About to start another reno (3rd in four years) - entire house this time and trying to decide what kind of tools to buy, was looking at getting a cordless kit for convenience and have everything. Previously had experiences where I tried to do things with hand tools and get half way before shelling out some cash and wishing I'd done it sooner. I'm not a tradie and they will be used for home maintenance, renos and by mates (also doing renos). From those in the know would you get something like Ryobi One or shell out the extra 20% and get a "trade quality" type set over the Ryobi? Guessing I won't get too much more out of them (I could be wrong), however the price isn't hugely different when buying a set of ~5 tools from what I can see. Cheers.
I'm not a tradie, but if I was planning on a lot of work, would always go with the better brands. I have mostly Makita and AEG. De Walt and Bosch Blue would be my other choices. You will get much more than 20% more in value for the price. And if you are working on IPs with them at any time, partly tax deductible!
Hey Hodor, I'm a builder and I have a milwaukee cordless kit (this is my second one). I am quite happy with it. The 1st one I bought in 2010 and the tools are still going but wear brushes out really quick. Thats why I went and bought myself a new set. Milwaukee also have great warranty on their tools (5 years for the tool, 2 years for the battery, but they are sneaky and only do 3 months on the chucks) and don't ask any questions when you take them in. I had a battery that I thought wasn't performing as well as the rest of mine and they swapped it out no questions asked. Other good battery brands are DeWalt and Makita. Makita literally has nearly every battery tool you can think of and last I looked seemed to be the cheapest. Bosch and Metabo are both good with 240V tools but I haven't seen too many other tradies with their battery gear. A mate of mine had a hitachi kit 14 months ago and tools kept breaking. He took them in under warranty for a while and then went and bought a makita kit because he was sick of the hassle (even though the hitachi ones were still under warranty). Panasonic was good for a while with drills but were lacking extra tools back in 2010 when I bought my 1st Milwaukee kit. Not sure what they are like now. The main thing you want to do is make sure you buy a brushless kit. There are some really cheap deals out there for old stock still with the brushes. Brushless motors have substantially more power. I hope I have answered any questions you might have had. Cheers
Thanks, great info so far. Seems so far it is agreed quality is worth the premium. Was looking at a Bosch kit, think only half of it is brush less. Only concern with Bosch was their overall range is one of the smallest, 6 year warranty on tools and 3 on batteries. Milwaukee seems good value for the kits I looked at (mostly brushed).
That warranty sounds like the longest ive heard of. The other thing to remember is that batteries only have a 2-6 year lifespan (if your lucky). So if you want forever tools then buy 240v. If you are keen to keep upgrading when needed or happy to buy new batteries then go the cordless kits.
I am a carpenter and I use makita tools. Have used makita for 15 years. Here's some tips - if you buy battery tools make sure the battery is atleast 3.0amh - the makita battery saw drains the battery pretty quick - get as many brushless tools in the kit as you can - you will probably need a power saw as you will get cranky charging batteries for a saw all the time - a multi tool will come in handy if you are doing floating floors
Go with quality you will never regret it. I have all De Walt and have used as a tradie for over 10 years and still going strong. Bought my first set of quality tools, a sidchrome socket set when I was 15 and they have had constant use ever since, built race cars, my own cars and just general use when you need one and 45 years later they are still as good as the day I bought them. DO NOT buy cheap Bunnings rubbish, you end up paying for the tools twice as the cheap ones only last one or two jobs and you have to go out and replace them. Buy quality first time round, you will find there are lots of small things that make a difference in quality tools that just make the job easier.
If you are doing structural renos make sure you get a good quality set of sky hooks. They will come in handy.
http://www.metabo.com.au/ https://www.hilti.com.au/ I have gear that is over 25 years old and still going as strong as the first time I used this equipment the Hilti broke my hand twice,if it's just for small scale weekend use then most low cost would do,but everyday use Metabo-Hilti would outlast most people and if stolen when someone takes them in for a service,they are laser marked inside and if the sales data does not watch,the police will be called..
Not being a tradie I would think your better to look middle of the range. Your not getting the use that a tradie would, your last renos are probably equivalent of 6 months work for a tradie. Sticking to middle or even lower end depending on the item you'll be able to get a wider range of tools rather than a few at the higher end. More tools would be of more use than the flashest ones
