Which 18v Kit

[Petey83]

Trying to standardise on a single 18v system ahead of a planned career change next year (Leaving the desk job and retraining as a sparks)

Looking to invest in a cordless kit that I can use for work but has the accuracy for playing with wood and pretending to make furniture at weekends.

The 3 basics I want are a good drill driver to replace my Festool PDC, an impact drive and a good jigsaw. Additions would be an SDS drill and a circ saw.

Been looking at Bosch, Dewalt and Makita kits. Dewalt would make the most sense as I already have a -8v impact from them but there cordless jigsaw misses a job lite which is a feature I like on jigsaws. Selling the dewalt on would not be end of the world though so it's not a deal breaker.

 

[Doug71]

Just wondering why if you have the PDC you are not sticking with the Festool 18v system?

My corded stuff is all Festool and I do have the 18v PDC but I have decided to go down the makita 18v cordless route, ( just wish they made a cordless track saw), apart from my little festool cxs, great little drill.

Doug

 

[Petey83]

I've looked at it as most my tools are Festool but 2 stumbling blocks are cost and Festools lack of an impact driver.

Just adding a cordless SDS and cordless jigsaw from Festool would likely cost more than a decent 5/6 piece cordless kit from someone else.

I'll keep my little CXS for the weekend hobby as its been an absolute star and is the perfect tool for assembly work.

 

[owsnap]

I would not buy the already-packaged kits, generally they are very poor value for money or just has the cheapest tools in them.
dewalt- do you want to spend more money than you need for black&decker tools?
bosch- their current ranges are pretty cheaply made ( proper made in china stuff...)


this is the stuff I would get from makita hower(and the stuff I already got now) :
Impact driver: dtd129z (proper nice brushless impact driver with very sweet build quality, the newest model hasn't got as good build quality as this)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Makita-DTD129 ... Swx-9WyzfD

drill driver: Makita DHP458Z (again one of their last properly made tools, all metal construction, weighs a ton but is built like a tank, got the same model but the black made in Japan version, does everything you need, can throw a good punch and I'm regulary using it as a proper mixer when mixing up mortar/other stuff. If you don't need such hard-core tool, just get their more lighter newer brushless models, but don't go for the cheapest models!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Makita-DHP458 ... SwG-1Wyu0I

there is also the DDF481Z which is brushless and properly made, but it costs 2x more for very very marginal difference than the dhp458z

jigsaw: makita DJV181Z (their latest brushless model which just oozes quality, thinking about getting it myself and that's the best I could find if you are looking for a cordless one)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Makita-DJV181 ... Sw1KxXNInu

 

[sunnybob]

Petey,
are you dead set on being a sparky? Theres a lot of them out there.
From my lifetimes experience of building and commercial trades, if I was starting again I would be a refrigeration engineer. Theres never enough of them.

 

[owsnap]

oh well I didn't read that you want to be sparks, honestly you don't need 18v for that. the bosch 10.8v stuff for that is just excellent, it's very very cheap (like go to ebay, buy some used set of either of a tool in mint condition which comes with charger/batteries, and buy the other spare tools you want in bare version)
bare impact is something like £35/ drill- £40 / jigsaw- £60 and they will be more than capable for 99% of the tasks you need, my dad is sparks and he got both 18v and 10.8v kit, 99% of the time he uses the 10.8v kit as its so much smaller/lighter/easier to hold in weird places and again it has all the power you need...

 

[Petey83]

The career change is the driver for the purchase but I can't afford 2 sets of everything so whatever I get ha to work in the new day job and be able to do what I want in the workshop on a weekend. I've looked at 10.8v and discounted it on account of the workshop requirement. Plus experience in renovating my own house currently is a cordless SDS would have been the most useful tool a lot of the time - especially for fixing back boxes and capping.

It's looking like the Makita kit is the best of the bunch. I was really leaning towards Bosch as I have corded SDS and recip saw from them but seems the cordless kit is not so popular. Most of the big trade tool retailers seem to heavily stock Makita and Dewalt.

