personally i love the worx tools. specifically the cordless garden range. ive been using mine every day for around 3 years now (garden maintenance business) id definitely say the 20v series (brushless) at least is good quality. my cheaper tools (diy/woodwork) the lumberjack sanders i have are pretty decent for the price and have taken some abuse! Great insight as always!
Great honest advice Keith...Makita is my chosen brand now I have decided to go cordless... Except for my two existing 12volt Dewalt drill and impact driver. Cheers Paul
I really like Festool, some of their tools for me unrivaled when it comes to ergonomics. I use the CXS drill driver, ETS 125 sander and the domino. Having said that, Festool doesn't have a convenient battery platform, a lot of tools require their own specific battery. So for most of my cordless tool I use Bosch professional.
Hi Keith, Great break down, just a little correction though Hikoki / metabo HPT I agree are prosumer quality however Metabo still market a premium quality brand of tools marketed purely as "Metabo" which align very much in the professional field, Indeed Metabo themselves are keen to point out this difference.
Hi Graham, I actually put HiKOKI/Metabo HPT in trade grade, not prosumer. Metabo HPT is just the US name used for HiKOKI tools. Metabo tools are a completely separate line of tools and the batteries are not compatible with HiKOKI/Metabo HPT.
@@RagnBoneBrown Hi Keith, sorry my mistake ( must be the beer and sun yesterday ) I have quite the collection of Metabo gear none of the Hickok I gear, and I have to say they are brilliant except for no other company making stuff like tracksaw attachments or the like. That’s CAS batteries esp the HdLi versions are really good with outstanding life of charge etc. Graham
Thanks Graham, sounds like they're serving you well. I've not had any experience with Metabo as yet but I've seen Robin Clevett using them and he thought highly of them too 👍
Excellent tips, Keith! Thanks a bunch! 😃 I've got a few tools from Ryobi, never had an issue, BUT... Mine are all corded. 😬 Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Really fair review Keith. Spares at lower level are rare or impossible. I have gone from Erbauer or lower 20 years ago to the odd Festool tool. On power cords, your comments very fair again. I have put an anti drag sleeve on my dust extractor hose and run a power cord up the inside. I went Festool with the power cord as you can buy the tool end connector and I have changed my sander and track saw to fit the Festool connector power lead. This works very well. 100% agree stick to a battery platform. Me DeWalt 18v / 54v platform as it is the same platform
Interesting video. No mention of Trend? I have a mix of tools as including Festool, Dewalt and Trend because as you say, each do a specific job very well. I’m only a hobbyist DIYer but I do believe in buy once, cry once. Keep up the great videos
Trend are a tricky one as their new range of tools is yet to be tried and tested and I've heard a lot of people have found faults and problems with them and had to send them back!.. Their newer range of cordless tools and their cheaper routers I think fit in prosumer (the trend plunge router I have is definitely not trade grade in my opinion), but they have some nice routers too which are more expensive and trade grade....
For me (as a hobbyist), another key reason for corded tools over cordless is longevity. For tools that I use infrequently and don't expect to do enough work with them to wear them out, corded has the advantage that they'll still work decades from now, whereas batteries compatible with current tools are IMO unlikely to still be available that far into the future. Another aspect is corded lets you pick the best tool from any brand, rather than being biased towards the battery platform you already have.
I agree 100% I still have many of my beginner tools from the 90's, and I don't have to worry about getting hold of any batteries, because they are corded. As long as I can still plug into a 110v socket in the future.
I use the big and small corded drills I have for Christmas when I was little. They are around 30 years old and wok perfectly. People think they have a warrantee on brushless tools but when you bring them in they go straight in the trash because they’re not serviceable. They don’t replace them. That was the lifetime of the brushless tool and it’s over.
I’d add “where am I going to use it?” as a buying criterion. Considering all the places I drag my drill and impact driver (inside and outside the house) cordless is a huge convenience.
@@robertbamford8266 yeah, for me: drills & drivers need to be cordless, most saws probably not. Though, I have smugly trotted down the road with my Ryobi reciprocating saw to clear away fallen branches.
always honest and humble, like at the beginning. Thanks for this video which don't promess paradise with one particulary brand...because there's not !!!
Keith great video we live on a small holding and have slowly upgraded my tools mainly Dewalt but also have cheap tools which i could say i've been lucky with B&Q pro performance sds drill aprox 15 years old.👍👍🍺🍺
Yeah, one reason I only watch your project videos and no longer watch anything about tools, usually, is the move I have seen to all your kit being Milwaukee - not the case when I first started watching you years ago. It was pretty obvious you had started accepting freebies so I narrowed my scope of watching. One reason I still watch Peter M is that he doesn't do that.
I'm not sure where you're getting your information from as Peter very openly accepts a lot of free stuff (more than me in fact) - this is explained in his videos. If you meant sponsorships, then yes, you're correct, Peter doesn't do tool sponsorships and I do. But if I didn't, I would still be working a day job. I have no issue with you not watching my videos, just wanted to make you aware of the true situation. And if you are wishing me to be on the breadline, then I'd prefer it if you didn't watch my videos tbh. My channels purpose is not to sell Milwaukee tools, and I think I've made that quite clear. But the support I get from them allows me to make videos for people like you to consume for free
Agree with everything here except 2 things. My Erbauer kit including my impact driver just keeps on working. And it’s Heinz beans or it’s nothing, good grief man!
And then there’s the company “Stanley Black & Decker” with its multiple products, which, beyond its namesakes, include porter cable and dewalt. Old reputations can’t be trusted, but I also expect higher end product improvements filter down to the lower end products. Not easy to figure out what’s what when the same product line has multiple levels of products.
All my cordless work tools are Dewalt. I have quite a collection. I have 2 cordless Dewalt sanders 1/4 sheet and random orbit, both perform excellently daily (up to 3 hours at a time). For my occasional use cordless (the hardly use can't justify spending much) tools I've gone to the Einhell range, and to be honest they are surprisingly good value for money. Especially as they do a couple of tools no one else does. As for corded tools I buy any make I fancy as I'm not tied to certain batteries. And my best tool that gets so much daily use (up to 4 hours)and has been going for years without a breakdown (touch wood) My Numatic vacuum cleaner ( the trade named version of Henry). If it broke tomorrow and I couldn't fix it I'd buy another.
I was with you right up until you said there’s no difference in beans. Go stand in the corner until you learn - has to be Heinz. 😀 Thanks for another great video.
I've owned 3 ryobi sanders and both died. Orbital sander died within 3 months of soft use and a belt sander that died 2 weeks in got it replaced for that to die in less than 5 months. I've now got a dewalt orbital sander and a makita 1/4 sander that are still going 2 years later
I have a corded DeWalt palm sander that I bought probably 25 years ago. I only use it a couple of times a year, but when I do, it's been hours on end - hard. It has never failed me. Damn near bulletproof.
Right now, I'm shopping around for a table saw and I honestly have no idea what 'level' I need. On the one hand, I'm a weekend DIYer and I don't need anything *that* fancy, but on the flip side, cheaper models take a lot of time to setup correctly & keep true and square, and it seems like most table saws available in the UK have non-standard mitre slots, so I couldn't use the aftermarket jigs I already have (I bought them before I realised the slots where different sizes *facepalm*). I don't want to spend all my workshop hours being frustrated at the machinery, so instead I'm getting frustrated at my table saw research :P
@@RagnBoneBrown Thank you - I wasn't sure about the evolution since the branding frankly feels like those "FOR MEN!!!!" products that are the same as regular ones but packaged in black with angry fonts. Will check out the different models and put them on my shortlist. :)
I am stuck in a similar situation. I am a hobbyist but I am trying to achieve a high standard. To get cheap tools to give me the results I want takes a lot of time, which I don't have. So I often end up buying a better tool than a hobbyist might need because I don't have the time as weekend woodworker to baby my cheap tools to give me the results I want. Or could also just be me 😅
From personal experience i wanted a table saw and bought the Makita one , the one down from the top of the range. And had the wheeled base with it. But everytime i wanted to use it, i had to wheel it out the workshop and if it was raining that was a pest. Also i realised that it needed dust extraction, of which i followed one of Kieths old vids and made my own. In the end i sold it on because it wasnt how i imagined it would be. I hope that helps.
@@ice4142 I'm thinking the same! I really want to get the dewalt dw745 with the rack and pinion fence system, but it's a bit of an investment upfront, cheapest I've found it new is £440 - I don't drive so buying second hand is hard. There's also a metabo one that seems nice that I found for £290 but it has non standard miter slots so I'm wary of it.
One thing that you could have added ( I know it is easy to miss stuff as I miss loads in my own videos) is that brands from many years ago are not the same as today. For example, something by Ryobi or B&D from 40 years ago is a different class to what it is today. A 1970s Black and Decker workmate would be in a different class to say a Black and Decker drill found in the cheap shops in 2022. Diving deep into tool companies, takeovers, mergers, importing from China etc would require a whole separate video 😂
I still use my Bosch Router and Jigsaw that I bought over 25 years ago, so that coloured my judgement and I have Bosch blue for all the important stuff. I supplement this with Ryobi for occassional use tools , and a Badaptor to utilise Bosch batteries throughout, I have a combined extraction hose / Neutrik plug/socket, so I intend to stick with corded if dust extraction is required. I particularly like the Bosch 12V system as the tools are light and very well balanced.
