who are the most reliable

[Wildman]

Has anyone composed a list from good to worse of powertool manufacturers, so many names appear these days I have never heard of, and reliability is not all about price that is for sure it is about deserved reputation, rather than trading on a name
So how about it how would you list your top ten and bottom ten, from experience?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

To have any relevance whatsoever it would have to be based on tools bought in the last year or two as the quality yo yos over the years - I've superb Bosch stuff that's 30+ years old, but that doesn't mean the Bosch in the shop now is better than anything else. Many of the most vociferous supporters of one particular manufacturer base their support on tools they bought 5, 10, 20 or more years ago which makes their opinions on new tools of said brand redundant.

 

[marcros]

To have any relevance whatsoever it would have to be based on tools bought in the last year or two as the quality yo yos over the years - I've superb Bosch stuff that's 30+ years old, but that doesn't mean the Bosch in the shop now is better than anything else. Many of the most vociferous supporters of one particular manufacturer base their support on tools they bought 5, 10, 20 or more years ago which makes their opinions on new tools of said brand redundant.

and I would estimate that 99% of branded tools bought within the last year or two are still reliable, so it then reverts to favourite colour!

it is very hard to judge. I would buy based on the features and reviews of users (rather than unboxing and quick demo reviews), but then it comes down to my personal bias towards brands. Brand is a good starting point for me, because I know that the main brands will all do a version but it is probably the least important consideration.

 

[Cordy]

A few years ago my neighbour, a building site woodworker; advised me to buy Makita and Dewalt machines for quality and reliability
I took his advice and have not been disappointed

Bought machine and clamps from Lidl which got thrown out after a short time in service

 

[Doug B]

But what criteria are you basing the recommendations on?
Best manufacturer dealing with problems whilst the tool is in warranty?
Tools that have never gone wrong?
How much use a tool has had?
The problems I see with tool reviews on here & else where is what are people judging their latest favourite tool against & what experience do they have of different brands of that tools.
I could say the longest lasting tool I have is a 110v metabo drill & it’s still going strong today but the truth behind this is I bought it 35years ago to work on a building site as they only allowed 110v tools. I’ve kept it ever since just in case that situation arises again, it’s still in excellent condition in part because it’s had very little use.

 

[pe2dave]

No.
And for a good reason?
Put 10 woodworkers in a room... you get 12 opinions.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

If you want durability, reliability etc then ask a tradesman - they work their tools all day and know what fails rapidly.

Expect to pay 3 times what the sheds charge for some diy tools.

This does not make a £60 cordless drill worthless - with light use it may last several years.

 

[Bm101]

No.
And for a good reason?
Put 10 woodworkers in a room... you get 12 opinions.

13 actually Dave.

 

[TheTiddles]

Part of the problem is also you get a very unscientific answer, as has been pointed out tools bought a long time ago have a better track record of lasting a long time compared to those bought recently... if only there was some kind of reason for that.

You’re probably also more interested in durability, if a circular saw broke after 3 hours use every time it would be highly reliable... but not very durable at all.

 

[Wildman]

ha ha well that was a can of worms, I noticed parkside seem to be knockoffs of better brands but are they just rebadged? As to old tools I have a wolf aluminium bodied drill from the 1950's that belonged to my father and is still in use. I assume Bosch are still made in Germany and not China or maybe I'm wrong do we pay for a name even though the manufacturing is to a lower standard these days?

 

[TheTiddles]

ha ha well that was a can of worms, I notices parkside seem to be knockoffs of better brands but are they just rebadged? As to old tools I have a wolf aluminium bodied drill from the 1950's that belonged to my father and is still in use. I assume Bosch are still made in Germany and not China or maybe I'm wrong do we pay for a name even though the manufacturing is to a lower standard these days?

Or do we pay for a name and is it made to a higher standard?

If you look at woodwork magazines from the 80’s an Elu router back then was something like £300, which today would be hugely undercut by some cheap mass produced tat like Festool.

Aidan

 

[Jamesc]

To give an answer in the vain of the original question. A friend of mine is a general builer whi has sworn by Dewalt all his working life. A few months ago he had his van broken into and lost all his tools. He replaced with brand new Dewalt cordless essentially as before. His verdict is that he is seeing more problems with his new kit than he did with the old and is definately not as happy with the new breed of kit.
Me I am in the blue corner with Makita and am very happy there, but then again much of my kit is 5-10 years old.

 

[MikeK]

I assume Bosch are still made in Germany and not China or maybe I'm wrong do we pay for a name even though the manufacturing is to a lower standard these days?

All of my Bosch blue professional tools I owned over the years were made in Malaysia and China. I think it has been many years since any Bosch tools were made in Germany.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I paid £180 for my Bosch router in a sale in 1990 (made in USA).

 

[doctor Bob]

I can break most brands without to much effort.

 

[TheUnicorn]

also different items in the same brand are of differing quality, especially the lower priced brands (see the massively differing views on parkside tools) which are rebadged from other brands.

 

[Ollie78]

This is an impossible question.

Many of the "brands" are owned and made by larger multinational companies like tts who own Milwaukee and Ryobi etc. I think Makita and Fein are still the original companies.
Even within brands own ranges there is a bewildering choice and quality / cost level.

I suspect the parkside type tools are just older models which get gradually phased out.

Personally I like Makita, Metabo and Festool.
I learned to get the "best" model in the range I once bought a cheaper Makita drill body with a plastic chuck and gearbox, it was in the bin after 6 months but I still have its metal gearboxed brother 10 years later.

Ollie

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Irrespective of brand, I wouldn't buy anything now without a brushless motor.

 

[cowtown_eric]

any Modern Craftsman tools....not likely available in UK.

I've had a 4x24 craftsman beltsanderx 40 plus years and it still is a work horse, OTOH, I bought a n Asian craftsman, router and the armature started flying apart....hard to believe, but it did. Bearings mounted in plastic. Never bought a newer Craftsman tool since then. No QC that I could see

 

[johnnyb]

further to tiddles post tools in 80s magazines seem remarkably expensive. not much cheap tat. multico and startrite were still making in the uk. my elu mof97 is still going as is my lamello top 10.