Cordless tools – Best brand?

I’ve ended up with a mix of 12V and 18V Bosch Pro stuff which seems good but also worth noting that the 12V batteries work with cordless Dremel’s (Dremel and Bosch are same company).

Why has nobody mentioned Worx? The strimmer, hedge cutter,  reciprocating saw all work fine for me with no issues.

I’m ryobi because it does gardening kit too.

I’ve a router, drivers etc and they have all been excellent

Why has nobody mentioned Worx?

I can’t believe he mentioned Worx!

Another Bosch Green user here, it’s man enough for home use IMO and the Power4All batteries mean you’re not tied in to one brand. Husqvarna batteries are cheaper than Bosch.

I use Erbauer at work, some use DeWalt, just depends what’s on offer at the time.

DeWalt = fisher price of the power tool world.

Bit of a daft comment. The bright yellow colour helps to find them easily especially in dark dingy places. Well designed, tough and reliable.

I once spent 12months looking after a massive highly automated joinery company that had a handbuilt / bench joiners department. We had a huge amount of battery tools including DeWalt. They were the worst out of the mainstream brand’s and were phased out. As mentioned previously – they weren’t durable enough, not built with repair as a consideration and parts were difficult to source.

Bosch’s GSS280/140 sanders were the best but went through base plate clips and flexible mounts.

Ryobi belt sanders were really good (I’ve seen belt sander roller skates with a Ryobi taped to each foot and the extension lead then flicked on at the wall!)

Atlas Copco battery drills were durable/robust but spendy.

Nowadays Metabo -> Makita -> Blue Bosch

Makita LXT. It just works

Makita.

Milwaukee if you are outside all day in – 0 conditions.

Hilti if you like smashing things up.

(I have have just brought a Makita cordless coffee machine. )

I have have just brought a Makita cordless coffee machine.

As reviewed by the coffeemeister James Hoffman. I don’t think he was a massive fan!

anyone saying Milwaukee is a social media influencer, or a plumber 😉
They’ve done a great job marketing themselves to be fair and do have a massive range of tools.

Its brushless Bosch obviously though, or apparently Japanese imported Makita if you’re serious

@blokeuptheroad

It boils water in the middle of nowhere where I often find myself. And we are not allowed inverters in the vans. We used to use jetboils types but they banned those too

You need a 5amph battery thou.

I liked a Milwaukee 4″ grinder as it had a dead mans switch.

I used a lot of hilti for drilling brisge TE6a was a great SDS drill.

At home I use Ryobi, not as good as some of the more expensive brands but the hammer drill I have is over 10 years old now and has been abused and still going strong. I don’t think they make that model any more

It’s like wheel sizes. It doesn’t really matter but you’re obliged to just pick one you like and then be a dick about it forever.

exactly this. Pick a brand and be a dick about it.

Festool are the best

you’re wrong ?

Hilti for the win.

in all seriousness I have Hilti, Milwaukee, DeWalt and Makita cordless plus corded of these and Atlas Copco, Bosch, Hiatchi and others.

reality is any big brand is fine.

edit I also have Ryobi cordless and that’s fine also, despite the diy tag some tradies give it.

@pk13 fair enough!

Makita LXT for me, started off that way with a present and no sense changing because of the batteries. All excellent quality and no issues except my garden vacuum likes to jam if the mincer gets overwhelmed. Would have been better without the mincer built in really. I notice some tools are made in the UK if that matters to anyone.

DeWalt seems decent. Haven’t used much of it but the quality seems a tiny bit lower. Bought a combi for someone last year and the battery was a loose rattly fit, ended up filling the gap with a small strip of mastic tape. On the upside the light was lower down which meant the bit wasn’t in its own shadow like most others.

I’d be real tempted by Milwaukee if starting fresh. So many tools to choose from. The motors sound really nice, even comparing brushless to brushless. The two finger pinch for battery removal seems awkward to me.

I use loads of Makita stuff, a bit of dewalt and a few Milwaukee tools. I have to say the Milwaukee stuff is better than Makita but it’s also more expensive and if you’re just a DIY er then Makita certainly has a range that’ll sort out any job you’ll ever need it for. Their site radio also sounds better.