To be honest Keith, I would personally never advise anyone to buy second hand power tools, under any circumstances. If they fail after ten minutes, there's nothing you can do about it, because you have no warranty access, so you've just thrown your money down the drain. Plus, there's a staggeringly high probability that they've been stolen from some poor sod's van. It's just asking for trouble.
Good points, but there are plenty of genuine secondhand tools offered on the market, I know tool theft is a huge problem but they're not all stolen. And for those on a tight budget, it's a good way of getting more quality for less money if you are ok with taking a risk
One point am not sure if anyone else has made yet... when buying second hand from any of those places Keith mentions, please do make as sure as you can that they're not knocked off. Roger Bisby's talked about works van tool thefts, and the thousands of bits of kit showing up on ebay/car boot sales etc.
A warning for Irish Makita users: I own 1000s of Euro worth of Makita tools alone, and I do love Makita - the tools are good quality and as a carpenter and builder, the line up is ideal for me (I do have a decent bit of Milwaukee, Hikoki/Metabo HPT and some Bosch Blue to supplement). The major issue is that the Makita service support in ROI (part of Makita UK's jurisdiction) is terrible. I've had a warrantied track saw in for repair for 8 weeks now, and apparently still no sign of the parts coming over from the UK to the Irish service centre. As someone who relies on their tools to make a living, this is a catastrophe, but also extremely disappointing given my avid support for Makita as a brand. I've been talking to the admin side of Makita UK for weeks now, but while they acknowledge the very poor support for Irish customers at present, they seem unable to do much about it in the short term, and haven't made efforts to provide a courtesy or replacement tool. Again, I love Makita, and I'll probably (perhaps foolishly) stick with them despite this debacle, but it's worth bearing in mind for Irish tradespeople, particularly given Keith's generally accurate comment in the video about how the trade grade brands will stand over and repair their warrantied tools!
Premium brands have a big difference compared to the other brands: they do innovate and usually they create game-changing products. Festool invented the track-saw, the domino and own the saw stop and the origin tech. Hilti makes robots. Premium tools have more efficient and calibrated motors for less vibrations (especially Mafell) and more concentric rotation. In regards of the comparison videos I think are just pseudo-scientific entertainment. To really test if a tool is better than another one you wuold need test thousands of both putting in the equivalent of years of usage to really have some data to work with.
@@MKRM27 those are 100 years old inventions. Regular brands have stopped innovating already 30 years ago when they steered to the "reducing cost" way. Now days innovations are mostly made by premium brands while other brands will wait for the licences to expire. Track saw and domino are an industry standard in woodworking and robot driven tools will become the industry standard in the next 20 years.
When looking at battery platforms, I would recommend not locking yourself into just one brand if possible. Many of these companies offer some tools that others don't, and it can be quite restrictive if you're tethered to one brand's battery platform. I was exclusively in the Dewalt ecosystem for a few years, and I found that there were quite a few tools I couldn't get. It was actually frustrating. I broke down and bought a Milwaukee tool, and it was liberating! Now that I have a choice, I can choose between what is available, how those tools are reviewed, what's actually in stock in these end times, etc. I love having two platforms!
Most of my Power tools are DeWalt, but depending on the task required I purchase the most qualified brand for the job, not to mention specialized tasks (Festool Domino for ex.) So I have a mix of DeWalt, Makita, Porter cable and Festool machines in my shop. It is true that once you are married to a battery platform it is really hard (and expensive) to venture out onto other brands.
For my normal DIY non-pro use, I'm a big fan of Ryobi 18v cordless tools. Their brushless tools have especially impressed me. I used to try to stick to corded tools, fearing an eventual lack of batteries (remember NiCads)? But these days battery life is much better, there are no shortage of aftermarket batteries, and as a last resort, it's relatively simple to swap out new cells in old packs if absolutely needed.
@@ice4142this is good and bad. I bought into the platform for this reason, but you do look in envy when you see more streamlined batteries other tools have nowadays.
Parkside Professional definitely belongs to the Prosumer category. Worx is as well a premium Chinese brand, it also belongs to the Prosumer category. The reason for that is that it's a brand from a manufacturer, who produces tools for Grizzly and many others (probably even for Ryobi). And for batteries, Parkside batteries could be easily adjusted to almost any tool using a simple adapter or a 3-printed top plate.
Hi Keith, Thank you for your perspective. If I may, I tend to take such good care of my tools, they seem to have lasted me decades. It has been my experience that my batteries eventually just don't hold the charge they once did. When I tried to purchase new batteries, I was overwhelmed with sticker shock. The batteries cost nearly as much as my tool did when it was new, sometimes, they cost even more then my tool. But I still have my Black and Decker, corded hand drill from 1989, my Craftsman circular saw from 1996, and my Porter Cable router from 1987. All corded, powerful, reliable, and built to last. But I had to let go of many of my battery powered tools over the years because replacement batteries are way too expensive. Anyway, it is only my thoughts, not that you asked. Thanks for always providing reasonable perspectives.
I'm a fan of my Worx drill as a hobbyist. I use it infrequently and it does the job around home and on small jobs. I use the same batteries for my jet wash and grass trimmer. I've also got the mini circular saw and I've just ordered a bigger one. I may have a different opinion if I used it all day every day.
With you on the Ryobi belt sander - mine seized the bearing after less than 2 years medium duty weekend use. Managed to source another one online, lasted about a month before the motor burnt out! Planned Obsolescence - we've got Henry Ford to thank for that! Only use Bosch, Triton, Metabo, Trend now - no problems, touch wood :) Oh, and Husqvarna for the BIG saw!
Hi Keith, I have worked for Makita manufacturing for years and all of our range come with a 3 year warranty plus our LXT 18v models are all professional quality and as for brushed or brushless the only difference is the battery life. Still a good video never the less.
Personal I am NOT brand specific,. There is not one brand that makes the best tool in every category. That being said I have several different brands from you Trade Grade level and you Premium level...and yes many different batteries for each brand of tool.
I am a hobbies female diyer. I only buy Blue bosch or ryobi tools, mainly on sale like black Friday. I been buying for years, hoping to set up my own workshop once I get my own place. I stick with those brands as the tools were affordable and were always on sale, all my tools are cordless hence buying on sale. However if I was in trade then I would be looking into makita, milwakee ect. Getting blue bosch tools maybe overkill for me but I been buying for years and made some great savings. I would advise to research the brand, what tools they have and look on black Friday or sale to get your tools.
After watching many AvE teardowns, most tools today are rubbish, especially the 'pro' tools you list. As he's not sponsored, his review's are credible in my opinion. With a bit of research, the vast majority of tool brands are owned by about 3-4 parent companies. The difference in most cheaper and expensive tools is marketing budgets.
I know I'll sound like an old fart here but "they just don't make things as good as they used to" Planned obsolescence should be a criminal offence. Side note, I was in the 'why bother with cordless if you're hooked up to extraction' camp, but your argument makes sense.
Rather than have everyone complain about the waste of prior generations, and the current situation in the world, how about we start manufacturing our own stuff again. Both in the United States and Europe, Germany, Ireland, Australia etc. rather than relying on the cheap garbage being mass produced in China. All that is being made in China is bound for the landfill and every time we have to replace any of our tools, toys, household items, appliances, vehicles etc, it adds to our carbon footprint and our societies massive amounts of waste. If we have society put more emphasis on quality and the longevity of our products we can greatly reduce the reliance on Chinese manufacturing (and all third world, child and slave labor), and reduce the impact of stripping our world of resources at the current unsustainable rate. The market would help the world economy and reduce the fuel consumption associated with manufacturing and shipping worldwide. Not only would it take power away from the Chinese\communist machine, it would serve to protect each of our countries national security. Make us all less susceptible to the next Wuhan\Fauci escape bug. And it would take care of a lot of people who are making a living off the back of the working class by providing jobs for all those unemployment as a career types. If they are going to be paid regardless then I say let's put them all to work (if they are capable of any mobility at all) cleaning up the litter left behind by trash that is everywhere. Shouldn't be hard to find work for them to do that will help us all out rather than just sitting around doing what they want while we all pay their way.
Milwaukee, Makita Hikoki(Metabo HPT) r also my mostly go to's-I have a few of some.ofmthe other colors but mostly only limited to a few tools the other 3 either don't make or ones where the other color might Dona better job or significantly better priced
For an occasional diyer that's fed up with cheap and cheerful tools giving up the ghost, or being flimsy and breaking. What are thoughts on the Excel range from tools4trade? Will they do the trick, or will they just disappoint me in the long run?
