So what brands are we all using for power tools?

[bjouis]

I'd always been a Makita kinda guy but i must say i'm not impressed whatsoever by their recent stuff, from about 2016 onwards. The chucks on the cordless drills are absolutely dreadful and the battery life leaves a lot to be desired.

They used to be my go-to but all i can assume is they've outsourced stuff to somewhere else.

I'm partial to blue Bosch stuff but it's pretty expensive.

So, what do you use and why?

 

[buzzlightyear]

most of my gear is Makita ,the odd bits ,so if you require a yellow banana with a motor inside try a DeWalt Disney .lol.

 

[telectrix]

my kit is: makita for 110V. hitachi for 24V SDS, AEG and Aldi workzone for cordless combi drills and multitools.

 

[bjouis]

my kit is: makita for 110V. hitachi for 24V SDS, AEG and Aldi workzone for cordless combi drills and multitools.

How are the AEG tools? They sell a lot of them here but i've never used one.

 

[telectrix]

How are the AEG tools? They sell a lot of them here but i've never used one.

had my 18V AEG combi for 10 years. only prob was apprentice burnt motor out 4" cutting cement board. it also took all the teeth of the holesaw out. ne motor was £40 fitted in 1/2 hour.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

Use Dewalt 18v range. No issues with them. I like the range as I can upgrade to the new 54v sds if needed and the batteries are backwards compatible.. I like having the flexibility. Also its quite competitve on pricing.
Did pick up a heavily used makita combi drill a couple of years ago and bought a battery adaptor so my Dewalt batteries would work with it. Thing packed up b I t still have the adaptor somewhere.
It's worth knowing about the battery adaptors if you switch brand or are on site and need to borrow a battery.

 

[Timbo]

Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, and Festool for cutting.

 

[pc1966]

The only AEG stuff I have is a mains-powered SDS drill from over a decade ago which works very well.

Recently it has been a few Milwaukee battery tools I have acquired (drill, impact screwdriver, and 1/2" drive impact wrench) and they seem pretty good but I have not used them for anything tough as yet.
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I also have an old Makita 6096D battery drill, it has been lightly used and is great as it is quite light so not much strain if drilling at arm's length, etc. Sadly no longer made!
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That is another factor to consider, for some jobs you want the toughest drill with 18V (or more) battery packs so you can cut through a lot of material.

But in some other cases you will have limited space and/or strained arms holding the thing so getting a light but low-power battery drill that can double up as a screwdriver is a good thing.

Just don't use them tightening electrical terminals! (I think one brand such as Wiha makes a battery-assisted screwdriver for that with very limited torque, but its not cheap).
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Here it is, for the princely sum of £276

https://cpc.farnell.com/wiha/42267/screwdriver-speede-set-2-uk-spec/dp/TL19981?MER=sy-me-pd-mi-alte

 

[MJPD29]

All milwaukee except a couple of Erbauer items I bought cheap from screwfix to abuse such as a grinder for chasing walls and a recip saw and they have been fantastic I recommend both brands highly

 

[Andy78]

I use Milwaukee 18v and 12v stuff. It all performs well and lasts for ages so I have no reason to change, but I'd be happy trying Makita, DeWalt or Bosch as they all seem to have plenty of happy customers

 

[Risteard]

Hilti for me.

 

[pc1966]

Other things to consider are the range of tools you might need, and any fancy features a given manufacturer offers:

For example, part of my reason to buying in to the Milwaukee range was the desire for some things in the future (like a 3/4" drive impact wrench) that not all of the brands offer. Once you have a couple of batteries and a charger or two, you really want to stick to the one system. Which they know...

They (Milwaukee) also have some fancy features using Bluetooth on many (but not all) tools such as quick setting of torque values and locating tools that have gone walkabouts. Now for me it makes no difference, but it might just be a feature you want/need.

 

[Pauls0212]

The problem with makita is that they are trying to get all of the market... the lower end is not so good but the high end stuff is as good as it has always been. Still using my 2009 impact driver every day and no problem... replaced brushes once, liking their brushless stuff also

 

[rapparee]

Hilti for me.

Big balls. Do you rent or own.

I'm using Hitachi/Hikoki a mixture between 18v and 36v. I like the way they are dual fuel and can be interchangeable.

 

[bjouis]

The problem with makita is that they are trying to get all of the market... the lower end is not so good but the high end stuff is as good as it has always been. Still using my 2009 impact driver every day and no problem... replaced brushes once, liking their brushless stuff also

Their new 12v stuff is rubbish. My dad's got the older black/white 18v stuff, over ten years old now and still as good as the day he bought it.

 

[Phil Thompson]

Dewalt for me, have a mains Metabo chaser, but everything else is Yellow and Black.

Mate has an old AEG chaser, its a good job, dont think they make them now, but id have been buying it over the Mfe30 at the time if they did.

 

[Vortigern]

Hitachi nice and cheap or was until it was called Hikoki. Chucks, replaced twice. 18v 5ah battery (got 4) 2 with the drill. Also Hikoki jig saw, grinder and circular saw all very good at their job. Never owned Makita too expensive and have heard of problems, which for the price, well I won't pay for a name. Can work all day with the drill had it for eight years no probs.

 

[AJshep]

Moved from blue Bosch to Milwaukee, I've used Dewault but it's never lasted, even the Xrp drills have only lasted a couple of years.
I think us electricians are pretty hard on our drills in general, so whatever brand you buy make sure it's a top of the range version, especially if your going to be drilling through joists.

 

[davesparks]

If you want to see some honest, and fun, tool reviews, look up AvE on YouTube.

 

[PEG]

I've got a good mixture of marques...Hilti has always been a favourite (except their jigsaw...the royal child they should have hid in the dungeon)

For emergency/throwaway/single job use,i have used Erbauer...and feel ashamed as some of their kit is really good ...their corded reciprocating saw has out-worked and out-lived,many of my pals expensive copies.

I also have a Hilti TE72 which must be 30+years old...it will not fail or die,and will sink any earth rod,all the way to hot magma