harbor Freight stuff, What's the blue brand that Lowes sells? I got some of that. I have a craftsman saws-all and a knock off one of those vibrating things that makes a loud noise and tears crap up, head on. Oh, and my sanders are B&D but.

What do you swear by and what do you avoid when it comes to power tools? I would like to standardize, and convert to cordless so they can play together.

Thx.

P.S. This is aviation related because above I mentioned visiting a friend's hangar. There was a Bonanza, Grumman, and a Cherokee 140 in the hangar. So this is very aviation centric.
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I gots DeWalt, Milwaukee and Ryobi things. A few DeWalts and one each of the others. If I need to replace the others I will go with DeWalt for the convenience of only having to have one charger and being able to just pull the battery on one thing and plug it in another in a pinch.
 
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Jim K said:
We should start a power tool line for pilots.
Brand name: Bonanza.
They'll cost 10x any alternative.
Batteries will be available only after a six to nine month wait.
Holes up to 1/4" you can do your self, but anything bigger will require sign off by a licensed inspector.
Gonna have to figure out leaded electricity.

Edit: lead-acid batteries...duh.
Click to expand...
LMAO. Or should I say CMAO. Crying my azz off.
 
After several “buy by price” cordless drills that turned to crap after two years use I bit the bullet and bought a Makita drill/driver set.

Ten years later they’re still good as new.
 
For a 18V platform, I like Makita, their quality just beats the pants off everyone IMO.
For a 12V platform, I like Milwaukee. Milwaukee just has everyone beat when it comes to smaller form factor 12V tools (product line up), which have their place. I wouldn't even begin to claim their quality competes with Makita.

1739197339276.png
 
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At one shop, all Bosch 18V. At another, Ryobi 18V. At the hangar, Bosch 12V. No complaints about any of them, battery commonality is the key. Factory refurbished hits the right price point on the Bosch's, Home Depot Christmas deals for the Ryobi's.
 
Ridgid, for the normal Home user there is nothing better. If you register each part they have a lifetime warranty, even the batteries and chargers. You will find a good selection of tools and packs of tools at a discount, at the local Home Depot.
 
I used to go cheap, had a few Craftsman power tools. They were ok for home use, but were definitely not as powerful and durable.

I recently had an epiphany when it comes to buying tools, spend the money and get something of quality. Buy once, cry once.

I ended up with Dewalt, and now have a whole range of Dewalt power tools and a box of batteries to go with them. Had I not gone with Dewalt, Milwaukee would have been my 2nd choice. They are the two brands that seem to be the most common, and have the most variety of available tools, and are sold by many vendors. The other pro brands are a little more exclusive to me.

Bomgaars is a regional farm and fleet type store that often has eye watering deals on Dewalt products. I got started with Dewalt on a Black Friday deal from Bomgaars, $199 for the top of the line Dewalt hammer drill and impact drill combo with batteries and charger, usually a $500 package. Between Bomgaars and Amazon, I have accumulated quite the set of Dewalt tools for not a lot of money.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
What do you swear by and what do you avoid when it comes to power tools? I would like to standardize, and convert to cordless so they can play together.

Thx.
Click to expand...

I know I'm in the minority, but for my home DIY and occasional use in the hangar, I think the best bang for the buck is the Ryobi 18V One+ line that Home Depot sells. It's not as durable or robust as Milwaukee, DeWalt, Makita, etc., but for my purposes the tools do what I need them to do. Home Depot regularly runs specials, which makes acquiring the tools and batteries, chargers, etc. pretty cost effective. Plus, there are lots of generic (non-Ryobi) batteries on Amazon that work as well as, or better, than the OEM batteries.

Can you spend more money for better tools? Absolutely. But for my purposes, the best bang for the buck has been Ryobi.

YMMV. (And let the flaming begin...)
 
SoCal 182 Driver said:
I know I'm in the minority, but for my home DIY and occasional use in the hangar, I think the best bang for the buck is the Ryobi 18V One+ line that Home Depot sells. It's not as durable or robust as Milwaukee, DeWalt, Makita, etc., but for my purposes the tools do what I need them to do. Home Depot regularly runs specials, which makes acquiring the tools and batteries, chargers, etc. pretty cost effective. Plus, there are lots of generic (non-Ryobi) batteries on Amazon that work as well as, or better, than the OEM batteries.

Can you spend more money for better tools? Absolutely. But for my purposes, the best bang for the buck has been Ryobi.

YMMV. (And let the flaming begin...)
Click to expand...
There's at least five or six votes for Ryobi before yours. I think you'll be ok. ;)
 
Based on word count...

DeWalt: 36
Makita:24
Ryobi: 23
Milwaukee: 16
Craftsman: 6
kobalt: 6
Rigid: 4
Bosch: 4
stanley: 2

DeWalt has the most mentions but the Ryobi people seem to have the most appreciation for variety, and endurance so I will probably start there.
I just signed up on their website and I am window shopping for stuff I don't need.
 
If you are an occasional weekend warrior with tools, most of them will do the job. The issue is that once you pick a brand, you will probably need to stick with it so the batteries can be shared in all the tools. Pick a price point and roll with it. A lot of it gets down to Piper vs Beech vs Cessna, they all get the job done.
 
eman1200 said:
I can’t believe no one has said “TEMU?!??!? Are you effing kidding me??!?!!?”
Click to expand...

Temu can be ok, you just have to filter what is going to be crap and what really is unlikely to be crap because it is too simplistic to mess up.
I bought this cabinet for the garage off Temu and its great. Hard to mess up sheet metal.

1739211787422.png
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Temu can be ok, you just have to filter what is going to be crap and what really is unlikely to be crap because it is too simplistic to mess up.
I bought this cabinet for the garage off Temu and its great. Hard to mess up sheet metal.

View attachment 137999
Click to expand...

give it a coupl'a weeks.....
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Based on word count...

DeWalt: 36
Makita:24
Ryobi: 23
Milwaukee: 16
Craftsman: 6
kobalt: 6
Rigid: 4
Bosch: 4
stanley: 2

DeWalt has the most mentions but the Ryobi people seem to have the most appreciation for variety, and endurance so I will probably start there.
I just signed up on their website and I am window shopping for stuff I don't need.
Click to expand...
Best deals daily on Ryobi are here: https://www.directtoolsoutlet.com/ (They've got a store in Fort Worth.)

Home Depot regularly has good sales like BOGO.
 
If you're not making a living with it, Ryobi is hard to beat.

As a Makita fanboy though,I am disappointed that I didn't pump that Makita word count up in my previous post. MakitaMakitaMakitaMakitaMakitaMakitaMakitaMakitaMakitaMakitaMakitaMakitaMakitaMakita
 
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