It is whatever you buy a battery and charger for first. Then you are unwilling to forfeit that battery to just buy another tool. So you get another tool of the same brand, even if you aren't happy with the previous. Then at that point, you've gone to far. You've got several hundred dollars in batteries you would have to give up just to switch. It is the most blatant example of the sunken cost fallacy.
Ryobi, specifically has entry level tools (a basic drill) that come with a charger and battery for cheaper than you can even buy a battery by itself. When you're young and broke and all you need to do is hang some curtains or something you get it. But really, it is just a seed for your future "house" that you belong to.
I found a set of Makita tools for 60% off last year and now I'm Makita battery dependent for the rest of my life
In 10 years you will have thousands of dollars in makita tools because hey, that hammer drill you needed was only $110, better get another battery too, your old ones are getting tired. š¤·āāļø and you will always have makita tools, forever. Even if you hate them.
I used to be ride or die for Makita as an electrician, but they've gone downhill lately and their battery prices are insane! Used to be a Makita could fall off a ladder onto the chuck and bounce. Last year my crew had two drills newly bought that year CATCH FIRE and one strip the gearbox. Embarassing performance.
I've pivoted to Ridgid with their dirt cheap batteries with lifetime warranty. And I have a couple Ridgid->Makita adapters to use my new collection of Ridgid batteries with my tough old Makita tools. Battery adapters will free you from that lock-in.
Honestly I've been impressed with the Ridgid tools though, same manufacturer as Milwaukee and Ridgid has always been a big brand with plumbers. The brushless tools I've bought have been powerful and robust so far. No regrets
So TTI manufactures Milwaukee, Ryobi, and Ridgid power tools. I didn't know they did Ridgid too. I wonder how many manufacturers there really are for the plethora of power tool brands. I'm gonna guess like three.
Feels like something the EU would eventually work on settling: making all tool manufacturers have a non-proprietary connector.
Just fucking make it all XT90 or something.
And have the battery dangling? XT90 also doesn't provide any way to communicate things like max charging speed, cell voltage or failure conditions to the charger
Iām just waiting for the other shoe to drop and for a Belgian or something to drop in here to say that theyāve had fully interchangeable batteries for the last twenty years, and then make fun of us for building houses out of wood because we didnāt clear cut our continent.
Yeah Ryobi is dirt cheap and good enough for most things. When you need to add another tool, choosing between the one that doesnāt have a battery and the one that does but is twice the price has a big influence on your decision.
Also, Iām not a contractor, so I only use certain tools once every six months. Have yet to have anything fail on me. If it does, maybe Iāll upgrade. Certain tools have already paid for themselves in that they saved me from needing to hire someone else. Just getting a pole saw and hedge trimmer alone saved me probably $700.
I do have a few of the other brands, but they were damn pricey and I donāt use them enough to justify it.
Fucking Ridgid got me, because on paper, they have lifetime warranties on their batteries. But after buying an expensive combo, they made it an absolute hassle to register my tools, so I kinda doubt they'll honor their warranty. Now I'm Ridgid + Dewalt. My corded tools and hand tools are whatever brand; harbor freight or walmart if not used often, Milwaukee, DeWalt, etc if I expect to use them often.
I really dislike Home Depot after a series of huge customer service mishaps with me last year, and actively avoid going there now.
Which is a shame because I have a lot of Ryobi One tools. They are perfectly positioned for weekend warriorsā¦huge tool library, good batteries, affordable and of fairly decent quality (certainly well above ājunkā and a good value for the money).
Shame that is a store-exclusive brand.
The worst part is Iāve bought into most of the cordless tools Iād really need. The day might come where I want a larger circular saw (mines only 5.5 and it is prone to binding if your technique isnāt perfect, and even thenā¦) or find that some of the tools that Iām okay with having corded (like a jigsaw or an angle grinder) I now need a cordless replacement. At that point Iāll likely find myself buying into a better and more expensive battery system and, for quite a while, only having the one seldom-used tool for it.
Now Iāve got a dead 4Ah battery and Iām on the fence as to rebuild it, buy a new one, or take it as an opportunity to start going into a new battery system.
DeWalt: high quality and good pedigree but overpriced = Slytherin
Milwaukee: basically the same as DeWalt, but less pretentious. Thinks they're better and tougher though = Gryffindor
Makita: the smart choice for value, also best colors = Ravenclaw
Ryobi: I know it will break, but they're just tools and I'm not serious about this anyway. I would rather spend more money on my family or other hobbies = Hufflepuff
Honorable mentions of other "houses" and schools in the thread.
Black and Decker/Craftsman/whatever. Used to be very impressive, but completely corrupted. Probably evil = Durmstrang (Russian school)
Festool: Beautiful, absolutely dripping with wealth signals. Still pretty amazing at what they do, but you might not want them on a job site = Beauxbatons (super wealthy French school)
Harbor freight: Simple, potentially the most powerful but also likely to break. Can probably accomplish what you need by using a wrench as a hammer, but you wouldn't want to do anything delicate with it. Actually the biggest group of dad-wizards = Uagadou (the school in Uganda where magic was invented but they don't use wands)
I don't know where you shop but DeWalt is cheaper than Milwaukee and Makita. Project Farm tests show Milwaukee as usually best but trades wins against Makita.
So no, DeWalt isn't overpriced. It's cheaper and less quality. Neither is Milwaukee equivalent to DeWalt. Milwaukee/Makita are better, sometimes incredibly better than DeWalt but at a much higher price.
At Home Depot and Lowes, the price difference between DeWalt and Milwaukee is even bigger.
I want to see model numbers on those prices you're comparing.
Anything I go to an actual store, DeWalt is more then Milwaukee. I never look at Ryobi or Makita because they are not good professional tools and break much faster then DeWalt or Milwaukee
1/2" drill/driver. The Milwaukee comes with 2 3a batteries compared to DeWalt having 1 4 ah which explains $50.
Could be, but there are also like 80 different impact drivers in each brand, so tough to compare apples to apples. I also bought all my power tools years and years ago, so just going off what I remember when I was doing my research. I actually own mostly DeWalt and some Makita and Harbor Freight, and my router stuff is all Bosch. The only Milwaukee stuff I own is their M18 yard tools stuff and it's really shoddily built and quite shit, though it did look the best compared to the alternatives - so probably just a function of compromising on a multi tool. But hey, I'm just one dad.
The one thing I know for sure is there's a silly amount of brand loyalty and sweeping generalizations (like the ones I made!), and it's tough to cut through any of it since tool review websites and videos are probably the worst example of AI generated blogspam I experience in my daily life. Unless someone's a professional tradesman, they probably don't get to use tools enough to have well-informed opinions, and then their needs don't even really match harry homeowner in the first place!
It's probably best to just do blind tribalism and give us something to make fun of other dads for. What I'm trying to say is your response is exactly what someone in House Milwaukee would say.
Awesome characterization, I'm not following the Potterverse but what would Hilti be? Or Mafell?
We've reached the ends of my knowledge of both tool brands and Harry Potter unfortunately. Hilti I've got no idea - I only feel bad about leaving out Bosch.
Weird, I always thought that Gillette used the Selective Service registration in figuring out who to reach
Also, could the power tool companies afford to give power tools away like that? A razor is one thing but a cordless drill?
That drill needs batteries before long and needs to have an assortment of bits to use with it, those companies often sell all the bits or own the company that does
Dewalt has the juice to get it done but lacking g in specialty tools and their tough system sucks compared to Milwaukee. Coming from a guy with several grand of dewalt. Kind of wish I went Milwaukee but I'm in too deep...
They're getting better on specialty tools the last year or 2.
The 12 volt line has expanded as well. I Didn't need the 12v drill driver combo but wanted the 12v rachet they had as a free tool ona sale.
I rarely grab the 20v drill or driver unless the 12 just can't get it done.
The tough system stuff is finally starting to catch up a bit. I will admit it pisses me off to no end that so many items that come in clam shell cases aren't compatible or the tough system boxes could be designed with those items in mind as well.
Milwaukee is still winning that one but I couldn't justify the price.
I got my old man some DeWalt stuff. They're excellent tools.
Bosch
Specifically Bosch blue.
Interestingly I have a first generation Bosch Uneo (green consumer device, non changeable battery). Uneo is a consumer level cordless screwdriver and pneumatic hammer drill hybrid, it will easily put up to four to six holes into concrete walls (enough for home use when hanging something, but afterwards it's empty and needs to be recharged)
The Uneo is one of my most useful tools for occasional use, and I know of no other brand which offers a similar tool which fulfills those roles in a non-craftsman home.
If you regularly build stuff its battery is too weak, but I use it a few times a year. Hang a picture, lamp or a wall cupboard in my apartment (which partly has concrete walls in this high-rise building) - not a problem.
Well, yes, but they serve drastically different markets, and the ownership structure is different. Ryobi is for the home owner that occasionally uses tools, and is licensed by a Japanese company to allow TTI to produce the brand. Milwaukee is for heavy daily use, and is wholly owned by TTI.
Its also worth mentioning that adapters are available to convert between battery systems. If you're on Milwaukee and want to buy a DeWalt palm router (which is superior IMO) then you can just get a converter to use it with a Milwaukee battery. You can keep the converter in the tool itself, and most tools don't mind this.
The exception is Ryobi. Converters only exist one-way, since Ryobi still uses "stick" type batteries for low voltage stuff. The opposite converter could theoretically exist (say, to use a Ryobi battery with a DeWalt router) but it would be very large and bulky and so nobody really makes them.
Ryobi batteries in general are very bulky. That 12 AH is like strapping a boot to your tools. It's also seemingly their weak spot, as all I read is people complaining about their batteries.
They make a 12ah? I have the 4 and it's huge. It lasts a surprisingly long time too. A 12ah would last a bazillion years.
Heck yeah! Makita is just Makita!
Japanese and over 100 years old..
I dropped my locking, variable speed, single direction, corded drill with the chuck key electrical taped to the cracked plastic cord on a board and the hole I needed formed naturally out of fear.
House DeWalt: The Builders
House Ryobi: The Slapjobs
House Milwaukee: The wishes they were house DeWalt
House Makita: Quality prevails regardless of how little I use my tools.
Unmentioned:
House Bosch: House Makita but doesn't like Asians
House Metabo: House Milwaukee but green
House Rigid: wow these are fuckin cheap
House Worx: Tools take a backseat to Yardwork
House Metabo HPT: My wife says they're great
Milwaukee is better than DeWalt in literally every category. Come at me.
