It is whatever you buy a battery and charger for first. Then you are unwilling to forfeit that battery to just buy another tool. So you get another tool of the same brand, even if you aren't happy with the previous. Then at that point, you've gone to far. You've got several hundred dollars in batteries you would have to give up just to switch. It is the most blatant example of the sunken cost fallacy.
Ryobi, specifically has entry level tools (a basic drill) that come with a charger and battery for cheaper than you can even buy a battery by itself. When you're young and broke and all you need to do is hang some curtains or something you get it. But really, it is just a seed for your future "house" that you belong to.
In 10 years you will have thousands of dollars in makita tools because hey, that hammer drill you needed was only $110, better get another battery too, your old ones are getting tired. 🤷♂️ and you will always have makita tools, forever. Even if you hate them.
I used to be ride or die for Makita as an electrician, but they've gone downhill lately and their battery prices are insane! Used to be a Makita could fall off a ladder onto the chuck and bounce. Last year my crew had two drills newly bought that year CATCH FIRE and one strip the gearbox. Embarassing performance.
I've pivoted to Ridgid with their dirt cheap batteries with lifetime warranty. And I have a couple Ridgid->Makita adapters to use my new collection of Ridgid batteries with my tough old Makita tools. Battery adapters will free you from that lock-in.
Honestly I've been impressed with the Ridgid tools though, same manufacturer as Milwaukee and Ridgid has always been a big brand with plumbers. The brushless tools I've bought have been powerful and robust so far. No regrets
So TTI manufactures Milwaukee, Ryobi, and Ridgid power tools. I didn't know they did Ridgid too. I wonder how many manufacturers there really are for the plethora of power tool brands. I'm gonna guess like three.
And have the battery dangling? XT90 also doesn't provide any way to communicate things like max charging speed, cell voltage or failure conditions to the charger
I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop and for a Belgian or something to drop in here to say that they’ve had fully interchangeable batteries for the last twenty years, and then make fun of us for building houses out of wood because we didn’t clear cut our continent.
Looking for this comment, I'm still running my craftsman 19.2 volt tools, but with a 20v DeWalt adapter, saved my from throwing away 1 reciprocating saw, 1 light, 1 1/4" impact, 2 drills, 1 90° drill, and a circular saw.
Fucking Ridgid got me, because on paper, they have lifetime warranties on their batteries. But after buying an expensive combo, they made it an absolute hassle to register my tools, so I kinda doubt they'll honor their warranty. Now I'm Ridgid + Dewalt. My corded tools and hand tools are whatever brand; harbor freight or walmart if not used often, Milwaukee, DeWalt, etc if I expect to use them often.
I really dislike Home Depot after a series of huge customer service mishaps with me last year, and actively avoid going there now.
Which is a shame because I have a lot of Ryobi One tools. They are perfectly positioned for weekend warriors…huge tool library, good batteries, affordable and of fairly decent quality (certainly well above “junk” and a good value for the money).
Shame that is a store-exclusive brand.
The worst part is I’ve bought into most of the cordless tools I’d really need. The day might come where I want a larger circular saw (mines only 5.5 and it is prone to binding if your technique isn’t perfect, and even then…) or find that some of the tools that I’m okay with having corded (like a jigsaw or an angle grinder) I now need a cordless replacement. At that point I’ll likely find myself buying into a better and more expensive battery system and, for quite a while, only having the one seldom-used tool for it.
Now I’ve got a dead 4Ah battery and I’m on the fence as to rebuild it, buy a new one, or take it as an opportunity to start going into a new battery system.
I actually did a lot of research on this when I bought my first battery tools, knowing this would be the case, and decided they had a decent range of everything I'd likely need.
Would there be a way to 3D print plastic part of a battery and just fill it with standard battery types (cylindrical batteries) and make them swapable?
Because as far as i know there isn't really any electronics in batteries, just different voltages based on number of batteries in series and different mounting mechanism.
It just seems like a silly vendor lock-in.
I have a 100' air hose that reaches anywhere in the house. I often run it outside and back in a window somewhere so it doesn't end up in the way of family. I also have a small compressor for airbrushing rather than running permanent air lines from the garage to my basement workshop. You'll still want cordless convenience for a drill and some other small tools though.
I'm not hauling my portable compressor into my attic, nor do I have an extension cord that can reach the end of my yard. It stays in my garage. Even then I prefer battery tools because of the noise when the compressor kicks on.
Do Bosch tools not exist outside of Germany? Here the professional (blue) line is pretty much on par with hilti and Makita in terms of quality if not better depending on the type of tool
Bosch doesnt really enter the chat in a lot of places because their range of (excellent) tools just isnt that big.
If you're looking to enter a dad dick measuring contest with your tool collection Bosch isnt going to win, I swear Ryobi is about 3 seconds from bringing out a battery powered battery.
So basically, Bosh is Bosh-batons Academy of Magic.
Mastercraft/Amazon Basic brand over here for us squibs too.
Stanley is the dark arts. They own DeWalt, we all pretend DeWalt isn't just a front for Stanley, but we all know they are sus. Users of Stanley tools are known as Deck Eaters.
Bosch os common throughout Europe. In the US it probably suffers from the not invented here syndrome. Or maybe just heavy taxes, or they don't think blue is manly enough. Who can tell?
Dewalt is still that well regarded? My dad fucking hates them lol we used to have a good amount of their stuff and then tool after tool broke on him and he won't buy them unless he doesn't have a better option (he and my brother are HVAC/plumbers). He likes Milwaukee but thinks they're overpriced, and has a decent amount of Ryobi stuff now, along with Bosch. My grandpa was the Makita man.
I have a lot of Ryobi and Makita hand-me-downs as a result, haven't really had to buy much of my own yet, but that's changing.
I have a metaboHPT Brad nailer and it was absolutely the most affordable I could find outside of harbor freight level, and at the same time one of my highest quality tools. Truly a joy to use.
DeWalt: high quality and good pedigree but overpriced = Slytherin
Milwaukee: basically the same as DeWalt, but less pretentious. Thinks they're better and tougher though = Gryffindor
Makita: the smart choice for value, also best colors = Ravenclaw
Ryobi: I know it will break, but they're just tools and I'm not serious about this anyway. I would rather spend more money on my family or other hobbies = Hufflepuff
Honorable mentions of other "houses" and schools in the thread.
Black and Decker/Craftsman/whatever. Used to be very impressive, but completely corrupted. Probably evil = Durmstrang (Russian school)
Festool: Beautiful, absolutely dripping with wealth signals. Still pretty amazing at what they do, but you might not want them on a job site = Beauxbatons (super wealthy French school)
Harbor freight: Simple, potentially the most powerful but also likely to break. Can probably accomplish what you need by using a wrench as a hammer, but you wouldn't want to do anything delicate with it. Actually the biggest group of dad-wizards = Uagadou (the school in Uganda where magic was invented but they don't use wands)
That drill needs batteries before long and needs to have an assortment of bits to use with it, those companies often sell all the bits or own the company that does
Dewalt has the juice to get it done but lacking g in specialty tools and their tough system sucks compared to Milwaukee. Coming from a guy with several grand of dewalt. Kind of wish I went Milwaukee but I'm in too deep...
They're getting better on specialty tools the last year or 2.
The 12 volt line has expanded as well. I Didn't need the 12v drill driver combo but wanted the 12v rachet they had as a free tool ona sale.
I rarely grab the 20v drill or driver unless the 12 just can't get it done.
The tough system stuff is finally starting to catch up a bit. I will admit it pisses me off to no end that so many items that come in clam shell cases aren't compatible or the tough system boxes could be designed with those items in mind as well.
Milwaukee is still winning that one but I couldn't justify the price.
I dropped my locking, variable speed, single direction, corded drill with the chuck key electrical taped to the cracked plastic cord on a board and the hole I needed formed naturally out of fear.
Well, yes, but they serve drastically different markets, and the ownership structure is different. Ryobi is for the home owner that occasionally uses tools, and is licensed by a Japanese company to allow TTI to produce the brand. Milwaukee is for heavy daily use, and is wholly owned by TTI.
Its also worth mentioning that adapters are available to convert between battery systems. If you're on Milwaukee and want to buy a DeWalt palm router (which is superior IMO) then you can just get a converter to use it with a Milwaukee battery. You can keep the converter in the tool itself, and most tools don't mind this.
The exception is Ryobi. Converters only exist one-way, since Ryobi still uses "stick" type batteries for low voltage stuff. The opposite converter could theoretically exist (say, to use a Ryobi battery with a DeWalt router) but it would be very large and bulky and so nobody really makes them.
Ryobi batteries in general are very bulky. That 12 AH is like strapping a boot to your tools. It's also seemingly their weak spot, as all I read is people complaining about their batteries.
You remember how Harry chose the house he wanted to be in, and it's canon, that the sorting hat ward isn't definite? When I was buying my first tool, I wanted a Ryobi. But they didn't have it in stock and they did have Makita on sale and the sales guy told me that would be much better for the same price. So after that I'm buying only Makita, to fit the rest.