I have makita tools since 2007... battery tools. They are well used. Last year I was working on the roof. The wife called.. And I forgot my to drills on the roof. 2 days after I found out that I forgot them. Went up.. with not a lot of hope. They had been outside in rain for to days. Put them on the radiator... but bleamde the wife bought a new one. Got home... put a battery on the old machins.. they was still working... got a bit of oil in the Chuck.... They a the best tool i got...
Hilti for me, I don't have the time for poor performance, no other make seems to be able to handle the bank's walls. Battery power really unlocked a new market for me when it first came out, the battery angle grinders are a lot easier than the old bolt croppers to get through padlocks 😜
Good video Keith 👍 I must say that I've got a pick mix of different brands and always have. I tend to go with the one that offers me what I need for the job. It does mean I have multiple chargers but hey pay your money take your choice. If I had to go out and replace my tools then yes I probably would go with one brand and if the odd tool was not available then just buy that like the domino. Anyway that's enough waffle from me.
Hi Keith, excellent video, I agree with you on almost all the content. Here are some remarks : - cordless tool are an excellent way manufacturers use to buy always their brand, with corded tools it's much more easy to pick the best value for money tool as you're not tied to the brand. And cordless is pointless when you need dust extraction in a workshop.... On top of that, I fear that, after some years the specific batteries for the tool becomes unavailable and therefore the tool unusable - I was surprised that you rated Ryobi a mid level brand as for me it's the equivalent in TTI group of the Black&Decker brand in the Stanley B&D Group. The intermediate brand in TTI group would be AEG, and Milwaukee beeing for TTI Group what Dewalt is for Stanley B&D group or Bosch blue for Bosch Group. - What about Triton brand ? I mean from an Hobbyist perspective... Sure this brand is not playing in the same yard as Dewalt, Makita, Milwaukee or Bosch Blue. But it seems they have some interesting tools such as the routers, or their new TCM S254 mitre saw that looks a cheap or entry level derivative to the 254 mm Hikoki mitre saw ( it seems to share parts but it's only corded and has a brushed motor when Hikoki has a brushless motor ) Triton generates passionate discussions and long threads on DIY forums here in France...
Cheers. There are a lot of grey areas, AEG being one of them as they make some high end gear as well as prosumer level stuff. Triton isn't really prominent here in the UK, they don't have a full range of tools available here, we just get the odd machine. Also I wouldn't know where to place them, having not had any experience with their tools
I've never had an issue with any of my Parkside Cordless tools. Granted, I'm not a 'professional', but in building a timber framed extension and porch, my impact driver has done many thousands of screws without sweating. As has my Parkside' Professional' Brushless SDS, 12 and 20V drills, and many other tools. The only parkside tool I've had an issue with was my corded sander, but that's probably due to me sanding plaster with it, but Lidl replaced it under warranty regardless! I'd personally stay clear of used DeWalt and Makita tools on the likes of Marketplace and Gumtree, they're probably either stolen, or at the end of life. Why would a professional sell them on unless they've replaced them? I was after a cordless Jigsaw a few weeks back, i narrowed it down to either the Ferrex 20V or a used DeWalt for the same money (I already have batteries), I ended up just going to Aldi because I prefer the piece of mind of having the 3 year warranty
Enjoyed the video! Truthfully I've probably placed more emphasis on the "one brand of battery" element than I expected, and battery performance became a huge deciding factor for me. Before a temperature-controlled shop, I had better battery performance with Milwaukee cordless tools, and never had a tool failure for that brand (can't say the same for any others). So my whole battery issue drove my decision to focus on one particular brand.
We have Metabo here in Norway. But it's just Metabo for as far as I can see. Metabo HPT and Hikoki seem to be something else ? How does this work? I have Metabo now but was thinking of switching since I wasn't too impressed with the last 2 things I bought from them. Specially the jigsaw was crap. The plastic shells were so weak and flimsy I got my skin of my fingers caught between them. That's pretty extreme.
After buying a few cheapest-of-the-cheap tools and having them break or just be really loud / uncomfortable, I decided to invest in a more reputable brand. I went with Makita, since it was well regarded. I've had good experiences with their customer service - I sent my sander in after it stopped working, and they fixed it for free and sent it back, even though the fault came from my mistake when changing the hook & loop pad. I have a silverline 1/2" plunge router I like, although it's not that ergonomic or user-friendly sometimes, and it needs to be hacked to go in a router table - but it was maybe 60 quid? and I can stuff with it I would otherwise need a table saw for.
Dewalt, metabo and makita for me every time, the most overrated brand in my opinion is Ryobi, they make some absolute rubbish. I've always gone on the thought of buying one good tool a month rather than one Shit tool a week ... Good video 👍
I went nearly all Cordless Bosch battery life indicator 1 to 5 bars also a 16 amp blue tooth battery charger fastest from All Brands sends a notification when it's fully charged to your phone 😂 fastest push on blades x lock grinder and multi tool star lock blades and Gen 2 freak 2 in 1 Impact drill 1/2 inch chuck for sockets and removing lug nuts and hollowed center for 1/4 bits HAD ME SOLD 😎
You still need to do the comparison between the 12 and 18 volt. Where you think they fit into the work flow. I do construction and find that the 12 volts are a joke. Even the skill saw. If you are doing flooring, it is perfect. Can't cut a wet 2x4 to save its life tho
It's odd to me how England has a completely different lineup of cheap-o tools. I have seen Black and Decker, of course (they were a very good brand back in the 70s when I was a kid) and Worx because of Amazon. But al of the other entries in the crap tool bin were different from ours. Listen, one tool man to another...an old Sailor who was once homeported in a town with the same name as the one you live in...heed my warning. Ya'll need to set up a Naval blockade and turn them around, before a store called "Harbor Freight" makes landing on your shores!
In this video I talk through what I believe are the four "levels" of power tool brands based on price. This is based on my opinion and experiences - if you disagree with anything please do let me know in the comments, I'm keen to hear your thoughts. I also discuss corded vs cordless, brushed vs brushless and how to choose a tool brand to invest in. 0:00 Intro 0:11 Cheap Brands 1:29 Prosumer Brands 2:29 Trade Grade Brands 4:33 Premium Brands 5:36 Cordless Or Corded? 7:12 How To Choose A Tool Brand 7:40 Brushless or Brushed Motors? 8:10 Do You Really Get What You Pay For? 8:43 Secondhand Market 9:00 Sponsored Message 9:30 What I Use 10:29 Outro Recommended Tool Performance Comparison Videos Oz Tool Talk ua-cam.com/users/OZToolTalk Tools & Stuff ua-cam.com/users/ToolsStuffvideos My Mirka Sander Fault (Vlog) ua-cam.com/video/WNPD_6-Gdmw/v-deo.html 🔨 MY TOOLS 🔨 For links to the tools I use, plus some of my favourite consumables, finishes and more see links below. As an Amazon Associate I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases: UK affiliate store: www.amazon.co.uk/shop/ragnbonebrown US affiliate store: www.amazon.com/shop/ragnbonebrown 🤝 HELP SUPPORT THE CHANNEL 🤝 Support with UA-cam channel membership: ua-cam.com/channels/VyE_6jEtVZGmYGXtUOL5FQ.htmljoin Support with Patreon: www.patreon.com/ragnbonebrown Support with PayPal paypal.me/ragnbonebrown Shop With Amazon using my affiliate link: geni.us/iWD3K 💰 SHOP 💰 Etsy: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/KeithBrownMaker teespring.com/stores/rag-n-bone-brown-merch 🎧 WORKSHOP BANTER PODCAST 🎧 ua-cam.com/users/workshopbanter Also available on Spotify, Apple, Google and most other podcast platforms 🔗 LINKS: 🔗 Website: www.ragnbonebrown.com Facebook: facebook.com/ragnbonebrown Instagram: @ragnbonebrown Twitter: twitter.com/ragnbonebrown Email: ragnbonebrown@gmail.com Second UA-cam Channel (non woodwork videos): ua-cam.com/users/keefykeef
There is a Milwaukee track saw. Belts and Boxes on UA-cam did a review on it a couple weeks ago. It's made in Canada and has lego pieces. Go check it out.
I'd put Erbaur and Stanley in the throw away category, they're more expensive but ones I've used have generally been rubbish while I'd move Einhell up to the pro-sumer level, I've burnt out a few, through serious abuse, but parts are readily available through their website
One of my workplaces decided to trial cordless drills. They purchased 1 of each of the following brands. Worx, Hitachi, DeWalt, Bosch and Panasonic. After 2 years, the only 2 still working were the Panasonic and the Worx. Another firm used Makita and also had 1 old Bosch impact driver. The newer Makita drills seemed to have a lifespan of just over 12 months judging by the large pile of dead ones in the office. At the end of the day, it is down to how a tool is used as to how long it lasts. I would disagree with the 'stick to one brand' argument as these days you can pick up battery adapters to allow you to use different batteries on different tools.