I was browsing the tool section at a Home Depot once a couple of years ago when a very attractive young woman came up to me and started asking me about my project. I'm not so dense that I thought she was hitting on me, but I couldn't figure out her angle and I thought maybe she was a prostitute or something. Turns out she was a Milwaukee sales rep and she was trying to encourage people (men, rather) to buy some Milwaukee cordless tools.
So, technically not a prostitute.
Only if you go for the strict definition.
Any exchange of labour for money under an indentured system where you are under constant violent threat of homelessness, destitution, starvation, and even death if you donāt work, is a certain type of prostitution born of desperation.
TL;DR: most of us whose paycheques are signed by someone else are labour prostitutes.
Iāve used dewalt professionally for many years. My buddies who use Milwaukee are always borrowing my stuff. Iāll leave it at that.
Yeap, switched from Milwaukee from DeWalt recently. The tool quality is pretty much the same, but the Milwaukee battery and chargers are a lot nicer.
Except battery life in my experience.
My construction companion runs Milwaukee. As I stated in a different comment, he's had several drills and batteries blow in about three years. This isn't to say they're not a great brand, but that's too many lemons for the premium they charge for my taste. seems like their biggest downfall is the plastic shells they use, especially on batteries. Those little power check buttons break right quick, and the rubber over moulding doesn't deal with grease well.
I run Metabo HPT, and I abuse the hell out of them. Drilling inch holes 12" deep in concrete for garage anchors, running all the batteries in sub zero and 100+ temps, notching studs until the multi tool is too hot to hold. Never had a failure in 6 years. Even my original batteries still work as well as the new. A slick bonus I found out being a compulsive tinkerer, the batteries that they sell as 18v 3ah are actually 24v 5ah. I always wondered why they lasted so long before I ripped a few apart. Samsung cells as well.
You remember how Harry chose the house he wanted to be in, and it's canon, that the sorting hat ward isn't definite? When I was buying my first tool, I wanted a Ryobi. But they didn't have it in stock and they did have Makita on sale and the sales guy told me that would be much better for the same price. So after that I'm buying only Makita, to fit the rest.
In my experience, Dewalt has been the best in terms of balance between reliability, flexibility, and cost. Milwaukee is probably the most reliable but also the most limited. Ryobi are cheap junk. Makita tools I haven't used but I've been told repeatedly that they used to be awesome but are now cheap junk.
All of these companies have at least a few items that are cheap junk (like most of the bluetooth speaker stuff...wtf?) but some are worse than others.
While I acknowledge that Ryobi is at the bottom of the barrel, my experience with them has been really good. I've been using the same drill/driver for 20 years, and have gotten lots of use out of their other tools.
What does bottom of the barrel mean in context though?
I have Ryobi and theyāve all been great, but Iām not a builder, Iām a homeowner who has occasional projects and small fixit/replace jobs around the house.
My brother was gifted a Ryobi set decades ago by my parents, itās what my dad used, but has since replaced it with DeWalt. However, he has a wood shop in his garage, has added a deck, built multiple retaining walls, a shed and all sorts of stuff in the ~15 years theyāve owned their house.
I feel like how and how often you use the tools plays a big role. I usually get a new tool from Harbor Freight, unless I know itās something Iāll use a lot. Then if I end up using it enough for it to break/fail I go buy the nicer version.
I have Dewalt/Ryobi battery tools
Ryobi usually lacks features
Take for example an oscillating saw
With my dewalt oscillating saw I can swap a blade or change the angle of the blade in 1 second because you just push down a lever. On the ryobi, you have to break out an allen wrench (which is stored in the tool) and loosen a bolt.
Someone that might use the saw once every blue moon might not care that much, but someone who uses it every day it is a big deal.
Also quality, Ryobi tools just feel cheaper.
I buy important tools in dewalt and less important tools in Ryobi. Like my small leaf blower is Ryobi. No need to pay extra for the dewalt one because it's just for quickly blowing off my walkway or front porch steps. If I need to move a lot of stuff I use my gas backpack blower, which is also Ryobi. Only problem I've ever had with it is the cord snapped a couple times, I think it has to do with how it rubs the grommet. Replaced the last time with a more heavy duty cord and haven't had a problem since. Always starts in less than 3 pulls and very powerful.
There are cons to Ryobi tools, but when looking at the top of the barrel tools the only con is usually the price.
So Ryobi is just fine. With the context you provide if youāre a heavier user who needs the features then you can spend more? If you need a quality tool that will get the job done without frills then Ryobi is great?
Yes
Ryobi is fine
Other tools are better
Internet likes to put down Ryobi but it's not as bad as they make it out to be.
My first power drill was Ryobi like 10+ years ago and still works to this day. I prefer using my Dewalt drill, it's less clunky.
No one wants to be a "Ryobi Guy". Especially behind a screen where you can say you have any tool you want.
Bosch makes my favorite hammer drill. My Makita sander works like a champ. I enjoy my Milwaukee packout toolbox.
People get stuck on brands. And while with tools there are differences, Ryobi works just fine.
I did burn out my Ryobi oscillating saw. But that's the only Ryobi tool that has failed me and I have like a dozen of them. I really like my ryobi finish nailer.
Sameā¦ I simply donāt use the tools enough to justify buying the expensive model. If a certain tool fails, maybe Iāll buy the higher quality model, but so far nothing has failed and they do the job. Donāt care too much about having the right brand.
Haven't used makita bt. Have 20+ other makita going back 15yrs to brand new ones. All have worked perfectly with incredible power. Same batteries work on all of them. Have had some chargers fail but not a single tool. They get used and abused daily with no issues. Granted this is anecdote evidence.
I've got all Dewalt for the stuff that needs to last (circular saw, reciprocating saw, drills, etc), but for some things I get the cheap garbage because the cost difference is so extreme and I know I'm just going to replace them every couple years anyway.
Most of my yard equipment is ryobi. All of the stuff with massive batteries is just so stupidly expensive from Dewalt and Milwaukee. I don't expect an outdoor lithium ion battery to last more than 5 years anyway, so instead of getting the high quality version, I got the shit one and had money to spare on extra batteries.
I have the flexvolt yard tools and they've gone strong for 5 years. Their blower is the strongest out there but only last about 15-20 minutes.
Iāve used dewalt professionally for many years and the tools are top notch
Quality-wise, Makita > DeWALT ā„ Milwaukee > Ryobi, at least, if you watch teardowns by guys like AvE.
Power tools are like cars; companies hold several brands and target them to different market segments, like Porsche and VW.
Ryobi is owned by the same company as Milwauki; it's the budget line, Milwauki being their premium line.
DeWALT and Black & Decker are owned by the same company; DeWALT is their premium line.
The exception in this list is Makita, which is its own company. They're also objectively more well-built than the others (here), and correspondingly usually more expensive.
The premium lines are better quality (not just more expensive) but also tend to have smaller battery-tool options. Despite being a budget line, I mostly own B&D because most of my tools these days are 24V and there are more tool options there. The few, select, DeWALT tools I have are noticably better quality.
I don't use power tools enough to justify Makita, but also, their battery-powered line is comparatively tiny. As someone else said, there's a lot of motivation to pick a (compatible) lane, whichever it is. For most home-gamers, the quality difference will probably not matter much. If I were made of money, though, I'd have everything Makita except for the things they don't make.
It drives me nuts that Milwaukee used to be the best line about 10 years ago. They sold out their good name and started selling shitty tools after I bought into their battery system. Grrr.
Ryobi is a distant fourth tbh. It's basically harbor freight tools but, Home depot.
Yeah, this is like a game of, "one of these things is not like the other." Ryobi is not in the same league as the others.
Interesting, I would rank it: Milwaukee >= Dewalt > Makita >...... Ryobi. Makita always feels like it was great for 20yrs ago.
Iām in that fifth house that no-one ever seems to talk about: BOSCH.
J/K, Iām mostly Bosch, but I look towards whichever manufacturer makes the best version of a tool I currently need. For example, my chainsaws and yard/orchard power tools are Stihl, my lawnmower is Husqvarna, my circular saw, worm drive saw and abrasion/steel cutoff saw are all Skilsaw (not Skil!), and my oscillating multi tool is Fein.
Plus, many of the domestics are vintage, from before production was outsourced out of America, which makes them much more reliable and robust than modern tools. Even some of the other tools are vintage -- my Stihl 076 Super can cut through a 60cm log like a hot knife through butter. And I have both 36ā³ and 72ā³ bars to go with it.
But when it comes to battery power tools, you have to pick a brand and stick with it, unless you're John D Rockefeller with 6 types of charger and a billion battery packs.
Even within a brand, you usually contend with at least two different battery packs - 12v and higher - and even more if you keep your tools in good condition and their connection types are obsoleted before you buy more tools.
I always lean towards Bosch where possible, mainly because of their charitable work. The founder set things up so that it's perpetually funded from the company profits. That just appeals to me as the tiebreaker when deciding between a bunch of similarly priced tools that will otherwise do the job well enough.
That said, I tend to go for corded options where practical. I have some corded tools that I've owned for over thirty years now that still get occasional use. Battery tools are convenient for their portability, but they do have a limit to their useful life.
That would put me in the Sixth House (seems like we've jumped ship from the Potterverse to the Locked Tomb series now?) as a Metabo HPT user -- at least for battery-operated tools. I've got no allegiances when it comes to corded power tools, though -- got everything from Harbor Freight only-need-it-for-one-job specials to DeWalt saws and routers, and a big ol' Craftsman drill press I inherited from my grandfather.
Corded can be great! I have corded Bosch for anything in my workshop - why would I need batteries for a location with dozens of sockets? - and use batteries mainly in the field or where cords would start to get impractical. Plus, where the manufacturer only makes a battery version of the tool. The Bosch PROFACTOR GDS18V-740N, for example, only comes in a battery version. No corded version exists.
Straight up Ryobi here. It's not pro-hardcore, but for homeowner DIY and the variety and range of devices, it's been solid.
Pretty funny how Home Depot has stayed neutral and carried all those brands.
Im a ryobi slut too, mainly for the price, except for a few old Metabo grinders which are built like brick shithouses and will probably outlive me.
I've found that any project my Ryobi isn't suited for is a project I would have opted to hire a professional anyway. 99% of people can get away with Ryobi 99% of the time. That remaining 1% really isn't worth the increased price from brands like Dewalt.