I was browsing the tool section at a Home Depot once a couple of years ago when a very attractive young woman came up to me and started asking me about my project. I'm not so dense that I thought she was hitting on me, but I couldn't figure out her angle and I thought maybe she was a prostitute or something. Turns out she was a Milwaukee sales rep and she was trying to encourage people (men, rather) to buy some Milwaukee cordless tools.
Any exchange of labour for money under an indentured system where you are under constant violent threat of homelessness, destitution, starvation, and even death if you don’t work, is a certain type of prostitution born of desperation.
TL;DR: most of us whose paycheques are signed by someone else are labour prostitutes.
My construction companion runs Milwaukee. As I stated in a different comment, he's had several drills and batteries blow in about three years. This isn't to say they're not a great brand, but that's too many lemons for the premium they charge for my taste. seems like their biggest downfall is the plastic shells they use, especially on batteries. Those little power check buttons break right quick, and the rubber over moulding doesn't deal with grease well.
I run Metabo HPT, and I abuse the hell out of them. Drilling inch holes 12" deep in concrete for garage anchors, running all the batteries in sub zero and 100+ temps, notching studs until the multi tool is too hot to hold. Never had a failure in 6 years. Even my original batteries still work as well as the new. A slick bonus I found out being a compulsive tinkerer, the batteries that they sell as 18v 3ah are actually 24v 5ah. I always wondered why they lasted so long before I ripped a few apart. Samsung cells as well.
While I agree with you on most accounts, Milwaukee drills have cheap switches on them, they’re usually the first to hang to go. The chucks seem kinda cheap too, but honestly that’s not enough for me to switch teams, I’m married to Milwaukee, and the divorce would just be too damn expensive at this point.
In my experience, Dewalt has been the best in terms of balance between reliability, flexibility, and cost. Milwaukee is probably the most reliable but also the most limited. Ryobi are cheap junk. Makita tools I haven't used but I've been told repeatedly that they used to be awesome but are now cheap junk.
All of these companies have at least a few items that are cheap junk (like most of the bluetooth speaker stuff...wtf?) but some are worse than others.
While I acknowledge that Ryobi is at the bottom of the barrel, my experience with them has been really good. I've been using the same drill/driver for 20 years, and have gotten lots of use out of their other tools.
With my dewalt oscillating saw I can swap a blade or change the angle of the blade in 1 second because you just push down a lever. On the ryobi, you have to break out an allen wrench (which is stored in the tool) and loosen a bolt.
Someone that might use the saw once every blue moon might not care that much, but someone who uses it every day it is a big deal.
Also quality, Ryobi tools just feel cheaper.
I buy important tools in dewalt and less important tools in Ryobi. Like my small leaf blower is Ryobi. No need to pay extra for the dewalt one because it's just for quickly blowing off my walkway or front porch steps. If I need to move a lot of stuff I use my gas backpack blower, which is also Ryobi. Only problem I've ever had with it is the cord snapped a couple times, I think it has to do with how it rubs the grommet. Replaced the last time with a more heavy duty cord and haven't had a problem since. Always starts in less than 3 pulls and very powerful.
There are cons to Ryobi tools, but when looking at the top of the barrel tools the only con is usually the price.
Internet likes to put down Ryobi but it's not as bad as they make it out to be.
My first power drill was Ryobi like 10+ years ago and still works to this day. I prefer using my Dewalt drill, it's less clunky.
No one wants to be a "Ryobi Guy". Especially behind a screen where you can say you have any tool you want.
Bosch makes my favorite hammer drill. My Makita sander works like a champ. I enjoy my Milwaukee packout toolbox.
People get stuck on brands. And while with tools there are differences, Ryobi works just fine.
I did burn out my Ryobi oscillating saw. But that's the only Ryobi tool that has failed me and I have like a dozen of them. I really like my ryobi finish nailer.
Bosch makes a solid hammer drill...I once drilled into a steel reinforcement in concrete and it melted the bit red hot into a tear drop, and it didn't even stutter
But my Ryobi bits snapped multiple times the first time I used them (I used a center punch and proper form, they just snapped like glass the second I used carbide bits on a freaking aluminum alloy). Their power tools aren't quite as bad, but they're not noticeably better than harbor freight stuff. I genuinely believe black and Decker is better
Granted, I think Ryobi used to be way better...I think they got bought out used for the name a while back
Haven't used makita bt. Have 20+ other makita going back 15yrs to brand new ones. All have worked perfectly with incredible power. Same batteries work on all of them. Have had some chargers fail but not a single tool. They get used and abused daily with no issues. Granted this is anecdote evidence.
Curious if the brand new ones will last then. I've had a few friends say that the new ones break more easily than their old ones but that is also anecdotal.
Depends on which line of Makita you buy into I think. I have a right angle drill and the "good" angle grinder from them (not that xlock bullshit) and both get moderate use. Both are 5-ish years old and still work great.
I've got all Dewalt for the stuff that needs to last (circular saw, reciprocating saw, drills, etc), but for some things I get the cheap garbage because the cost difference is so extreme and I know I'm just going to replace them every couple years anyway.
Most of my yard equipment is ryobi. All of the stuff with massive batteries is just so stupidly expensive from Dewalt and Milwaukee. I don't expect an outdoor lithium ion battery to last more than 5 years anyway, so instead of getting the high quality version, I got the shit one and had money to spare on extra batteries.
Ryobi is great if you're like me and just need the occasional tool to do a small project around the house and then gets put away for a few months. I've got a Ryobi portable vacuum at work that does great, gets used daily.
DeWalt ftw. Granted, I keep getting told to wait for Christmas and getting black and Decker as gifts... It's good enough to manage for my needs, but very noticeably worse
IME, Milwaukee is noticeably more hardy in cold temperatures, Ryobi is absolute garbage, and Makita is pretty good for hobbyist level
But I worked construction during college, and DeWalt was great, and Milwaukee was almost as good. The other two don't deserve to be in the same list
Quality-wise, Makita > DeWALT ≥ Milwaukee > Ryobi, at least, if you watch teardowns by guys like AvE.
Power tools are like cars; companies hold several brands and target them to different market segments, like Porsche and VW.
Ryobi is owned by the same company as Milwauki; it's the budget line, Milwauki being their premium line.
DeWALT and Black & Decker are owned by the same company; DeWALT is their premium line.
The exception in this list is Makita, which is its own company. They're also objectively more well-built than the others (here), and correspondingly usually more expensive.
The premium lines are better quality (not just more expensive) but also tend to have smaller battery-tool options. Despite being a budget line, I mostly own B&D because most of my tools these days are 24V and there are more tool options there. The few, select, DeWALT tools I have are noticably better quality.
I don't use power tools enough to justify Makita, but also, their battery-powered line is comparatively tiny. As someone else said, there's a lot of motivation to pick a (compatible) lane, whichever it is. For most home-gamers, the quality difference will probably not matter much. If I were made of money, though, I'd have everything Makita except for the things they don't make.
I’m in that fifth house that no-one ever seems to talk about: BOSCH.
J/K, I’m mostly Bosch, but I look towards whichever manufacturer makes the best version of a tool I currently need. For example, my chainsaws and yard/orchard power tools are Stihl, my lawnmower is Husqvarna, my circular saw, worm drive saw and abrasion/steel cutoff saw are all Skilsaw (not Skil!), and my oscillating multi tool is Fein.
Plus, many of the domestics are vintage, from before production was outsourced out of America, which makes them much more reliable and robust than modern tools. Even some of the other tools are vintage -- my Stihl 076 Super can cut through a 60cm log like a hot knife through butter. And I have both 36″ and 72″ bars to go with it.
Couple years back I went to the graduation party of a kid my step daughter was friends. The dad had an entire wall pegboarded out with every possible Ryobi cordless tool. It was honestly impressive. And he had one Makita tool. Made me laugh.
Not a dad but heavily into the Makita gang. As a German I should be into Hilti or Metabo but Makita just hits the sweetspot of quality and pricing for me.
Only issue with Makita is s their battery tech hasnt caught up with everyone else. They seem to have forgotten their 18 volt line in favor of their 36 volt.
Project Farm on YouTube has great tests and reviews of products like this. Fully recommend his channel if you are in the market to buy tools or tool adjacent products.
“Yeah. Cordless'll do that. You might want to consider the powder-actuated tool. The Hilti DX460MX or the Simpson PTP. These two are my Cadillacs. Everything else on this board is second best, sorry to say. Are you contracting or just doing some work around the house?”
That's because the batteries have become the printer ink of the tool world. They're f'n expensive.
If you buy into a product system it makes no sense to have different batteries that don't fit all the tools. If you keep the batteries all the same then you can be charging one or two sets vs having to buy extra sets and charger multiplied by the different tool makers.
