satchmodog

I've had the Bosch 1587 for almost 20 years and aside from replacing a few parts it's held up well as a job site saw. Now I'm thinking about getting a new saw and keeping the Bosch at home. Sadly I know that none of the brushless tools or tools with MOSFET controllers will last as long as the Milwaukee, Porter cable and Makita tools I bought in the mid 90s when I started my business. That said, do I go Makita, Bosch, Milwaukee or Festool for a new jigsaw?

Bosch tools and accessories like Milwaukee and dewalt have never let me down. I wouldn't mind some blue bit cases to go with my yeller and red ones 😊 always looking for good stuff.

I'll give the Bosch a try. I use their circ saw and miter saw blades exclusively, so why not some bits? Truth be told, name brands don't matter, performance does. If Harbor fraud had the best rated bits out there(instead of seconds and mis stamped tools) I'd buy them. I've actually used their SDS bits and for 15 bucks for a set of five, it was totally worth the money.

I know this is anecdotal, but it made me think. I always bought Milwaukee bits for my drywall and deck gun since this drill was hard on bits, especially in decks for obvious reasons. When I bought an impact driver I got a Milwaukee for myself and a dewalt for my gear head nephew. I bought us each two sets of Milwaukee bits and two sets of dewalt bits. He said so far so good with all of them, tough as nails. I'm over at my ex wife's house putting a new latch on the wood gate(she has my dogs and I love my dogs, don't judge lol) and was using the impact with a #2 bit for some exterior woodscrews. I tighten everything and she's all over my new impact because her old man was a mechanic who warned me Ling ago not to let her touch tools. So she starts playing with the drill and just barely tightens two screws and the dewalt yellow banded impact bit shatters. I've never actually seen one or even had one shatter before in 25 years of being a carpenter. ElDestructo strikes again. But really, I do find Milwaukee bits hold their tip longer before they round off vs any other bits I've used.

I generally don't get swayed by advertising and I rarely buy anything fresh off the presses, but Tool Boss had that Milwaukee snubby impact all over his vids and I want it. Do I need it, no. Want

See, that's the thing for me, weight. I'm 50 now and the old body gets a bit taxed when I'm lugging around a framer all day as it is. My two Porter cables and my paslode are heavy enough. Have found the additional weight of the cordless to be the deal breaker on getting new guns for the two that crapped out. As much a pain in the yams an air hose and compressor are, that weight and awkward design of the cordless aren't worth it to me.

It's doubtful I'll ever buy another battery operated nailer after the Makita pin nailer shit the bed after five nails and the Dewalt after a half hour of light work. I cannot afford for tools not to work and there's something screwy when 600+ dollars in nailers are garbage and both did the same thing. They'd work fine for a few nails, then not drive them in to the point that there was 3/4 of the nail crowned over the surface. Switched batteries, made sure we used the correct nails and sacrificed a chicken, all to no avail. I have seven Porter cable, one Bostitch, one passlode and a harbor freight staple gun(don't judge) and all have worked flawlessly for years. Time's money.

In my experience over the past 25 years of building things, Milwaukee excels at circular saws and the Sawzall. Their miter saw is pedestrian and hugely overpriced. While still excellent quality, you get more features from Makita, tighter tolerances from Bosch and a better all around saw for far less going Dewalt. I own every major tool brand in some fashion or another and try buying what's best from each. You want the king of recip saws, go Milwaukee, you want the king of sliders, Dewalt is your best bet. Oh, and get the 779 instead of the 780 and save some cash. Unless you absolutely need the shadow line.I'm going to add that feature to mine in a year or so once my warranty is expired.

Interesting. My first thought is the whole Home Depot thing. What's going to shake out with their power tools. Seems a lot of electricians I've seen the past few years have gone to Ridgid

It's pretty rare that you see guys on jobs wearing ear and eye protection, especially when using saws. The only time I go out of my way to wear glasses and a mask is when I'm using an angle grinder.

BTW, I was at the tool candy land today and they had a 1 3/4 HP around 10 amp Porter cable router that took two collet sizes. RPM was 27k and the thing was solid and far heavier than my Craftsman. It was a pretty impressive machine for 150 beans. It's on the list

We ran Milwaukee and Bosch bits and chisels in the rehab and had good luck with them. One of our guys had been busing harbor fraud bits for years and said he's had just as good luck with them as Dewalt and Bosch, which are always his go to tools. I'm going to pick up a five pack of bits and a chisel blade next time I'm near the local HF. He also said the HF oscillating tool blades are every bit as good as the dewalt and Porter cable quick changes he used.

One tool I'd never go back to for sure would be a miter box. Sweet Jesus what a pain in the yam bag a miter box is compared to a sliding compound miter saw. Same goes for pneumatic finish nailers. I'll drive nails by hand framing a lot, but I cannot imagine putting up crown with a hammer and finish nails.

Yeah, it really is. When we were rehabbing my parent's place in the keys we had our miter saw set up on three horses with a few 14 foot sections of 2x8 that we found in the yard after our pier was destroyed. They made a nice long, solid base for the 16 foot pieces. I try to cope as many corners as possible, too.

I just picked up a Bosch 4.5 amp SDS for $104.00 shipped. I use one of these drills about three times a year and for 100 bucks, it suddenly became worth owning. If it lasts the year, I break even. If I get multiple years out of it, total win. I have a job setting a vinyl fence in a hurricane zone coming up and a deck going into foundation, so it's going to pay for itself immediately.