18v tool brand choice

[Phil Pascoe]

 

[Tal]

Ah that's the impact. I was referring to the combi drill

 

[Phil Pascoe]

sorry.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

In case anyone wonders about this one.

 

[Tal]

Very light! Which gen is that?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Milwaukee M18FDP2 afaik - I've covered part of the label with a SmartWater sticker.
Everyone who's handled it says it's heavy, but of course that's with a battery. Even a 3ah adds up.

 

[Spectric]

Has anyone thought about how many battery / charger systems you would end up with if you only used all cordlless tools but picked the best for each task in hand, so a colourful array of tools ? Take this from the other direction, how many rigidly stick with a brand to only use a single battery type and accept some of the tools don't quite perform as well as you would like ?

 

[Tal]

In case anyone wonders about this one.
View attachment 170128

Ok the 996 has arrived, feels decent, 1.6kg bare like yours. So it is a little heavier. Approx 10%.

Assume the 2.1kg was with a battery fitted. Not doing themselves favours by not being clear!

 

[okeydokey]

Years of buying Makita then I swapped to Stanley fatmax. Cracking piece of kit, good deals at B&Q and Homebase, bought two combi sets

Hi Know of any adapters that convert to Makita?

 

[Jester129]

Just type 'badapter' with the relevant config into ebay. I believe (could be wrong) that even the big river sell them! HTH

 

[Fireburst]

All my pro cordless are Makita. I have yet to have a single unit fail over the many years I have been using them.

 

[Spectric]

Providing a link is just as easy,

https://badaptor.com/#range
Looking at the video with some adaptors it makes the tool less compact and the further out the battery sits, more effort will be required to keep it parallel which is not a problem for occasional use but if using it for long periods then you may notice a diiference.

 

[TheUnicorn]

Good idea, I've only a cheap Aldi multi tool, wired, use it regularly. Can see the 355 for just under £80 on eBay Toolstation and the 356 can be had for £105.
Much diff between them? Just the vibration and 3 stage switch?

I've never used the three stage one, but I can see the benefit of it, sometimes when you just want a slow buzz and you are doing it all on the trigger it can be a little too easy to over squeeze and lose control of the cut, and if it does actually cut the vibration to any significant degree (and maybe reduce the noise too?) it would be worth the extra £25 IMO. Probably would depend on how much you'd use it

 

[Sideways]

Has anyone thought about how many battery / charger systems you would end up with if you only used all cordlless tools but picked the best for each task in hand, so a colourful array of tools ? Take this from the other direction, how many rigidly stick with a brand to only use a single battery type and accept some of the tools don't quite perform as well as you would like ?

Rising to that challenge
After some thinning out, I have come down to just cordless Bosch 12 and 18v, and Fein 18v tools.
On the cord, I have collected tools from :
Bosch, Elu, Mafell, Metabo, Mirka and Steinel.

If I was going for what I consider best in class cordless I'd probably end up with
Bosch (brushless variable speed angle grinder)
Fein (4 sp drill and oscillator)
Hilti (SDS)
Mafell (tracksaw)
Makita (eclectic stuff like the brushless blower, trim router if I used one, and more)
Metabo (tapping drill)
Milwaukee (drill and impact drivers, bandsaw, lots of niche trade specific tools)
Trumpf (metal bevellers, nibblers and metal shears)
Lamello biscuit jointer
So at least 9 covering shades of red, blue, green, yellow and purple

and I'd still want a corded Metabo grinder, Mafell and/or Festool routers, Mafell P1CC jigsaw, Mirka Deros sander, Festool domino and probably extractor and a Leister hot air gun because there are no cordless tools to match them.

 

[Jake]

On the noise front: Makita do a series of "oil pulse" impact drivers, designed to be nearly silent. Not as cheap as a normal impact driver, but probably very helpful if doing a lot of 6" screws.

Yes but IIRC Adam has the Festool quadrive which on low speed will do the same job a lot better - the biggest screws I've driven with mine were a bunch of these and it did it with ease and without any real noise. Buy ASSYplus VG steel zinc plated FT counters. head AW online.

I wasn't entirely convinced before I tried it out but it really surprised me as it's actually much better than an impact driver at driving big screws - I used an impact driver for 20 odd years before getting on, still use one - but for the big stuff it's quadrive every time now - once the torque of the driver gets the screw going they just pull themselves in so easily. I think impact rotation's stop-startiness loses a lot of momentum with screws (obviously unbeatable with reluctant bolts).

 

[Bingy man]

Used my Milwaukee 18 volt today to drill several 32 mm hole through 8 9” x 4 “ joists . 1st attempt was on speed 2 and i got nowhere was about to go and get my corded drill but two flights up in an attic conversion I was feeling a bit lazy so thought I’d try it on speed 1 - omg a complete shock as it suddenly span into action and nearly twisted itself out of my grip - I’m not one for physics but I’m suprised how much torque it had . I was using the auger type bits ,, how come on speed 2 it was next to useless ???

 

[Tal]

High speed low torque, Low speed high torque, I imagine?

 

[Bingy man]

Just glad I was holding it with 2 hands . @Tal you are probably right regards the torque , don’t think I’ve ever used speed1 . Living and learning ..

 

[Adam W.]

Yes but IIRC Adam has the Festool quadrive which on low speed will do the same job a lot better - the biggest screws I've driven with mine were a bunch of these and it did it with ease and without any real noise. Buy ASSYplus VG steel zinc plated FT counters. head AW online.

I wasn't entirely convinced before I tried it out but it really surprised me as it's actually much better than an impact driver at driving big screws - I used an impact driver for 20 odd years before getting on, still use one - but for the big stuff it's quadrive every time now - once the torque of the driver gets the screw going they just pull themselves in so easily. I think impact rotation's stop-startiness loses a lot of momentum with screws (obviously unbeatable with reluctant bolts).

True, but that requires an investment in the Festool brand.

 

[Southdownswolf]

I was feeling a bit lazy so thought I’d try it on speed 1 - omg a complete shock as it suddenly span into action and nearly twisted itself out of my grip - I’m not one for physics but I’m suprised how much torque it had

There's a good reason why the more powerful combo drills from each brand come with a side handle...