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 do half as good as the pack out but every new system has been a big miss.
There are no major tool brands just battery ecosystems with tool accessories
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.
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.
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.
Yes, I’m talking about yer average builder, they’re not taking Fein and Festool onto a site, they’re way too pricey!
Repairs of pro tools are so expensive, especially for old, obsolete tools, with Ni-cad batteries, that it’s usually economically absurd.
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.
Hilti is what the pros use.
I got a 2nd hand old model from my girlfriend’s dad (still twist lock) and it is a damn beast!
The Bosch professional line of hand jackhammers (don’t know the english word) can’t hold a candle to hilti to be honest. Hiltis can go all day and not overheat. It is just damn expensive.
I hate this so much that because of their proprietary battery slots you have to stick with one brand. And I can’t understand how this is even legal in UE when they spend so much time and resources to push usb-c as a standard and even made Apple bend. Why would you allow this, it’s much worse than a cable on ecological level
(I’m not saying that usb-c was a bad thing, far from it!)
I agree, but in the mean time you can buy adapters that allow us to use mix-and-match batteries with other brands. Just search aliexpress for strings like "Makita or (insert brand here) battery adapter.
I’m ordering a LIDL parkside battery to DeWalt XRP adapter. There are compatible batteries for around 20€, but I have a few LIDL Parkside tools now, and only a couple of Dewalts.
You can buy adaptors to put bosh batteries in devalt tools.
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.
That’s true for professionals, but if you’re doing some light DIY the cost of the tools is probably more significant than the inefficiencies. Also corded stuff is generally so much cheaper, especially second hand, that it won’t even matter if you have to replace some of the ones you’re using frequently with cordless, and then at least you have a backup if you forget to charge it or run out of battery.
Maybe upgrade to cordless if you find it’s needed later or see one for cheap.
Do you know where I can buy a 2 mile extension cable to get to my nearest plug socket this morning?
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.
Most consumer tools are made by like 2 or 3 companies, they all have different colors but are largely the same guts within a parent company’s holdings.
Direct tools factory outlet is run by TTI. Milwaukee, Rigid, Ryobi are all made by TTI. Stanley Black and Decker owns Dewalt, Black and Decker (duh), Craftsman, MAC Tools and Porter cable.
Bauer and Hercules are doin their own thing but the batteries are pretty decent.
https://www.protoolreviews.com/power-tool-manufacturers-who-owns-them/
Looks like Makita also does its own thing.
This is missing at least Bosch, probably some other brands I can’t remember right now. That would ruin the 4 houses association though…
I’m in House Ryobi; while it does the job, I needed to borrow a tool I didn’t have from our neighbour (wife’s rule; I can only buy one if I need to borrow it 3 times)… he had a set of Bosch Professionals - holy moly, those things are on a whole other level!
S Tier:
- Milwaukee
- Bosch
- Makita
A Tier:
- DeWalt
- Porter Cable
B Tier:
- Ryobi
- Rigid
C Tier:
- Black & Decker
- Craftsman
- Master craft
- Skil
- Other store brands
All of them will get you a passing grade, C Tier feels a little flimsy like it might let you down, B Tier works perfectly fine and feels normal, A Tier feels like it could take one extra hard drop, and S Tier is noticeably rock solid and nice in every way.
Atleast, this is ballpark what I remember from when I was contracting…
Big difference between the pro and consumer versions though. Which ones are you referring to?
My wife
hashad the same rule, then we moved, now I’m the lender, not the borrower. This means I have an excuse for buying new tools. That and my current job and side jobs are requiring some specific tools that I don’t already own.
I’m house Ryobi. I realize Ryobi is probably Hufflepuff (the “lame but at least not evil” one) in this scenario but so be it.
For power tools just pick your favorite color and stick to it. All the big brands are the same except for their special lil’ batteries. For everything else, buy cheap tools (Harbour Freight, garage sales, Amazon, eBay, etc.). When you wear them out / break them / otherwise need to replace them, that’s when you can justify spending a bit of money to get good tools. Plus at that point you’ll have a much better understanding of the tool and thus what you want or need for the tool to best serve you.
Or be like me and spend too much time/money finding a tool that might be good only to never use it because brain says, “I’m bored, find new hobby” every couple of business days.
I very much agree with your third sentence. If your cheap tool wears out, it’s because you need that tool often or for rigorous scenarios. Good to get a nicer tool for that job.
Or be like me and spend too much time/money finding a tool that might be good only to never use it because brain says, “I’m bored, find new hobby” every couple of business days.
Listen, you. Get out of my head and wallet. I do this and it makes me so sad. looks longingly at the paints I bought for models
looks longingly at the paints I bought for models
Lego needs no paints and might scratch the modeling urge.
A lot of Harbor Freight tools have lifetime warranty. Also Home Depot’s Husky Brand.
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.
Yeah if you’re not building birdhouses and remodeling your sauna it probably doesn’t apply to you.
You can buy a Snap-On hat even if you don’t own any of their tools
It’s not even illegal?
I’m sorry, I thought this was America
I used to live next to a guy who did site visits for snap-on. I’ve got a bunch of swag, and I didn’t pay for it, and I don’t own any of their tools!
Bosch: never the best choice, but always a good one.
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.
No matter what level of effort you’ll be using… don’t get the Walmart brand. Yeah, they’re good for beginners and can handle the occasional weekend project. But even you don’t use them enough to wear them out, the other dads/men will make fun of you for having the hardware equivalent of velcro shoes from the dollar store.
Honest answer: I started with DeWalt. Had issues. Went to Milwaukee. Never regretted it.
We have those walmart brand equivalents in Germany, from supermarkets like Lidl, Norma and co…
In my world, people who come to the task with a brand new, expensive Makita drill deserve way more mockery than people who come with a cheap, well used Lidl drill.
Interesting, I started with DeWalt, have never had 1 single issue and I have about 10 different tools. But I’ve always wanted to switch to Milwaukee because I like red better than yellow, but I’m in too deep with DeWalt 😂
Fwiw i have adapters that allow the use of dewalt batteries with nondewalt tools
You can print adapters for all brands while filling your lunds with some more plastic vapours