Sameā¦ itās hard to justify getting the most expensive tools when I only use them once every 3-6 months. If other people want to spend their money keeping up with tool brands thatās a competition Iāll gladly lose. Got better things to spend my money on.
This was me, with my few random ryobi tools, until I needed something new and saw one of those big combos of several tools from DeWalt was half price. So I lucked out being in the right place at the right time and got the best of both worlds.
They are fine for anything which doesn't require precision. I have a Ryobi bench sander and it's a complete waste of time. Same with the chop saw I unused to have. It was basically impossible to get flush miters from it no matter how much you adjusted it - the tolerances were just too low. My DeWalt table saw and Chop saw don't have the same issues. They cut sub-mm precision on day one and still do years later. The table saw in particular is technically a worksite saw, buy you can use it to build cabinets with the right blade.
Couple years back I went to the graduation party of a kid my step daughter was friends. The dad had an entire wall pegboarded out with every possible Ryobi cordless tool. It was honestly impressive. And he had one Makita tool. Made me laugh.
We are a cheap garbage household šŖšŖšŖšŖšŖ
Mudblood.
Project Farm on YouTube has great tests and reviews of products like this. Fully recommend his channel if you are in the market to buy tools or tool adjacent products.
Fuck yeah. Project Farm rules! He's like Bob Ross for me. I just chill and watch tool-science happen.
Torque test channel is pretty much completely power tool specific and goes a lot more in depth on them. PF for breadth, TTC for depth.
As a Harbor Freight guy, I'm offended.
I mean, this doesn't have SnapOn or Mac. Like, do they even power tools? My neighbor's garage has a SnapOn flag and tool chest.
Isn't that like a Maserati equivalent? Isn't just the chest thousands in and of itself?
āYeah. Cordless'll do that. You might want to consider the powder-actuated tool. The Hilti DX460MX or the Simpson PTP. These two are my Cadillacs. Everything else on this board is second best, sorry to say. Are you contracting or just doing some work around the house?ā
I have forgotten Snoops... man it was a challenge to understand her w/o subtitles
Ha! That looks fun. Hope you don't mind me jumping in, I had a go at the AI too. Prompt was hillbilly wearing [insert brand] tools hardhat.
Milwaukee
Ryobi
Makita
Do...er..Dewalt
Makita dude is ripped, but funny that he's holding a DeWalt-looking...thing.
never ceases to amaze me that AI has such a hard time with basic text, but IMO that's probably not something they want to be refined. Too much liability in churning out fake imagery with actual copyrighted/trademarked brands and the like.
That's because the batteries have become the printer ink of the tool world. They're f'n expensive.
If you buy into a product system it makes no sense to have different batteries that don't fit all the tools. If you keep the batteries all the same then you can be charging one or two sets vs having to buy extra sets and charger multiplied by the different tool makers.
I have one of the manufacturers shown in the image, and after I got a kit that had a charger, tool, and extra batteries included I got hooked in because they sell tools without batteries, but I have extra! So I bought same maker. The tools are all pretty good, so not much difference between makers, but that's one way they hook you.
The batteries are actually really simple. The best thing you can do to increase efficiency and save money is learn to replace the cells. You can get higher quality lithium cells than the batteries come with if they start to fail for way cheaper than you'd expect. The boards have like 12 circuits, and if you can't fix them you can buy them for a few bucks.
This is the way and how they get everyone hooked. My husband was -this close- to buying a badly reviewed lawn mower all because he had 3 batteries from the same brand. Two hardware store employees talked him out of it even though it meant my husband walked away with a cheaper brand, bless them.
I landed in DeWalt when their cordless devices became as good as/better than corded tools; I standardized on their battery platform only for them to abandon my battery and roll out a new (incompatible) one. Shortly thereafter my batteries bricked and it seems the business model is to force consumers to buy new tools every so often
FML I hate it that they're all proprietary and incompatible
I know cords are a bit of a pain, but rotating batteries and keeping them charged is also a bit of a pain, and at least the pain of cords ensures that you always have a tool to use when you need it. Also electrical outlets have been standardized for more than a century now.
Exactly. Cordless drills are super convenient and super cheap. For anything more heavy duty than that, I want something corded (which usually has the added advantage of being both cheaper and available in good condition second-hand).
House Skil/Craftsman-from-Goodwill for life!
Yep. Corded tools don't need to be charged. Love it!
You can buy adapters for literally any battery to any other battery type. Theyāre all over Etsy and Amazon. Torque test channel even does a test to see how much performance you lose from them, along with building a monster battery pack that uses all the brands batteries at the same time.
FWIW Ryobiās battery has been the same format since the 90s which removed any doubt I had about continuing to buy the brand.
Went looking for my Craftsman brothers, but Iām afraid I may stand alone.
IIRC, that might be because their quality & reputation took a dip for a while. They were, after all, a Sears brand, and Sears got run into the ground by some blood-sucking leadership.
That said, they used to have a great reputation, and were sold to Black & Decker in 2017, who seem to be handling the line up much, much better.
B&D makes tools for people who hang pictures... I've never seen a b&d tool on a job site or even handle the bare minimum for anything more than little house projects. DeWalt is like the lowest grade stuff that most guys use in construction, but even those are starting to have QC issues and durability drops.
You stand behind DeWalt and behave for Black and Decker
I have a B&D corded drill from the 1980s that is still ripping through steel no problem.
Old craftsman or new? Because if new you might not be Craftsman very long. Old craftsman tools will outlive us all and if you can find them at a garage sale, buy em.
New craftsman tools are pretty much just junk.
Their battery power tools are completely unrelated to whatever craftsman used to be.
All of their tools are completely unrelated to what craftsman used to be.
But Ryobi and Milwaukee are both owned and manufactured by the same company TTI, theyāre practically the same tools just with a different plastic shell
Owned by same company does not mean same tool. I own a bunch of m12 fuel and some Ryobi too. My Milwaukee stuff kicks the pants off of Ryobi but it is also a lot more expensive.
Most of the sub compact stuff is just rebranded M12 gear, for example. Not everything is the same, but a lot is.
Proof of this? YouTubers have opened up both sets. They arenāt the same.
As a Semi pro, I run Metabo HPT for power tools and beat the hell out of them and get free batteries. Never had a tool or battery die in several years.
For groundskeeping I go with worx. They're great but aftermarket batteries suck ass.
Any plug in tools that aren't antiques are rigid, their warranty is nuts, and their mitre saw has the widest range of any I've ever used. Plus free service and parts for life.
My coworker runs Milwaukee, lots of variety, but he's had two drills and three batteries die in 3 years of basic use, so I'm not sure if I trust them wholly. The packout is nice, but there are better options out there for portable tool chests now, like flex and toughbuilt.
I know a few pros who switched to flex tools and swear by them, but they're too fresh to market to know for sure, although the company has been around forever supposedly.
Yeah same company that makes Flex also make Kobalt as their Ryobi competitor for Lowe's, and Ridgid as their mid tier tools.
Makita still going strong after 15yrs of use. They were the best at the time and still works amazing today with backwards compatibility batteries. My 15yrs old driver can use a brand new battery that a 2023 model uses.
Drill a 1/2" hole through 4" thick stainless without a hiccup on a single battery. Then tap the hole on the same battery. Impressive power and reliable
4 inch thick stainless steel? What in tarnation is that for?
Custom bunker door installation?
Port holes in armored vehicles, so the soldiers can stick their rifles out of and shoot at people.
Adding a lift point. Did 12 of them and the driver was on the toasty side when done
What I'm more intrigued by is that OP didn't say that they use any kind of guide or frame to hold the power drill. Try drilling 10cm by hand straight enough that it makes sense to tap the hole.
I used to use cheapo tools, but I borrowed a Makita circular saw once and it was so nice to use in comparison that Iāve been on team teal ever since.
Do any of these have a plug in adapter? Like a battery pack with a cord coming out of it?
Good Lord that should be a thing.
Some of the bigger tools, like vacuums or table saw do. Unfortunately the little tools are too cluttered with miscellaneous Bluetooth circuits to fit both AC and DC motors or more reasonably AC to DC converters.
You mean a battery that you can plug a cord into? I have some I got from Ryobi.
Yes, Festool do one for their sanders. A battery tool is usually more expensive and less powerful than a mains powered tool though, so I'm not sure what the advantage of this would be.
Edit: I read this wrong, but Iāll leave it up because I think the inverters are cool.
I wonder how easy it is to DIY something like that. Like would it be as easy as picking up an off the shelf power supply with the right voltage and current and 3D printing an attachment that fits into the battery slot with a DC jack on the side (or even just gutting a dead battery pack and taking out the batteries and control electronics, soldering a DC jack straight onto the main contacts, and drilling a hole for it to poke through)? Or do modern power tools actually need to authenticate the battery with some kind of tool DRM?
idk about modern tools but this totally works with an ancient Bosch drill I had, well at least the motor with speed controller from it
If we're gonna talk about tools, I gotta shout out porter cable for making an absolute tank of a circular saw. Finally went cordless Bosch, but that porter cable has a good 20 years or so of heavy use and it's still kicking.
House Ego: I don't want the cheapest thing, but I'm only willing to go a single step up.
It's surprisingly hard (at least for me, perhaps I'm looking wrong :p) to find general comparisons comparing the brands for overall usefulness. You'll find stuff comparing their drills, or something specific, but not everything overall. Which seems much more important, as (as has been mentioned in these comments) the batteries really lock you into one brand.
I mean, you can't really measure the brand overall like i think you're talking about.
Cause every brands gonna have great tools, mediocre tools, and bad tools. Though I think we can universally agree dewalt is overpriced and exploitative lol.
I believe you can buy batter adapters that let you run, say, Milwaukee off Dewalt batteries. Most of them are just direct metal adapters, no circuitry or anything. You could even 3d print and make your own if you were inclined.
So if you are deep in one battery ecosystem, you should be able to still run a tool of another brand.. as long as you are matching voltages (don't run a 18-20v tool off a 40v battery, for instance)
Timely! I was gifted into House Milwaukee this holiday season. I guess the sorting hat did it's thing. Hope to learn a lot of useful wizardry, I've got a door frame to fix.
Lol, yep I got gifted into the same house.
I'm sending well wishes on your wizarding journey!
I honestly am not sure I've ever heard of the bottom two, I'm a second generation DeWalter (though my dad also used Ryobi).
Milwaukee is generally considered the best brand for heavy professional work in the US. DeWalt is a close second
Maybe where youāre from. DeWalt is the premium brand, Milwaukee is the second tier from the same manufacturer.
