HQ Tool Suggestions

[Popwarhomie 5,000+ posts]

Milwaukee makes the best battery powered tools IMO. I'm also a Ridgid fan. Both made by TTI.

 

[Lasherž]

Milwaukee makes the best battery powered tools IMO. I'm also a Ridgid fan. Both made by TTI.

Milwaukee's gone downhill since they were bought by TTI. They seem to have two classes of products, one that's about as good as the low end used to be and one that's junk but cheap. They used to be contractor grade tools, but most of the contractors I know now use Hilti. I gotta figure if the companies are willing to fork out that much money for Hilti then they probably expect them to last forever with abuse.

The batteries in Milwaukee are good of course, but they use the same cells that everyone else does just occasionally more of them. Yes, even Hercules uses quality brand lithium cells, just very few of them. The main Milwaukee superpower is branding and quick turn around on development, they'll put out products very quickly after Sanyo, LG, or Samsung make new cells with a certain property like cold performance and have a product out that month claiming whatever the cells are good at while the other brands lag behind or upgrade without hardly mentioning the batteries. Milwaukee has some believing they make their own lithium cells and have ancient high tech in there lol. Nah, they don't even stick to one brand of lithiums in concurrent product lines.

The quality lines of Milwaukee are still good, but they're priced exactly what they're worth and that's the problem with all TTI companies, I just don't think there's such a thing as a Milwaukee hidden gem any more, but go back 20-25 years and every product was just about. Really if not for the invention of brushless DC motors and these powerful lithium cells we'd all still be using models from the early 90s for reliability and just swapping the brushes every few years of use.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Milwaukee makes the best battery powered tools IMO. I'm also a Ridgid fan. Both made by TTI.

I can Deff Vouch for the Rigid 18v Drill and Impact set with at the least 4ah batteries. Ive ran those hard as hell ALL Day Long Putting Pipe Couplings on in a 10 -14 hr day.Ran them in the Dirt so to Speak, and still running theyre Azz off. Out performed the Dewalt 20v set I ended up giving away.Excellent Drill set for the $

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Milwaukee's gone downhill since they were bought by TTI. They seem to have two classes of products, one that's about as good as the low end used to be and one that's junk but cheap. They used to be contractor grade tools, but most of the contractors I know now use Hilti. I gotta figure if the companies are willing to fork out that much money for Hilti then they probably expect them to last forever with abuse.

The batteries in Milwaukee are good of course, but they use the same cells that everyone else does just occasionally more of them. Yes, even Hercules uses quality brand lithium cells, just very few of them. The main Milwaukee superpower is branding and quick turn around on development, they'll put out products very quickly after Sanyo, LG, or Samsung make new cells with a certain property like cold performance and have a product out that month claiming whatever the cells are good at while the other brands lag behind or upgrade without hardly mentioning the batteries. Milwaukee has some believing they make their own lithium cells and have ancient high tech in there lol. Nah, they don't even stick to one brand of lithiums in concurrent product lines.

The quality lines of Milwaukee are still good, but they're priced exactly what they're worth and that's the problem with all TTI companies, I just don't think there's such a thing as a Milwaukee hidden gem any more, but go back 20-25 years and every product was just about. Really if not for the invention of brushless DC motors and these powerful lithium cells we'd all still be using models from the early 90s for reliability and just swapping the brushes every few years of use.

Ive got all kinds of Corded drills made by Hilti, and they are Beast.TE-5, TE-25, TE 60..Great Die Hard Hammer drills..Milw..Cant beat the Bandsaw to be honest(Dewalts Blow) Miss the Porta Cable older ones.Sawzaws are Fantastic, Hand drills are beast. Id put that Bosh Bulldog 1/2" Hammer drill right there with the Hilti TE5 or 7. For $100 Bucks its worth every penny, Majority of the corded tools I have are made By Rigid and non.Some the best and most reliable tools in my Heap,Bosh makes some really great tools as well.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

I think the Best Metal and Bi-Metal Hole saws Ive ever used that last a long time and cut through Steel well are made by Starrett, Second runner up is Blu-Mol.. and Morse,

 

[Lasherž]

I can Deff Vouch for the Rigid 18v Drill and Impact set with at the least 4ah batteries. Ive ran those hard as hell ALL Day Long Putting Pipe Couplings on in a 10 -14 hr day.Ran them in the Dirt so to Speak, and still running theyre Azz off. Out performed the Dewalt 20v set I ended up giving away.Excellent Drill set for the $

For sure, Dewalt is on the same mid bar as most TTI stuff. I didn't meant to disparage on the batteries, those are good in relation to the price. The long term longevity, type of chuck, hammer weight, switch quality, and conformal coating on the windings are mainly what make a drill/hammer drill good. Most of that can be seen just objectively on the inside of the drill.

