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
Be prepared for endless mockery no matter which direction you go. Best of luck sir.
Bosch: never the best choice, but always a good one.
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.
Yeah I’ve got DeWalt drills and Ryobi everything else
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.
Hilti. Or Duss.
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.
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 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.
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.
In the EU -
Makita - what most folk use
DeWalt - what posers with tan boots use
Bosch Professional (the blue stuff) - what pros use
Ryobi -
As a German Handwerksmeister: i disagree with the Bosch Thing. Bosch is more for the everyday Dude, the professionals i See are using Hilti, Festool, Milwaukee and sometimes FLEX and Makita.
I sold all machines to customers, including Milwaukee, DeWalt, Bosch Professional, Festool, Makita and Güde. Hilti can only be bought directly.
I invited manufactures and my clients to get hands on these machines regularly.
Bosch Professional are indeed quality tools. What differs is the amount of torgue for each model.
If the smallest 18V shows up with 45 Nm people are inclined at first when comparing to a 18V 60 Nm tool. But there are other things to consider. If the power is sufficient for the task, the smaller tool may do more sinks.
Additionally, you can get all machines repaired at Bosch. Even 15 year old ones. Makita will simply prompt sorry, to old. You need to get a new one. Bosch maintains each item of the device as it and you can just buy the broken part as well.
I also got some very nice deals for customers which were not listed officially.
Repairs of pro tools are so expensive, especially for old, obsolete tools, with Ni-cad batteries, that it’s usually economically absurd.
Yes, I’m talking about yer average builder, they’re not taking Fein and Festool onto a site, they’re way too pricey!
Bosch Green is everyday stuff, not the Blue
I am far away from being a pro and own several Bosch Blue tools that were all rather cheap. You can buy them in every hardware store. Fein, Hilti etc. are usually far more expensive. As I don’t own them, I can’t compare the quality but I’d say Bosch Blue is mostly a consumer brand.
No love for Einhell?
Fucking love Einhell. Cheap as chips, and you can just trash them until they die, then buy a new one
Bullshit!I don’t agree. Many pros use Hilti, the best brand, full stop, but crazy expensive, followed by Fein and Festool (the basic Festool circular saw is like 600€) Pros who want to pay less use any of the other “color teams”, yellow, blue, red, dark blue… And yes DeWalt is 100% pro, and some pros use Bosch blue. My buddies shop uses Bosch blue for corded, but has gone Milwaukee for battery, as cordless Bosch has been hit-and-miss. I had a 80% DeWalt shop and can vouch for them. I particularly love their sliding miter saws and small, thin waist angle grinders (the unsung multitasking wonder tool). BTW. Angle grinders MUST be corded, except for a very small set of use cases. Battery angle grinders suck pig’s balls.Also Makita>Bosch blue.
Sadly Ryoby has gone full cheap DIY, like SKIL (owned by Bosch now?) I have an old maybe 18ish Ryobi (Blue) circular saw. Built like a tank, with a cast aluminum foot, that is as precise as day one. Oh well…
Ryobi garden tools are legit. I have the 40V string trimmer and 40V mower, and an 18V leaf blower, and so far I have no complaints. I once heard someone say that Ryobi tools are R&D for Milwaukee (as they are the same parent company).
My shop tools are all DeWalt because that’s what my parents and wife’s parents bought us for gifts.
The Ryobi tools I’ve handled are alright. The main reason my home shop isn’t full of Ryobi is my town has no Home Depot, so I’m a Lowe’s guy by default.
I’m bought into the Craftsman V20 series for both shop tools and lawn tools and they stand pretty much alongside Ryobi. Some of the Craftsman tools are obviously rehashed tools out of the B&D or Porter Cable catalogs, some are pretty obviously discount DeWalts, especially the brushless tools.
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.
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.
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.
I’m a big fan of buying power tools twice. I happen to go Ryobi for the first round but Harbor Freight / Northern Tool are probably similar.
If you can stand the fuss, buy corded tools and skip the brand loyalty that comes with batteries.
The biggest killer of cheaper power tools is generally heat. There are plastic components in the drive train. They hold up great to short jobs, but heat is their kryptonite. If you let a Ryobi tool cool down whenever you notice it getting warm to the touch it’ll last a long time. If you need to run a tool for hours at a time then skip the fuss and go straight to a more brand with a good reputation like DeWalt, Makita, Bosch, or Milwaukee.
If you can stand the fuss, buy corded tools and skip the brand loyalty that comes with batteries.
Just want to second this. A good quality corded tool can last you a decade or two, even with moderate use. You’ll probably be replacing your cordless tool batteries within 5 years.
The only cordless tools I have are a drill, lawn mower, and chainsaw. That’s only because I use them often enough to justify it.
Drill, impact, etc are pretty much necessary to have cordless. I agree with the corded stuff though. Need an angle grinder or sawzall? Get corded. Way more powerful too.