I’ve ended up with a mix of 12V and 18V Bosch Pro stuff which seems good but also worth noting that the 12V batteries work with cordless Dremel’s (Dremel and Bosch are same company).

They are, but Dremels run off the green 12V batteries rather than the blues. You used to be able to swap out the shroud on the battery but they changed the design so you can’t do that any more. No idea why they don’t just harmonise the batteries.

They make a blue version of the Dremel but they’re a lot more expensive. If one ever came up cheap I’d think about it but I never use mine enough to justify changing.

The Milwaukee stuff is cool as the charger is a 12v vehicle one.

Exists for Makita, too. Have one in my van. Charges 18v via 12v lighter socket.

Again, subjective. I hate their mitre saw. The handle is in a stupid orientation, just to be different imho. Feels very unnatural to me to twist the wrist like you have to the.

+1

Although they’re great in a workshop where you’ve a few oddball left handers in the team.

Much prefer the Makita saws… So much so I spent 750€ on one a few years back.

Why has nobody mentioned Worx?

Because it’s shite… ?

I’d avoid Bosch. Mainly because you are really limited as to what you can use with their batteries. Yes they do the main woody stuff, jigsaw,sander, small circular saw and drills, but thats about it.

And I’ve 3 18v Bosch blue drills, but it really annoys me that Bosch have limited their stuff to such a small selection, which is especially baffling given bosch are known for producing battery powered electrical motors.

As for Milwaukee, i know nothing about the brand other than it has  good reputation in the US, but Americans seem to prefer to buy American made whether its good or bad, just so long as it is American.

Ryobi, Workx are ok, and have a large selection of bare tools at competitive prices, but it’s not really intended for any heavy duty use. They are almost specific to DIY

Dewalt are very good, maybe not as very very good as they used to be, but well made and can last rough handling and intensive work periods.

Which kind of leaves us with Makita, and you can’t really fault Makita. I’ve their biscuit jointer,rto700 trim router,and the 9911 belt sander(which is ace by the way)

So on that I’d highly recommend the Makita over anything else. I know this is cordless ask and much of y kit is corded, but the build quality is really good and i dont see their 18v being any different.

And i’d specially recommend you buy yourself a 9911 belt sander. Super easy to handle,very stable and you can get replacement belts from aldi/lidl for cheap.

As for Milwaukee, i know nothing about the brand other than it has  good reputation in the US, but Americans seem to prefer to buy American made whether its good or bad, just so long as it is American

I always find this amusing.  You are 100% correct in how Americans view Milwaukee…… but the irony is that Milwaukee isn’t even an American brand any more.  They sold the name a while ago to TTI (based in HK I think).  The even more massive irony is that the US Milwaukee fanatics are exactly the same people slagging off Ryobi….. which is owned by the same company, and shares a lot of the same DNA as it’s more expensive cousin.

I mostly have Makita, some cordless, but mostly corded (for longevity).  I use my biscuit jointer etc so infrequently that it’s never going to wear-out….. and I don’t want to need it in 8-10 years time to find that the battery platform has been “obsoleted”.  Less of an issue these days with battery adapters I suppose, but it’s also possible to pick up second hand corded tools for peanuts – so it’s an economical way to build a great tool collection.

I also have a few bits of cordless – ryobi kit:  A couple of LED lamps, inflator (both LVHP and LPHV), glue gun, leaf blower etc – absolutely fine.  One-up from the supermarket own brands I would say, but only a fraction more expensive.  If you are only doing DIY, I think they are probably the sweet spot for most people (which is of course exactly the market segment they have targeted)

I’d possibly go Milwaukee Red if I started again, dunno, but I invested in the Makita LXT system years ago and it’s stood up well, mostly working outdoors.

I bought a DeWalt XR Combi Drill/impact driver set as a back up kit and it’s like Fisher Price in comparison.

Off the top of my head and probably forgetting loads, I have in the Makita range

4no combi drills

1no impact driver

2no smaller impact wrenches

1no large (1000nm) impact wrench

2no metal circular saws

1no standard circular saw

Jigsaw

Multi tool

Rebar cutter

Reciprocating saw large

Reciprocating saw small

Angle grinder

X-Lock angle grinder

SDS drill

Large bandsaw

Small bandsaw

Heat gun

Hoover

Coffee machine

Dab/Bluetooth radio

8no batteries

4-way charger

2no single chargers

… and a partridge in a pear tree.

