Power Tools - Any Recs?

[macarose]

Well, I have decided to upgrade my old school line-up of wrenches to electric powered doo-dads that will help reduce the time of removing all the 'screws and nuts' in my life.

With that said... what have you guys found to be worth the long-term investment?

I don't care if it's cheap/costly or China/USA. What I'm looking for is to invest in the tools that will handle light to moderate repairs with minimal hassle.

 

[Donald]

I assume you mean cordless? I would look at some of the tool lineups and see if the tools made in that lineup will suit your needs. I have gone with Dewalt 18V tools and have 5 or 6 tools. Its nice to be able to buy bare tools without a battery. You do not want to end up with 10 tools, each with their own battery and charger (and all different).

 

[KD0AXS]

Cordless impact driver. I never knew how handy these were until I bought one. I have a Ridgid, but there are plenty of other good brands out there.

 

[spackard]

Seems with Black Friday around the corner (or, for some stores, alive now) you could buy a set rather inexpensively.
For example, $179 for a Hitachi KC18DHL drill and impact driver set on amazon.

Depends on how much work you expect your tools to do.
If you expect less work, then the smaller 10.8V are very light. It would help others to answer your question if you posted an idea of how frequently you'd use them, and, if drilling holes for example, how large a hole and into what material.

I like the lightness of the Li-ion tools; Ni-CD tend to be cheaper now but are heavier, and self-discharge faster.

 

[tc1446]

After losing most of my good tools to a break-in, I started buying the cheap stuff like cordless drills from HF. Only complaint I have with the drill is the hand tighten chuck tends to slip under hard use, so pick one with a good chuck.

I have a nice Dewalt with a teriffic chuck but when the batterys went dead at 2 years and a single new one cost more than several HF drills, I went with the cheap stuff. All depends on how hard and how often you plan on using one.

When it came to drilling lots of holes thru 2x4's in a new shed to run elec lines, I went to the 30 year old tried and true corded Black and Decker. The thieves didn't bother with it!

 

[SF0059]

Anything made by Bosch, Makita or Milwaukee.

Rigid, while not as advanced in some of their designs, have a interesting proposition with the Lifetime Service Agreement that covers parts, labor AND batteries for the life of the tool. Pretty hard to pass on that for the price.

 

[volk06]

I have a set of Rigid XRP cordless tools. They are made by the same company as milwaukee. The good thing about Rigid is they have a lifetime warranty if you register them.

 

[Astro14]

I've just upgraded to a set of Makita 18V Li-ion tools...really nice...long battery life...got an impact driver, multi-tool and drill...the drill was free with the purchase of the others...or something like that...

I would shop around, figure out what you want those tools to do (circular saw? Just drill?) and then pick one manufacturer...the tools are cheap. Batteries and chargers are costly, so sticking with one manufacturer/charger/battery configuration makes the most sense.

And yes, Li-ion have incredible life... and I don't know how I lived without an impact driver...

 

[dareo]

I have gotten on the Dewalt 20v lithium platform with a drill, impact, and grinder so far. Very light and strong. I just need more batteries and tools. They have so many cool options.

Any good brand, li-ion, should do what you need to.

 

[bcossa2001]

I have a 12 volt Porter Cable Cordless that I like very much. Not as large as an 18 Volt--just the right size for my needs and have used it on the cars for misc. items many times...

 

[RS700L]

I love my Milwaukee M18 Lithium tools. What kind of work do you want to be doing? Wrenches still have their place in many regards, even when one owns great power tools.

If you're just looking for something to speed up screwing/unscrewing, try a 12V cordless drill. Most of the big brands are comparable in a given price range. Get an assortment of bits and a socket adapter. That will do just about anything.

 

[Donald]

I few lines of tools (Dewalt 18V) can go with NiCad or Li-ion batteries. Same battery footprint.