So, my trusty old Ferm 5kg SDS drill has just about given up the ghost, after about 25 years. Well worth the ~ £25 i gave for it brand new. Also find myself needing a new router as my old Power Devil (remember them, more cheap and cheerful) router of the same vintage is due for retirement.
Looking to replace these with something more up to date and a bit more "pro", as I find myself doing work around both my house and my daughters' these days.
Not looking to spend a fortune, so no Festool etc please, looking for recommendations for replacement tools up to about £120 or so each. Also, no DeWalt, we cook those things regularly in work, I find them to be absolute rubbish.
Cheers!
Bosch blue or Makita are the Specialized and Treck of the power tool world.
Titan SDS from screwfix... i have abused it for many years and it keeps going. Think it's the 6.3
Katsu palm router with the trimmer, tilt and plunge base comes in well under your budget
I think buying one of those Titan SDS drills from Screwfix is pretty much the best money I've every spent. I used it to remove a two story chimney, the chimney pretty much fell apart as soon as I pointed the thing at it. A little on the heavy side but fine for most situations I've used it for.
I've dropped it from the top of a 6ft ladder by accident at least once and it's not even noticed.
You don't say corded or cordless.
I've just bought this Makita Dhr242.
It's the shizzle.
I have that Titan sds from Screwfix. It's an absolute beast of a thing..It weighs about the same as a Shire horse, hence why I got another to take on site when I don't need to drill into a bank vault.
Routers. I've had about 3 Triton routers, all have build quality issues but are great when set up.
My Trend T11 is a great router.
Love my little Katsu and also have the Makita that it's ripped off of of of.
Personally I’m a big convert to cordless. I have the dhr242 sds kayak mentioned, it’s been abused daily onsite for a good 6 or 7 years. More outlay than cheap Screwfix titan stuff. However it should be fixable for a long time with parts available. Depends how much you care about that side of though I guess.
A lot of people laughed when I bought cordless kit. I work stone with cordless grinders now when other people are tripping over power leads.
Can’t speak on the routers, I’m looking at the moment!
You're budgeting equal sums for each - I'd spend less on the SDS and more on the router. SDS drills are great for doing what they do quickly but the result is you don't actually use them a lot of for extended periods. They're also pretty simple. Spend more on the router where quality and precision count for more.
There's cheaper versions of the Makita for what it's worth, but you lose the chisel function.
Obviously it all largely depends on if you have batteries already.
I too have a cheap Titan SDS from Screwfix. I use it less, and SDS's aren't accurately - they are just brutal. I've had it well over a decade and used it a bit on three houses, plus leant out.
Router - I've an old blue Bosch professional router and a Ryobi router table. It's a great combination that's maybe 20 years old now. I would spend more on a good router and table - is a much more accurate job and the quality shows when in use.
I've got the big Titan beastie and the little 18v Makita with no breaker function and would recommend both, but very different animals, the Makita is super handy for drilling plugs in awkward places which is what I got it for. If you're buying Makita there's 10% off selected sellers on ebay at the moment which usually means good deals to be had.
Hikoki Hitachi are worth a look, well make tools. The m12ve router is supposedly a good workhorse and £155, Toolstation have a hikoki ads drill for £76. My dad had a Hitachi SDS for the last 25 years of his life, faultless.