 

[Lasherž]

Ive got all kinds of Corded drills made by Hilti, and they are Beast.TE-5, TE-25, TE 60..Great Die Hard Hammer drills..Milw..Cant beat the Bandsaw to be honest(Dewalts Blow) Miss the Porta Cable older ones.Sawzaws are Fantastic, Hand drills are beast. Id put that Bosh Bulldog 1/2" Hammer drill right there with the Hilti TE5 or 7. For $100 Bucks its worth every penny, Majority of the corded tools I have are made By Rigid and non.Some the best and most reliable tools in my Heap,Bosh makes some really great tools as well.

Really hard to go wrong with Hillti, but it sure hurts right in the wallet. I haven't tried the larger milwaukee table components, so maybe I should broaden my scope of the brand. I'm only familiar with hand tools by most large brands. Bosh Bulldog I've never heard of, unless you mean Bosch. I have some experience with their low end, and I've used a lot of their bits. They seem to be decent middle grade, but mostly Chinese manufacturing, no? Same with all TTI companies and Dewalt.

I saw this interesting little tid-bit on Bosch's wikipedia page.
In 2006, Volkswagen executives asked Bosch for help in developing software for their emission defeat devices. Volkswagen is one of Bosch's biggest customers. Volkswagen engineers provided detailed specifications to Bosch, which wrote the necessary code. Bosch was apparently concerned about the legality of software and asked Volkswagen to assume responsibility if the fraud was discovered, but Volkswagen refused.

On 1 February 2017, Bosch agreed to pay consumers in the United States $327.5 million as compensation for its role in devising the software.

Bosch also provided emissions software for Fiat Chrysler's 3.0 L V6 diesel engine used in 100,000 model year 2014–2016 Grand Cherokee SUVs and Ram trucks and agreed to pay affected consumers $27.5 million as part of a broader settlement in January 2019

 

[Lasherž]

I think the Best Metal and Bi-Metal Hole saws Ive ever used that last a long time and cut through Steel well are made by Starrett, Second runner up is Blu-Mol.. and Morse,

I'm familiar with Morse and I agree, I've never heard of the other 2 but I'll look into them. For now I'll add the entry for Morse.

After doing a little more research on Blu-Mol I'm curious to know if your particular set was made in China or the USA. They somewhat recently moved manufacturing over and so now I have my doubts. Starrett appears to have also moved to China. Sad days for US manufacturing. Morse appears to still be made in Michigan.

Being made in China isn't inherently all bad, most stuff is. But I know a lot of brands struggle to uphold quality when moving overseas. Usually when there's a move it's good to get a reality check on the products coming out to see if they live up to old standards.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Really hard to go wrong with Hillti, but it sure hurts right in the wallet. I haven't tried the larger milwaukee table components, so maybe I should broaden my scope of the brand. I'm only familiar with hand tools by most large brands. Bosh Bulldog I've never heard of, unless you mean Bosch. I have some experience with their low end, and I've used a lot of their bits. They seem to be decent middle grade, but mostly Chinese manufacturing, no? Same with all TTI companies and Dewalt.

I saw this interesting little tid-bit on Bosch's wikipedia page.
In 2006, Volkswagen executives asked Bosch for help in developing software for their emission defeat devices. Volkswagen is one of Bosch's biggest customers. Volkswagen engineers provided detailed specifications to Bosch, which wrote the necessary code. Bosch was apparently concerned about the legality of software and asked Volkswagen to assume responsibility if the fraud was discovered, but Volkswagen refused.

On 1 February 2017, Bosch agreed to pay consumers in the United States $327.5 million as compensation for its role in devising the software.