I have one of the manufacturers shown in the image, and after I got a kit that had a charger, tool, and extra batteries included I got hooked in because they sell tools without batteries, but I have extra! So I bought same maker. The tools are all pretty good, so not much difference between makers, but that's one way they hook you.
I landed in DeWalt when their cordless devices became as good as/better than corded tools; I standardized on their battery platform only for them to abandon my battery and roll out a new (incompatible) one. Shortly thereafter my batteries bricked and it seems the business model is to force consumers to buy new tools every so often
FML I hate it that they're all proprietary and incompatible
Old craftsman or new? Because if new you might not be Craftsman very long. Old craftsman tools will outlive us all and if you can find them at a garage sale, buy em.
For what i use them for my craftsman electric cordless set does the job. Thats what I want in a tool. They have done the job for 5 years now no problems.
While I do have a couple of DeWalt drills, I've been a member of the House of Ryobi for 20+ years. Ryobi was the first to really push the idea of "one battery fits all" ecosystem with their 18V ONE batteries.
My Wife bought me a tool set for Christmas one year and I have never looked back. 20 years later I'm still using those tools and Ryobi still supports them. A new Lithium battery battery still works in my old tools. The "pro tools" do not take that track.
But Ryobi and Milwaukee are both owned and manufactured by the same company TTI, they’re practically the same tools just with a different plastic shell
As a Semi pro, I run Metabo HPT for power tools and beat the hell out of them and get free batteries. Never had a tool or battery die in several years.
For groundskeeping I go with worx. They're great but aftermarket batteries suck ass.
Any plug in tools that aren't antiques are rigid, their warranty is nuts, and their mitre saw has the widest range of any I've ever used. Plus free service and parts for life.
My coworker runs Milwaukee, lots of variety, but he's had two drills and three batteries die in 3 years of basic use, so I'm not sure if I trust them wholly. The packout is nice, but there are better options out there for portable tool chests now, like flex and toughbuilt.
I know a few pros who switched to flex tools and swear by them, but they're too fresh to market to know for sure, although the company has been around forever supposedly.
I've somehow killed half the Hitachi/MetaboHPT batteries I've bought, and two of three chargers to boot. If anything else in my house made a habit of mysteriously dying for no reason I'd blame the power company, but as it stands it's just the power tools, and I am by no means a heavy user. Maybe my garage just gets too hot? I dunno.
I've noticed a difference between the Lowe's/retailer Metabo tools and the stuff they have at Menards and Amazon. Menards especially seems to only stock discontinued models. I've been consistently surprised at how hardy mine have been. Maybe I just got lucky, or you unlucky.
Makita still going strong after 15yrs of use. They were the best at the time and still works amazing today with backwards compatibility batteries. My 15yrs old driver can use a brand new battery that a 2023 model uses.
Drill a 1/2" hole through 4" thick stainless without a hiccup on a single battery. Then tap the hole on the same battery. Impressive power and reliable
Large pieces of billet material, lift point added for moving between machines on the first 2 operations. Afterwards the item is light enough to pickup. Roughly 323lbs of material removed in the first 2 operations. Then the items went on to 6 months of machining to complete them. Very expensive one off pieces manufactured during R&D. Final products are low number runs of 2-3 items that take 5 months to manufacture. This was a single piece in a larger piece of equipment that I manufactured. Largest tolerance on the item was 0.0005" with true position at 0.0001". Challenging item to handle and machine
What I'm more intrigued by is that OP didn't say that they use any kind of guide or frame to hold the power drill. Try drilling 10cm by hand straight enough that it makes sense to tap the hole.
It's surprisingly hard (at least for me, perhaps I'm looking wrong :p) to find general comparisons comparing the brands for overall usefulness. You'll find stuff comparing their drills, or something specific, but not everything overall. Which seems much more important, as (as has been mentioned in these comments) the batteries really lock you into one brand.
If we're gonna talk about tools, I gotta shout out porter cable for making an absolute tank of a circular saw. Finally went cordless Bosch, but that porter cable has a good 20 years or so of heavy use and it's still kicking.
Timely! I was gifted into House Milwaukee this holiday season. I guess the sorting hat did it's thing. Hope to learn a lot of useful wizardry, I've got a door frame to fix.
Ryobi is great for starting out. They're definitely not the best tools, but they're cheap. If you wear out something from them, you've earned the right to buy a good brand of that tool.
I've gone through a skoolie (school bus converted to an RV) project and now most of a house renovation with one 1/4" Ryobi drill and one 3/8" Harbor Freight drill and they're both somehow still going strong after five years of hard usage. I had bad opinions of both manufacturers before but not any more.
My experience with Harbor Freight power tools is a (corded) circular saw that works extremely well. I put in a better blade, and it rocks. I've had it for years and it shows no signs of slowing down. I'm not a heavy user but I've used it for quite a few projects over the years, including an RV renovation I'm working on now.
My brother and I used Ego for lawn work. I'm not sure if these brands have lawn/garden stuff (I think I remember Ryobi does), but it's the same concept. I love battery powered tools, but I hate how the brands tie you in.
House Makita brings honor to our projects with powerful Nippon steel.
Seriously though, back when I worked for a small construction outfit. There were two teams of contractors. One vietnamese, the other Bosnian. They all bought used Makita tools.
I had no idea there even was a market for used tools back then. But it was enough to sell me on them myself. But man, are they pricier.
As a plumber milwaukee is where it's at, only brand that has a cordless snake/augur, air snake, compact propress, expansion pex and copper cutter tools.
I’ve been pretty happy with the Ryobi 18 and 40 volt stuff. If I ever need anything fancier I’ll probably start investing in milwaukee. At some point I plan to invest into a tool storage system and milwaukee may win that decision…
For corded stuff, brand loyalty isn’t that useful. I have a dewalt portable/job site table saw I really like.
My jigsaw and circular saw are skil, so I could probably stand to upgrade, but they work well enough.
Just bought a kobalt powered screwdriver that uses usbc to charge and seems fine for household use (when a drill driver is not needed)
Still have an old dewalt drill on a dead battery platform that refuses to die.
If you're looking for a solid storage system, check out toughbuilt or flex. As someone with the rare experience in several different mobile tool chests, flex and toughbuilt kick the hell out of the packout. I run the toughbuilt stacktech myself, and it's got everything I could have hoped for. Tough as hell, metal corners, waterproof, no fumbling to lock or unlock pieces as they connect automatically, and they're a good bit cheaper to boot.
Nearly every single kobalt tool I've had has broken or just stopped so quickly. They are such a small step above harbor freight that it isn't worth my time anymore.
I am from the Metabo house. Its a German company I used to work for. Pretty decent gear. They have a deal with a lot of smaller, specialised brands to share their battery system.
DeWalt for drills, etc.. I used to work in a hardware store (a small town store, not a Lowes/HD big box place) and sold DeWalt, so that's what I gravitated toward when I was buying tools for myself.
How about dads who went with the discount hardware store's brand. It's easily 1/4 Dewalt prices and comes with a 5 year no questions asked warranty? I spent like 80euros on two 18V cordless drills. I keep the receipt in the case they came in, and in the last 8 years I've abused the shit out of them, and have had at least one replacement. Just like Dewalt, makita, milwaukee, and ryobi, I have several batteries and charges, and a plethora of tools with the same battery.
I went to the store with a beat up drill, and the pimply faced teen at the register was like wtf?!? But the manager didn't want the full story on the phone. Only three questions "is it [store brand]?" "is the receipt less than 5 years old?" and "what are you calling me for then?". New drill, new case and new receipt. Oldest drill is about 4.5 years old now, so I guess that I have to torture the hell out of it and get a new one with 5 more years.
People talk shit about Harbor freight, but I have walked into that store with a box full of burnt up power tools and had absolutely no problems getting my money back or new tools. That bonus warranty for two dollars has paid for itself I don’t even know how many times. And you don’t have to buy a new warranty on every tool. You just have to buy that once and you get unlimited exchanges.
There is a canadian Youtuber that I stopped watching because he turned out to be a Canuck Trumper type, but he did a lot of videos where he broke down power tools with various price points and showed why they cost what they cost and where manufacturers do or don't cut corners. Interesting stuff.
Just make sure whatever tool/battery combo you end up using still some sort of battery protection. Most brands have it in the tool but a few have it in the battery.
Ryobi: for DIY, apprentices or otherwise cheapskates. No shame in it. Best bang for buck if you don't wear them out and the best part is you're not going to be worried that someone will nick off with them. A lot of their range isn't brushless and these tools will let you down the moment you need to do something moderately demanding.
Milwaukee: has won the trades tool war. They have a huge range of tools and their customer service with regard to warranty replacement can't be beat. Tradies are very comforted that know that they can abuse the crap out of their tool and not be out of pocket.
Makita: my house. I consider more of a gentlemans tool even though many swear they are the most rugged things out there. I think their batteries are better than the competition in terms of overall cycles so long as they are not abused. Their carpentry tools are so so buttery to use. Wish they had a bigger tool range.