I was nodding along with everything until the ABSOLUTE LIE about baked beans. I feel like you might owe us an apology for such a brazen mistruth. Couldn’t agree more with the tool stuff though… one difference I’ve found with the common single brand advice is that sometimes the combo kits available mean adding another (if, say, one brand does a particular tool well, or is on offer) can make additional brands a good choice - especially when so many people sell used skins with the batteries included
Not being a tradesmen or a professional, I tend to go with the specific tool that offers a decent compromise between reliability and cost effectiveness at the time of purchase. I've got a Bosch SDS, a Makita router, a Chinese electric planer, a Bosch combi, and a Silverline multitool. They're serving me very well precisely because I'm not hammering them everyday! 😂
You might think that cheap brands will get job done but they Don.t. I used some lidl mitter saw and einhell table saw and just couldn't get nice straight cuts ending up fixing and sanding everything more than needed. Now I have Makita 260mm mitter saw, Dewalt 7492 table saw and Festool 55 plunge saw. Difference in quality and precision of cuts is day and night. If you want to get into woodworking get something in the middle but never cheap stuff or you end paying twice once with cheap stuff and then when getting better tool because cheap one was just crap.
I get where you're coming from but I think a lot of depends on the specific tool. For example, a cheap drill is doing to do everything you need a drill to do. A cheap belt sander though, is more likely to be problematic. I agree that mitre saws and table saws are worth investing more on
@@RagnBoneBrown yeah that.s true that some basic tool like drills Don.t need to be top notch to get job done but when it comes to cutting investing in better tools is totally worthy.
Great video kieth misded this one. I yave einhell drill and driver and table saw must say there hreat German engineered but i mix that with makita aswell haven't had isdues 🏴👍
I generally work on 'buy the best' that you can afford (for most things) and that works for me. I decided to go down the DeWalt route and stick with them in order to cross use batteries. That said I've had cheaper tools in the past and they've served their purpose.
When Milwaukee was still a US made brand, they were tough to beat. They got bought out by the same Chinese mfr who make Ryobi, Ridgid and now Milwaukee. I'm sure the Milwaukee tools are fine. They have a very good storage system platform as well. I just get frustrated when well known brands are no longer who you think they are. For instance, Ryobi was a Japanese tool mfr. The tools made in Japan were and still are, high quality. You can still buy proper JDM Ryobi tools. Makita is another. Made in Japan Makita tools are FAR superior to what I think most of the western world gets. Festool is a system you either buy into or you don't. They have many specialist tools (ie domino) that no one else makes. As someone who did specialise in Japanese carpentry, I would normally try to find the MIJ tools but it's betting harder and harder to find them so I'll probably start buying into festool, one tool a month if I have the spare. The one thing I will tip my hat to is that Festool is still made in Germany. You can't say that about most of the blue Bosch stuff. Maffel has virtually no presence here in the US so buying their stuff it outrageously pricy.
I remember my parents buying some cheap and pretty big "Schlagbohrer" (I guess "hammer drill" is the right translation) from Aldi or Lidl literally 18-20 years ago. Big, heavy, unpractical, with only a few drill bits in the light, flimsy plastic case it came with. Has been our number 1 tool because we basically put everything on the wall and drill holes in everything for cable management and stuff. that thing cost like 30 bucks and still works like a champ. an other thing they got is an Einhell impact drill from a discount program with a german/european supermarket line (Kaufmarkt) some years back. that thing has seen trenches I tell you. has been used inside and outside in rain/snow/mud, has put together countless furniture, posts (garden) and had a side job as a replacement hammer. guess we were pretty lucky with cheap stuff up until now haha.
My father built a 28 foot long sail boat in his back yard and used his power tools every day and all day on weekends. He burnt out plenty of power tools (all corded) and he found some difficult to hold and use. He settled on Bosch as giving good service and being ergonomic. The boat was launched in 1990 so while his findings are out of date I have stuck mainly with Bosch since for my projects except for a Makita router which is ok, a Skil belt sander which is awful and a Ryobi mitre saw which I have been hoping would die for 10 years now so I can get something better, but it keeps going. If I was starting from scratch for cordless I would buy Makita, but I am in the Bosch system now.
Another good video, Keith. One aspect I would consider when buying a brand is the opportunity for sale prices and availability. With Ryobi, for instance, it is a house brand for Home Depot in North America. Milwaukee brand is available from many outlets so availability is high, and there are many opportunities to buy at sale prices.
So far I have been using parkside 20v or draper firestorm modified to take the parkside 20v battery and have served me pretty well, I'm considering switching to erbauer in the effort to achieve a single battery system. I can't really justify dewalt or milwaukee.
For me as a professional kitchen fitter and carpenter Festool is my number one everything from my Kapex to my track saw combi drills and impacts even down to my Mft and Radio in fact the only tools I have by other suppliers is I have a Makita Sds and a dewalt table saw also majority of my tools are corded another plus for the Festool system
Really is a "pick em" once you get to trade tools and above in my view. They're frankly all excellent these days. The premium brands you listed (Hilti, Festool and Mafell) are kind of new to to the general tool market. They were specialists. Hilti was always the heavy construction brand, specialising in 110v hammer drills, breakers and cutters - aimed at corporate construction level with their fleet service etc. Mafell likewise were for heavy carpentry - joist, beam and heavy timber framing. You could add Fein here too for premium machines for processing steel on site. Festool do have a more varied history I suppose but generally specialising in finish carpentry. All these brands now have much more general ranges like your Makita and Dewalt but have kept their specialist tool price banding. In fairness, they do tend to pay more attention to the details for the extra bucks though.
I find this subject fascinating, while i work in the trade im office based. Most of our blokes use Milwaukee and a few Makita. As a enthusiastic diyer, my choice has been Makita and i expand the collection as i need to (which keeps the wife happy) im very happy with them and serve me well. My rational with Makita was that they have been doing cordles tools since the mid 80s so have the depth of experience. Makita have factories all over the world and they have to compete to build tools for the Japanese owners. So some of these are made in China and rather nicely some are made in the UK in Telford. I think my plane and multitool are UK made. I would expect that most of the brands you have mentioned will have a high made in China percentage, i have not done enough research to say exactly how many. I do own corded Makita tools which have also served me well, my mitre saw been my favourite as i cant cut a straight line to save my life. My mantra is buy the best quality that one can afford, and if its British made thats even better.
What i do is if its something i will use now and again i go for a cheap china special but corded , if its something i will use all the time i am a makita fanboy so its easy :P. I did get a bushless impact from china , that thing is the shit , i love it . I stand by the fact that if you are getting a super cheap tool you usually get more for you $$$ with corded . I also have an early 80s black and decker drill/hammer , that thing could drill a hole through god and they still make brushes for it to this day.
My '10 cents' worth would include blades and bits as stand alone items. I put a really good quality Saxton blade in my super-cheap £25 circular saw and the difference is night and day.
Good advice. I was lucky and stumbled into woodworking as hitachi tools were rebranding and being sold off cheap so got some great bargains, bought hikoki since and no issues. Got a few parkside and ferrex cheapies too.
‘Would you prefer to be punched in the face once or twice’? It does feel like a fekin’ punch in the face when a cable snags on a project and pulls the cut (whatever cut that might be) and spoils the work! I sometimes then punch, propel or pummel my responsible tool! The bastard!
I have owned an aerbauer cordless hammer drill and impact driver set for about 7 years, and it's been excellent i struggle to see how one of the 'premium' brands could be any better?
The only corded tools I use now are the Festool track saw and a range of their sanders all running of the midi extractir.. I’m on the hikoki platform and have been for 4 years, previouslty being corded on the Festool system. I don’t think I could work without the cordless tools now, as generally I’m setting up a mobile workshop from the back of the van in the street or on the driveway. And with such a good range, non of the other brands are able to accommodate on a single battery…. Not to mention the fact they have a mains adapter so all the tools can operate on mains power too?
I have broken every single Ryobi tool I ever had! Big fan of Milwaukee I use and abuse them every single day all day and they have not let me down. I have used Hilti a lot and never felt they were worth the price. Can't beat a Festool sander if you can justify paying for one! and no one else can make a domino 🤔
personally i love the worx tools. specifically the cordless garden range. ive been using mine every day for around 3 years now (garden maintenance business) id definitely say the 20v series (brushless) at least is good quality. my cheaper tools (diy/woodwork) the lumberjack sanders i have are pretty decent for the price and have taken some abuse!
Great insight as always!
Great honest advice Keith...Makita is my chosen brand now I have decided to go cordless... Except for my two existing 12volt Dewalt drill and impact driver. Cheers Paul
I really like Festool, some of their tools for me unrivaled when it comes to ergonomics. I use the CXS drill driver, ETS 125 sander and the domino. Having said that, Festool doesn't have a convenient battery platform, a lot of tools require their own specific battery. So for most of my cordless tool I use Bosch professional.
Yeah I have disposable income so tend to festool then dewalt for 18v and Bosch for 12v
Hi Keith, Great break down, just a little correction though Hikoki / metabo HPT I agree are prosumer quality however Metabo still market a premium quality brand of tools marketed purely as "Metabo" which align very much in the professional field, Indeed Metabo themselves are keen to point out this difference.
