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Big Neil

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I will also say Makita as this is the way I have gone and have NO regrets.  but rather than buy a “bargain” job lot with the models already chosen for you I would look at what model of each tool you want and then track them down individually. Tools that your going to use the most (my list)  - impact driver - drill - mitre saw - table saw - jigsaw - hand held circular saw - .multi tool - palm router  - hand planer  and planer thicknesser should be high spec and the ones you don’t use as often can be a bit lower down the spec sheet..... can’t think of the ones I don’t use often........ my piller  drill and bandsaw are nothing special and I regret buying cheap here....... 

i went with the high end Dewalt table saw and it’s bloody fantastic - I tried and ruined the makita one so avoid that. I also went with  Triton TRA001plunge router  - .mounted in a table as it’s fantastic for this.  

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19 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

 

 

I don't see dry lining contractors using collated screw guns. Maybe @nod will comment as it is his field. A friend bought one and it was prone to jamming and the screws are expensive.

You get good and bad with everything. I have a Senco and absolutely would not be without it. Just bought 20,000 Senco screws off Ebay for £94 delivered so just look out for the bargains.

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I was fairly open minded but I never imagined there would be such an operational if not emotional bias towards Makita. I'm scanning their website at the moment and hadn't realised quite how huge a range of bits they had. I had them in my head as 'makita cordless power drill minus the battery pack'.

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19 minutes ago, Big Neil said:

I was fairly open minded but I never imagined there would be such an operational if not emotional bias towards Makita. I'm scanning their website at the moment and hadn't realised quite how huge a range of bits they had. I had them in my head as 'makita cordless power drill minus the battery pack'.

 

Just done a quick count of the Makita cordless tools and accessories I have (all run off the 18V lithium battery packs):

 

Two chargers, one single pack the other dual pack

Eight battery packs, six 3 Ah ones, two 4 Ah ones

Two drill/drivers, one having hammer function

Circular saw

Jigsaw

Garden strimmer

Lawnmower

Hedge trimmer

 

The battery packs generally get swapped around amongst all the tools, with the exception of the two 4 Ah packs, which are pretty much exclusively used in the mower (it uses two packs in series to get 36 V).

 

The oldest tool is a black BDF452 LXT drill that I've had since around 2010, and which has been hammered, racing boats around a lake, as well as having been used more than any other tool on our build.  The original two battery packs from 2010 are still OK, and don't seem to be noticeably poorer in performance than the newer packs.

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I've got 18v Milwaukee stuff and it's been excellent - not just in terms of the tools but also the after service. I had a chuck fail and organised the repair via their online portal (3 year extended warranty).... next day UPS collection, one day repair and next day back to me. No costs incurred and without the tool less than 5 days.

That said in the UK it is hard to Ignore Makita for range of tools / value.

Edited by bissoejosh
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7 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

 

Just done a quick count of the Makita cordless tools and accessories I have (all run off the 18V lithium battery packs):

 

Two chargers, one single pack the other dual pack

Eight battery packs, six 3 Ah ones, two 4 Ah ones

Two drill/drivers, one having hammer function

Circular saw

Jigsaw

Garden strimmer

Lawnmower

Hedge trimmer

 

The battery packs generally get swapped around amongst all the tools, with the exception of the two 4 Ah packs, which are pretty much exclusively used in the mower (it uses two packs in series to get 36 V).

 

The oldest tool is a black BDF452 LXT drill that I've had since around 2010, and which has been hammered, racing boats around a lake, as well as having been used more than any other tool on our build.  The original two battery packs from 2010 are still OK, and don't seem to be noticeably poorer in performance than the newer packs.

what people have and have batteries for is what they going  to keep using --only sensible.

my experience of makita has not been as good as JS -- maybe rough arse mehcanics etc

not saying they are not good ,but certainly newer ones are not as robust as they were and a lot more plastic in them ,than older models.

which is why now my makita tools are getting old and batteries  seen better days .I decided to change to  different make 

personal choice and experience

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Makita cordless drill, impact driver and reciprocting saw. All used loads during my build and great bits of kit. I have a dewalt track plunge saw which has been one of the best bits of kit I have ever bought. It has had a huge amount of use both on external cladding and second fix internal carpentry. Most trades that came to site seemed to use makita cordless drills.

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39 minutes ago, epsilonGreedy said:

 

This will be my next purchase. When you say "circular saw" is it the plunge saw variety?

 

 

Mine's just the standard 165mm blade cordless circular saw.  For a cordless tool I've been amazed at how good it is, and I used it a lot when fitting all our oak joinery.  One thing I found really useful was to fit a fine tooth blade, I tend to use the 40 tooth blade most of the time, as it gives a clean finish to cuts in hardwood and ply.  Another advantage of this saw is that the blade kerf is narrow, so cuts are only a bit over 1mm wide.

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One thing about the Makita cordless circular saw: it eats the batteries. It's not surprising given the power it must be consuming but worth bearing in mind. I have 11 Ah of batteries (1x3 Ah and 2x4 Ah) and have used up the lot in a day with the circular saw but never with the other tools.

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4 minutes ago, Ed Davies said:

One thing about the Makita cordless circular saw: it eats the batteries. It's not surprising given the power it must be consuming but worth bearing in mind. I have 11 Ah of batteries (1x3 Ah and 2x4 Ah) and have used up the lot in a day with the circular saw but never with the other tools.

 

It does, and when using it I always tend to have the charger on, so I can just swap batteries and stick the discharged one back on charge.  I realise this isn't an option on your plot, with no mains power, but have you thought about using the 12V car charger that Makita sell? (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Makita-LXT-DC18SE-Automotive-Charger/dp/B001UGMC9U )

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3 minutes ago, Ed Davies said:

One thing about the Makita cordless circular saw: it eats the batteries. It's not surprising given the power it must be consuming but worth bearing in mind. I have 11 Ah of batteries (1x3 Ah and 2x4 Ah) and have used up the lot in a day with the circular saw but never with the other tools.

Try the cordless planer. That eats batteries for breakfast. Very impressive tool but don't take too much in one hit

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6 minutes ago, Construction Channel said:

Try the cordless planer. That eats batteries for breakfast. Very impressive tool but don't take too much in one hit

..... hmmm that was on my next to buy list....... I read that you really need a 5ah to get some good performance out of it ? Would you buy it again or should I go corded ? 

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10 minutes ago, Cpd said:

..... hmmm that was on my next to buy list....... I read that you really need a 5ah to get some good performance out of it ? Would you buy it again or should I go corded ? 

I would definitely buy it again. But it depends on your work. I am a carpenter for work so it's very easy for me to just get cordless stuff out of the van. Move from room to room without the need for leads. If I was dedicated to only one site corded would be the obvious option. Like I said it does eat through battery's quite quick hence why I have so many

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30 minutes ago, pocster said:

Dewalt for me . Have the flexvolt SDS - really good for a battery drill . Dewalt angle grinder , ratchet screwdriver , reprocaiting saw etc. All excellent! 

 

I'd have laid money on you being a Hitachi man...

 

;)

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2 hours ago, JSHarris said:

Mine's just the standard 165mm blade cordless circular saw.

 

 

Ok thanks for the clarification. The YouTube tool reviewers focus on tracked/plunge circular saws and don't give much coverage to the standard and cheaper alternative.

 

At dusk last night I was making a 2.4m length ways cut through an 11mm OSB sheet at a painfully slow rate with my old 240v jig saw. Swmbo was not amused as she watched while holding one half of the sheet. Next I have to cut some 600mm x 600mm doors from the same sheet and need a clean straight cut hence my new interest in circular saws.

Edited by epsilonGreedy
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