Interesting take. I've spent a lot of time in the trades and if your a plumber with DeWalt no one will take you seriously. You're also just wrong about manufacturer my guy. Milwaukee is in same umbrella as Ridgid and Ryobi, with Ridgid actually being the second tier. Milwaukee is so good, tti gives them operational independance. DeWalt makes really good stuff, but in 1 to 1 comparison Milwaukee usually wins.
I got three of the four, just one more power tool set and I'll be sweet lol
Ryobi is great for starting out. They're definitely not the best tools, but they're cheap. If you wear out something from them, you've earned the right to buy a good brand of that tool.
I've gone through a skoolie (school bus converted to an RV) project and now most of a house renovation with one 1/4" Ryobi drill and one 3/8" Harbor Freight drill and they're both somehow still going strong after five years of hard usage. I had bad opinions of both manufacturers before but not any more.
My experience with Harbor Freight power tools is a (corded) circular saw that works extremely well. I put in a better blade, and it rocks. I've had it for years and it shows no signs of slowing down. I'm not a heavy user but I've used it for quite a few projects over the years, including an RV renovation I'm working on now.
Not to bash HB cuz they rule when you need a new tool quick,, but how hard can it possibly be to make a thing that spins when you plug it in?
I got the Bluetooth speaker from Menards online. I love it. I charge my cellphone and listen to podcasts while I work. The small battery gives me nearly a day of audio.
For those who hate being stuck with one brand because the batteries are so expensive you can buy adapters to convert between them. For instance I use a rigid battery with a ryobi tool etc and it works great! I've seen adapters for working between most of the brands since almost all the tools are 18V. I've seen ones that jump between lower voltages and higher ones which is a bit sketchier but are likely fine as well.
https://www.google.com/search?q=power+tool+battery+adapter
You do lose power through those, so they're not great for high power tools. Torque Test Channel has done quite a few videos on this.
What about the tribes out in the wild? The Festools, Mafells and Hiltis?
Goblin magic is powerful but kept from the civilized world.
They're being replaced by the zombie corpse of craftsman, basically discontinued
Most of my stuff is Bosch...
Mine too, but their range is so small.
It's ok bud, not everyone has a big tool selection. Just remember what's important, how you use the tools you have and if you get the job done.
As a dad having options for the fam for fathers day is good.
While I do have a couple of DeWalt drills, I've been a member of the House of Ryobi for 20+ years. Ryobi was the first to really push the idea of "one battery fits all" ecosystem with their 18V ONE batteries.
My Wife bought me a tool set for Christmas one year and I have never looked back. 20 years later I'm still using those tools and Ryobi still supports them. A new Lithium battery battery still works in my old tools. The "pro tools" do not take that track.
How dare they ignore the fifth and oldest house, House Craftsman
As a plumber milwaukee is where it's at, only brand that has a cordless snake/augur, air snake, compact propress, expansion pex and copper cutter tools.
My brother and I used Ego for lawn work. I'm not sure if these brands have lawn/garden stuff (I think I remember Ryobi does), but it's the same concept. I love battery powered tools, but I hate how the brands tie you in.
Iāve been pretty happy with the Ryobi 18 and 40 volt stuff. If I ever need anything fancier Iāll probably start investing in milwaukee. At some point I plan to invest into a tool storage system and milwaukee may win that decisionā¦
For corded stuff, brand loyalty isnāt that useful. I have a dewalt portable/job site table saw I really like.
My jigsaw and circular saw are skil, so I could probably stand to upgrade, but they work well enough.
Just bought a kobalt powered screwdriver that uses usbc to charge and seems fine for household use (when a drill driver is not needed)
Still have an old dewalt drill on a dead battery platform that refuses to die.
House Makita brings honor to our projects with powerful Nippon steel.
Seriously though, back when I worked for a small construction outfit. There were two teams of contractors. One vietnamese, the other Bosnian. They all bought used Makita tools.
I had no idea there even was a market for used tools back then. But it was enough to sell me on them myself. But man, are they pricier.
I am from the Metabo house. Its a German company I used to work for. Pretty decent gear. They have a deal with a lot of smaller, specialised brands to share their battery system.
Nearly every single kobalt tool I've had has broken or just stopped so quickly. They are such a small step above harbor freight that it isn't worth my time anymore.
How about dads who went with the discount hardware store's brand. It's easily 1/4 Dewalt prices and comes with a 5 year no questions asked warranty? I spent like 80euros on two 18V cordless drills. I keep the receipt in the case they came in, and in the last 8 years I've abused the shit out of them, and have had at least one replacement. Just like Dewalt, makita, milwaukee, and ryobi, I have several batteries and charges, and a plethora of tools with the same battery.
I went to the store with a beat up drill, and the pimply faced teen at the register was like wtf?!? But the manager didn't want the full story on the phone. Only three questions "is it [store brand]?" "is the receipt less than 5 years old?" and "what are you calling me for then?". New drill, new case and new receipt. Oldest drill is about 4.5 years old now, so I guess that I have to torture the hell out of it and get a new one with 5 more years.
I'm pretty satisfied with Hart which is a Walmart brand. Keeping my fingers crossed, but no issues so far after a couple years.
The same company that makes Ryobi and Milwaukee tools also makes Hart.
There is a canadian Youtuber that I stopped watching because he turned out to be a Canuck Trumper type, but he did a lot of videos where he broke down power tools with various price points and showed why they cost what they cost and where manufacturers do or don't cut corners. Interesting stuff.
I have a mishmash thanks to some battery adapters I found on Amazon. I swap between Dewalt, and two Milwaukee ecosystems seamlessly
FYI there are adaptors for all of these batteries so youāre not actually stuck. I got one on Amazon
Just make sure whatever tool/battery combo you end up using still some sort of battery protection. Most brands have it in the tool but a few have it in the battery.
Remember Wen....
I have a Wen metal shear tool...it's AMAZING. Slices through sheet aluminum and steel like they're butter.
DeWalt for drills, etc.. I used to work in a hardware store (a small town store, not a Lowes/HD big box place) and sold DeWalt, so that's what I gravitated toward when I was buying tools for myself.
But for yard tools, 40v Ryobi.
In Australia
Ryobi: for DIY, apprentices or otherwise cheapskates. No shame in it. Best bang for buck if you don't wear them out and the best part is you're not going to be worried that someone will nick off with them. A lot of their range isn't brushless and these tools will let you down the moment you need to do something moderately demanding.
Milwaukee: has won the trades tool war. They have a huge range of tools and their customer service with regard to warranty replacement can't be beat. Tradies are very comforted that know that they can abuse the crap out of their tool and not be out of pocket.
Makita: my house. I consider more of a gentlemans tool even though many swear they are the most rugged things out there. I think their batteries are better than the competition in terms of overall cycles so long as they are not abused. Their carpentry tools are so so buttery to use. Wish they had a bigger tool range.
Bosch: Not as good as the above two but priced the same or higher. Limited tool range. Batteries are really not amazing. Sad to see but the only persons using these are really those who insist on buying only a german/european branded product.
Dewalt: Yellow is not as good as red or teal and is priced accordingly. Weird second best niche. Batteries kind of trash imo.
Ozito/Ferrex/etc: Chinesium. Bit of a roll of the dice. Some stuff may last but generally expect these tools to fail at some point even with light usage. Generally not fun/comfortable to use either.
It is whatever you buy a battery and charger for first. Then you are unwilling to forfeit that battery to just buy another tool. So you get another tool of the same brand, even if you aren't happy with the previous. Then at that point, you've gone to far. You've got several hundred dollars in batteries you would have to give up just to switch. It is the most blatant example of the sunken cost fallacy.
Ryobi, specifically has entry level tools (a basic drill) that come with a charger and battery for cheaper than you can even buy a battery by itself. When you're young and broke and all you need to do is hang some curtains or something you get it. But really, it is just a seed for your future "house" that you belong to.
I found a set of Makita tools for 60% off last year and now I'm Makita battery dependent for the rest of my life
In 10 years you will have thousands of dollars in makita tools because hey, that hammer drill you needed was only $110, better get another battery too, your old ones are getting tired. š¤·āāļø and you will always have makita tools, forever. Even if you hate them.
I used to be ride or die for Makita as an electrician, but they've gone downhill lately and their battery prices are insane! Used to be a Makita could fall off a ladder onto the chuck and bounce. Last year my crew had two drills newly bought that year CATCH FIRE and one strip the gearbox. Embarassing performance.
I've pivoted to Ridgid with their dirt cheap batteries with lifetime warranty. And I have a couple Ridgid->Makita adapters to use my new collection of Ridgid batteries with my tough old Makita tools. Battery adapters will free you from that lock-in.
Honestly I've been impressed with the Ridgid tools though, same manufacturer as Milwaukee and Ridgid has always been a big brand with plumbers. The brushless tools I've bought have been powerful and robust so far. No regrets
So TTI manufactures Milwaukee, Ryobi, and Ridgid power tools. I didn't know they did Ridgid too. I wonder how many manufacturers there really are for the plethora of power tool brands. I'm gonna guess like three.
Feels like something the EU would eventually work on settling: making all tool manufacturers have a non-proprietary connector.
Just fucking make it all XT90 or something.
And have the battery dangling? XT90 also doesn't provide any way to communicate things like max charging speed, cell voltage or failure conditions to the charger
Iām just waiting for the other shoe to drop and for a Belgian or something to drop in here to say that theyāve had fully interchangeable batteries for the last twenty years, and then make fun of us for building houses out of wood because we didnāt clear cut our continent.
https://youtu.be/eKOvXigyrXA?si=XiTMEQfNU1XmF2LQ
More people should know there actually are adapters for different brands of batteries on amazon, and thingiverse if you have a 3D printer
And if you don't have a 3D printer, your local library likely does.
Dewalt battery on a Dyson vacuum as well
A bunch of much better ones on Etsy too
And if you don't have a 3D printer, your local library likely does.
Yeah Ryobi is dirt cheap and good enough for most things. When you need to add another tool, choosing between the one that doesnāt have a battery and the one that does but is twice the price has a big influence on your decision.
Also, Iām not a contractor, so I only use certain tools once every six months. Have yet to have anything fail on me. If it does, maybe Iāll upgrade. Certain tools have already paid for themselves in that they saved me from needing to hire someone else. Just getting a pole saw and hedge trimmer alone saved me probably $700.