Hi Graham, I actually put HiKOKI/Metabo HPT in trade grade, not prosumer. Metabo HPT is just the US name used for HiKOKI tools. Metabo tools are a completely separate line of tools and the batteries are not compatible with HiKOKI/Metabo HPT.
@@RagnBoneBrown Hi Keith, sorry my mistake ( must be the beer and sun yesterday ) I have quite the collection of Metabo gear none of the Hickok I gear, and I have to say they are brilliant except for no other company making stuff like tracksaw attachments or the like.
That’s CAS batteries esp the HdLi versions are really good with outstanding life of charge etc.
Graham
Thanks Graham, sounds like they're serving you well. I've not had any experience with Metabo as yet but I've seen Robin Clevett using them and he thought highly of them too 👍
Excellent tips, Keith! Thanks a bunch! 😃
I've got a few tools from Ryobi, never had an issue, BUT... Mine are all corded. 😬
Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Really fair review Keith. Spares at lower level are rare or impossible.
I have gone from Erbauer or lower 20 years ago to the odd Festool tool.
On power cords, your comments very fair again. I have put an anti drag sleeve on my dust extractor hose and run a power cord up the inside. I went Festool with the power cord as you can buy the tool end connector and I have changed my sander and track saw to fit the Festool connector power lead. This works very well.
100% agree stick to a battery platform. Me DeWalt 18v / 54v platform as it is the same platform
Interesting video. No mention of Trend? I have a mix of tools as including Festool, Dewalt and Trend because as you say, each do a specific job very well. I’m only a hobbyist DIYer but I do believe in buy once, cry once. Keep up the great videos
Trend are a tricky one as their new range of tools is yet to be tried and tested and I've heard a lot of people have found faults and problems with them and had to send them back!.. Their newer range of cordless tools and their cheaper routers I think fit in prosumer (the trend plunge router I have is definitely not trade grade in my opinion), but they have some nice routers too which are more expensive and trade grade....
For me (as a hobbyist), another key reason for corded tools over cordless is longevity. For tools that I use infrequently and don't expect to do enough work with them to wear them out, corded has the advantage that they'll still work decades from now, whereas batteries compatible with current tools are IMO unlikely to still be available that far into the future. Another aspect is corded lets you pick the best tool from any brand, rather than being biased towards the battery platform you already have.
I agree 100% I still have many of my beginner tools from the 90's, and I don't have to worry about getting hold of any batteries, because they are corded. As long as I can still plug into a 110v socket in the future.
I use the big and small corded drills I have for Christmas when I was little. They are around 30 years old and wok perfectly. People think they have a warrantee on brushless tools but when you bring them in they go straight in the trash because they’re not serviceable. They don’t replace them. That was the lifetime of the brushless tool and it’s over.
I’d add “where am I going to use it?” as a buying criterion. Considering all the places I drag my drill and impact driver (inside and outside the house) cordless is a huge convenience.
That's where hikoki 36v is the best, run it corded or battery.
@@robertbamford8266 yeah, for me: drills & drivers need to be cordless, most saws probably not. Though, I have smugly trotted down the road with my Ryobi reciprocating saw to clear away fallen branches.
I've few DeWalt...but mostly parkside and einhell
always honest and humble, like at the beginning. Thanks for this video which don't promess paradise with one particulary brand...because there's not !!!
Keith great video we live on a small holding and have slowly upgraded my tools mainly Dewalt but also have cheap tools which i could say i've been lucky with B&Q pro performance sds drill aprox 15 years old.👍👍🍺🍺
Yeah, one reason I only watch your project videos and no longer watch anything about tools, usually, is the move I have seen to all your kit being Milwaukee - not the case when I first started watching you years ago.
It was pretty obvious you had started accepting freebies so I narrowed my scope of watching.
One reason I still watch Peter M is that he doesn't do that.
I'm not sure where you're getting your information from as Peter very openly accepts a lot of free stuff (more than me in fact) - this is explained in his videos. If you meant sponsorships, then yes, you're correct, Peter doesn't do tool sponsorships and I do. But if I didn't, I would still be working a day job. I have no issue with you not watching my videos, just wanted to make you aware of the true situation. And if you are wishing me to be on the breadline, then I'd prefer it if you didn't watch my videos tbh. My channels purpose is not to sell Milwaukee tools, and I think I've made that quite clear. But the support I get from them allows me to make videos for people like you to consume for free
Agree with everything here except 2 things. My Erbauer kit including my impact driver just keeps on working. And it’s Heinz beans or it’s nothing, good grief man!
6:30 😂 was not expecting this video to make me laugh
And then there’s the company “Stanley Black & Decker” with its multiple products, which, beyond its namesakes, include porter cable and dewalt. Old reputations can’t be trusted, but I also expect higher end product improvements filter down to the lower end products. Not easy to figure out what’s what when the same product line has multiple levels of products.
Switching slowly from defective milwaukee tools/batteries to Flex.
Yo tengo erbauer hace 2 años y ningún problema ninguna de ellas
Tbf Bosch has stepped up so I reckon it may be a little higher
Pro or home and garden?
All my cordless work tools are Dewalt. I have quite a collection. I have 2 cordless Dewalt sanders 1/4 sheet and random orbit, both perform excellently daily (up to 3 hours at a time). For my occasional use cordless (the hardly use can't justify spending much) tools I've gone to the Einhell range, and to be honest they are surprisingly good value for money. Especially as they do a couple of tools no one else does. As for corded tools I buy any make I fancy as I'm not tied to certain batteries. And my best tool that gets so much daily use (up to 4 hours)and has been going for years without a breakdown (touch wood) My Numatic vacuum cleaner ( the trade named version of Henry). If it broke tomorrow and I couldn't fix it I'd buy another.
I was with you right up until you said there’s no difference in beans. Go stand in the corner until you learn - has to be Heinz. 😀 Thanks for another great video.
I've owned 3 ryobi sanders and both died. Orbital sander died within 3 months of soft use and a belt sander that died 2 weeks in got it replaced for that to die in less than 5 months. I've now got a dewalt orbital sander and a makita 1/4 sander that are still going 2 years later
I have a corded DeWalt palm sander that I bought probably 25 years ago. I only use it a couple of times a year, but when I do, it's been hours on end - hard. It has never failed me. Damn near bulletproof.
Right now, I'm shopping around for a table saw and I honestly have no idea what 'level' I need. On the one hand, I'm a weekend DIYer and I don't need anything *that* fancy, but on the flip side, cheaper models take a lot of time to setup correctly & keep true and square, and it seems like most table saws available in the UK have non-standard mitre slots, so I couldn't use the aftermarket jigs I already have (I bought them before I realised the slots where different sizes *facepalm*). I don't want to spend all my workshop hours being frustrated at the machinery, so instead I'm getting frustrated at my table saw research :P
Good luck! 👍 The evolution seems to be well regarded for a budget option from what I've heard. I haven't used one though
@@RagnBoneBrown Thank you - I wasn't sure about the evolution since the branding frankly feels like those "FOR MEN!!!!" products that are the same as regular ones but packaged in black with angry fonts. Will check out the different models and put them on my shortlist. :)
I am stuck in a similar situation. I am a hobbyist but I am trying to achieve a high standard. To get cheap tools to give me the results I want takes a lot of time, which I don't have. So I often end up buying a better tool than a hobbyist might need because I don't have the time as weekend woodworker to baby my cheap tools to give me the results I want. Or could also just be me 😅
From personal experience i wanted a table saw and bought the Makita one , the one down from the top of the range. And had the wheeled base with it. But everytime i wanted to use it, i had to wheel it out the workshop and if it was raining that was a pest. Also i realised that it needed dust extraction, of which i followed one of Kieths old vids and made my own. In the end i sold it on because it wasnt how i imagined it would be. I hope that helps.
@@ice4142 I'm thinking the same! I really want to get the dewalt dw745 with the rack and pinion fence system, but it's a bit of an investment upfront, cheapest I've found it new is £440 - I don't drive so buying second hand is hard. There's also a metabo one that seems nice that I found for £290 but it has non standard miter slots so I'm wary of it.
Bugger. I have Worx...
Whatever works, err, worx. ;)
If they worx well then it's all good
These jokes Worx for me!!
Step one: are they a Chinese owned brand? Skip them and get something made by an American, Japanese, or European company. Step two: buy tool.
One thing that you could have added ( I know it is easy to miss stuff as I miss loads in my own videos) is that brands from many years ago are not the same as today. For example, something by Ryobi or B&D from 40 years ago is a different class to what it is today. A 1970s Black and Decker workmate would be in a different class to say a Black and Decker drill found in the cheap shops in 2022. Diving deep into tool companies, takeovers, mergers, importing from China etc would require a whole separate video 😂
Very true
I still use my Bosch Router and Jigsaw that I bought over 25 years ago, so that coloured my judgement and I have Bosch blue for all the important stuff. I supplement this with Ryobi for occassional use tools , and a Badaptor to utilise Bosch batteries throughout, I have a combined extraction hose / Neutrik plug/socket, so I intend to stick with corded if dust extraction is required. I particularly like the Bosch 12V system as the tools are light and very well balanced.