Bosch: Not as good as the above two but priced the same or higher. Limited tool range. Batteries are really not amazing. Sad to see but the only persons using these are really those who insist on buying only a german/european branded product.
Dewalt: Yellow is not as good as red or teal and is priced accordingly. Weird second best niche. Batteries kind of trash imo.
Ozito/Ferrex/etc: Chinesium. Bit of a roll of the dice. Some stuff may last but generally expect these tools to fail at some point even with light usage. Generally not fun/comfortable to use either.
I'm not a dad, and I'm pretty heavily bought into SB&D's Craftsman V20 ecosystem. Some of them are clearly discount DeWalt, especially the brushless tools.
Corded tools, I have no loyalty. My table saw and planer are DeWalt, my drill press and jointer are Wen, I've got a Kobalt router table, and so on.
What about us who only have one accurate drill to assemble and mount IKEA furniture and then buy everything else corded as we will use it once in 2 years or maybe never, but we want to have it as we're thinking about having a small shed one day so we can finally make those 5 shelves for pantry and 2 cubic meters of storage space in the loft/garage?
Meh, I have Bosch, Ryobi, DeWalt, Ego, Ridgid. Why not just by the best according to cost/benefit for each thing. Corporate loyalty is dumb. I get the battery thing, but I'm pretty sure I got most of the tools at a good enough price to make the different batteries irrelevant.
I have mostly Black and Decker. Out of those four, it's a shame only DeWalt looks nice. That's probably what I'd go for based on looks and reputation. Otherwise Hilti is what seems to be recommended the most.
It is whatever you buy a battery and charger for first. Then you are unwilling to forfeit that battery to just buy another tool. So you get another tool of the same brand, even if you aren't happy with the previous. Then at that point, you've gone to far. You've got several hundred dollars in batteries you would have to give up just to switch. It is the most blatant example of the sunken cost fallacy.
Ryobi, specifically has entry level tools (a basic drill) that come with a charger and battery for cheaper than you can even buy a battery by itself. When you're young and broke and all you need to do is hang some curtains or something you get it. But really, it is just a seed for your future "house" that you belong to.
I found a set of Makita tools for 60% off last year and now I'm Makita battery dependent for the rest of my life
In 10 years you will have thousands of dollars in makita tools because hey, that hammer drill you needed was only $110, better get another battery too, your old ones are getting tired. 🤷♂️ and you will always have makita tools, forever. Even if you hate them.
I used to be ride or die for Makita as an electrician, but they've gone downhill lately and their battery prices are insane! Used to be a Makita could fall off a ladder onto the chuck and bounce. Last year my crew had two drills newly bought that year CATCH FIRE and one strip the gearbox. Embarassing performance.
I've pivoted to Ridgid with their dirt cheap batteries with lifetime warranty. And I have a couple Ridgid->Makita adapters to use my new collection of Ridgid batteries with my tough old Makita tools. Battery adapters will free you from that lock-in.
Honestly I've been impressed with the Ridgid tools though, same manufacturer as Milwaukee and Ridgid has always been a big brand with plumbers. The brushless tools I've bought have been powerful and robust so far. No regrets
So TTI manufactures Milwaukee, Ryobi, and Ridgid power tools. I didn't know they did Ridgid too. I wonder how many manufacturers there really are for the plethora of power tool brands. I'm gonna guess like three.
Wait TTI does dewalt too? I thought dewalt was same co as Milwaukee.
DeWalt is Stanley Black and Decker not tti
Check out this chart.
Feels like something the EU would eventually work on settling: making all tool manufacturers have a non-proprietary connector.
Just fucking make it all XT90 or something.
And have the battery dangling? XT90 also doesn't provide any way to communicate things like max charging speed, cell voltage or failure conditions to the charger
I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop and for a Belgian or something to drop in here to say that they’ve had fully interchangeable batteries for the last twenty years, and then make fun of us for building houses out of wood because we didn’t clear cut our continent.
https://youtu.be/eKOvXigyrXA?si=XiTMEQfNU1XmF2LQ
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/eKOvXigyrXA?si=XiTMEQfNU1XmF2LQ
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
More people should know there actually are adapters for different brands of batteries on amazon, and thingiverse if you have a 3D printer
And if you don't have a 3D printer, your local library likely does.
Dewalt battery on a Dyson vacuum as well
A bunch of much better ones on Etsy too
Thanks for the tip :)
Looking for this comment, I'm still running my craftsman 19.2 volt tools, but with a 20v DeWalt adapter, saved my from throwing away 1 reciprocating saw, 1 light, 1 1/4" impact, 2 drills, 1 90° drill, and a circular saw.
And if you don't have a 3D printer, your local library likely does.
Fucking Ridgid got me, because on paper, they have lifetime warranties on their batteries. But after buying an expensive combo, they made it an absolute hassle to register my tools, so I kinda doubt they'll honor their warranty. Now I'm Ridgid + Dewalt. My corded tools and hand tools are whatever brand; harbor freight or walmart if not used often, Milwaukee, DeWalt, etc if I expect to use them often.
I really dislike Home Depot after a series of huge customer service mishaps with me last year, and actively avoid going there now.
Which is a shame because I have a lot of Ryobi One tools. They are perfectly positioned for weekend warriors…huge tool library, good batteries, affordable and of fairly decent quality (certainly well above “junk” and a good value for the money).
Shame that is a store-exclusive brand.
The worst part is I’ve bought into most of the cordless tools I’d really need. The day might come where I want a larger circular saw (mines only 5.5 and it is prone to binding if your technique isn’t perfect, and even then…) or find that some of the tools that I’m okay with having corded (like a jigsaw or an angle grinder) I now need a cordless replacement. At that point I’ll likely find myself buying into a better and more expensive battery system and, for quite a while, only having the one seldom-used tool for it.
Now I’ve got a dead 4Ah battery and I’m on the fence as to rebuild it, buy a new one, or take it as an opportunity to start going into a new battery system.
I actually did a lot of research on this when I bought my first battery tools, knowing this would be the case, and decided they had a decent range of everything I'd likely need.
I went with AEG.
Which is TTI, so the same as Milwaukee, Ryobi, and Rigid. I wonder if they are more of a non-US rebranded one of those 3
They're identical to Ridgid, including the batteries being compatible.
Would there be a way to 3D print plastic part of a battery and just fill it with standard battery types (cylindrical batteries) and make them swapable? Because as far as i know there isn't really any electronics in batteries, just different voltages based on number of batteries in series and different mounting mechanism. It just seems like a silly vendor lock-in.
One could go pneumatic, get a compressor and pneumatic tools.
That's only good if you can bring your work to your garage.
I have a 100' air hose that reaches anywhere in the house. I often run it outside and back in a window somewhere so it doesn't end up in the way of family. I also have a small compressor for airbrushing rather than running permanent air lines from the garage to my basement workshop. You'll still want cordless convenience for a drill and some other small tools though.
You can get portable compressors.
I'm not hauling my portable compressor into my attic, nor do I have an extension cord that can reach the end of my yard. It stays in my garage. Even then I prefer battery tools because of the noise when the compressor kicks on.
Milwaukee included a bag and floodlight in their drill package so I guess that did it for me. Most of my drill bits are Ryobi though.
(Not a dad, just a lesbian)
Do Bosch tools not exist outside of Germany? Here the professional (blue) line is pretty much on par with hilti and Makita in terms of quality if not better depending on the type of tool
Bosch doesnt really enter the chat in a lot of places because their range of (excellent) tools just isnt that big.
If you're looking to enter a dad dick measuring contest with your tool collection Bosch isnt going to win, I swear Ryobi is about 3 seconds from bringing out a battery powered battery.
So basically, Bosh is Bosh-batons Academy of Magic.
Mastercraft/Amazon Basic brand over here for us squibs too.
Stanley is the dark arts. They own DeWalt, we all pretend DeWalt isn't just a front for Stanley, but we all know they are sus. Users of Stanley tools are known as Deck Eaters.
I was wondering when someone would mention MasterCrap
I have Ryobi's battery powered power supply, so... kinda!
There’s some Bosch stuff in the UK. I’m a Makita person but I recently bought a Bosch glue gun and it’s the most solid feeling glue gun I’ve ever had.
Not a professional line but I also know a few people that love the Parkside tools from Lidl, they are good value home tools so I’m told.
The Lidl tools give me some serious Harbor Freight vibes.
They exist in NA but definitely aren't as popular. The Bosch evsk1617 kit is still the best value for a larger size (not palm) router kit.
Bosch os common throughout Europe. In the US it probably suffers from the not invented here syndrome. Or maybe just heavy taxes, or they don't think blue is manly enough. Who can tell?
Is that the blue or green stuff? The blue stuff is pretty consistently good I think, the green stuff is the "I'm a broke student" stuff.
Green vs Blue.