I do have a few of the other brands, but they were damn pricey and I donāt use them enough to justify it.
Fucking Ridgid got me, because on paper, they have lifetime warranties on their batteries. But after buying an expensive combo, they made it an absolute hassle to register my tools, so I kinda doubt they'll honor their warranty. Now I'm Ridgid + Dewalt. My corded tools and hand tools are whatever brand; harbor freight or walmart if not used often, Milwaukee, DeWalt, etc if I expect to use them often.
I really dislike Home Depot after a series of huge customer service mishaps with me last year, and actively avoid going there now.
Which is a shame because I have a lot of Ryobi One tools. They are perfectly positioned for weekend warriorsā¦huge tool library, good batteries, affordable and of fairly decent quality (certainly well above ājunkā and a good value for the money).
Shame that is a store-exclusive brand.
The worst part is Iāve bought into most of the cordless tools Iād really need. The day might come where I want a larger circular saw (mines only 5.5 and it is prone to binding if your technique isnāt perfect, and even thenā¦) or find that some of the tools that Iām okay with having corded (like a jigsaw or an angle grinder) I now need a cordless replacement. At that point Iāll likely find myself buying into a better and more expensive battery system and, for quite a while, only having the one seldom-used tool for it.
Now Iāve got a dead 4Ah battery and Iām on the fence as to rebuild it, buy a new one, or take it as an opportunity to start going into a new battery system.
This tracks.
DeWalt: high quality and good pedigree but overpriced = Slytherin
Milwaukee: basically the same as DeWalt, but less pretentious. Thinks they're better and tougher though = Gryffindor
Makita: the smart choice for value, also best colors = Ravenclaw
Ryobi: I know it will break, but they're just tools and I'm not serious about this anyway. I would rather spend more money on my family or other hobbies = Hufflepuff
Honorable mentions of other "houses" and schools in the thread.
Black and Decker/Craftsman/whatever. Used to be very impressive, but completely corrupted. Probably evil = Durmstrang (Russian school)
Festool: Beautiful, absolutely dripping with wealth signals. Still pretty amazing at what they do, but you might not want them on a job site = Beauxbatons (super wealthy French school)
Harbor freight: Simple, potentially the most powerful but also likely to break. Can probably accomplish what you need by using a wrench as a hammer, but you wouldn't want to do anything delicate with it. Actually the biggest group of dad-wizards = Uagadou (the school in Uganda where magic was invented but they don't use wands)
I don't know where you shop but DeWalt is cheaper than Milwaukee and Makita. Project Farm tests show Milwaukee as usually best but trades wins against Makita.
So no, DeWalt isn't overpriced. It's cheaper and less quality. Neither is Milwaukee equivalent to DeWalt. Milwaukee/Makita are better, sometimes incredibly better than DeWalt but at a much higher price.
For example a drill with battery on Amazon is:
DeWalt: $99 Makita: $149 Ryobi: $73 Milwaukee: $144
At Home Depot and Lowes, the price difference between DeWalt and Milwaukee is even bigger.
I want to see model numbers on those prices you're comparing.
Anything I go to an actual store, DeWalt is more then Milwaukee. I never look at Ryobi or Makita because they are not good professional tools and break much faster then DeWalt or Milwaukee
1/2" drill/driver. The Milwaukee comes with 2 3a batteries compared to DeWalt having 1 4 ah which explains $50.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-20V-MAX-Cordless-1-2-in-Drill-Driver-2-20V-1-3Ah-Batteries-Charger-and-Bag-DCD771C2/204279858
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-M18-18V-Lithium-Ion-Brushless-Cordless-1-2-in-Compact-Drill-Driver-Kit-with-Two-2-0-Ah-Batteries-Charger-and-Case-3601-22CT/325544370
Although I also see a $99 Milwaukee with a single 2 Ahr battery which is weird because the tool alone is $129.
Could be, but there are also like 80 different impact drivers in each brand, so tough to compare apples to apples. I also bought all my power tools years and years ago, so just going off what I remember when I was doing my research. I actually own mostly DeWalt and some Makita and Harbor Freight, and my router stuff is all Bosch. The only Milwaukee stuff I own is their M18 yard tools stuff and it's really shoddily built and quite shit, though it did look the best compared to the alternatives - so probably just a function of compromising on a multi tool. But hey, I'm just one dad.
The one thing I know for sure is there's a silly amount of brand loyalty and sweeping generalizations (like the ones I made!), and it's tough to cut through any of it since tool review websites and videos are probably the worst example of AI generated blogspam I experience in my daily life. Unless someone's a professional tradesman, they probably don't get to use tools enough to have well-informed opinions, and then their needs don't even really match harry homeowner in the first place!
It's probably best to just do blind tribalism and give us something to make fun of other dads for. What I'm trying to say is your response is exactly what someone in House Milwaukee would say.
FYI Durmstrang is from Hungary.
So Russia-lite
Awesome characterization, I'm not following the Potterverse but what would Hilti be? Or Mafell?
We've reached the ends of my knowledge of both tool brands and Harry Potter unfortunately. Hilti I've got no idea - I only feel bad about leaving out Bosch.
Is this canonical?
What about snap-on?
Festool is not on this list because Festool owners NEVER GET ANYONE PREGNANT.
Because you have to choose: children or Festool. Only the few elite can have both.
If I had enough money for Festool stuff I would probably just pay someone else to do the job instead!
Can confirm, had a vasectomy years ago.
Love the very, very few Festools that I have. But the price is painful.
My dad gifted me a Dewalt Impact for Father's day one year and I've been unintentionally stuck in that ecosystem since.
How have power tool companies not figured out Gillette's trick about giving you a free razor on your 18th birthday to lock you in for decades?
Weird, I always thought that Gillette used the Selective Service registration in figuring out who to reach
Also, could the power tool companies afford to give power tools away like that? A razor is one thing but a cordless drill?
That drill needs batteries before long and needs to have an assortment of bits to use with it, those companies often sell all the bits or own the company that does
Dewalt has the juice to get it done but lacking g in specialty tools and their tough system sucks compared to Milwaukee. Coming from a guy with several grand of dewalt. Kind of wish I went Milwaukee but I'm in too deep...
They're getting better on specialty tools the last year or 2.
The 12 volt line has expanded as well. I Didn't need the 12v drill driver combo but wanted the 12v rachet they had as a free tool ona sale.
I rarely grab the 20v drill or driver unless the 12 just can't get it done.
The tough system stuff is finally starting to catch up a bit. I will admit it pisses me off to no end that so many items that come in clam shell cases aren't compatible or the tough system boxes could be designed with those items in mind as well.
Milwaukee is still winning that one but I couldn't justify the price.
I got my old man some DeWalt stuff. They're excellent tools.
Bosch
Specifically Bosch blue.
Interestingly I have a first generation Bosch Uneo (green consumer device, non changeable battery). Uneo is a consumer level cordless screwdriver and pneumatic hammer drill hybrid, it will easily put up to four to six holes into concrete walls (enough for home use when hanging something, but afterwards it's empty and needs to be recharged)
The Uneo is one of my most useful tools for occasional use, and I know of no other brand which offers a similar tool which fulfills those roles in a non-craftsman home.
If you regularly build stuff its battery is too weak, but I use it a few times a year. Hang a picture, lamp or a wall cupboard in my apartment (which partly has concrete walls in this high-rise building) - not a problem.
You need to know that most power tools are ultimately owned by only a few brands
Milwaukee and Ryobi for example are both owned by TTI but the Marketing is strong.
https://www.protoolreviews.com/power-tool-manufacturers-who-owns-them/
Well, yes, but they serve drastically different markets, and the ownership structure is different. Ryobi is for the home owner that occasionally uses tools, and is licensed by a Japanese company to allow TTI to produce the brand. Milwaukee is for heavy daily use, and is wholly owned by TTI.
Its also worth mentioning that adapters are available to convert between battery systems. If you're on Milwaukee and want to buy a DeWalt palm router (which is superior IMO) then you can just get a converter to use it with a Milwaukee battery. You can keep the converter in the tool itself, and most tools don't mind this.
The exception is Ryobi. Converters only exist one-way, since Ryobi still uses "stick" type batteries for low voltage stuff. The opposite converter could theoretically exist (say, to use a Ryobi battery with a DeWalt router) but it would be very large and bulky and so nobody really makes them.
Ryobi batteries in general are very bulky. That 12 AH is like strapping a boot to your tools. It's also seemingly their weak spot, as all I read is people complaining about their batteries.
They make a 12ah? I have the 4 and it's huge. It lasts a surprisingly long time too. A 12ah would last a bazillion years.
Heck yeah! Makita is just Makita!
Japanese and over 100 years old..
I dropped my locking, variable speed, single direction, corded drill with the chuck key electrical taped to the cracked plastic cord on a board and the hole I needed formed naturally out of fear.
House DeWalt: The Builders
House Ryobi: The Slapjobs
House Milwaukee: The wishes they were house DeWalt
House Makita: Quality prevails regardless of how little I use my tools.
Unmentioned:
House Bosch: House Makita but doesn't like Asians
House Metabo: House Milwaukee but green
House Rigid: wow these are fuckin cheap
House Worx: Tools take a backseat to Yardwork
House Metabo HPT: My wife says they're great
Milwaukee is better than DeWalt in literally every category. Come at me.
I was browsing the tool section at a Home Depot once a couple of years ago when a very attractive young woman came up to me and started asking me about my project. I'm not so dense that I thought she was hitting on me, but I couldn't figure out her angle and I thought maybe she was a prostitute or something. Turns out she was a Milwaukee sales rep and she was trying to encourage people (men, rather) to buy some Milwaukee cordless tools.
So, technically not a prostitute.
Only if you go for the strict definition.
Any exchange of labour for money under an indentured system where you are under constant violent threat of homelessness, destitution, starvation, and even death if you donāt work, is a certain type of prostitution born of desperation.
TL;DR: most of us whose paycheques are signed by someone else are labour prostitutes.
This is today's Lemmy Moment Of The Day.
I can't say I disagree with any of that.
Iāve used dewalt professionally for many years. My buddies who use Milwaukee are always borrowing my stuff. Iāll leave it at that.
Yeap, switched from Milwaukee from DeWalt recently. The tool quality is pretty much the same, but the Milwaukee battery and chargers are a lot nicer.
Except battery life in my experience.
