Power tools - most useful items?

[Bazzer]

An oscilating multitool.
For some reason I had always viewed them as unnecessary. Then last year I bought one for removing plaster as part of a rewiring a bedroom. What an eye opener, both for the job it was bought for and its use since.
I bought a battery powered one to match my DeWalt drill.

 

[mistyoptic]

We turned this

into this

over the weekend.
principal tools: cordless drill, cordless driver, chop saw, circular saw, jigsaw in that order. Gradually collecting a set of Bosch 18v cordless to replace a motley toolbox. Separate drill and driver a must for effective working

 

[Gwylan]

Easy to spend other people's money. But, I chose Makita.
We used them at work in our exhibition kit. This went out with all the necessary for trade shows. Careful security meant they survived several years.
I have a Makita drill, regular thing. Came in a special offer case with charger, 2 X 18v batteries and sundry drill bits and so on. Also managed to pick up another battery along the way.

A significant birthday produced a circular saw and a jigsaw. Both run on the same batteries.
Then I bought a fake Makita impact driver on a Chinese site. Does the business for the amount I need it.
Would like the multi tool thing that does awkward sawing and sanding. But the 20 year old Bosch will not die
Not having to worry about the cable or finding a socket is a huge bonus when working outdoors or in the electric less shed

 

[KneesUp]

Thanks for the recommendation but thats double what I can afford. Looking to spend no more than £100. I haven't checked eBay yet for one of the McAllister ones I broke as the batteries are still ok but not compatible with their latest drills.

Seriously the Lidl stuff is fine. I have the 20v impact driver and angle grinder and the 12v jigsaw and (tiny but surprisingly useful) circular saw. I’d have the multi tool if my cabled one stopped working. Within the 12v and 20v ranges the batteries are the same (so two fittings) Imoact driver is £25 for the bare unit.

 

[fossyant]

I use impact screw bits. They are harder than the standard bits and don't chew up.

Main drill/screwdriver is a small Bosch 10.8v with two small batteries. Great as a screwdriver. Bigger mains drills for the big stuff. An impact drill/driver is on the wish list but not needed one.

My mitre saw is another well used tool. Fab for cutting timber. Also the jigsaw gets regular use. The hand circular saw is a scary beast ( bit like a mitre saw with a big blade, but it's handheld...)

And of course, a battery angry grinder.

 

[derrick]

Best and most used tool i have, https://www.screwfix.com/p/milwauke...dlithium-brushless-cordless-combi-drill/702fh
also have the drill driver, But i do a lot of woodwork. so a tool for every job.

 

[Alex321]

I have an AEG branded corded drill (underneath, it is actually a rebranded Milwaukee), which gets a LOT of use, both as a drill and as a screwdriver. I do have a separate electric screwdriver (Bosch), but that is over 20 years old and doesn't have the power nowadays to drive screws properly into solid wood.

Other tools I use are a Lumberjack bandsaw, a table saw (actually a Triton table_saw stand, which uses a circular saw mounted underneath), electric sanders (though nowadays I often use the lathe with jacobs chuck and sanding discs for that).

Power tools I also have, but use less often are an angle grinder, a jigsaw, an SDS drill (used that a lot more in the previous house), a rotary tool (similar to Dremel but cheaper).

 

[Fab Foodie]

Thanks for the recommendation but thats double what I can afford. Looking to spend no more than £100. I haven't checked eBay yet for one of the McAllister ones I broke as the batteries are still ok but not compatible with their latest drills.

I've bought my Cordless drill/screwdriver from Einhell, Chop/Mitre saw from Erbaeur (corded) and a small circular saw from Titan (corded), none of them expensive, but for the jobbing DIYer more than good enough so far! All 3 have revolutionised making stuff. I have an old corded Bosch Hammer drill for all the really heavy-duty stuff, but my cheapies are doing me proud.
I just can't justify DeWalt/Makita etc, woods expensive enough these days!

 

[Fab Foodie]

The Titan drill I had was rated the same as the McAlister, but on the same job drilling into breezeblock 7mm it would struggle and got very hot very quick. Excellent customer service from Screwfix though as they refunded no problem and I'm researching for a new one now.

