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just about to embark on a major campervan conversion project and need to upgrade my tools. Looking for a quality jigsaw and drill (makita, de walt etc) but nothing too over the top or expensive. Needs to be robust anyone got some ideas?
Bosch make some reasonable stuff - I have one of their jigsaws & cant really fault it
For me Makita rocks am on my 5th jigsaw ( that sounds bad but when it gets used every day cutting and fitting Plywood and stuff usually last 5 years then worn out )
Dewalt = black and decker
a lot of tradesmen co for the Festool stuff now Expensive but good stuff
love my Li-Ion makita 14v.
light, small, tons of torque and great drive speed.
My local bradfords has got a very slick looking bosch pro 14v drill for about £160 and two batteries - very small battery form factor.
If your money will stretch far enough, then go for Hilti. They should last a life time, very good 2 year warranty and they will even come and pick the tools up and deliver them back to you if they do go pop.
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/59749/Power-Tools/Cordless-Drills/Site-SMB810-18V-Cordless-Combi-Drill
Same as the Makita, bar the colour. Made in the same factory by the same people using the same materials.
I like Makita myself but can't justify the price tag for the amount of times it will get used
I use Dewalt stuff myself, mainly because I was given an 18v drill/driver 8 years ago and it's still going now. I use my kit all day every day and not one item has failed on me. All my cordless stuff uses the same batteries to avoid having to have lots of different chargers with me at work.
If I was buying from scratch I'd look at Makita/Bosch, Dewalt has gotten a bit expensive now. beware though there are several grades of Bosch/Makita also, get the pro ones if you can afford. would probably go with a corded Jigsaw though rather than battery powered, not as flexible usage but not waiting for batteries to charge the whole time. I use both.
Also factor in for a router if you're doing a camper conversion, you'll use it a lot, at least I did on the ones I've built.
With the drill/driver, there seems to be a new and better deal every other day. Try and go for Li-Ion if you can. I assume if it's a camper van conversion, you'll be holding it above your head quite a bit and at awkward angles. The lightness of Li-Ion will be a godsend. Hitachi, Makita, Bosch (Blue, not Green), Metabo...all good. DeWalt aren't as bad as trout makes out but they're overpriced. Ryobi are mid price and mid quality. Avoid anything too good to be true...it will be.
As for jigsaws, well...[strokes chin]...there just isn't the same market for cordless jigsaws...hence they'll be a lot more expensive compared to the corded equivalent. Bosch are excellent for jigsaws. I've used the same one for years and years. Go for SDS blades. Bosch do a model with a quick change for the base plate angle. This can be very useful. All that said, hitachi, makita etc will all be good.
Unless you're a professional, don't bother with Festool. You'll faint when you see what some people pay for kit.
3 year warranty with Blue Bosch. Btw, meant to say, as Blazin said, stick with a corded jigsaw. You're usually using it on trestles anyway, so you should have power available.
cheers folks..great advice
The makita orbital jigsaw is tremendous, other similar brand/pricepoint jigsaws are as tough/powerful/reliable but non are good to actually use. Bosch jigsaws have the reputation for longevity, but if there was one of each on the table I'd pick up the makita every time. You'd need to spend Mafell / Festool money to get anything better.
Drill drivers are pretty much all of a muchness these days, all the brands are matching each other pricepoint for pricepoint, feature for feature. Dewalt stuff isn't bad, but it tends to be pretty heavy and clumsy to use for me, their drivers are too urgent, better geared for drilling than driving, like for like i think Makita stuff has a bit more finesse in use. The dinky 10.4v Li-ion kits shouldn't be overlooked (Makita, Bosch, AEG) loads more grunt than you'd expect for something that looks like its been pulled out of a handbag. For the price of a basic 18v driver you get two drivers - one regular drill driver, on impact driver. Teamed up you can work faster and easier with the pair of them than you can with one bigger one. You don't get the same battery life between charges but you need to be going some for that to hold you up.
managed to ge one of the new panasonic 14v li ion drill drivers at a (great price £150)and opted for the makita orbital jigsaw.. cheers all
I've got a 18v Makita drill and it does the job fine.