My construction companion runs Milwaukee. As I stated in a different comment, he's had several drills and batteries blow in about three years. This isn't to say they're not a great brand, but that's too many lemons for the premium they charge for my taste. seems like their biggest downfall is the plastic shells they use, especially on batteries. Those little power check buttons break right quick, and the rubber over moulding doesn't deal with grease well.
I run Metabo HPT, and I abuse the hell out of them. Drilling inch holes 12" deep in concrete for garage anchors, running all the batteries in sub zero and 100+ temps, notching studs until the multi tool is too hot to hold. Never had a failure in 6 years. Even my original batteries still work as well as the new. A slick bonus I found out being a compulsive tinkerer, the batteries that they sell as 18v 3ah are actually 24v 5ah. I always wondered why they lasted so long before I ripped a few apart. Samsung cells as well.
House Hilti: Unyielding. Immutable. Eternal.
You forgot house Black & Decker
DeWalt is owned by Stanley Black&Decker
Rigid are mostly Milwaukee tools but cheaper.
Ngl, I absolutely love rigid. Most have lifetime guarantees, even on batteries.
Never had to exercise them fortunately.
House Bauer/Atlas/Hercules/Warrior: Life is transient, why does your tool or battery need to last longer than the job?
House Festool: Expensive, but I shift the cost to my clients.
Also, pretty systainers for storage and German ordnung.
House Harbor Freight: Safety squints aren't enough danger
You remember how Harry chose the house he wanted to be in, and it's canon, that the sorting hat ward isn't definite? When I was buying my first tool, I wanted a Ryobi. But they didn't have it in stock and they did have Makita on sale and the sales guy told me that would be much better for the same price. So after that I'm buying only Makita, to fit the rest.
DeWalt gang, stand up!
In my experience, Dewalt has been the best in terms of balance between reliability, flexibility, and cost. Milwaukee is probably the most reliable but also the most limited. Ryobi are cheap junk. Makita tools I haven't used but I've been told repeatedly that they used to be awesome but are now cheap junk.
All of these companies have at least a few items that are cheap junk (like most of the bluetooth speaker stuff...wtf?) but some are worse than others.
While I acknowledge that Ryobi is at the bottom of the barrel, my experience with them has been really good. I've been using the same drill/driver for 20 years, and have gotten lots of use out of their other tools.
What does bottom of the barrel mean in context though?
I have Ryobi and theyāve all been great, but Iām not a builder, Iām a homeowner who has occasional projects and small fixit/replace jobs around the house.
My brother was gifted a Ryobi set decades ago by my parents, itās what my dad used, but has since replaced it with DeWalt. However, he has a wood shop in his garage, has added a deck, built multiple retaining walls, a shed and all sorts of stuff in the ~15 years theyāve owned their house.
I feel like how and how often you use the tools plays a big role. I usually get a new tool from Harbor Freight, unless I know itās something Iāll use a lot. Then if I end up using it enough for it to break/fail I go buy the nicer version.
I have Dewalt/Ryobi battery tools
Ryobi usually lacks features
Take for example an oscillating saw
With my dewalt oscillating saw I can swap a blade or change the angle of the blade in 1 second because you just push down a lever. On the ryobi, you have to break out an allen wrench (which is stored in the tool) and loosen a bolt.
Someone that might use the saw once every blue moon might not care that much, but someone who uses it every day it is a big deal.
Also quality, Ryobi tools just feel cheaper.
I buy important tools in dewalt and less important tools in Ryobi. Like my small leaf blower is Ryobi. No need to pay extra for the dewalt one because it's just for quickly blowing off my walkway or front porch steps. If I need to move a lot of stuff I use my gas backpack blower, which is also Ryobi. Only problem I've ever had with it is the cord snapped a couple times, I think it has to do with how it rubs the grommet. Replaced the last time with a more heavy duty cord and haven't had a problem since. Always starts in less than 3 pulls and very powerful.
There are cons to Ryobi tools, but when looking at the top of the barrel tools the only con is usually the price.
So Ryobi is just fine. With the context you provide if youāre a heavier user who needs the features then you can spend more? If you need a quality tool that will get the job done without frills then Ryobi is great?
Yes
Ryobi is fine
Other tools are better
Internet likes to put down Ryobi but it's not as bad as they make it out to be.
My first power drill was Ryobi like 10+ years ago and still works to this day. I prefer using my Dewalt drill, it's less clunky.
No one wants to be a "Ryobi Guy". Especially behind a screen where you can say you have any tool you want.
Bosch makes my favorite hammer drill. My Makita sander works like a champ. I enjoy my Milwaukee packout toolbox.
People get stuck on brands. And while with tools there are differences, Ryobi works just fine.
I did burn out my Ryobi oscillating saw. But that's the only Ryobi tool that has failed me and I have like a dozen of them. I really like my ryobi finish nailer.
Sameā¦ I simply donāt use the tools enough to justify buying the expensive model. If a certain tool fails, maybe Iāll buy the higher quality model, but so far nothing has failed and they do the job. Donāt care too much about having the right brand.
Haven't used makita bt. Have 20+ other makita going back 15yrs to brand new ones. All have worked perfectly with incredible power. Same batteries work on all of them. Have had some chargers fail but not a single tool. They get used and abused daily with no issues. Granted this is anecdote evidence.
I've got all Dewalt for the stuff that needs to last (circular saw, reciprocating saw, drills, etc), but for some things I get the cheap garbage because the cost difference is so extreme and I know I'm just going to replace them every couple years anyway.
Most of my yard equipment is ryobi. All of the stuff with massive batteries is just so stupidly expensive from Dewalt and Milwaukee. I don't expect an outdoor lithium ion battery to last more than 5 years anyway, so instead of getting the high quality version, I got the shit one and had money to spare on extra batteries.
I have the flexvolt yard tools and they've gone strong for 5 years. Their blower is the strongest out there but only last about 15-20 minutes.
Iāve used dewalt professionally for many years and the tools are top notch
Can't, sold my kidneys to afford these and I'm too sore.
I needed to pick a side 4 years ago when buying a drill and hadn't heard a bad word about DeWalt.
So I bought DeWalt.
Quality-wise, Makita > DeWALT ā„ Milwaukee > Ryobi, at least, if you watch teardowns by guys like AvE.
Power tools are like cars; companies hold several brands and target them to different market segments, like Porsche and VW.
Ryobi is owned by the same company as Milwauki; it's the budget line, Milwauki being their premium line.
DeWALT and Black & Decker are owned by the same company; DeWALT is their premium line.
The exception in this list is Makita, which is its own company. They're also objectively more well-built than the others (here), and correspondingly usually more expensive.
The premium lines are better quality (not just more expensive) but also tend to have smaller battery-tool options. Despite being a budget line, I mostly own B&D because most of my tools these days are 24V and there are more tool options there. The few, select, DeWALT tools I have are noticably better quality.
I don't use power tools enough to justify Makita, but also, their battery-powered line is comparatively tiny. As someone else said, there's a lot of motivation to pick a (compatible) lane, whichever it is. For most home-gamers, the quality difference will probably not matter much. If I were made of money, though, I'd have everything Makita except for the things they don't make.
It drives me nuts that Milwaukee used to be the best line about 10 years ago. They sold out their good name and started selling shitty tools after I bought into their battery system. Grrr.
Ryobi is a distant fourth tbh. It's basically harbor freight tools but, Home depot.
Yeah, this is like a game of, "one of these things is not like the other." Ryobi is not in the same league as the others.
Interesting, I would rank it: Milwaukee >= Dewalt > Makita >...... Ryobi. Makita always feels like it was great for 20yrs ago.
Makita is still great.
Definitely, all the top 3 are.
Iām in that fifth house that no-one ever seems to talk about: BOSCH.
J/K, Iām mostly Bosch, but I look towards whichever manufacturer makes the best version of a tool I currently need. For example, my chainsaws and yard/orchard power tools are Stihl, my lawnmower is Husqvarna, my circular saw, worm drive saw and abrasion/steel cutoff saw are all Skilsaw (not Skil!), and my oscillating multi tool is Fein.
Plus, many of the domestics are vintage, from before production was outsourced out of America, which makes them much more reliable and robust than modern tools. Even some of the other tools are vintage -- my Stihl 076 Super can cut through a 60cm log like a hot knife through butter. And I have both 36ā³ and 72ā³ bars to go with it.
But when it comes to battery power tools, you have to pick a brand and stick with it, unless you're John D Rockefeller with 6 types of charger and a billion battery packs.
Even within a brand, you usually contend with at least two different battery packs - 12v and higher - and even more if you keep your tools in good condition and their connection types are obsoleted before you buy more tools.
I always lean towards Bosch where possible, mainly because of their charitable work. The founder set things up so that it's perpetually funded from the company profits. That just appeals to me as the tiebreaker when deciding between a bunch of similarly priced tools that will otherwise do the job well enough.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bosch_Stiftung
That said, I tend to go for corded options where practical. I have some corded tools that I've owned for over thirty years now that still get occasional use. Battery tools are convenient for their portability, but they do have a limit to their useful life.
That would put me in the Sixth House (seems like we've jumped ship from the Potterverse to the Locked Tomb series now?) as a Metabo HPT user -- at least for battery-operated tools. I've got no allegiances when it comes to corded power tools, though -- got everything from Harbor Freight only-need-it-for-one-job specials to DeWalt saws and routers, and a big ol' Craftsman drill press I inherited from my grandfather.
Corded can be great! I have corded Bosch for anything in my workshop - why would I need batteries for a location with dozens of sockets? - and use batteries mainly in the field or where cords would start to get impractical. Plus, where the manufacturer only makes a battery version of the tool. The Bosch PROFACTOR GDS18V-740N, for example, only comes in a battery version. No corded version exists.
Straight up Ryobi here. It's not pro-hardcore, but for homeowner DIY and the variety and range of devices, it's been solid.
Pretty funny how Home Depot has stayed neutral and carried all those brands.
Im a ryobi slut too, mainly for the price, except for a few old Metabo grinders which are built like brick shithouses and will probably outlive me.
I've found that any project my Ryobi isn't suited for is a project I would have opted to hire a professional anyway. 99% of people can get away with Ryobi 99% of the time. That remaining 1% really isn't worth the increased price from brands like Dewalt.
Sameā¦ itās hard to justify getting the most expensive tools when I only use them once every 3-6 months. If other people want to spend their money keeping up with tool brands thatās a competition Iāll gladly lose. Got better things to spend my money on.