Bosch also provided emissions software for Fiat Chrysler's 3.0 L V6 diesel engine used in 100,000 model year 2014–2016 Grand Cherokee SUVs and Ram trucks and agreed to pay affected consumers $27.5 million as part of a broader settlement in January 2019

Ya.. I do not have Spell Check turned on. so my Proper English skills and spelling may not be the best ATM.Just about Every Large manufacturing Co. In the U.S. these days cant afford the Taxes here and dont want to pay for Labor Cost and benefits and have better options to make Money out of the Country.Every Large Corp. or Business trys to get away with something till that Wrist gets slapped

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

For sure, Dewalt is on the same mid bar as most TTI stuff. I didn't meant to disparage on the batteries, those are good in relation to the price. The long term longevity, type of chuck, hammer weight, switch quality, and conformal coating on the windings are mainly what make a drill/hammer drill good. Most of that can be seen just objectively on the inside of the drill.

Ive got a 1/2" drive Electric GM Good Wrench Impact thats been a beast and has held up quite well. Its approx. 15 years old and still looks good and works very well.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

I'm familiar with Morse and I agree, I've never heard of the other 2 but I'll look into them. For now I'll add the entry for Morse.

After doing a little more research on Blu-Mol I'm curious to know if your particular set was made in China or the USA. They somewhat recently moved manufacturing over and so now I have my doubts. Starrett appears to have also moved to China. Sad days for US manufacturing. Morse appears to still be made in Michigan.

Being made in China isn't inherently all bad, most stuff is. But I know a lot of brands struggle to uphold quality when moving overseas. Usually when there's a move it's good to get a reality check on the products coming out to see if they live up to old standards.

Yes, these 3 brands are very good for making and drilling Holes and seem to last. Starrett is my first Choice by far, and I prob have well over 50 of that brand in different sizes and for different use. As long as they keep making them to where I can drill Holes in Schedule 40 Steel piping and use approx. for over 80 holes verses the Lennox that I do at best to get 20-30. Ill still buy these first. Morse Some really good ones as well.Blu-Mol, I have USA Made from several years back that I have a Bulk stock of in the garage as well as all others, have been just as good. Have look see where made. Ive bought the newer versions and still have performed just as well beyond the Milw., Lennox, and Rigid and Dewalts.Milwa.Used to have a warranty on theirs that stated that if the tips became worn that they would replace under warranty with a receipt( that was about 2years ago Last i remember). Have check to see if still applies.

 

[Lasherž]

Yes, these 3 brands are very good for making and drilling Holes and seem to last. Starrett is my first Choice by far, and I prob have well over 50 of that brand in different sizes and for different use. As long as they keep making them to where I can drill Holes in Schedule 40 Steel piping and use approx. for over 80 holes verses the Lennox that I do at best to get 20-30. Ill still buy these first. Morse Some really good ones as well.Blu-Mol, I have USA Made from several years back that I have a Bulk stock of in the garage as well as all others, have been just as good. Have look see where made. Ive bought the newer versions and still have performed just as well beyond the Milw., Lennox, and Rigid and Dewalts.Milwa.Used to have a warranty on theirs that stated that if the tips became worn that they would replace under warranty with a receipt( that was about 2years ago Last i remember). Have check to see if still applies.

Good to know, I'll go ahead and add Starrett then if nobody has horror stories to tell on them. Did you say your recent ones were from China? Which brand does that apply to? Also something to keep in mind with all these tools is there's a big difference between "made in china" and "made in the republic of china"

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Good to know, I'll go ahead and add Starrett then if nobody has horror stories to tell on them. Did you say your recent ones were from China? Which brand does that apply to? Also something to keep in mind with all these tools is there's a big difference between "made in china" and "made in the republic of china"

I buy the Yellow ones as these here.Ilike totry and get the New Old stock if I can. Ill buy a Lot or up to 5 at a time if available

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[Lasherž]

How do you guys feel about woodworking tabletop tools like miter saws, table saws, spindal sanders etc? I have very limited experience with the brands beyond some staples like Dewalt and Craftsman but I'm in the market for a few once I complete a move.

 

[Popwarhomie 5,000+ posts]

Some Home Depot black Friday deals have started. Bought this miter saw today for $80 off. I like Dewalt saws but don't care for Dewalt prices since I don't use them often. Planning on the Ryobi 10" table saw as well when it goes on sale.

Waiting for the 11th when the Ridgid tile saw drops from $220 to $99.