For prolonged heavy use, it pays to get more powerful/more expensive equipment. I don't think you can expect a cheap drill to take the same grief as a heavy-duty one, hence my point about the Einhell, it's fab for woodworking and occasional block walls where I use it with with care. For the big stuff the old corded Bosch which makes the lights dim on the street when I use it can't be beaten.
The little Titan plunge saw has done stirling work recently cutting 8 x 4 sheets of 25mm ply, you just need a little patience...
In other words, cheaper power tools need to be treated with a bit more kindness!

 

[Arjimlad]

https://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-d...i-ion-xr-brushless-cordless-combi-drill/268fx

I got one of these not long ago to replace an older 12v Makita twin-set which didn't have the oomph in the hammer drill to be effective.

It's been very useful. I bought a separate DeWalt impact driver for £50 which uses the same batteries, which has been extremely useful as well.

 

[Fab Foodie]

For prolonged heavy use, it pays to get more powerful/more expensive equipment. I don't think you can expect a cheap drill to take the same grief as a heavy-duty one, hence my point about the Einhell, it's fab for woodworking and occasional block walls where I use it with with care. For the big stuff the old corded Bosch which makes the lights dim on the street when I use it can't be beaten.
The little Titan plunge saw has done stirling work recently cutting 8 x 4 sheets of 25mm ply, you just need a little patience...
In other words, cheaper power tools need to be treated with a bit more kindness!

This is the sort of thing that am using to cut all the 25mm ply sheets 12 and 6 too).... At that price it's excellent value! Again, with patience you can get a really good result. A larger circular saw with a track-guide would be a little better and faster, but again, for odd jobs, It's been more than good enough!
https://www.einhell.co.uk/p/4331030-tc-cs-89/

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

DeWalt are slowly getting rid of their 18v range and switching to the American 20v. Power tools online or a similar name on eBay often do a bare unit drill/driver for £67. I've had mine for years. I have one 5Ah battery so use that for my circular saw and reciprocating multi tool as well. The combi drill is used weekly, I'd start with that. Other bare units can be bought later as and when. I have a corded sander but a cordless would be much easier. I also have a battery impact wrench but that's used very rarely now that I don't work on motorbikes

Are they?
If it says 18V it's for Europe/UK markets. If it says 20V, it's for USAnia. Something about them not being allowed to refer to the peak battery voltage in their marketing mumbo jumbo as it is misleading. They have to use the nominal voltage instead. The tools and batteries are the same.

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

I bought a shed load of power tools over the last few years in the mistaken belief it would get me doing more DIY jobs, more efficiently.
What happened in reality though is that we got a very active dog, I got a bike and I think the female parental unit has benefited more from the majority of the power tools than we have. I do need to pull my finger out and get on with some of our DIY jobs soonish.

The mitre saw is the most useful for getting nice, consistent and clean cuts of timbre. It did save a bundle of time when we re-clad the front of the house.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I tend to find myself deciding what I want to do, and then getting the tools to do it; I also have a personal preference for non-powered tools, although I admit I tend to reach for a battery powered screwdriver fairly often, preferably with an impact driver. I find that for the same money I can get good quality non-powered tools, and they last longer, partly because they're relatively simple to maintain.

For screws, torx are your friend. If you want a smart traditional screw head, make the hole with a torx and then replace it with the traditional screw later.

 

[newts]

DeWalt are slowly getting rid of their 18v range and switching to the American 20v. Power tools online or a similar name on eBay often do a bare unit drill/driver for £67. I've had mine for years. I have one 5Ah battery so use that for my circular saw and reciprocating multi tool as well. The combi drill is used weekly, I'd start with that. Other bare units can be bought later as and when. I have a corded sander but a cordless would be much easier. I also have a battery impact wrench but that's used very rarely now that I don't work on motorbikes

I'm sure that DeWalt won't be changing batteries anytime soon. The US 20v & UK/EU 18v are the same battery. US use max voltage capacity whereas UK/EU use nominal voltage for labels. Their most recent innovation is the Powerstack, lighthter, smaller with high capacity, compatible with the existing slide on battery system. I've used DeWalt as my main brand cordless power tool for almost 30 years, they've always been very reliable. This my favoured supplier https://www.powertoolmate.co.uk/power-tools/dewalt-store/