This was me, with my few random ryobi tools, until I needed something new and saw one of those big combos of several tools from DeWalt was half price. So I lucked out being in the right place at the right time and got the best of both worlds.
They are fine for anything which doesn't require precision. I have a Ryobi bench sander and it's a complete waste of time. Same with the chop saw I unused to have. It was basically impossible to get flush miters from it no matter how much you adjusted it - the tolerances were just too low. My DeWalt table saw and Chop saw don't have the same issues. They cut sub-mm precision on day one and still do years later. The table saw in particular is technically a worksite saw, buy you can use it to build cabinets with the right blade.
Couple years back I went to the graduation party of a kid my step daughter was friends. The dad had an entire wall pegboarded out with every possible Ryobi cordless tool. It was honestly impressive. And he had one Makita tool. Made me laugh.
20v to house DeWalt!
We are a cheap garbage household šŖšŖšŖšŖšŖ
Mudblood.
Project Farm on YouTube has great tests and reviews of products like this. Fully recommend his channel if you are in the market to buy tools or tool adjacent products.
Fuck yeah. Project Farm rules! He's like Bob Ross for me. I just chill and watch tool-science happen.
Torque test channel is pretty much completely power tool specific and goes a lot more in depth on them. PF for breadth, TTC for depth.
As a Harbor Freight guy, I'm offended.
I mean, this doesn't have SnapOn or Mac. Like, do they even power tools? My neighbor's garage has a SnapOn flag and tool chest.
Isn't that like a Maserati equivalent? Isn't just the chest thousands in and of itself?
Yes
I love āthe wireā scene on picking a power tool.
https://youtu.be/-N_UuImPL4E
āYeah. Cordless'll do that. You might want to consider the powder-actuated tool. The Hilti DX460MX or the Simpson PTP. These two are my Cadillacs. Everything else on this board is second best, sorry to say. Are you contracting or just doing some work around the house?ā
I have forgotten Snoops... man it was a challenge to understand her w/o subtitles
He meant Lexus but he ain't know it.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/-N_UuImPL4E
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Which is the Harbor Freight's Warrior & Hecules house?
The house elves?
Fighting against Harbor Freight's Chicago and Bauer houses?
And look how happy they are with their sorting hat:
Why are they in a jungle or not in the same pic
The prompt was just hillbilly with hard hat smiling. Maybe it wasn't exact enough.
Ha! That looks fun. Hope you don't mind me jumping in, I had a go at the AI too. Prompt was hillbilly wearing [insert brand] tools hardhat.
Milwaukee
Ryobi
Makita
Do...er..Dewalt
Makita dude is ripped, but funny that he's holding a DeWalt-looking...thing.
never ceases to amaze me that AI has such a hard time with basic text, but IMO that's probably not something they want to be refined. Too much liability in churning out fake imagery with actual copyrighted/trademarked brands and the like.
That's because the batteries have become the printer ink of the tool world. They're f'n expensive.
If you buy into a product system it makes no sense to have different batteries that don't fit all the tools. If you keep the batteries all the same then you can be charging one or two sets vs having to buy extra sets and charger multiplied by the different tool makers.
I have one of the manufacturers shown in the image, and after I got a kit that had a charger, tool, and extra batteries included I got hooked in because they sell tools without batteries, but I have extra! So I bought same maker. The tools are all pretty good, so not much difference between makers, but that's one way they hook you.
The batteries are actually really simple. The best thing you can do to increase efficiency and save money is learn to replace the cells. You can get higher quality lithium cells than the batteries come with if they start to fail for way cheaper than you'd expect. The boards have like 12 circuits, and if you can't fix them you can buy them for a few bucks.
This is the way and how they get everyone hooked. My husband was -this close- to buying a badly reviewed lawn mower all because he had 3 batteries from the same brand. Two hardware store employees talked him out of it even though it meant my husband walked away with a cheaper brand, bless them.
I landed in DeWalt when their cordless devices became as good as/better than corded tools; I standardized on their battery platform only for them to abandon my battery and roll out a new (incompatible) one. Shortly thereafter my batteries bricked and it seems the business model is to force consumers to buy new tools every so often
FML I hate it that they're all proprietary and incompatible
I know cords are a bit of a pain, but rotating batteries and keeping them charged is also a bit of a pain, and at least the pain of cords ensures that you always have a tool to use when you need it. Also electrical outlets have been standardized for more than a century now.
Exactly. Cordless drills are super convenient and super cheap. For anything more heavy duty than that, I want something corded (which usually has the added advantage of being both cheaper and available in good condition second-hand).
House Skil/Craftsman-from-Goodwill for life!
Yep. Corded tools don't need to be charged. Love it!
You can buy adapters for literally any battery to any other battery type. Theyāre all over Etsy and Amazon. Torque test channel even does a test to see how much performance you lose from them, along with building a monster battery pack that uses all the brands batteries at the same time.
FWIW Ryobiās battery has been the same format since the 90s which removed any doubt I had about continuing to buy the brand.
GryffinDeWalt
Milwauflepuff
Ravenkita
SlytheRyobi
Went looking for my Craftsman brothers, but Iām afraid I may stand alone.
IIRC, that might be because their quality & reputation took a dip for a while. They were, after all, a Sears brand, and Sears got run into the ground by some blood-sucking leadership.
That said, they used to have a great reputation, and were sold to Black & Decker in 2017, who seem to be handling the line up much, much better.
B&D makes tools for people who hang pictures... I've never seen a b&d tool on a job site or even handle the bare minimum for anything more than little house projects. DeWalt is like the lowest grade stuff that most guys use in construction, but even those are starting to have QC issues and durability drops.
Sir, this is a shitpost about dads.
Most of my SB&D Craftsmam stuff is ptetty good.
Only Bosch! Only hardcore!
And if you're a dad who has a woodworking YouTube channel and business: Festool.
Any Europeans? Where my Bosch brothers
South African here, I too was sorted into the Bosch house
But im a craftsman....
You stand behind DeWalt and behave for Black and Decker
I have a B&D corded drill from the 1980s that is still ripping through steel no problem.
Old craftsman or new? Because if new you might not be Craftsman very long. Old craftsman tools will outlive us all and if you can find them at a garage sale, buy em.
New craftsman tools are pretty much just junk.
Their battery power tools are completely unrelated to whatever craftsman used to be.
All of their tools are completely unrelated to what craftsman used to be.
I can't tell if DeWalt is the Gryffindor or Slytherin of power tool brands.
If you go by house colors, they are Hufflepuff. Milwaukee is Gryfindor. Ravenclaw is Makita and Slytherin is Ryobi
But Ryobi and Milwaukee are both owned and manufactured by the same company TTI, theyāre practically the same tools just with a different plastic shell
Owned by same company does not mean same tool. I own a bunch of m12 fuel and some Ryobi too. My Milwaukee stuff kicks the pants off of Ryobi but it is also a lot more expensive.
Most of the sub compact stuff is just rebranded M12 gear, for example. Not everything is the same, but a lot is.
Proof of this? YouTubers have opened up both sets. They arenāt the same.
VAG owns Lamborghini, Scania, Skoda and Ducati. Practically same vehicles right?
say that you're a dad without saying you're dad
Cries in the corner with his WORX tools
DeWalt gang rise up
As a Semi pro, I run Metabo HPT for power tools and beat the hell out of them and get free batteries. Never had a tool or battery die in several years.
For groundskeeping I go with worx. They're great but aftermarket batteries suck ass.
Any plug in tools that aren't antiques are rigid, their warranty is nuts, and their mitre saw has the widest range of any I've ever used. Plus free service and parts for life.
My coworker runs Milwaukee, lots of variety, but he's had two drills and three batteries die in 3 years of basic use, so I'm not sure if I trust them wholly. The packout is nice, but there are better options out there for portable tool chests now, like flex and toughbuilt.
I know a few pros who switched to flex tools and swear by them, but they're too fresh to market to know for sure, although the company has been around forever supposedly.
Yeah same company that makes Flex also make Kobalt as their Ryobi competitor for Lowe's, and Ridgid as their mid tier tools.
Makita still going strong after 15yrs of use. They were the best at the time and still works amazing today with backwards compatibility batteries. My 15yrs old driver can use a brand new battery that a 2023 model uses.
Drill a 1/2" hole through 4" thick stainless without a hiccup on a single battery. Then tap the hole on the same battery. Impressive power and reliable
4 inch thick stainless steel? What in tarnation is that for?
Custom bunker door installation?
Port holes in armored vehicles, so the soldiers can stick their rifles out of and shoot at people.
Adding a lift point. Did 12 of them and the driver was on the toasty side when done
What I'm more intrigued by is that OP didn't say that they use any kind of guide or frame to hold the power drill. Try drilling 10cm by hand straight enough that it makes sense to tap the hole.
I used to use cheapo tools, but I borrowed a Makita circular saw once and it was so nice to use in comparison that Iāve been on team teal ever since.
Do any of these have a plug in adapter? Like a battery pack with a cord coming out of it?
Good Lord that should be a thing.
Some of the bigger tools, like vacuums or table saw do. Unfortunately the little tools are too cluttered with miscellaneous Bluetooth circuits to fit both AC and DC motors or more reasonably AC to DC converters.
Iāve only ever seen the oppositeā¦power inverters that run off the batteriesā¦
Just buy a mains powered tool, they're usually cheaper anyway.
You mean a battery that you can plug a cord into? I have some I got from Ryobi.
Yes, Festool do one for their sanders. A battery tool is usually more expensive and less powerful than a mains powered tool though, so I'm not sure what the advantage of this would be.
Milwaukee has two: a small one and a big one.
Edit: I read this wrong, but Iāll leave it up because I think the inverters are cool.
I wonder how easy it is to DIY something like that. Like would it be as easy as picking up an off the shelf power supply with the right voltage and current and 3D printing an attachment that fits into the battery slot with a DC jack on the side (or even just gutting a dead battery pack and taking out the batteries and control electronics, soldering a DC jack straight onto the main contacts, and drilling a hole for it to poke through)? Or do modern power tools actually need to authenticate the battery with some kind of tool DRM?
idk about modern tools but this totally works with an ancient Bosch drill I had, well at least the motor with speed controller from it
Milwaukee and Ryobi are owned by the same company. https://www.protoolreviews.com/power-tool-manufacturers-who-owns-them/
All 4 houses all belong to Hogwarts
Yeah, and Ryobi and Milwaukee are made by the same manufacturer anyway.
But I like having my power and hand tools in matching colors...
