Hello. I'm the founding member of Parkside Tools Anonymous
The PTA currently has only one member, me, and to be honest that's probably enough because I think I've got more than enough tools for the next five members, combined!
I've been collecting from the middle aisle for the past three years. I'm poor and have jobs to do, so really it's been a brilliant option to expand my power tool kit beyond the few items I've inherited or come by, second hand. I got a combi drill for £20! And I've hammered it (pun intended, the hammer function is solid) and it's still going strong. My only worry is whether I'm benefiting from some kind of slave labour in a sweat shop in China...
The cordless tools (all 20v) include:
Combi drill
Jig saw
Recip saw
Angle grinder
Pole saw
Jet wash
5 x 2.0 Ah batteries
2 x 4.0 Ah batteries
The jigsaw is also very good, so far. I have not been gentle whilst murdering pallets. It has not missed a beat. The recip saw is light years ahead of the nasty cheap mains one I had on which the safety stopped working. Feels good to hold, as well. A lot of these tools have a good form factor. The angle grinder efficiently destroyed an old greenhouse. The pole saw cut through 6 inches of tree branch about 2 metres above my head, several times, and I did not die. The batteries all have good life.
And the prices are just ridiculous. I couldn't afford half of this, otherwise. Again, slavery? Either that or the power tool industry, at large, are just gouging rip-off merchants who are pocketing 90% profit on every purchase... on balance, slavery is probably more likely
Mains power tools:
Track saw
Multi tool
Rotary tool
Router
Detail sander
Hedge trimmer
Mitre saw
Plus assorted collections of bits and other accessories. That adds up to 13 in total, and I have a nagging feeling I've forgotten something!
The rotary tool is cool and comes with good accessories. Track saw and multi tool are still being broken in. The hedge trimmer is waiting for Spring. (No, not
a spring, the season, when hedges start growing again!) The router has only been played with so far, but I will be using it to make the veranda project look pretty, because all of that will be on full display. No hiding the crimes on that one!
The sander, however, is naff. I have a silverline detail sander which is just better. I think this is common with Parkside branded tools - the sanders are just bad. Other people have told me they think the same. I looked at the belt sander in the shop with a view to mounting it on a bench, but just didn't like the look of it. Looked like a cheap plastic toy. Fragile. Obviously, a lot of these tools come from different manufacturers, so maybe the sander builder is not as good as the drill builder?
And while the 12v drill was tempting, because it might fit into places the big 20v one will not, I generally don't like the look of the 12v tool range. If I was a model maker, I might think differently, but not for human-scale jobs.
Only one or two of these were bought on impulse. I watched the newsletter for what I had decided I wanted, and checked out whatever reviews I could find (not many that are useful) and only got them if I thought I'd use them. The exception to this rule was the cordless jet wash which was impulse, and only because I'd already got a 4.0 Ah battery a few weeks earlier. But I have used it to wash hard to reach places in the garden, like the mouldy back of the shed, and to rinse the car after washing, and blast the grime out from between panels. It's not essential, but convenient.
And the mitre saw... that was impulse, but I had planned to get one for a couple of big garden projects (new shed, veranda for back of house). It was the last one in the shop back in October and, with brexit looming and uncertainty over imports, I wondered if I'd ever seen one for that money, again, so took a punt. Have yet to use it in anger.
Overall, they're all pretty solid, reliable DIY and occassional heavy use tools. When I read about other people slagging off Parkside stuff for breaking after a few minutes, I really do wonder what these guys are getting up to. Either that, or these tools are made in batches in different locations and some parts of Europe routinely get crappy tools from the crappier manufacturers/assemblers, while others, like my local, get better made stuff. It's a mystery. But I can't complain.
Well, I can! I want the impact driver. It's the one glaring hole in the collection (alongside maybe a nail gun for stapling membrane to the new shed frame, when I build it). But the impact driver! So many people have told me to get one. Twice I've tried, and every time I turn up on "impact driver day" they're all gone! Muppets walking out with half a dozen in their trolley, and few hours later you can find dozens of Parkside impact drivers which retail for £25 up on ebay for anything between £45 to £90! What the hell? Do these guys think they're going to become instant millionaires off the back of reselling Lidl tools? Lidl only do all this as a loss leading item anyway, to get more warm bodies into the stores. But seriously, I'm getting annoyed by these impact driver hoarders and their dreams of a quick profit.
Because of this, I'm considering getting an impact driver from another brand, even though that means buying specific batteries for it. The annoying thing is, for the money that would cost for one item, I could probably buy half the tools listed, above!
Anyway, time I passed the talking stick on to someone else. But before I do, I'd like to remind everyone that membership of the PTA is free and open to anyone! Even if you haven't bought a tool, yet, and just drool over the pictures!