Bosch 12v, probably the best 12v line up...
To be honest Keith, I would personally never advise anyone to buy second hand power tools, under any circumstances. If they fail after ten minutes, there's nothing you can do about it, because you have no warranty access, so you've just thrown your money down the drain. Plus, there's a staggeringly high probability that they've been stolen from some poor sod's van. It's just asking for trouble.
Good points, but there are plenty of genuine secondhand tools offered on the market, I know tool theft is a huge problem but they're not all stolen. And for those on a tight budget, it's a good way of getting more quality for less money if you are ok with taking a risk
That's always my fear on buying second hand tools.
One point am not sure if anyone else has made yet... when buying second hand from any of those places Keith mentions, please do make as sure as you can that they're not knocked off. Roger Bisby's talked about works van tool thefts, and the thousands of bits of kit showing up on ebay/car boot sales etc.
A warning for Irish Makita users: I own 1000s of Euro worth of Makita tools alone, and I do love Makita - the tools are good quality and as a carpenter and builder, the line up is ideal for me (I do have a decent bit of Milwaukee, Hikoki/Metabo HPT and some Bosch Blue to supplement). The major issue is that the Makita service support in ROI (part of Makita UK's jurisdiction) is terrible. I've had a warrantied track saw in for repair for 8 weeks now, and apparently still no sign of the parts coming over from the UK to the Irish service centre. As someone who relies on their tools to make a living, this is a catastrophe, but also extremely disappointing given my avid support for Makita as a brand. I've been talking to the admin side of Makita UK for weeks now, but while they acknowledge the very poor support for Irish customers at present, they seem unable to do much about it in the short term, and haven't made efforts to provide a courtesy or replacement tool. Again, I love Makita, and I'll probably (perhaps foolishly) stick with them despite this debacle, but it's worth bearing in mind for Irish tradespeople, particularly given Keith's generally accurate comment in the video about how the trade grade brands will stand over and repair their warrantied tools!
No way you can head across the boarder and sort it in the North?
Premium brands have a big difference compared to the other brands: they do innovate and usually they create game-changing products. Festool invented the track-saw, the domino and own the saw stop and the origin tech. Hilti makes robots.
Premium tools have more efficient and calibrated motors for less vibrations (especially Mafell) and more concentric rotation.
In regards of the comparison videos I think are just pseudo-scientific entertainment. To really test if a tool is better than another one you wuold need test thousands of both putting in the equivalent of years of usage to really have some data to work with.
@@MKRM27 those are 100 years old inventions. Regular brands have stopped innovating already 30 years ago when they steered to the "reducing cost" way.
Now days innovations are mostly made by premium brands while other brands will wait for the licences to expire.
Track saw and domino are an industry standard in woodworking and robot driven tools will become the industry standard in the next 20 years.
When looking at battery platforms, I would recommend not locking yourself into just one brand if possible. Many of these companies offer some tools that others don't, and it can be quite restrictive if you're tethered to one brand's battery platform.
I was exclusively in the Dewalt ecosystem for a few years, and I found that there were quite a few tools I couldn't get. It was actually frustrating. I broke down and bought a Milwaukee tool, and it was liberating! Now that I have a choice, I can choose between what is available, how those tools are reviewed, what's actually in stock in these end times, etc. I love having two platforms!
Most of my Power tools are DeWalt, but depending on the task required I purchase the most qualified brand for the job, not to mention specialized tasks (Festool Domino for ex.) So I have a mix of DeWalt, Makita, Porter cable and Festool machines in my shop. It is true that once you are married to a battery platform it is really hard (and expensive) to venture out onto other brands.
For my normal DIY non-pro use, I'm a big fan of Ryobi 18v cordless tools. Their brushless tools have especially impressed me. I used to try to stick to corded tools, fearing an eventual lack of batteries (remember NiCads)? But these days battery life is much better, there are no shortage of aftermarket batteries, and as a last resort, it's relatively simple to swap out new cells in old packs if absolutely needed.
You may know but Ryobi have promised never to change the battery interface so all new tools will be backwards compatible. When with nicad.
@@ice4142this is good and bad. I bought into the platform for this reason, but you do look in envy when you see more streamlined batteries other tools have nowadays.
Parkside Professional definitely belongs to the Prosumer category. Worx is as well a premium Chinese brand, it also belongs to the Prosumer category. The reason for that is that it's a brand from a manufacturer, who produces tools for Grizzly and many others (probably even for Ryobi). And for batteries, Parkside batteries could be easily adjusted to almost any tool using a simple adapter or a 3-printed top plate.
Hi Keith,
Thank you for your perspective. If I may, I tend to take such good care of my tools, they seem to have lasted me decades. It has been my experience that my batteries eventually just don't hold the charge they once did. When I tried to purchase new batteries, I was overwhelmed with sticker shock. The batteries cost nearly as much as my tool did when it was new, sometimes, they cost even more then my tool. But I still have my Black and Decker, corded hand drill from 1989, my Craftsman circular saw from 1996, and my Porter Cable router from 1987. All corded, powerful, reliable, and built to last. But I had to let go of many of my battery powered tools over the years because replacement batteries are way too expensive.
Anyway, it is only my thoughts, not that you asked. Thanks for always providing reasonable perspectives.
I'm a fan of my Worx drill as a hobbyist. I use it infrequently and it does the job around home and on small jobs. I use the same batteries for my jet wash and grass trimmer. I've also got the mini circular saw and I've just ordered a bigger one. I may have a different opinion if I used it all day every day.
With you on the Ryobi belt sander - mine seized the bearing after less than 2 years medium duty weekend use. Managed to source another one online, lasted about a month before the motor burnt out! Planned Obsolescence - we've got Henry Ford to thank for that! Only use Bosch, Triton, Metabo, Trend now - no problems, touch wood :) Oh, and Husqvarna for the BIG saw!
Hi Keith, I have worked for Makita manufacturing for years and all of our range come with a 3 year warranty plus our LXT 18v models are all professional quality and as for brushed or brushless the only difference is the battery life. Still a good video never the less.
Personal I am NOT brand specific,. There is not one brand that makes the best tool in every category. That being said I have several different brands from you Trade Grade level and you Premium level...and yes many different batteries for each brand of tool.
I am a hobbies female diyer. I only buy Blue bosch or ryobi tools, mainly on sale like black Friday. I been buying for years, hoping to set up my own workshop once I get my own place. I stick with those brands as the tools were affordable and were always on sale, all my tools are cordless hence buying on sale. However if I was in trade then I would be looking into makita, milwakee ect. Getting blue bosch tools maybe overkill for me but I been buying for years and made some great savings. I would advise to research the brand, what tools they have and look on black Friday or sale to get your tools.
After watching many AvE teardowns, most tools today are rubbish, especially the 'pro' tools you list. As he's not sponsored, his review's are credible in my opinion.
With a bit of research, the vast majority of tool brands are owned by about 3-4 parent companies.
The difference in most cheaper and expensive tools is marketing budgets.
Love AvE's channel
I know I'll sound like an old fart here but "they just don't make things as good as they used to"
Planned obsolescence should be a criminal offence.
Side note, I was in the 'why bother with cordless if you're hooked up to extraction' camp, but your argument makes sense.
Rather than have everyone complain about the waste of prior generations, and the current situation in the world, how about we start manufacturing our own stuff again. Both in the United States and Europe, Germany, Ireland, Australia etc. rather than relying on the cheap garbage being mass produced in China. All that is being made in China is bound for the landfill and every time we have to replace any of our tools, toys, household items, appliances, vehicles etc, it adds to our carbon footprint and our societies massive amounts of waste. If we have society put more emphasis on quality and the longevity of our products we can greatly reduce the reliance on Chinese manufacturing (and all third world, child and slave labor), and reduce the impact of stripping our world of resources at the current unsustainable rate. The market would help the world economy and reduce the fuel consumption associated with manufacturing and shipping worldwide. Not only would it take power away from the Chinese\communist machine, it would serve to protect each of our countries national security. Make us all less susceptible to the next Wuhan\Fauci escape bug. And it would take care of a lot of people who are making a living off the back of the working class by providing jobs for all those unemployment as a career types. If they are going to be paid regardless then I say let's put them all to work (if they are capable of any mobility at all) cleaning up the litter left behind by trash that is everywhere. Shouldn't be hard to find work for them to do that will help us all out rather than just sitting around doing what they want while we all pay their way.
Milwaukee, Makita Hikoki(Metabo HPT) r also my mostly go to's-I have a few of some.ofmthe other colors but mostly only limited to a few tools the other 3 either don't make or ones where the other color might Dona better job or significantly better priced
For an occasional diyer that's fed up with cheap and cheerful tools giving up the ghost, or being flimsy and breaking. What are thoughts on the Excel range from tools4trade? Will they do the trick, or will they just disappoint me in the long run?