Thing is I've only seen their cheap and really crappy line.
I've let the smoke out of a Bosch drill before, they're not that great.
I work with Hilti tools at work. You just made me giggle, thanks!
Dewalt is still that well regarded? My dad fucking hates them lol we used to have a good amount of their stuff and then tool after tool broke on him and he won't buy them unless he doesn't have a better option (he and my brother are HVAC/plumbers). He likes Milwaukee but thinks they're overpriced, and has a decent amount of Ryobi stuff now, along with Bosch. My grandpa was the Makita man.
I have a lot of Ryobi and Makita hand-me-downs as a result, haven't really had to buy much of my own yet, but that's changing.
All of my DeWalt gear straight up fucks. Anything else is toys though my Incra router table swings a fat Makita and my mitering chop saw is a Rigid.
Festool is the dad who still says "My father will hear about this". Sure people like him but he's still an asshole.
Festool is like a Porsche. They are expensive, but once you experience it you understand why they are worth that price.
I was wondering where Festool gang was at
Everyone except the Ryobi dads sound like they must be exhausted tbh..
No doubt lol
As a bisexual Makita dad, this describes me well.
Damn bro, we should hang. Makita dad meetup
Love my overpriced German Metabo.
I have a metaboHPT Brad nailer and it was absolutely the most affordable I could find outside of harbor freight level, and at the same time one of my highest quality tools. Truly a joy to use.
MetaboHPT are Hitachi. I wish their tools were compatible with my Metabo gmbh CAS batteries.
Anyone buying Hilti for DIY work needs to be slapped.
Can confirm I’m in debt
Bosch in the meantime is just working working and working. No sex, no fun, just work.
This tracks.
DeWalt: high quality and good pedigree but overpriced = Slytherin
Milwaukee: basically the same as DeWalt, but less pretentious. Thinks they're better and tougher though = Gryffindor
Makita: the smart choice for value, also best colors = Ravenclaw
Ryobi: I know it will break, but they're just tools and I'm not serious about this anyway. I would rather spend more money on my family or other hobbies = Hufflepuff
Honorable mentions of other "houses" and schools in the thread.
Black and Decker/Craftsman/whatever. Used to be very impressive, but completely corrupted. Probably evil = Durmstrang (Russian school)
Festool: Beautiful, absolutely dripping with wealth signals. Still pretty amazing at what they do, but you might not want them on a job site = Beauxbatons (super wealthy French school)
Harbor freight: Simple, potentially the most powerful but also likely to break. Can probably accomplish what you need by using a wrench as a hammer, but you wouldn't want to do anything delicate with it. Actually the biggest group of dad-wizards = Uagadou (the school in Uganda where magic was invented but they don't use wands)
Festool is not on this list because Festool owners NEVER GET ANYONE PREGNANT.
My dad gifted me a Dewalt Impact for Father's day one year and I've been unintentionally stuck in that ecosystem since.
How have power tool companies not figured out Gillette's trick about giving you a free razor on your 18th birthday to lock you in for decades?
Weird, I always thought that Gillette used the Selective Service registration in figuring out who to reach
Also, could the power tool companies afford to give power tools away like that? A razor is one thing but a cordless drill?
That drill needs batteries before long and needs to have an assortment of bits to use with it, those companies often sell all the bits or own the company that does
Dewalt has the juice to get it done but lacking g in specialty tools and their tough system sucks compared to Milwaukee. Coming from a guy with several grand of dewalt. Kind of wish I went Milwaukee but I'm in too deep...
They're getting better on specialty tools the last year or 2.
The 12 volt line has expanded as well. I Didn't need the 12v drill driver combo but wanted the 12v rachet they had as a free tool ona sale.
I rarely grab the 20v drill or driver unless the 12 just can't get it done.
The tough system stuff is finally starting to catch up a bit. I will admit it pisses me off to no end that so many items that come in clam shell cases aren't compatible or the tough system boxes could be designed with those items in mind as well.
Milwaukee is still winning that one but I couldn't justify the price.
I got my old man some DeWalt stuff. They're excellent tools.
Bosch
I dropped my locking, variable speed, single direction, corded drill with the chuck key electrical taped to the cracked plastic cord on a board and the hole I needed formed naturally out of fear.
You need to know that most power tools are ultimately owned by only a few brands
Milwaukee and Ryobi for example are both owned by TTI but the Marketing is strong.
https://www.protoolreviews.com/power-tool-manufacturers-who-owns-them/
Well, yes, but they serve drastically different markets, and the ownership structure is different. Ryobi is for the home owner that occasionally uses tools, and is licensed by a Japanese company to allow TTI to produce the brand. Milwaukee is for heavy daily use, and is wholly owned by TTI.
Its also worth mentioning that adapters are available to convert between battery systems. If you're on Milwaukee and want to buy a DeWalt palm router (which is superior IMO) then you can just get a converter to use it with a Milwaukee battery. You can keep the converter in the tool itself, and most tools don't mind this.
The exception is Ryobi. Converters only exist one-way, since Ryobi still uses "stick" type batteries for low voltage stuff. The opposite converter could theoretically exist (say, to use a Ryobi battery with a DeWalt router) but it would be very large and bulky and so nobody really makes them.
Ryobi batteries in general are very bulky. That 12 AH is like strapping a boot to your tools. It's also seemingly their weak spot, as all I read is people complaining about their batteries.
They make a 12ah? I have the 4 and it's huge. It lasts a surprisingly long time too. A 12ah would last a bazillion years.
Heck yeah! Makita is just Makita!
Japanese and over 100 years old..
You remember how Harry chose the house he wanted to be in, and it's canon, that the sorting hat ward isn't definite? When I was buying my first tool, I wanted a Ryobi. But they didn't have it in stock and they did have Makita on sale and the sales guy told me that would be much better for the same price. So after that I'm buying only Makita, to fit the rest.
House DeWalt: The Builders
House Ryobi: The Slapjobs
House Milwaukee: The wishes they were house DeWalt
House Makita: Quality prevails regardless of how little I use my tools.
Unmentioned:
House Bosch: House Makita but doesn't like Asians
House Metabo: House Milwaukee but green
House Rigid: wow these are fuckin cheap
House Worx: Tools take a backseat to Yardwork
House Metabo HPT: My wife says they're great
Milwaukee is better than DeWalt in literally every category. Come at me.
I was browsing the tool section at a Home Depot once a couple of years ago when a very attractive young woman came up to me and started asking me about my project. I'm not so dense that I thought she was hitting on me, but I couldn't figure out her angle and I thought maybe she was a prostitute or something. Turns out she was a Milwaukee sales rep and she was trying to encourage people (men, rather) to buy some Milwaukee cordless tools.
So, technically not a prostitute.
Only if you go for the strict definition.
Any exchange of labour for money under an indentured system where you are under constant violent threat of homelessness, destitution, starvation, and even death if you don’t work, is a certain type of prostitution born of desperation.
TL;DR: most of us whose paycheques are signed by someone else are labour prostitutes.
This is today's Lemmy Moment Of The Day.
I can't say I disagree with any of that.
I've got AEG, which is basically yellow Milwaukee anyway.
I’ve used dewalt professionally for many years. My buddies who use Milwaukee are always borrowing my stuff. I’ll leave it at that.
Yeap, switched from Milwaukee from DeWalt recently. The tool quality is pretty much the same, but the Milwaukee battery and chargers are a lot nicer.
Except battery life in my experience.
My construction companion runs Milwaukee. As I stated in a different comment, he's had several drills and batteries blow in about three years. This isn't to say they're not a great brand, but that's too many lemons for the premium they charge for my taste. seems like their biggest downfall is the plastic shells they use, especially on batteries. Those little power check buttons break right quick, and the rubber over moulding doesn't deal with grease well.
I run Metabo HPT, and I abuse the hell out of them. Drilling inch holes 12" deep in concrete for garage anchors, running all the batteries in sub zero and 100+ temps, notching studs until the multi tool is too hot to hold. Never had a failure in 6 years. Even my original batteries still work as well as the new. A slick bonus I found out being a compulsive tinkerer, the batteries that they sell as 18v 3ah are actually 24v 5ah. I always wondered why they lasted so long before I ripped a few apart. Samsung cells as well.
While I agree with you on most accounts, Milwaukee drills have cheap switches on them, they’re usually the first to hang to go. The chucks seem kinda cheap too, but honestly that’s not enough for me to switch teams, I’m married to Milwaukee, and the divorce would just be too damn expensive at this point.
House Hilti: Unyielding. Immutable. Eternal.
You forgot house Black & Decker
DeWalt is owned by Stanley Black&Decker
Rigid are mostly Milwaukee tools but cheaper.
Ngl, I absolutely love rigid. Most have lifetime guarantees, even on batteries.
Never had to exercise them fortunately.
Two different companies. Milwaukee and Ryobi are owned by the same company though.
Incorrect, Ridgid and AEG are also part of TTI.
