Ryobi, makita, dewalt or some other solution ?

[Monkey Mark]

At the moment I have, in battery tools, ryobi drills, sander, circular saw, jigsaw (old, work but batteries about had it), makita (drill broke but still have good batteries), workzone and a couple others I can't remember.

It's a little annoying trying to keep track of all the batteries. So, I'm thinking of either going with one brand to make it simpler, or come up with some sort of charging station.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Your post has summed up nicely why I stick to mains tools (although I have an 18v Hitachi drill). Unless you're doing a lot of site work, why bother with battery equipment?

 

[rdesign]

if you r taking a holiday to the states u can buy body only tools for really cheap. I bought the Milwaukee drill and driver set 18v and will add to it when I make future trips. Half the price they r here. Kinda want a sawzall.

+1 for what Phil.p Said brills r the only battery powered tool you need in the shop. If you do a lot of install thats a different story maybe but for finish cabinetry theirs always power. I went 220v not 110 with my festool and other portable tools as my works mostly in my shop and any installs aren't building sites as such....

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Another point is that even if you stick to one make new batteries possibly won't fit old tools and vice versa.

 

[finish_that]

If you already have Ryobi 18 volt then everything new fits everything old - so you could just get a new 18v something and still use your old tools
there is no other company that has been so compatible with its batteries as far as I can tell.

 

[worn thumbs]

My preferred solution would be to petition the MEP's to introduce some form of standardisation for batteries and chargers.So that all 12 volt batteries had the same terminal configuration and could be swapped between tools or chargers.Likewise for all the other commonly used voltages,ideally so that you couldn't start any fires by using the wrong mix.A similar statute was brought into being for mobile phone chargers,so there is a precedent.

 

[No skills]

Start fresh with one brand of cordless if you have the funds spare to do so. It will be a big investment to get a variety of tools so be prepared

Also go with a "professional" brand, some of the ryobi one+ is quite good but you will get better servicing and part availability with the others and usually a longer guarantee period.

fwiw metabo's new 18v battery's (lihd) are compatible with the current range, this is my new path with cordless - festools lacklustre range expansion has lost my interest.
All the top brands produce some pretty good cordless tools now (dewalt, makita, metabo, Bosch), some have stand out products in their lines but generally the tools are good all round.

Corded tools are a pain in the arse but sometimes required, viva cordless!

 

[DiscoStu]

I personally am a big Ryobi fan and have about a dozen or more of their tools. The older model jigsaw is a bit week and the £20 sander isn't great but it's worth the £20. The impact driver is simply stunning, the battery drills are good and there is a new brushless one coming. The impact wrench, recip saw and angle grinder are all very good. The circular saw is good but not as powerful as a mains (but that's understandable) multi tool is very good, angled driver is pretty good. There is also a pair of new sanders coming and a new circular saw.

I've got the 6 battery charger that maintains the batteries so I'm always ready to go and I love the system. I've seen quite a bit of Ryobi kit creeping onto building sites.

 

[DiscoStu]

Oh and the 18g nailer is fantastic.

 

[RogerP]

Your post has summed up nicely why I stick to mains tools (although I have an 18v Hitachi drill). Unless you're doing a lot of site work, why bother with battery equipment?

Same here. I do all my work in the workshop where a mains socket is always close by (my shop has them in abundance) so I can't see any point in battery stuff. They're heavier, far less powerful and a pain to keep charged - although I must admit to having a small battery drill/driver which is handy for whacking in screws.

 

[heimlaga]

I have found that battery powered tools are heavier and less powerful and have a shorter lifespan plus that the battery always runs empty in the middle of a cut. It is just not worth the extra fuss and cost when I try to make money. Therefore I prefere mains powered tools both for on site work and in the workshop. They are more practical and save labour in my oppinion.
The drill is an exception of cause. I prefere to have a fairly small battery powered drill for light work (at least 70 percent of the drilling and screw driving is light work) and a bigger mains drill for heavier work. On top of that I have the BIG drill which of cause is mains powered too.

Just my oppinion.....

 

[DiscoStu]

It all depends on what you're doing. When I built my spa house recently I used pretty much every tool I owned and that included table saw, CSMS, Bandsaw, Track saw, 18v Ryobi circular saw, Jig saw and Recip saw and Multi tool.

I think it's all about the job in hand. Sometimes it's not very easy or quick to power into mains. I've got a 6 battery charger and 6 batteries so I never run out of power. I used my 18v circular saw a few times and it's nowhere near as powerful as my Festool TSR55 but it was much easier to use cordless where I used it than the TSR and a lot lighter, but the Festool made cutting boards easy. The table saw made ripping long narrow boards simple (narrower than the width of the track of the festool). The bandsaw was useful for all sorts of stuff including birds mouths. The mitre saw was used constantly for the stud work. Etc etc.

It all depends on what you're doing and where. I used my mains SDS to put a pipe into the house - that might have take a while with a hammer drill. I tend to buy tools as I need them but having a one battery system makes life simpler. Also if I do work away from the workshop I only have to take one charger.

 

[mseries]

Your post has summed up nicely why I stick to mains tools (although I have an 18v Hitachi drill). Unless you're doing a lot of site work, why bother with battery equipment?

