Power tool talk - construction / diy

[Fadetoblack188]

Does anyone have lolaty to just one brand? Or do you have you have different brands in different tools

 

[DenverCountryBoy]

I have a question. I have a couple of older dewalt drills that run the 12v nicad. Is it worth going up the new lithium stuff or just buy new batteries when they go south. Drills work fine. I am mostly diy homeowner level with some deer blind/ backyard tool shed level construction projects here and there.

You can get adapters to run the old tools on the newer style batteries.

 

[fngTony]

If I had to pick one it would be Milwaukee. Not because it’s the best but because it’s the most expansive and available line.
Personally I have some Milwaukee, rigid, dewalt and Bauer (harbor freight). The idea of investing in one brand to share batteries is nice but not always necessary. What’s interesting is the brands with the same parent company ex; Milwaukee, ryobi and rigid are all made by the same manufacturer.

 

[MTSasquatch]

I don’t see an option for ryobi. Lol

 

[DenverCountryBoy]

I'm in residential construction. New builds, additions, remodels. Just passed the contractor exam, getting ready to start my own business.

I have dewalt for battery tools, reciprocating saw, miter saw, and router.

Skilsaw circular saw and table saw.

Milwaukee framing nailer.

Ridgid trim and finish nailers.


Get into one battery system and stick with it. For anything plug in, shop the features.

 

[Fadetoblack188]

Dewalt making a come back

 

[grfox92]

I have a question. I have a couple of older dewalt drills that run the 12v nicad. Is it worth going up the new lithium stuff or just buy new batteries when they go south. Drills work fine. I am mostly diy homeowner level with some deer blind/ backyard tool shed level construction projects here and there.

Like someone else said, They make adapters for those nicad drills to run LiOn batteries. The adapters are made by Dewault.

I used once recently while installing metal siding on a barn. It drove screws just as good as our regular 20v stuff.

I used the adapter on a 14v Dewault with 20v batteries.

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[Coldtrail]

Anyone seeing a dip in quality since Dewalt was bought by Black & Decker?

 

[boom]

MAkita. My impact driver and drill have been flawless.

 

[ReddingArcher]

I’m a drywall contractor and use mainly DeWalt, the hilti self feeding screw guns are a game changer though! That’s the only thing I use from hilti everything else is DeWalt with no issues. A buddy uses nothing but Milwaukee and swears by them. I think both are good and really, for me anyway, comes down to how many batteries you have. I’ve got a ton of DeWalt batteries so I stick with them.

 

[OMB]

I grew up with DeWalt cordless stuff and now that I have a lot of friends and family that work at Milwaukee and have basically been given every single cordless item they have plus a dozen batteries, I'd take Milwaukee over DeWalt even if I was paying full freight for it. They're a couple years ahead of DeWalt on battery technology and that's where both companies are essentially focusing all of their R&D at this point.

 

[WV Mountaineer]

Does anyone have lolaty to just one brand? Or do you have you have different brands in different tools

This going to be a long post. Addressing several questions asked previously with my reasoning. Others may not agree with my choices but, those posting that use these tools as a profession, all have their own reasoning. I’m not saying I’m right. Just saying my situation is different. Make no mistake though, with the cost of these tools, everyone made their decisions based on reasoning. lol.

I buy nothing but Milwaukee fuel battery tools now. I still own and use some DEWALT 20 volt stuff. I bought an adaptor that lets me run Milwaukee 18 volt batteries in them.


I try to run nothing but battery tools now. A 10 gauge extension cord is going to run you north of $100. A 100 footer is going to be $150. I still use corded tools for notary saw, big hammer drills, table saws, etc.... I don’t know if I’ll ever replace those with battery tools. As you just don’t use them enough to warrant the cost. And, they aren’t likely to wear out.

Then you have the aggravation of running splitters or cord tangle when using multiple tools. It’s a hassle for sure. It makes it easier if you just grab a tool and a battery.

The technology has advanced greatly in battery tools. Due to the batteries mostly. And, all commercial offerings are good. But, I choose the Milwaukee because they are lighter, and their smaller voltage fuel line will run the saws as hard as Dewalts with double the voltage. Impact drivers it’s not even close. Milwaukee all the way. It’s so superior in power that Mikita and Bosch have setups that require two battery packs to run close to the saws Milwaukee makes. Meaning of close is not as fast and they don’t hold charge as long. So, that’s my reasoning. But, I pay for it too. Milwaukee fuel line isn’t cheap.

Don’t take my word for it. Go to you tube and watch the hundreds of reviews on these brands. And, while I’m certainly not a Ridgid fan, their hammer drill is the fastest one on the market in concrete. That things is a beast. You will be too if you run it ling. Heavy is an understatement.

The best thing to do is as others have stated. Decide what you need the tools for. Buy appropriately. I have a perfectly good set of porter cable 20 volt tools I keep at home. They work great. So good I once thought they’d run with the Milwaukee, DEWALT, and Bosch cordless stuff. So, I did a test one day. I was wrong.

my point being if you aren’t using them professionally, you really don’t need the latest and greatest. If you intend to use them a lot, buy commercial grade sets and no matter the differences in the brands, they will all get it done efficiently.
The loyalty you speak concerning battery tools has a lot more to do with how far you are in with any brand. Not so much tool names. Batteries being the biggest determination. Because they feel re singly aren’t cheap. As much as the tool actually.

 

[Fadetoblack188]

It’s crazy you see all this Milwaukee love but if you google for instance top jigsaws of 2021 Milwaukee doesn’t even make the cut on any of the site lists. Even orbital sanders list. Just the last two things I googled.

also I like that dewalt is an American owned company

 

[rodney482]

Dewalt 20v ... i still have an old 18v from the 90’s

 

[Rich M]

For household every once in a while tools, seems to be luck of the draw. Rarely have anything fail. A $100 sander failed on me while a $20 battery powered drill is going on its 20th birthday.

There is a battery powered tool for whatever you need. All my yard tools are battery powered - I work til the battery dies and I'm done - whether or not the job is done. That's why I prefer cords. They haven't perfected the battery yet.

They have some nice tool kits these days - might be worth it. Price your replacement batteries cause they usually only last a year or two.

 

[Agross]

At home I went from craftsman( old and heavy ) to dewalt.
At work we had dewalt for quite a while but kept having batteries take a shit way to fast. So we switched to Milwaukee. Been happy with em so far.
For hammer drills we have Bosch and hilti, both take a beating and have held up.

 

[Beendare]

I used to be a Bosch fan but in the last decade I’ve seen their corded tools go down hill.

We use digging hammers and breakers daily- hard use- and the Bosch stuff isnt as durable as Hilti or Makita. Makita corded grinders outlast the Bosch grinders IME.

I have not used the Bosch battery powered tools.

 

[jolemons]

Milwaukee 100%

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[JasonDay]

For my basic needs, the Dewalt 20v has been trouble free so far.

 

[kravguy]

While it would be nice to pick one company and stick with it for everything, the problem is some tools from each are much better than others. I work with wood and steel, some of these companies don't even make the specific tools I use, that I would be able to stick to one brand. It makes things a pain, but I will give up battery convenience for the better tool every time. I have Milwaukee, Fein, DeWalt, Metabo.

I would stay away from Rigid, Ryobi, Black n decker, Craftsman.