Choice is an illusion.
Ridgid is owned by Emerson Electric.
Not as clever as you think you are.
House Bauer/Atlas/Hercules/Warrior: Life is transient, why does your tool or battery need to last longer than the job?
House Festool: Expensive, but I shift the cost to my clients.
Also, pretty systainers for storage and German ordnung.
House Harbor Freight: Safety squints aren't enough danger
That's not a house it's a harbor
Nah Makita is trash, unless you're talking LXT, which is 36 volt. Most of the Milwaukee stuff comes out on top on the torque test channel on YouTube.
But also don't forget House Skil: Issue
DeWalt gang, stand up!
In my experience, Dewalt has been the best in terms of balance between reliability, flexibility, and cost. Milwaukee is probably the most reliable but also the most limited. Ryobi are cheap junk. Makita tools I haven't used but I've been told repeatedly that they used to be awesome but are now cheap junk.
All of these companies have at least a few items that are cheap junk (like most of the bluetooth speaker stuff...wtf?) but some are worse than others.
While I acknowledge that Ryobi is at the bottom of the barrel, my experience with them has been really good. I've been using the same drill/driver for 20 years, and have gotten lots of use out of their other tools.
I have Dewalt/Ryobi battery tools
Ryobi usually lacks features
Take for example an oscillating saw
With my dewalt oscillating saw I can swap a blade or change the angle of the blade in 1 second because you just push down a lever. On the ryobi, you have to break out an allen wrench (which is stored in the tool) and loosen a bolt.
Someone that might use the saw once every blue moon might not care that much, but someone who uses it every day it is a big deal.
Also quality, Ryobi tools just feel cheaper.
I buy important tools in dewalt and less important tools in Ryobi. Like my small leaf blower is Ryobi. No need to pay extra for the dewalt one because it's just for quickly blowing off my walkway or front porch steps. If I need to move a lot of stuff I use my gas backpack blower, which is also Ryobi. Only problem I've ever had with it is the cord snapped a couple times, I think it has to do with how it rubs the grommet. Replaced the last time with a more heavy duty cord and haven't had a problem since. Always starts in less than 3 pulls and very powerful.
There are cons to Ryobi tools, but when looking at the top of the barrel tools the only con is usually the price.
Yes
Ryobi is fine
Other tools are better
Internet likes to put down Ryobi but it's not as bad as they make it out to be.
My first power drill was Ryobi like 10+ years ago and still works to this day. I prefer using my Dewalt drill, it's less clunky.
No one wants to be a "Ryobi Guy". Especially behind a screen where you can say you have any tool you want.
Bosch makes my favorite hammer drill. My Makita sander works like a champ. I enjoy my Milwaukee packout toolbox.
People get stuck on brands. And while with tools there are differences, Ryobi works just fine.
I did burn out my Ryobi oscillating saw. But that's the only Ryobi tool that has failed me and I have like a dozen of them. I really like my ryobi finish nailer.
Bosch makes a solid hammer drill...I once drilled into a steel reinforcement in concrete and it melted the bit red hot into a tear drop, and it didn't even stutter
But my Ryobi bits snapped multiple times the first time I used them (I used a center punch and proper form, they just snapped like glass the second I used carbide bits on a freaking aluminum alloy). Their power tools aren't quite as bad, but they're not noticeably better than harbor freight stuff. I genuinely believe black and Decker is better
Granted, I think Ryobi used to be way better...I think they got bought out used for the name a while back
Haven't used makita bt. Have 20+ other makita going back 15yrs to brand new ones. All have worked perfectly with incredible power. Same batteries work on all of them. Have had some chargers fail but not a single tool. They get used and abused daily with no issues. Granted this is anecdote evidence.
Curious if the brand new ones will last then. I've had a few friends say that the new ones break more easily than their old ones but that is also anecdotal.
Could also depend on how they're are used and treated. Some of my friends theirs don't last long at all with how they use them.
If it works for you and how you use it, then it's the right tool.
Depends on which line of Makita you buy into I think. I have a right angle drill and the "good" angle grinder from them (not that xlock bullshit) and both get moderate use. Both are 5-ish years old and still work great.
I've got all Dewalt for the stuff that needs to last (circular saw, reciprocating saw, drills, etc), but for some things I get the cheap garbage because the cost difference is so extreme and I know I'm just going to replace them every couple years anyway.
Most of my yard equipment is ryobi. All of the stuff with massive batteries is just so stupidly expensive from Dewalt and Milwaukee. I don't expect an outdoor lithium ion battery to last more than 5 years anyway, so instead of getting the high quality version, I got the shit one and had money to spare on extra batteries.
I have the flexvolt yard tools and they've gone strong for 5 years. Their blower is the strongest out there but only last about 15-20 minutes.
I’ve used dewalt professionally for many years and the tools are top notch
Ryobi is great if you're like me and just need the occasional tool to do a small project around the house and then gets put away for a few months. I've got a Ryobi portable vacuum at work that does great, gets used daily.
Can't, sold my kidneys to afford these and I'm too sore.
I needed to pick a side 4 years ago when buying a drill and hadn't heard a bad word about DeWalt.
So I bought DeWalt.
DeWalt ftw. Granted, I keep getting told to wait for Christmas and getting black and Decker as gifts... It's good enough to manage for my needs, but very noticeably worse
IME, Milwaukee is noticeably more hardy in cold temperatures, Ryobi is absolute garbage, and Makita is pretty good for hobbyist level
But I worked construction during college, and DeWalt was great, and Milwaukee was almost as good. The other two don't deserve to be in the same list
Quality-wise, Makita > DeWALT ≥ Milwaukee > Ryobi, at least, if you watch teardowns by guys like AvE.
Power tools are like cars; companies hold several brands and target them to different market segments, like Porsche and VW.
Ryobi is owned by the same company as Milwauki; it's the budget line, Milwauki being their premium line.
DeWALT and Black & Decker are owned by the same company; DeWALT is their premium line.
The exception in this list is Makita, which is its own company. They're also objectively more well-built than the others (here), and correspondingly usually more expensive.
The premium lines are better quality (not just more expensive) but also tend to have smaller battery-tool options. Despite being a budget line, I mostly own B&D because most of my tools these days are 24V and there are more tool options there. The few, select, DeWALT tools I have are noticably better quality.
I don't use power tools enough to justify Makita, but also, their battery-powered line is comparatively tiny. As someone else said, there's a lot of motivation to pick a (compatible) lane, whichever it is. For most home-gamers, the quality difference will probably not matter much. If I were made of money, though, I'd have everything Makita except for the things they don't make.
I’m in that fifth house that no-one ever seems to talk about: BOSCH.
J/K, I’m mostly Bosch, but I look towards whichever manufacturer makes the best version of a tool I currently need. For example, my chainsaws and yard/orchard power tools are Stihl, my lawnmower is Husqvarna, my circular saw, worm drive saw and abrasion/steel cutoff saw are all Skilsaw (not Skil!), and my oscillating multi tool is Fein.
Plus, many of the domestics are vintage, from before production was outsourced out of America, which makes them much more reliable and robust than modern tools. Even some of the other tools are vintage -- my Stihl 076 Super can cut through a 60cm log like a hot knife through butter. And I have both 36″ and 72″ bars to go with it.
Straight up Ryobi here. It's not pro-hardcore, but for homeowner DIY and the variety and range of devices, it's been solid.
Pretty funny how Home Depot has stayed neutral and carried all those brands.
Couple years back I went to the graduation party of a kid my step daughter was friends. The dad had an entire wall pegboarded out with every possible Ryobi cordless tool. It was honestly impressive. And he had one Makita tool. Made me laugh.
20v to house DeWalt!
Mudblood.
Not a dad but heavily into the Makita gang. As a German I should be into Hilti or Metabo but Makita just hits the sweetspot of quality and pricing for me.
Same here brother, Makita all the way. I respect all the brands, but once you buy a battery and a charger for one brand, you're in it.
You forgot Bosch! It's a shit company in my opinion though.. they also produce in Chinese prison camps
Yeah, no. Same reason. Garbage chinesium.
Not really selling it well
Only issue with Makita is s their battery tech hasnt caught up with everyone else. They seem to have forgotten their 18 volt line in favor of their 36 volt.
Project Farm on YouTube has great tests and reviews of products like this. Fully recommend his channel if you are in the market to buy tools or tool adjacent products.
Fuck yeah. Project Farm rules! He's like Bob Ross for me. I just chill and watch tool-science happen.
Torque test channel is pretty much completely power tool specific and goes a lot more in depth on them. PF for breadth, TTC for depth.
As a Harbor Freight guy, I'm offended.
I love “the wire” scene on picking a power tool.
https://youtu.be/-N_UuImPL4E
“Yeah. Cordless'll do that. You might want to consider the powder-actuated tool. The Hilti DX460MX or the Simpson PTP. These two are my Cadillacs. Everything else on this board is second best, sorry to say. Are you contracting or just doing some work around the house?”