 

[MikeJhn]

If you are going to get cordless, make sure its Lithium Ion and not the old Nimh or Nicad the latest LiIon are so much better, but do make sure they have the correct charger, LiIo batteries need balance charging unlike the old chemistry batteries.

Mike

 

[RobinBHM]

Makita, Dewalt, Millwaukie -all pretty good these days I think.

Whats your favorite colour, blue, yellow, red

I thought this seemed quite a good deal

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p48169? ... -_l1wSJAAa

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Petey,
are you dead set on being a sparky? Theres a lot of them out there.
From my lifetimes experience of building and commercial trades, if I was starting again I would be a refrigeration engineer. Theres never enough of them.

I bet that's a really cool role...eh....geddit...oh please yourselves!

 

[RobinBHM]

Very good

The successful ones have to be chilled out

 

[sunnybob]

after that poor joke I think we should freeze him out for a week or two.

 

[eezageeza]

bosch- their current ranges are pretty cheaply made ( proper made in china stuff...)

Just for the record - of the 4 Bosch blue tools I own, 2 were made in Malaysia, 2 in Switzerland!

 

[memzey]

My Bosch blue multi-drill is made in Germany. Of my extensive range of Makita gear most is made in Japan or England. Only one or two bits (which are actually perfectly good btw) were made in China.

 

[DiscoStu]

Ive been looking at 18v in a bit of detail recently and watched a few 18v comparisons. Dewalt often seems to come out on top and ahead of Makita. I only have an old Makita so have no real preference at this stage but I'm leaning towards De Walt based on reviews. As for the Black and Decker comment above, I think it's misguided. The Bugatti Veyron is made by the VAG group who also make the Skoda Fabia but it doesn't mean that the two are the same. Range Rover is owned by Tata who make terrible looking Indian trucks but it doesn't mean the Range Rover is just like it. I can't see why a company who produces a product for a professional market would suddenly drop the quality to a maker they already have a share of, that would be very short sighted.


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[ColeyS1]

Ive been looking at 18v in a bit of detail recently and watched a few 18v comparisons. Dewalt often seems to come out on top and ahead of Makita. I only have an old Makita so have no real preference at this stage but I'm leaning towards De Walt based on reviews. As for the Black and Decker comment above, I think it's misguided. The Bugatti Veyron is made by the VAG group who also make the Skoda Fabia but it doesn't mean that the two are the same. Range Rover is owned by Tata who make terrible looking Indian trucks but it doesn't mean the Range Rover is just like it. I can't see why a company who produces a product for a professional market would suddenly drop the quality to a maker they already have a share of, that would be very short sighted.


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I use to be a dewalt fan through and through back in the nimh days. I quickly became jealous when makita started bringing out new exciting products. Dewalt didn't offer anything.
I changed to makita li-ion and have never regretted it. Makita have about every cordless tool I could wish for ! The 18v planer being my favourite and newest addition.

Coley

 

[memzey]

You also might want to pop by to your local tool hire place and see what they stock. I'd be shocked if they hire out De Walt stuff. Most stock Makita and based on what my local place told me it's because of reliability, support and availability of spares.

PS - whenever I look at a review I try to weed out fan boy type stuff. A lot of American reviews seem predisposed towards De Walt and Milwaukee due to their US roots. Not saying that's the case with your findings but it is something I've noticed. Find a video posted by a Polish builder in Ealing and he's more than likely going to be showing you other gear!

 

[wide74]

Say what you want about re-badged Black and Decker aka Dewalt but I burnt out 2 makita

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[wide74]

Dewalt may be part of Black and Decker but the top line of 18v XR stuff is bomb proof. I've lost mine under rubble, dropped them off scaffolds, they have been used in the rain and done their jobs consistently throughout. I do think it's down to personal preference mainly but I wouldn't take my festool kit out to do building work but I do use dewalt in the workshop. Just don't buy the lower end of the Dewalt kit sold in B&Q etc. It's not the same as the top end stuff.

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[RossJarvis]

One of the problems with Makita (which I use and recommend by the way) Is that they don't tell you what are there DIY, light duty, heavy duty lines and I think it is very confusing. I'm sure other makes may be similar. Even in their LXT 18v stuff, there are differnent qualities of tools, they're not all the same.