The true power is being able to share batteries between power tools
If we're gonna talk about tools, I gotta shout out porter cable for making an absolute tank of a circular saw. Finally went cordless Bosch, but that porter cable has a good 20 years or so of heavy use and it's still kicking.
House Ego: I don't want the cheapest thing, but I'm only willing to go a single step up.
It's surprisingly hard (at least for me, perhaps I'm looking wrong :p) to find general comparisons comparing the brands for overall usefulness. You'll find stuff comparing their drills, or something specific, but not everything overall. Which seems much more important, as (as has been mentioned in these comments) the batteries really lock you into one brand.
I mean, you can't really measure the brand overall like i think you're talking about.
Cause every brands gonna have great tools, mediocre tools, and bad tools. Though I think we can universally agree dewalt is overpriced and exploitative lol.
I believe you can buy batter adapters that let you run, say, Milwaukee off Dewalt batteries. Most of them are just direct metal adapters, no circuitry or anything. You could even 3d print and make your own if you were inclined.
So if you are deep in one battery ecosystem, you should be able to still run a tool of another brand.. as long as you are matching voltages (don't run a 18-20v tool off a 40v battery, for instance)
Any Harbor Freighters? Any Hercules dads?
My policy is to buy Harbor freight and when the tool dies from being used to buy a good one.
This needs to be a rule.
This is the way!
My tools?
Wired: DeWalt
Battery: Makita
Pneumatic: Bosch
Hand: whateverās in the boxā¦
Wired and Pneumatic can be whatever.
Where is the power fist / what ever is cheapest?
Timely! I was gifted into House Milwaukee this holiday season. I guess the sorting hat did it's thing. Hope to learn a lot of useful wizardry, I've got a door frame to fix.
Lol, yep I got gifted into the same house.
I'm sending well wishes on your wizarding journey!
I honestly am not sure I've ever heard of the bottom two, I'm a second generation DeWalter (though my dad also used Ryobi).
Milwaukee is generally considered the best brand for heavy professional work in the US. DeWalt is a close second
Maybe where youāre from. DeWalt is the premium brand, Milwaukee is the second tier from the same manufacturer.
Interesting take. I've spent a lot of time in the trades and if your a plumber with DeWalt no one will take you seriously. You're also just wrong about manufacturer my guy. Milwaukee is in same umbrella as Ridgid and Ryobi, with Ridgid actually being the second tier. Milwaukee is so good, tti gives them operational independance. DeWalt makes really good stuff, but in 1 to 1 comparison Milwaukee usually wins.
Iām just flat wrong. Iāll own it :)
I got three of the four, just one more power tool set and I'll be sweet lol
Ryobi is great for starting out. They're definitely not the best tools, but they're cheap. If you wear out something from them, you've earned the right to buy a good brand of that tool.
I've gone through a skoolie (school bus converted to an RV) project and now most of a house renovation with one 1/4" Ryobi drill and one 3/8" Harbor Freight drill and they're both somehow still going strong after five years of hard usage. I had bad opinions of both manufacturers before but not any more.
My experience with Harbor Freight power tools is a (corded) circular saw that works extremely well. I put in a better blade, and it rocks. I've had it for years and it shows no signs of slowing down. I'm not a heavy user but I've used it for quite a few projects over the years, including an RV renovation I'm working on now.
Not to bash HB cuz they rule when you need a new tool quick,, but how hard can it possibly be to make a thing that spins when you plug it in?
Worx life!
Get a landroid!
I got the Bluetooth speaker from Menards online. I love it. I charge my cellphone and listen to podcasts while I work. The small battery gives me nearly a day of audio.
For those who hate being stuck with one brand because the batteries are so expensive you can buy adapters to convert between them. For instance I use a rigid battery with a ryobi tool etc and it works great! I've seen adapters for working between most of the brands since almost all the tools are 18V. I've seen ones that jump between lower voltages and higher ones which is a bit sketchier but are likely fine as well. https://www.google.com/search?q=power+tool+battery+adapter
You do lose power through those, so they're not great for high power tools. Torque Test Channel has done quite a few videos on this.
What about the tribes out in the wild? The Festools, Mafells and Hiltis?
House: I have no idea how to be handy with tools
There used to be a great fifth house of Craftsman...
And let's not even talk about Snap-on, Northern, or AmazonBasics
Stanley
No love for Porter-Cable?
Boooooo.
Goblin magic is powerful but kept from the civilized world.
They're being replaced by the zombie corpse of craftsman, basically discontinued
Most of my stuff is Bosch...
Mine too, but their range is so small.
It's ok bud, not everyone has a big tool selection. Just remember what's important, how you use the tools you have and if you get the job done.
As a dad having options for the fam for fathers day is good.
While I do have a couple of DeWalt drills, I've been a member of the House of Ryobi for 20+ years. Ryobi was the first to really push the idea of "one battery fits all" ecosystem with their 18V ONE batteries.
My Wife bought me a tool set for Christmas one year and I have never looked back. 20 years later I'm still using those tools and Ryobi still supports them. A new Lithium battery battery still works in my old tools. The "pro tools" do not take that track.
How dare they ignore the fifth and oldest house, House Craftsman
As a plumber milwaukee is where it's at, only brand that has a cordless snake/augur, air snake, compact propress, expansion pex and copper cutter tools.
My brother and I used Ego for lawn work. I'm not sure if these brands have lawn/garden stuff (I think I remember Ryobi does), but it's the same concept. I love battery powered tools, but I hate how the brands tie you in.
Iāve been pretty happy with the Ryobi 18 and 40 volt stuff. If I ever need anything fancier Iāll probably start investing in milwaukee. At some point I plan to invest into a tool storage system and milwaukee may win that decisionā¦
For corded stuff, brand loyalty isnāt that useful. I have a dewalt portable/job site table saw I really like.
My jigsaw and circular saw are skil, so I could probably stand to upgrade, but they work well enough.
Just bought a kobalt powered screwdriver that uses usbc to charge and seems fine for household use (when a drill driver is not needed)
Still have an old dewalt drill on a dead battery platform that refuses to die.
House Makita brings honor to our projects with powerful Nippon steel.
Seriously though, back when I worked for a small construction outfit. There were two teams of contractors. One vietnamese, the other Bosnian. They all bought used Makita tools.
I had no idea there even was a market for used tools back then. But it was enough to sell me on them myself. But man, are they pricier.
Me with my Ryobi miter saw, Milwaukee toolkit, Black & Decker powerdrill, and Mastercraft oscillating saw like i'm collecting infinity stones
Is House Craftsman like the Reynes of Castemere or something?
Edit: sorry, wrong fantasy world...
Disappointed metabo isnt represented. Used to be hitachi? Iāve got a pneumatic brad nailer from them and itās both wondrous and affordable.
I am from the Metabo house. Its a German company I used to work for. Pretty decent gear. They have a deal with a lot of smaller, specialised brands to share their battery system.
I'm scared to mention Kobalt in here
ā¦ā¦ā¦..boi
Nearly every single kobalt tool I've had has broken or just stopped so quickly. They are such a small step above harbor freight that it isn't worth my time anymore.
I want a complete DeWalt set and the time at home enough to justify using each and every tool until it does from usage
So DeWalt is Gryffindor right?
Is Milwaukee ravenclaw or Slytherin?
Ryobi is 100% Hufflepuff
Milwaukee as raven claw and Makita as Slytherin seems fitting
How about dads who went with the discount hardware store's brand. It's easily 1/4 Dewalt prices and comes with a 5 year no questions asked warranty? I spent like 80euros on two 18V cordless drills. I keep the receipt in the case they came in, and in the last 8 years I've abused the shit out of them, and have had at least one replacement. Just like Dewalt, makita, milwaukee, and ryobi, I have several batteries and charges, and a plethora of tools with the same battery.
I went to the store with a beat up drill, and the pimply faced teen at the register was like wtf?!? But the manager didn't want the full story on the phone. Only three questions "is it [store brand]?" "is the receipt less than 5 years old?" and "what are you calling me for then?". New drill, new case and new receipt. Oldest drill is about 4.5 years old now, so I guess that I have to torture the hell out of it and get a new one with 5 more years.
I'm pretty satisfied with Hart which is a Walmart brand. Keeping my fingers crossed, but no issues so far after a couple years.
The same company that makes Ryobi and Milwaukee tools also makes Hart.
There is a canadian Youtuber that I stopped watching because he turned out to be a Canuck Trumper type, but he did a lot of videos where he broke down power tools with various price points and showed why they cost what they cost and where manufacturers do or don't cut corners. Interesting stuff.
I have a mishmash thanks to some battery adapters I found on Amazon. I swap between Dewalt, and two Milwaukee ecosystems seamlessly
FYI there are adaptors for all of these batteries so youāre not actually stuck. I got one on Amazon
Just make sure whatever tool/battery combo you end up using still some sort of battery protection. Most brands have it in the tool but a few have it in the battery.
Remember Wen....
I have a Wen metal shear tool...it's AMAZING. Slices through sheet aluminum and steel like they're butter.
Kobalt gang š
DeWalt for drills, etc.. I used to work in a hardware store (a small town store, not a Lowes/HD big box place) and sold DeWalt, so that's what I gravitated toward when I was buying tools for myself.
But for yard tools, 40v Ryobi.
In Australia
Ryobi: for DIY, apprentices or otherwise cheapskates. No shame in it. Best bang for buck if you don't wear them out and the best part is you're not going to be worried that someone will nick off with them. A lot of their range isn't brushless and these tools will let you down the moment you need to do something moderately demanding.
Milwaukee: has won the trades tool war. They have a huge range of tools and their customer service with regard to warranty replacement can't be beat. Tradies are very comforted that know that they can abuse the crap out of their tool and not be out of pocket.
Makita: my house. I consider more of a gentlemans tool even though many swear they are the most rugged things out there. I think their batteries are better than the competition in terms of overall cycles so long as they are not abused. Their carpentry tools are so so buttery to use. Wish they had a bigger tool range.
Bosch: Not as good as the above two but priced the same or higher. Limited tool range. Batteries are really not amazing. Sad to see but the only persons using these are really those who insist on buying only a german/european branded product.
Dewalt: Yellow is not as good as red or teal and is priced accordingly. Weird second best niche. Batteries kind of trash imo.
Ozito/Ferrex/etc: Chinesium. Bit of a roll of the dice. Some stuff may last but generally expect these tools to fail at some point even with light usage. Generally not fun/comfortable to use either.