That's because the batteries have become the printer ink of the tool world. They're f'n expensive.
If you buy into a product system it makes no sense to have different batteries that don't fit all the tools. If you keep the batteries all the same then you can be charging one or two sets vs having to buy extra sets and charger multiplied by the different tool makers.
I have one of the manufacturers shown in the image, and after I got a kit that had a charger, tool, and extra batteries included I got hooked in because they sell tools without batteries, but I have extra! So I bought same maker. The tools are all pretty good, so not much difference between makers, but that's one way they hook you.
Any Europeans? Where my Bosch brothers
Which is the Harbor Freight's Warrior & Hecules house?
The house elves?
Master gave Dobby a brick!
It would be a hand tool you give it for freedom.
Fighting against Harbor Freight's Chicago and Bauer houses?
And look how happy they are with their sorting hat:
I landed in DeWalt when their cordless devices became as good as/better than corded tools; I standardized on their battery platform only for them to abandon my battery and roll out a new (incompatible) one. Shortly thereafter my batteries bricked and it seems the business model is to force consumers to buy new tools every so often
FML I hate it that they're all proprietary and incompatible
GryffinDeWalt
Milwauflepuff
Ravenkita
SlytheRyobi
And if you're a dad who has a woodworking YouTube channel and business: Festool.
Went looking for my Craftsman brothers, but I’m afraid I may stand alone.
Only Bosch! Only hardcore!
But im a craftsman....
You stand behind DeWalt and behave for Black and Decker
I have a B&D corded drill from the 1980s that is still ripping through steel no problem.
Old craftsman or new? Because if new you might not be Craftsman very long. Old craftsman tools will outlive us all and if you can find them at a garage sale, buy em.
New craftsman tools are pretty much just junk.
Their battery power tools are completely unrelated to whatever craftsman used to be.
All of their tools are completely unrelated to what craftsman used to be.
For what i use them for my craftsman electric cordless set does the job. Thats what I want in a tool. They have done the job for 5 years now no problems.
What's considered old? I have some craftsman tools from 20 years ago that are junk.
I believe the cutoff is in the 80's?
Milwaukee and Ryobi are owned by the same company. https://www.protoolreviews.com/power-tool-manufacturers-who-owns-them/
I can't tell if DeWalt is the Gryffindor or Slytherin of power tool brands.
While I do have a couple of DeWalt drills, I've been a member of the House of Ryobi for 20+ years. Ryobi was the first to really push the idea of "one battery fits all" ecosystem with their 18V ONE batteries.
My Wife bought me a tool set for Christmas one year and I have never looked back. 20 years later I'm still using those tools and Ryobi still supports them. A new Lithium battery battery still works in my old tools. The "pro tools" do not take that track.
Cries in the corner with his WORX tools
DeWalt gang rise up
But Ryobi and Milwaukee are both owned and manufactured by the same company TTI, they’re practically the same tools just with a different plastic shell
Do any of these have a plug in adapter? Like a battery pack with a cord coming out of it?
But I like having my power and hand tools in matching colors...
Damn, Ridgid can't even end up in this image. You make my tools sad. :(
As a Semi pro, I run Metabo HPT for power tools and beat the hell out of them and get free batteries. Never had a tool or battery die in several years.
For groundskeeping I go with worx. They're great but aftermarket batteries suck ass.
Any plug in tools that aren't antiques are rigid, their warranty is nuts, and their mitre saw has the widest range of any I've ever used. Plus free service and parts for life.
My coworker runs Milwaukee, lots of variety, but he's had two drills and three batteries die in 3 years of basic use, so I'm not sure if I trust them wholly. The packout is nice, but there are better options out there for portable tool chests now, like flex and toughbuilt.
I know a few pros who switched to flex tools and swear by them, but they're too fresh to market to know for sure, although the company has been around forever supposedly.
Yeah same company that makes Flex also make Kobalt as their Ryobi competitor for Lowe's, and Ridgid as their mid tier tools.
I've somehow killed half the Hitachi/MetaboHPT batteries I've bought, and two of three chargers to boot. If anything else in my house made a habit of mysteriously dying for no reason I'd blame the power company, but as it stands it's just the power tools, and I am by no means a heavy user. Maybe my garage just gets too hot? I dunno.
I've noticed a difference between the Lowe's/retailer Metabo tools and the stuff they have at Menards and Amazon. Menards especially seems to only stock discontinued models. I've been consistently surprised at how hardy mine have been. Maybe I just got lucky, or you unlucky.
Makita still going strong after 15yrs of use. They were the best at the time and still works amazing today with backwards compatibility batteries. My 15yrs old driver can use a brand new battery that a 2023 model uses.
Drill a 1/2" hole through 4" thick stainless without a hiccup on a single battery. Then tap the hole on the same battery. Impressive power and reliable
4 inch thick stainless steel? What in tarnation is that for?
Custom bunker door installation?
Port holes in armored vehicles, so the soldiers can stick their rifles out of and shoot at people.
Adding a lift point. Did 12 of them and the driver was on the toasty side when done
A lift point on what, though?
Large pieces of billet material, lift point added for moving between machines on the first 2 operations. Afterwards the item is light enough to pickup. Roughly 323lbs of material removed in the first 2 operations. Then the items went on to 6 months of machining to complete them. Very expensive one off pieces manufactured during R&D. Final products are low number runs of 2-3 items that take 5 months to manufacture. This was a single piece in a larger piece of equipment that I manufactured. Largest tolerance on the item was 0.0005" with true position at 0.0001". Challenging item to handle and machine
What were they parts of?
Wafer manufacturing. High heat application for the unit, part described is the main internal platter
What I'm more intrigued by is that OP didn't say that they use any kind of guide or frame to hold the power drill. Try drilling 10cm by hand straight enough that it makes sense to tap the hole.
Free hand, lots of practice. The threaded hole was to add a lift point, didn't need to be perfectly perpendicular
Killdozer2
I used to use cheapo tools, but I borrowed a Makita circular saw once and it was so nice to use in comparison that I’ve been on team teal ever since.
Yeah, and Ryobi and Milwaukee are made by the same manufacturer anyway.
So are Toyota and Lexus. There's a difference tough.
My tools?
Wired: DeWalt
Battery: Makita
Pneumatic: Bosch
Hand: whatever’s in the box…
Wired and Pneumatic can be whatever.
I have Makita batteries that are 12 years old. Still work. Only now I'm thinking about getting new batteries
It's surprisingly hard (at least for me, perhaps I'm looking wrong :p) to find general comparisons comparing the brands for overall usefulness. You'll find stuff comparing their drills, or something specific, but not everything overall. Which seems much more important, as (as has been mentioned in these comments) the batteries really lock you into one brand.
If we're gonna talk about tools, I gotta shout out porter cable for making an absolute tank of a circular saw. Finally went cordless Bosch, but that porter cable has a good 20 years or so of heavy use and it's still kicking.
House Ego: I don't want the cheapest thing, but I'm only willing to go a single step up.
Any Harbor Freighters? Any Hercules dads?
Where is the power fist / what ever is cheapest?
Canadian here and I've never seen a Canadian Tire branded tool in my life. Are you maybe talking about Mastercraft?
Not a dad, but definitely team DeWalt.
Timely! I was gifted into House Milwaukee this holiday season. I guess the sorting hat did it's thing. Hope to learn a lot of useful wizardry, I've got a door frame to fix.
Lol, yep I got gifted into the same house.
I'm sending well wishes on your wizarding journey!
Most of my stuff is Bosch...
Mine too, but their range is so small.
It's ok bud, not everyone has a big tool selection. Just remember what's important, how you use the tools you have and if you get the job done.
As a dad having options for the fam for fathers day is good.
I got three of the four, just one more power tool set and I'll be sweet lol
There used to be a great fifth house of Craftsman...
And let's not even talk about Snap-on, Northern, or AmazonBasics
Worx life!
Get a landroid!
Ryobi is great for starting out. They're definitely not the best tools, but they're cheap. If you wear out something from them, you've earned the right to buy a good brand of that tool.
I've gone through a skoolie (school bus converted to an RV) project and now most of a house renovation with one 1/4" Ryobi drill and one 3/8" Harbor Freight drill and they're both somehow still going strong after five years of hard usage. I had bad opinions of both manufacturers before but not any more.
My experience with Harbor Freight power tools is a (corded) circular saw that works extremely well. I put in a better blade, and it rocks. I've had it for years and it shows no signs of slowing down. I'm not a heavy user but I've used it for quite a few projects over the years, including an RV renovation I'm working on now.
Not to bash HB cuz they rule when you need a new tool quick,, but how hard can it possibly be to make a thing that spins when you plug it in?
Ryobi is the perfect price point and level of quality for DIY stuff, but you still want a decent quality tool.
I honestly am not sure I've ever heard of the bottom two, I'm a second generation DeWalter (though my dad also used Ryobi).