Same here. I do all my work in the workshop where a mains socket is always close by (my shop has them in abundance) so I can't see any point in battery stuff. They're heavier, far less powerful and a pain to keep charged - although I must admit to having a small battery drill/driver which is handy for whacking in screws.

Yep, that's me too. I like the idea of picking up a cordless drill/driver but then I remember it'll have to be charged and after a while the battery will die then eventually fail to hold it's charge. Only cordless tool I have is a cheap B&D screwdriver with is useful for awkward places.

 

[No skills]

Yes certainly horses for courses, sometimes you just need corded power, but given some of the comments about weight and battery life I do think some here are quite behind the times with the cordless stuff they have been using.

 

[North Wood]

Seen some DIY battery stations on youtube, that have all the chargers lined up on a shelf with battery storage next to it, so everything is contained within the one area. Might be worth considering with your current mixture of brands.

As has been said it really just comes down to where and what the job commands.

Recently i was lining out an old house, no power on site except a generator which was a pain to fire up each time you wanted to rip a sheet, instead i borrowed a dewalt cordless circular saw off a friend.... amazing tool, light weight, easily ripped through sheets (and lengths of CLS), battery lasted well and far less messing about then a corded one.
On the same job i also needed to drill some holes through concrete and almost bought a cordless model but instead settled for a corded SDS plus makita one which excepted breaker bits...... So pleased i went corded, ended up having to break concrete around the old fire places, if i went cordless i would likely still be there to this day.

Just goes to show that corded and cordless both have their advantages on different applications.

I've recently decided to replace my dewalt 18v cordless drill driver after 12 years of use (8 of those being commercially used day in, day out.) and have invested in a dewalt 5 piece cordless set after being so impressed by the circular saw as well as the impact driver.

 

[Ed Bray]

I have a lot of Ryobi 18v one+ tools and have 13 One+ Lion batteries (11x 4Ah, 1x 2.4Ah and 1x 1.5Ah) they reside in 2x 6 port charger conditioners and I swap the odd one out weekly. Bought 8 batteries from the US when they were doing pair of 4Ah lion batteries for £120 delivered and duty paid with a free pair included so they worked out at about £30 each.

The Airstrike nailers are great, I have a 18g and a 16g, the older jigsaw isn't great (new version is though) and the pre Airstrike stapler is awful, but on the whole the range is pretty good to excellent. I haven't used any of the garden range (wenches work) but a lot of people swear by them too.

 

[DiscoStu]

Ed have you used the new Jigsaw? I'm tempted by that but wasn't sure if it was much of a change? I've seen good reviews but I'd like to hear from someone who has both. I thought I had more Ryobi kit than anyone else but you beat me - 13 batteries! The whole point of the system is that you don't need batteries for every device! I actually like the smaller batteries as they are lighter but I do have a couple of 4ah ones. Have you seen that they are bringing out a 5ah?

 

[Ed Bray]

Ed have you used the new Jigsaw? I'm tempted by that but wasn't sure if it was much of a change? I've seen good reviews but I'd like to hear from someone who has both. I thought I had more Ryobi kit than anyone else but you beat me - 13 batteries! The whole point of the system is that you don't need batteries for every device! I actually like the smaller batteries as they are lighter but I do have a couple of 4ah ones. Have you seen that they are bringing out a 5ah?

Yes, I use the new jigsaw but tend to use it with a Collins Coping foot now, I have also recently bought a Festool PS420EBQ with all its different bases and a Collins coping foot so tend to use that for the superb dust extraction.

I have the following Ryobi One+ Tools:

16G Airstrike Nailer
18G Airstrike Nailer
Multi-tool with standard and additional Rigid Job Max Nailer Head
4.5" Angle Grinder
5" Orbital Sander
Delta Sander
Stapler (rubbish)
13mm Drill/Driver
13mm Hammer Drill/Driver
13mm Hammer Drill/Driver
SDS Plus Hammer Drill
Reciprocating Saw
Circular Saw
Impact Driver
New Style Jigsaw (gave old one away)
Rotary Cutter (like Dremel)

 

[DiscoStu]

So worth upgrading the Jigsaw then. I've got a pretty identical list, a little bit shorter. What's the nailer head like? I'd look at that. The AEG heads fit as well.

 

[Monkey Mark]

Well thanks eveyone for giving me food for thought.

I think i'm leaning towards going with Ryobi.

Although its all the older stuff that I have, I have:

Drill
Hammer drill
Circular saw
Jigsaw
Detail sander
Torch

Not as many as some of those on here but id still be "wasting" them if I put them on a shelf and forgot about them.

Also, my son is training to be a mechanic so he has the impact driver. And bother-in-law is a mechanic who has drills, grinders, sanders, saws and all sorts of other Ryobi stuff. I'm sure he has another one each time I see him!

So, I may as well look at selling my two makita batteries as they are in good condition as well as the brand new charger I got for it and never used. :roll: That can go towards buying batteries for the Ryobi.

I'll get myself an impact driver. I think the 18g nailer is a bit too rich for me though (Thats if the one I saw at £180 bare is correct).

If any of you Ryobi fans know of good battery/battery charger sources, please let me know.