Which cheap tool has surprised you most (in a good way)

[MortarThePoint]

Years back I bought a Makita DHP481 which is a very good combi drill, but I find myself preferring to use assorted cheap tools. I was recently drilling a load of holes through wall plate and was using a countersunk wood bit, 210mm 6mm SDS bit and a T30 Torx bit. Each one was in a separate supermarket tool each of which cost 1/8 of the combi drill and each in their own way did a better job. I don't think they would survive the abuse or workload of a pro, but I've been impressed by their performance. They are also much lighter which is a huge benefit on a long day. The lighter weight batteries don't last as long, but then each tool is doing less.

 

Hoping this doesn't prompt it to die, but I think my favourite is the Parkside PDSSA 20-LI A1 impact driver. I stripped a 300m2 cold store with it (not including the major steels) as well as putting it to good use on woodscrews. It's not brushless so lots of sparking inside but it's served me well to date.

[Temp]

I got a cheap unbranded petrol chainsaw from amazon some years ago. Been fantastic for clearing up fallen tree branches. The supplied chain didn't last long but otherwise been great and starts easily if I remember the choke.

 

I also have a Ryobi cordless drill from the days when they were blue. Think it was their first model with a lithium battery. Not used the hammer action much but did once use a 50mm diameter * 100mm long grindstone to open out holes in a brick wall to take wall lights - the bearings survived the large side loads ok.  

[GaryM]

A Titan SDS drill from Screwfix £55

 

Used on loads of concrete screws, removed all the render from house, garage and sheds.

 

Well worth it

[ProDave]

plus 1 to the cheap Screwfix SDS drills.  Mine is identical but sold under a fifferent brand.  Nearly 20 years us use, on it's third set of motor brushes and still going strong.

 

Oh and a much longer more flexible mains flex substituted a while back.

[epsilonGreedy]

A briefcase sized tray of assorted Spax (torx) head stainless steel screws. I think it contains 1700 screws sorted into compartments ranging from 18mm to 120mm. I never waste time shopping for missing sizes or hunting for separate screw boxes in the shed. Cost something like £160.

[Cpd]

15 minutes ago, epsilonGreedy said:

A briefcase sized tray of assorted Spax (torx) head stainless steel screws.

Living on the west coast I am always using ss screws and had been eying of this lot until I noticed that they no longer ship to the UK ?

[tonyshouse]

Roughneck mutt - now my favourite tool 

[markc]

Screwfix SDS drill, Think its called Bayer or something similar (decals wore off long ago) Its indestructible! last week i had 3 127dia holes to put through a 22inch thick brick and stone wall. As the core drill was only 8inches long plus a 6inch drive shaft the big drills wouldnt fit into the hole. The cheapie ran for around 4 hours straight, deep in the hole sucking in brick and stone dust and still wouldnt die.

[epsilonGreedy]

1 hour ago, Cpd said:

Living on the west coast I am always using ss screws and had been eying of this lot until I noticed that they no longer ship to the UK ?

 

 

I purchased mine from Amazon UK but it is not showing as a current product there.

 

I am also looking for an office chair at the moment and many respected brands and designs are out of stock, I suspect we are starting to experience the effect of a partial close down of the world economy due to Covid.

[epsilonGreedy]

13 minutes ago, markc said:

Screwfix SDS drill, Think its called Bayer or something similar 

 

 

"Erbauer" ?

 

I have a couple of mains powered tools from Erbauer including a track saw, decent enough and should last the build.

[PeterW]

6 minutes ago, epsilonGreedy said:

 

I am also looking for an office chair at the moment and many respected brands and designs are out of stock, I suspect we are starting to experience the effect of a partial close down of the world economy due to Covid.

Friends own an office supplies company and they are saying they saw a 600% increase in sales last year with people setting up home working offices. They sold out of both new and second hand chairs - they are now buying in stock from large businesses that are closing down their major sites and moving people to home based. 

[epsilonGreedy]

20 minutes ago, PeterW said:

they are now buying in stock from large businesses that are closing down their major sites and moving people to home based. 

 

 

Gotta love the free market.

 

25 minutes ago, PeterW said:

Friends own an office supplies company and they are saying they saw a 600% increase in sales last year with people setting up home working offices. They sold out of both new and second hand chairs

 

 

YouTube viewing numbers for office chair reviews and home office setups are surprising. Think I will just fit a replacement gas strut on my current cheapo office chair or use the jubilee clip trick to lock the broken gas strut at a fixed height. The thing is I do not like Herman Miller chairs even if I had £1200 to throw at an office chair.