I have makita tools since 2007... battery tools. They are well used. Last year I was working on the roof. The wife called.. And I forgot my to drills on the roof. 2 days after I found out that I forgot them. Went up.. with not a lot of hope. They had been outside in rain for to days.
Put them on the radiator... but bleamde the wife bought a new one.
Got home... put a battery on the old machins.. they was still working... got a bit of oil in the Chuck....
They a the best tool i got...
Hilti for me, I don't have the time for poor performance, no other make seems to be able to handle the bank's walls. Battery power really unlocked a new market for me when it first came out, the battery angle grinders are a lot easier than the old bolt croppers to get through padlocks 😜
Nothing quite like a dd350 to get the job done!
Hahaha love it
Thanks for the tip, I wondered why my Lidl hammer drill was struggling on the vault walls 😂
@@christopherinteriors6521 I tried that make but when I took it back to the shop to complain it just wasn't up to the job they looked at me funny ;-)
As a woodworker Hilti means nothing to me.
Good video Keith 👍 I must say that I've got a pick mix of different brands and always have. I tend to go with the one that offers me what I need for the job. It does mean I have multiple chargers but hey pay your money take your choice. If I had to go out and replace my tools then yes I probably would go with one brand and if the odd tool was not available then just buy that like the domino. Anyway that's enough waffle from me.
Hi Keith, excellent video, I agree with you on almost all the content. Here are some remarks :
- cordless tool are an excellent way manufacturers use to buy always their brand, with corded tools it's much more easy to pick the best value for money tool as you're not tied to the brand. And cordless is pointless when you need dust extraction in a workshop.... On top of that, I fear that, after some years the specific batteries for the tool becomes unavailable and therefore the tool unusable
- I was surprised that you rated Ryobi a mid level brand as for me it's the equivalent in TTI group of the Black&Decker brand in the Stanley B&D Group. The intermediate brand in TTI group would be AEG, and Milwaukee beeing for TTI Group what Dewalt is for Stanley B&D group or Bosch blue for Bosch Group.
- What about Triton brand ? I mean from an Hobbyist perspective... Sure this brand is not playing in the same yard as Dewalt, Makita, Milwaukee or Bosch Blue.
But it seems they have some interesting tools such as the routers, or their new TCM S254 mitre saw that looks a cheap or entry level derivative to the 254 mm Hikoki mitre saw ( it seems to share parts but it's only corded and has a brushed motor when Hikoki has a brushless motor )
Triton generates passionate discussions and long threads on DIY forums here in France...
Cheers. There are a lot of grey areas, AEG being one of them as they make some high end gear as well as prosumer level stuff. Triton isn't really prominent here in the UK, they don't have a full range of tools available here, we just get the odd machine. Also I wouldn't know where to place them, having not had any experience with their tools
I've never had an issue with any of my Parkside Cordless tools. Granted, I'm not a 'professional', but in building a timber framed extension and porch, my impact driver has done many thousands of screws without sweating. As has my Parkside' Professional' Brushless SDS, 12 and 20V drills, and many other tools.
The only parkside tool I've had an issue with was my corded sander, but that's probably due to me sanding plaster with it, but Lidl replaced it under warranty regardless!
I'd personally stay clear of used DeWalt and Makita tools on the likes of Marketplace and Gumtree, they're probably either stolen, or at the end of life. Why would a professional sell them on unless they've replaced them?
I was after a cordless Jigsaw a few weeks back, i narrowed it down to either the Ferrex 20V or a used DeWalt for the same money (I already have batteries), I ended up just going to Aldi because I prefer the piece of mind of having the 3 year warranty
Enjoyed the video! Truthfully I've probably placed more emphasis on the "one brand of battery" element than I expected, and battery performance became a huge deciding factor for me. Before a temperature-controlled shop, I had better battery performance with Milwaukee cordless tools, and never had a tool failure for that brand (can't say the same for any others). So my whole battery issue drove my decision to focus on one particular brand.
Cheers Mark. Glad to hear your tools are treating you well! 👍
You missed out Project Farm for testing tools
If you've used any of the ryobi HP tools (which probably aren't available in Europe for another decade) with HP batteries I'd say they're a step up
We have Metabo here in Norway. But it's just Metabo for as far as I can see. Metabo HPT and Hikoki seem to be something else ? How does this work? I have Metabo now but was thinking of switching since I wasn't too impressed with the last 2 things I bought from them. Specially the jigsaw was crap. The plastic shells were so weak and flimsy I got my skin of my fingers caught between them. That's pretty extreme.
After buying a few cheapest-of-the-cheap tools and having them break or just be really loud / uncomfortable, I decided to invest in a more reputable brand. I went with Makita, since it was well regarded. I've had good experiences with their customer service - I sent my sander in after it stopped working, and they fixed it for free and sent it back, even though the fault came from my mistake when changing the hook & loop pad. I have a silverline 1/2" plunge router I like, although it's not that ergonomic or user-friendly sometimes, and it needs to be hacked to go in a router table - but it was maybe 60 quid? and I can stuff with it I would otherwise need a table saw for.
Glad to hear they stand by their products 👍
@@RagnBoneBrown Absolutely! I felt like a right muppet but we all have to learn at some point or another.
Dewalt, metabo and makita for me every time, the most overrated brand in my opinion is Ryobi, they make some absolute rubbish. I've always gone on the thought of buying one good tool a month rather than one Shit tool a week ... Good video 👍
One brand- per battery voltage. Normally a separate charger, so no downside. The best (for you) 18v range is not always the best 12v range.
I went nearly all Cordless Bosch battery life indicator 1 to 5 bars also a 16 amp blue tooth battery charger fastest from All Brands sends a notification when it's fully charged to your phone 😂 fastest push on blades x lock grinder and multi tool star lock blades and Gen 2 freak 2 in 1 Impact drill 1/2 inch chuck for sockets and removing lug nuts and hollowed center for 1/4 bits HAD ME SOLD 😎
You still need to do the comparison between the 12 and 18 volt. Where you think they fit into the work flow. I do construction and find that the 12 volts are a joke. Even the skill saw. If you are doing flooring, it is perfect. Can't cut a wet 2x4 to save its life tho
It's odd to me how England has a completely different lineup of cheap-o tools. I have seen Black and Decker, of course (they were a very good brand back in the 70s when I was a kid) and Worx because of Amazon. But al of the other entries in the crap tool bin were different from ours.
Listen, one tool man to another...an old Sailor who was once homeported in a town with the same name as the one you live in...heed my warning. Ya'll need to set up a Naval blockade and turn them around, before a store called "Harbor Freight" makes landing on your shores!
In this video I talk through what I believe are the four "levels" of power tool brands based on price. This is based on my opinion and experiences - if you disagree with anything please do let me know in the comments, I'm keen to hear your thoughts. I also discuss corded vs cordless, brushed vs brushless and how to choose a tool brand to invest in.
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7:40 Brushless or Brushed Motors?
8:10 Do You Really Get What You Pay For?
8:43 Secondhand Market
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9:30 What I Use
10:29 Outro
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There is a Milwaukee track saw. Belts and Boxes on UA-cam did a review on it a couple weeks ago. It's made in Canada and has lego pieces. Go check it out.
I'd put Erbaur and Stanley in the throw away category, they're more expensive but ones I've used have generally been rubbish while I'd move Einhell up to the pro-sumer level, I've burnt out a few, through serious abuse, but parts are readily available through their website
One of my workplaces decided to trial cordless drills. They purchased 1 of each of the following brands.
Worx, Hitachi, DeWalt, Bosch and Panasonic.
After 2 years, the only 2 still working were the Panasonic and the Worx.
Another firm used Makita and also had 1 old Bosch impact driver. The newer Makita drills seemed to have a lifespan of just over 12 months judging by the large pile of dead ones in the office.
At the end of the day, it is down to how a tool is used as to how long it lasts. I would disagree with the 'stick to one brand' argument as these days you can pick up battery adapters to allow you to use different batteries on different tools.
I was nodding along with everything until the ABSOLUTE LIE about baked beans. I feel like you might owe us an apology for such a brazen mistruth.
Couldn’t agree more with the tool stuff though… one difference I’ve found with the common single brand advice is that sometimes the combo kits available mean adding another (if, say, one brand does a particular tool well, or is on offer) can make additional brands a good choice - especially when so many people sell used skins with the batteries included
Personally I use mostly erbauer (the new range), a few odd 12v dewalt tools and a green bosh cordless drill. All of them have worked well for me.
When it came to the beans I was expecting a Blazing sadle 😃
Buy what's on every jobsites.. only a couple bucks more and will last.. The cheap always turn out expensive..
