Tools. Do you go cheap or dear?

Pottler

Hi all, as an avowed tool junkie - I have more tools than Mcquillans at this stage (almost true), I've a question. Do ye buy cheap tools or do you buy dear tools. I always went the cheap route as stuff gets lost, stolen and broken rapidly in my line of work. Lately I've oozed across to dear stuff(Hilti and Festool) and paying more attention to minding them. Do you go for quality or quantity? Cheap or dear?

sullzz

Deffo buy good quality tools , when your working with them you can feel the difference , and apart from that you tend to look after them more, when i had a load of tools robbed out of my van ( good quality , hilti , dewalt and makita) i replaced them with cheap ones until i could afford to replace them with what was taken , i couldnt stand using them , they are all at home in the shed now.

galwaydude18

Pottler wrote: »

Hi all, as an avowed tool junkie - I have more tools than Mcquillans at this stage (almost true), I've a question. Do ye buy cheap tools or do you buy dear tools. I always went the cheap route as stuff gets lost, stolen and broken rapidly in my line of work. Lately I've oozed across to dear stuff(Hilti and Festool) and paying more attention to minding them. Do you go for quality or quantity? Cheap or dear?

What festool tools do you have? I have the planer, router, jigsaw and dust extractor. The best tools I ever used. I'm dying to get the kapex but I'm only dreaming about it at the min.

paddy147

I would have to say cheap,ish.

Ive bought a fair few DIY tools and various things from the likes of Aldi,Lidl and also B&Q (20% off weekends) and never had any issues with the stuff Ive bought.

I wouldnt be one for spending 120+ euro out on a drill though.

hiscan

All depends on how often you're going to use them but the best piece of advice I can give you is "Buy cheap,buy twice"

Pottler

galwaydude18 wrote: »

What festool tools do you have? I have the planer, router, jigsaw and dust extractor. The best tools I ever used. I'm dying to get the kapex but I'm only dreaming about it at the min.

Railsaw, router and sander - want the cordless but it's dear for what it is. Have a lot of Makita, but Panasonic is where it's at, but 400+the vat for a cordless is steep, and if it gets nicked....:D

galwaydude18

Pottler wrote: »

galwaydude18 wrote: »

What festool tools do you have? I have the planer, router, jigsaw and dust extractor. The best tools I ever used. I'm dying to get the kapex but I'm only dreaming about it at the min.

Railsaw, router and sander - want the cordless but it's dear for what it is. Have a lot of Makita, but Panasonic is where it's at, but 400+the vat for a cordless is steep, and if it gets nicked....:D

Do u have the TS 55 or the TS 55R? Ya I have the panasonic cordless and impact drill kit. It's the best drill set I ever used but in saying that I have never used the festool drills

paddy147

hiscan wrote: »

All depends on how often you're going to use them but the best piece of advice I can give you is "Buy cheap,buy twice"

Ive never had to buy twice though,and I like my diy.:)

Luck of the draw I suppose.

5T3PH3N

Buy cheap, buy twice. I look after my tools so I usually buy good stuff. I only buy power tools as I need them but I buy a couple of hand tools nearly every week!

I've got mid range power tools all 110v. Bosch blue, Makita and some Dewalt and I'm
happy with it all. I'd love some Festool or Panasonic stuff but I don't have the need for it so the cheaper stuff will do. My Dewalt 18v nicad is still going strong but i'l prob get a Makita LXT impact/driver kit when that dies. (Although I just got a little 10.8v drill driver/ impact set today so hopefully that will do some lighter work for a while!)
I'm want to get a new Bosch or Makita sds drill soon and I'm looking at a Bosch barrel grip jigsaw too.

For handtools I've got Stabila, Knipex (mini bolt cutters, pincers, 250mm cobra, pliers wrench, and nips) A mini Knipex Cobra stays in my work trousers pocket and it gets used a lot, I'd be lost without it now. Most of my hand tools are Bahco, Estwing(they're Japanese made cats paws are unreal) Irwin and Stanley Fatmax. Have some Wiha, NWS, Roughneck and Johnson and i'm happy with them all too!

gsxr1

Everything I have is Dewalt.

Large chopsaw with stand
drywall screwgun
18v Drill
sds drill
powerplaner
router
Pin gun

Hitati Skil saw (which I think are better than Dewalt)

I love yellow.

I hear lads rave on about Ryobi and other sh*t tools saying they are just as good. :rolleyes:
Try driving a 5x100 screw into hardwood with a Ryobi then tell me they are as good as Dewalt.

I know Dewalt are not the best of the best. but they are up there.



Hilti . If I won the lotto.

sky6

The first thing I was ever taught when serving my time was how to look after my Tools. It's funny when you have that instilled into you then how easy it is to appreciate your Tools. Quality always comes to the surface so buy good quality Tools especially if you are earning your living from them. If your working with concrete or need a masonry Drill then there is only Hilti in my opinion. If you use a Combi cordless drill for drilling masonry then you will see the Chuck spin off center very quickly. There not really up to the task.

americanboi

i'd have to say dear, i firmly believe that your only as good as what your working with. electrician myself and although its expensive i must say knipex is the only brand i like. have other brands but knipex is miles ahead

Pottler

americanboi wrote: »

i'd have to say dear, i firmly believe that your only as good as what your working with. electrician myself and although its expensive i must say knipex is the only brand i like. have other brands but knipex is miles ahead

+1 on the Knipex - very good gear. I also rate Hilti and have Hilti breakers and masonry drills, a hilti reciprocating saw(which is crap), hilti rotating laser with beam catcher, hilti rangefinder, a hilti circ saw(the absolute dogs, ts85 model I think) with rail, the hilti 905 breaker is a really tough workhorse, but buying it stung a bit on price. Bought one of those Dewalts from B&q yesterday(the cordless for €122) and it seems ok, but battery life is poor compared to the AEG's we use day in and day out.

gsxr1

Pottler wrote: »

+1 on the Knipex - very good gear. I also rate Hilti and have Hilti breakers and masonry drills, a hilti reciprocating saw(which is crap), hilti rotating laser with beam catcher, hilti rangefinder, a hilti circ saw(the absolute dogs, ts85 model I think) with rail, the hilti 905 breaker is a really tough workhorse, but buying it stung a bit on price. Bought one of those Dewalts from B&q yesterday(the cordless for €122) and it seems ok, but battery life is poor compared to the AEG's we use day in and day out.

I dont think the B&Q cordless dewalt drills are the XRP ones though.

Like green Bosch and blue Bosch. Diy and heavy Duty.

galwaydude18

No there not the xrp ones and only have a 1.3amp battery which is no good for trade use. It will die very quickly

Pottler

gsxr1 wrote: »

I dont think the B&Q cordless dewalt drills are the XRP ones though.

Like green Bosch and blue Bosch. Diy and heavy Duty.

I know, but the AEG's are from B&Q as are the Dewalts, both "DIY" models, but the AEG does a good job of trade work, the Dewalt does not.

Gary Busey

Get good tools f you can afford them. My personal infantry consists predominantly

makita- skill saws, 1/4inch router

hitachi- corded drill, recipricazting saw x1, 1/2inch router, skillsaw

hilti- battery drills, gun, drill

pasloade- 1st fix, 2nd fix angled brads

dewalt- radio, chopsaw 718xps+stand, screwguns,

panasonic- screwguns

festool- sanders

Thats most of my powertools (forgot a few im sure)

As for hand tools, large tools etc. I generally buy new tools I need when need them so f the job is big enough the I can justify spending the money.

If the tool can pay for itself then you pay nothing;)

well, thats my way of justifying it to the wife anyway