… and a partridge in a pear tree

it is important to remember the moto

“he who dies with the most tools wins”

Forgot 90 degree tight space angled drill and tripod floodlight 😉

Wait, what??? Makita does a damn coffee maker??? That alone might get me to buy into that ecosystem; I could just have that in the van and not have to worry about making espresso ever again.

Edited to add that I was looking at the Milwaukee dual brushless drill package to replace the one my ex took with her, but the coffee maker might be a deal breaker, despite the offer I saw on the package. Will have to see if the coffee thign is available here somewhere, otherwise I will just drop the cash on a straight replacement.

The 14,4v AEG drill/screwdriver I have is currently on charge to see if the batteries have survived. It seems sluggish, but that could be becauase I am used to the Milwaukee stuff now.

Wait, what??? Makita does a damn coffee maker??? That alone might get me to buy into that ecosystem; I could just have that in the van and not have to worry about making espresso ever again.

You might want to watch that Hoffman review I posted before you splash out.  You won’t be making espresso with it.

Forgot 90 degree tight space angled drill and tripod floodlight 😉

You also forgot to buy the LXT wheelbarrow to cart them all around in

Just watched it… Ok, maybe not.

But now I _do_ want an Aeropress.

But now I _do_ want an Aeropress.

In that case you just need the LXT kettle 🙂

Just watched it… Ok, maybe not.

But now I _do_ want an Aeropress.

Well that’s saved you a few quid! Aeropress = cheap, easy to use/clean, makes fantastic coffee.  Get yourself a Jetboil or an MSR pocket rocket stove and you can have great coffee anywhere.

I use Senseo coffee bags in mine. It’s far from perfect, but handy enough in a site office or out on site. Also have an Aeropress/Jetboil, but that’s far more faff

Why has nobody mentioned Worx? The strimmer, hedge cutter,  reciprocating saw all work fine for me with no issues.

I have a few Worx tools (mainly bought off the back of an initial Hydroshot purchase) and they’ve been fine for my casual use case – mower, strimmer, drills, saws. I now have enough batteries that buying the new tools themselves becomes virtually free – buy when they’re (often) on discount and then flog on the bundled batteries.

TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR

I bought a DeWalt XR Combi Drill/impact driver set as a back up kit and it’s like Fisher Price in comparison.

Depends entirely one which level in the range you buy.  The “impact+drill for £150” Makita stuff is just the same.

Depends entirely one which level in the range you buy.  The “impact+drill for £150” Makita stuff is just the same.

Not sure where exactly in the range it sits, but not a base spec model. Similar (if not the same) as below

The whole engagement of the battery in the kit and charger for one is massively inferior to Makita – I can’t imagine this changes across the range

The whole engagement of the battery in the kit and charger for one is massively inferior to Makita – I can’t imagine this changes across the range

A dewalt bugbear has been including shite, cheap, slow chargers in their bundles, even on quite highspec sets. The one that came with my brad nailer, which is by no means a cheap item, was crud. So I had  buy a proper, fan cooled fast charger to replace it. It cost a dizzying £13 compared to the £10 retail price version it replaced. A £3 (at retail) difference.  Still not as good, or a fast as a makita charger but loads better than the one in the set, which took 4-5 hours to charge.

Given the whole point of these ranges is you’re encouraging people to ‘buy-in’ to a battery system, handicapping customers by putting rubbish chargers in the kits people would start out with seems to be shooting yourself in the foot. I think inconsistency is Dewalts problem – some of their stuff is miles and away the best (their nailers and table saws), and some is just ill-thought out

The plastic connector on my Parkside broom failed. I repaired it with a lump of wood, a Bosch plane, Parkside drill and a few screws.

I have a policy of buying cheap shit and replacing with better if it isn’t up to the job. The vast majority of my tools are still cheap shit and working fine. The most common failures are cables which I replace and switches which I can sometimes repair.

After seeing the abuse the Milwaukee stuff gets at work and doesn’t bat an eyelid that was my go to when needing a new combi drill recently.

I use a battery adaptor to use my DeWalt batteries with a Makita compatible power tool I have that DeWalt don’t make.