Sorry Keith, you are way off the mark with this video. Cheap baked beans do not taste the same.😳
🤣
Not being a tradesmen or a professional, I tend to go with the specific tool that offers a decent compromise between reliability and cost effectiveness at the time of purchase. I've got a Bosch SDS, a Makita router, a Chinese electric planer, a Bosch combi, and a Silverline multitool. They're serving me very well precisely because I'm not hammering them everyday! 😂
You might think that cheap brands will get job done but they Don.t. I used some lidl mitter saw and einhell table saw and just couldn't get nice straight cuts ending up fixing and sanding everything more than needed. Now I have Makita 260mm mitter saw, Dewalt 7492 table saw and Festool 55 plunge saw. Difference in quality and precision of cuts is day and night. If you want to get into woodworking get something in the middle but never cheap stuff or you end paying twice once with cheap stuff and then when getting better tool because cheap one was just crap.
I get where you're coming from but I think a lot of depends on the specific tool. For example, a cheap drill is doing to do everything you need a drill to do. A cheap belt sander though, is more likely to be problematic. I agree that mitre saws and table saws are worth investing more on
@@RagnBoneBrown yeah that.s true that some basic tool like drills Don.t need to be top notch to get job done but when it comes to cutting investing in better tools is totally worthy.
Einhell is stepping up with the TP range. I think it’s about the same level or slightly above as Bosch green.
Great video kieth misded this one. I yave einhell drill and driver and table saw must say there hreat German engineered but i mix that with makita aswell haven't had isdues 🏴👍
I generally work on 'buy the best' that you can afford (for most things) and that works for me. I decided to go down the DeWalt route and stick with them in order to cross use batteries. That said I've had cheaper tools in the past and they've served their purpose.
@@MKRM27 Touché! 🤔
When Milwaukee was still a US made brand, they were tough to beat. They got bought out by the same Chinese mfr who make Ryobi, Ridgid and now Milwaukee. I'm sure the Milwaukee tools are fine. They have a very good storage system platform as well.
I just get frustrated when well known brands are no longer who you think they are. For instance, Ryobi was a Japanese tool mfr. The tools made in Japan were and still are, high quality. You can still buy proper JDM Ryobi tools. Makita is another. Made in Japan Makita tools are FAR superior to what I think most of the western world gets. Festool is a system you either buy into or you don't. They have many specialist tools (ie domino) that no one else makes. As someone who did specialise in Japanese carpentry, I would normally try to find the MIJ tools but it's betting harder and harder to find them so I'll probably start buying into festool, one tool a month if I have the spare. The one thing I will tip my hat to is that Festool is still made in Germany. You can't say that about most of the blue Bosch stuff. Maffel has virtually no presence here in the US so buying their stuff it outrageously pricy.
Too bad you don't have any Harbor Freight stores in the UK. Tools so cheap they're literally disposable. Use once and chuck them.
Very interesting and I think your funniest video yet.
No intention of being a tradesman I'll just work around the house and help people out.
Ryobi is the sweet spot for me.
Nice video. But please be careful buying second hand power tools as many are stolen and being sold on. Look out for security markings !
Seconded, if the deal is too good to be true it probably is.
I remember my parents buying some cheap and pretty big "Schlagbohrer" (I guess "hammer drill" is the right translation) from Aldi or Lidl literally 18-20 years ago. Big, heavy, unpractical, with only a few drill bits in the light, flimsy plastic case it came with.
Has been our number 1 tool because we basically put everything on the wall and drill holes in everything for cable management and stuff. that thing cost like 30 bucks and still works like a champ.
an other thing they got is an Einhell impact drill from a discount program with a german/european supermarket line (Kaufmarkt) some years back. that thing has seen trenches I tell you. has been used inside and outside in rain/snow/mud, has put together countless furniture, posts (garden) and had a side job as a replacement hammer.
guess we were pretty lucky with cheap stuff up until now haha.
My father built a 28 foot long sail boat in his back yard and used his power tools every day and all day on weekends. He burnt out plenty of power tools (all corded) and he found some difficult to hold and use. He settled on Bosch as giving good service and being ergonomic. The boat was launched in 1990 so while his findings are out of date I have stuck mainly with Bosch since for my projects except for a Makita router which is ok, a Skil belt sander which is awful and a Ryobi mitre saw which I have been hoping would die for 10 years now so I can get something better, but it keeps going. If I was starting from scratch for cordless I would buy Makita, but I am in the Bosch system now.
"If you had to be punched in the face once or twice, which would you prefer?" Alright good sir, you got me.
I've only watched like 5 seconds so far, but I'm guessing you're gonna say Milwaukee lol
Throwing yourself across the workbench, does that make you Starsky or Hutch lol ?!!!
Another good video, Keith. One aspect I would consider when buying a brand is the opportunity for sale prices and availability. With Ryobi, for instance, it is a house brand for Home Depot in North America. Milwaukee brand is available from many outlets so availability is high, and there are many opportunities to buy at sale prices.
Very good point! I tend to buy everything online these days but that's mainly because I live in the middle of nowhere ! 👍
So far I have been using parkside 20v or draper firestorm modified to take the parkside 20v battery and have served me pretty well, I'm considering switching to erbauer in the effort to achieve a single battery system. I can't really justify dewalt or milwaukee.
For me as a professional kitchen fitter and carpenter Festool is my number one everything from my Kapex to my track saw combi drills and impacts even down to my Mft and Radio in fact the only tools I have by other suppliers is I have a Makita Sds and a dewalt table saw also majority of my tools are corded another plus for the Festool system
I chose Makita because I got a crazy deal on a five tool kit and now I can't afford extra betteries lmao
Really is a "pick em" once you get to trade tools and above in my view. They're frankly all excellent these days. The premium brands you listed (Hilti, Festool and Mafell) are kind of new to to the general tool market. They were specialists. Hilti was always the heavy construction brand, specialising in 110v hammer drills, breakers and cutters - aimed at corporate construction level with their fleet service etc. Mafell likewise were for heavy carpentry - joist, beam and heavy timber framing. You could add Fein here too for premium machines for processing steel on site. Festool do have a more varied history I suppose but generally specialising in finish carpentry. All these brands now have much more general ranges like your Makita and Dewalt but have kept their specialist tool price banding. In fairness, they do tend to pay more attention to the details for the extra bucks though.
I find this subject fascinating, while i work in the trade im office based. Most of our blokes use Milwaukee and a few Makita. As a enthusiastic diyer, my choice has been Makita and i expand the collection as i need to (which keeps the wife happy) im very happy with them and serve me well. My rational with Makita was that they have been doing cordles tools since the mid 80s so have the depth of experience. Makita have factories all over the world and they have to compete to build tools for the Japanese owners. So some of these are made in China and rather nicely some are made in the UK in Telford. I think my plane and multitool are UK made. I would expect that most of the brands you have mentioned will have a high made in China percentage, i have not done enough research to say exactly how many. I do own corded Makita tools which have also served me well, my mitre saw been my favourite as i cant cut a straight line to save my life. My mantra is buy the best quality that one can afford, and if its British made thats even better.
What i do is if its something i will use now and again i go for a cheap china special but corded , if its something i will use all the time i am a makita fanboy so its easy :P.
I did get a bushless impact from china , that thing is the shit , i love it .
I stand by the fact that if you are getting a super cheap tool you usually get more for you $$$ with corded .
I also have an early 80s black and decker drill/hammer , that thing could drill a hole through god and they still make brushes for it to this day.
good advice and content, but if we took all the tools made in china away, there would not be much left !!
Anyone any thoughts on where Draper or VonHaus might fit in these categories please?
My '10 cents' worth would include blades and bits as stand alone items. I put a really good quality Saxton blade in my super-cheap £25 circular saw and the difference is night and day.
Absolutely
Good advice. I was lucky and stumbled into woodworking as hitachi tools were rebranding and being sold off cheap so got some great bargains, bought hikoki since and no issues. Got a few parkside and ferrex cheapies too.
I see you’re a member of the S.A.S. I promise to keep that on the down low. 🤐 😆
‘Would you prefer to be punched in the face once or twice’? It does feel like a fekin’ punch in the face when a cable snags on a project and pulls the cut (whatever cut that might be) and spoils the work! I sometimes then punch, propel or pummel my responsible tool! The bastard!
Glad someone else feels my pain! 👍
I have owned an aerbauer cordless hammer drill and impact driver set for about 7 years, and it's been excellent i struggle to see how one of the 'premium' brands could be any better?
My erbauer impact driver died after 11 months use
The only corded tools I use now are the Festool track saw and a range of their sanders all running of the midi extractir.. I’m on the hikoki platform and have been for 4 years, previouslty being corded on the Festool system.
I don’t think I could work without the cordless tools now, as generally I’m setting up a mobile workshop from the back of the van in the street or on the driveway. And with such a good range, non of the other brands are able to accommodate on a single battery…. Not to mention the fact they have a mains adapter so all the tools can operate on mains power too?
I have broken every single Ryobi tool I ever had! Big fan of Milwaukee I use and abuse them every single day all day and they have not let me down. I have used Hilti a lot and never felt they were worth the price. Can't beat a Festool sander if you can justify paying for one! and no one else can make a domino 🤔
You lost me at the "cheap baked beans taste the same as the more expensive ones" 😮
You didn't mention the best brand red devil I have lovely memories lol
What happened to beginner, amateur and professional?
Have a vacancy in your company am powertools techician