My brother and I used Ego for lawn work. I'm not sure if these brands have lawn/garden stuff (I think I remember Ryobi does), but it's the same concept. I love battery powered tools, but I hate how the brands tie you in.
House Makita brings honor to our projects with powerful Nippon steel.
Seriously though, back when I worked for a small construction outfit. There were two teams of contractors. One vietnamese, the other Bosnian. They all bought used Makita tools.
I had no idea there even was a market for used tools back then. But it was enough to sell me on them myself. But man, are they pricier.
As a plumber milwaukee is where it's at, only brand that has a cordless snake/augur, air snake, compact propress, expansion pex and copper cutter tools.
House: I have no idea how to be handy with tools
No love for Porter-Cable?
Boooooo.
Goblin magic is powerful but kept from the civilized world.
They're being replaced by the zombie corpse of craftsman, basically discontinued
How dare they ignore the fifth and oldest house, House Craftsman
Shit, I bought into the makita system but luckily I’m not a dad. I have much more time to spend with my tools.
I’ve been pretty happy with the Ryobi 18 and 40 volt stuff. If I ever need anything fancier I’ll probably start investing in milwaukee. At some point I plan to invest into a tool storage system and milwaukee may win that decision…
For corded stuff, brand loyalty isn’t that useful. I have a dewalt portable/job site table saw I really like.
My jigsaw and circular saw are skil, so I could probably stand to upgrade, but they work well enough.
Just bought a kobalt powered screwdriver that uses usbc to charge and seems fine for household use (when a drill driver is not needed)
Still have an old dewalt drill on a dead battery platform that refuses to die.
If you're looking for a solid storage system, check out toughbuilt or flex. As someone with the rare experience in several different mobile tool chests, flex and toughbuilt kick the hell out of the packout. I run the toughbuilt stacktech myself, and it's got everything I could have hoped for. Tough as hell, metal corners, waterproof, no fumbling to lock or unlock pieces as they connect automatically, and they're a good bit cheaper to boot.
I'm scared to mention Kobalt in here
………..boi
😶🌫️
Nearly every single kobalt tool I've had has broken or just stopped so quickly. They are such a small step above harbor freight that it isn't worth my time anymore.
The power drill my dad got me a decade ago still works, and locked me in... I have done some med-duty ranch work with it and it still drills
I dream of owning Kobalt tools one day as I use my Harbor Freight cheapies.
I've goy thay Kobalt router table, and it's pretty good.
So DeWalt is Gryffindor right?
Is House Craftsman like the Reynes of Castemere or something?
Edit: sorry, wrong fantasy world...
They're house Tyrell. They used to be great, then they fell apart, now they're trying to come back.
Me with my Ryobi miter saw, Milwaukee toolkit, Black & Decker powerdrill, and Mastercraft oscillating saw like i'm collecting infinity stones
I am from the Metabo house. Its a German company I used to work for. Pretty decent gear. They have a deal with a lot of smaller, specialised brands to share their battery system.
What about the tribes out in the wild? The Festools, Mafells and Hiltis?
Disappointed metabo isnt represented. Used to be hitachi? I’ve got a pneumatic brad nailer from them and it’s both wondrous and affordable.
DeWalt for drills, etc.. I used to work in a hardware store (a small town store, not a Lowes/HD big box place) and sold DeWalt, so that's what I gravitated toward when I was buying tools for myself.
But for yard tools, 40v Ryobi.
How about dads who went with the discount hardware store's brand. It's easily 1/4 Dewalt prices and comes with a 5 year no questions asked warranty? I spent like 80euros on two 18V cordless drills. I keep the receipt in the case they came in, and in the last 8 years I've abused the shit out of them, and have had at least one replacement. Just like Dewalt, makita, milwaukee, and ryobi, I have several batteries and charges, and a plethora of tools with the same battery.
I went to the store with a beat up drill, and the pimply faced teen at the register was like wtf?!? But the manager didn't want the full story on the phone. Only three questions "is it [store brand]?" "is the receipt less than 5 years old?" and "what are you calling me for then?". New drill, new case and new receipt. Oldest drill is about 4.5 years old now, so I guess that I have to torture the hell out of it and get a new one with 5 more years.
People talk shit about Harbor freight, but I have walked into that store with a box full of burnt up power tools and had absolutely no problems getting my money back or new tools. That bonus warranty for two dollars has paid for itself I don’t even know how many times. And you don’t have to buy a new warranty on every tool. You just have to buy that once and you get unlimited exchanges.
I'm pretty satisfied with Hart which is a Walmart brand. Keeping my fingers crossed, but no issues so far after a couple years.
The same company that makes Ryobi and Milwaukee tools also makes Hart.
There is a canadian Youtuber that I stopped watching because he turned out to be a Canuck Trumper type, but he did a lot of videos where he broke down power tools with various price points and showed why they cost what they cost and where manufacturers do or don't cut corners. Interesting stuff.
WranglerStar?
He's in Washington near Portland.
Probably AVE
I want a complete DeWalt set and the time at home enough to justify using each and every tool until it does from usage
FYI there are adaptors for all of these batteries so you’re not actually stuck. I got one on Amazon
Just make sure whatever tool/battery combo you end up using still some sort of battery protection. Most brands have it in the tool but a few have it in the battery.
Remember Wen....
I have a mishmash thanks to some battery adapters I found on Amazon. I swap between Dewalt, and two Milwaukee ecosystems seamlessly
Kobalt gang 😎
In Australia
Ryobi: for DIY, apprentices or otherwise cheapskates. No shame in it. Best bang for buck if you don't wear them out and the best part is you're not going to be worried that someone will nick off with them. A lot of their range isn't brushless and these tools will let you down the moment you need to do something moderately demanding.
Milwaukee: has won the trades tool war. They have a huge range of tools and their customer service with regard to warranty replacement can't be beat. Tradies are very comforted that know that they can abuse the crap out of their tool and not be out of pocket.
Makita: my house. I consider more of a gentlemans tool even though many swear they are the most rugged things out there. I think their batteries are better than the competition in terms of overall cycles so long as they are not abused. Their carpentry tools are so so buttery to use. Wish they had a bigger tool range.
Bosch: Not as good as the above two but priced the same or higher. Limited tool range. Batteries are really not amazing. Sad to see but the only persons using these are really those who insist on buying only a german/european branded product.
Dewalt: Yellow is not as good as red or teal and is priced accordingly. Weird second best niche. Batteries kind of trash imo.
Ozito/Ferrex/etc: Chinesium. Bit of a roll of the dice. Some stuff may last but generally expect these tools to fail at some point even with light usage. Generally not fun/comfortable to use either.
Shiiiit, here I thought my pops was just poor, he was being worldly buying whatever brand was the sale.
I'm not a dad, and I'm pretty heavily bought into SB&D's Craftsman V20 ecosystem. Some of them are clearly discount DeWalt, especially the brushless tools.
Corded tools, I have no loyalty. My table saw and planer are DeWalt, my drill press and jointer are Wen, I've got a Kobalt router table, and so on.
I was sorted long before my kids were born
Good news everyone! Apparently, EU went for it https://youtu.be/eKOvXigyrXA?si=XiTMEQfNU1XmF2LQ
.......snap-on?
Let's get you back to the home
I think it might be because I fix cars more than houses, and I'm in my 20s.
My dad rejected those answers, instead, he chose something different, he chose... Festool!
I guess when you have Malfoy money you can afford to go full death eater.
With how long they last, you could be a Makita grandad
What about us who only have one accurate drill to assemble and mount IKEA furniture and then buy everything else corded as we will use it once in 2 years or maybe never, but we want to have it as we're thinking about having a small shed one day so we can finally make those 5 shelves for pantry and 2 cubic meters of storage space in the loft/garage?
Where’s Facom
I'm a middle aged Dad. I testify in the affirmative this is the holy truth.
Meh, I have Bosch, Ryobi, DeWalt, Ego, Ridgid. Why not just by the best according to cost/benefit for each thing. Corporate loyalty is dumb. I get the battery thing, but I'm pretty sure I got most of the tools at a good enough price to make the different batteries irrelevant.
Huh... Which school are HART and Hyper Tough from if it's not Hogwarts? 🤔
Back of the package instructions for gags bought from a muggle magic shop found in a Vegas airport school of wizardry.
All of their alumni can be found performing at swap meets before AA meetings, I mean defense against dark potions class.
I have mostly Black and Decker. Out of those four, it's a shame only DeWalt looks nice. That's probably what I'd go for based on looks and reputation. Otherwise Hilti is what seems to be recommended the most.
Idk what its called but if my daughter comes home with a dude who prefers anything other than those neon tools I'm sending him home.
Milwaukee = Gryffindor
DeWalt = Ravenclaw
Makita = Hufflepuff
Ryobi = Slytherin
Ryobi is garbo.
Harbor Frieght is the Ikea of the tool world.
Well said 👏