looking to upgrade into a new tool brand any ideas?

[youngcarpenter]

I use desalts old 18v line but my batteries are loosing their charge more and my tools are breaking. In other words i need to upgrade. I've done some research and price isn't really a worry. I want reliability and a good tool line up. Any ideas or opinions would be very helpful, thank you  

[olletsocmit]

MILWAUKEE!!! Swear by it!

[KnarlyCarl]

What's up Andrew!! Welcome aboard! You mention about upgrading into a new tool brand, are you referring to cordless items?

I have mostly Milwaukee because of their extensive line up of both 18 and 12v tools, but I'm not completely partial to the red...

They have 5 year warranty and have always been easy to deal with, as my personal experience has been.

You can't go wrong with DeWalt or Makita either, if you're looking for maybe a more quality build of tools, try Metabo or Hilti

The problem with the above mentioned brands is that there are no close places that carry them. Any supply house I walk into around here is all Milwaukee, easy to deal with, getting new tools... 

If I didn't need a lot of what only Milwaukee offers and they weren't so prevalent around here, I would maybe go with Hilti or Makita, they both have powerful drills also, you can get some nice woodworking cordless tools with Makita though. 

The brands mentioned above are your pro line brands, there are others but don't boast the performance you are probably looking to get.....

 

Too many decisions to just make an easy call right off the bat

[kornomaniac]

Makita / Milwaukee at the moment. Seem to be the only innovative Brands now

[kruton]

Bosch, Makita, Milwaukee, Dewalt are all solid brands with a pretty wide range of offerings. I've recently just gotten into Metabo and couldn't be more impressed. If there aren't any specific specialty tools you need most of these lines will get you there.

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[Bigmikez]

I'm invested pretty heavy into both milwaukee and Dewalt both great lines that will take are of you, I have Dewakt for more of my wood working line and milwaukee for there awesome impact wrenches/mechanic tools there drills and impacts are top notch at the moment to from what I hear   but either brand nowadays will be great for ya! What traded are you in? I work at a body shop and hardcore DIYer oh and also welcome to the crew!!

[rrich1]

Im invested into Bosch and Makita. Makita is getting more of my business right now due to a larger line up. I love both though. My main go to drill is my bosch. I have the top of the line Makita hammer drill but find it to big for most jobs. I also am into Makita's outdoor equipment with their blower and trimmer. Their outdoor equipment uses 2 18v batteries for a 36v tool. So no need to have multiple batteries and chargers. 

 

My suggestion is to look into what you are going to be doing. and look through each of the tool companies line up. That should dictate which tool company or companies to go with. No reason to go with a brand that doesnt offer what you will even need/want. 

[tonylandin]

If price isn't a worry go straight to festool. High end Cadillac of tools. I have a large number of DeWALT tools in the 20v line and in corded tools I have Bosch makita Milwaukee ridgid ryobi skilsaw portercable and a few others. I buy use specific tools. It was like when I was into car stereo equipment my amps were one brand stereo another speakers another and subs yet another each because of what they excelled at. But if money was there I'd go all out with festool. My opinion all the brands are good and all the brands have there faults go with what's gonna work best in your situation and for your specific needs. Have fun shopping and buy em all lol

From a fan of tools with lots of assistance from Siri #TIACREW

[Hugh Jass]

1 hour ago, tonylandin said:

If price isn't a worry go straight to festool. High end Cadillac of tools.

 

Cadillac...what is it 1953?...you mean Rolls-Royce Phantom. I hear next year's Festool lineup is going to come with diamond encrusted ruby hand grips.

 

[ChrisK]

3 hours ago, youngcarpenter said:

I use desalts old 18v line but my batteries are loosing their charge more and my tools are breaking. In other words i need to upgrade. I've done some research and price isn't really a worry. I want reliability and a good tool line up. Any ideas or opinions would be very helpful, thank you  

Welcome to the forum Andrew! Are you looking to continue the with cordless? Do you want more corded options? Judging from your name you are doing carpentry, are you doing finish or rough carpentry?

 

The guys here are good at spending everybody's money so think about those questions and let us know. I happen to like Dewalt. A lot. Also a fan of Makita and Bosch. But before you jump on a bandwagon think about where you are going to be applying your tools and I bet the guys here will give you some really sound advice. These lines have many avenues of specialty whereas some others really aim to a particular group. Another line is trying to aim towards every group by pushing new tools all the time and there are always problems with that. 

 

Also, being heavily invested in the Festool line I can base my opinion on the quality and accuracy of that tool line on personal experience but will point out that there are other lines with more cordless tools than Festool and spending money in that line might not yield you the best array of tools to complete a rough carpentry job. Whereas using the LR32, an OF1400 and a TS55REQ with an appropriate HEPA

dust collection unit backed by a CXS and T18 will creat razor sharp lines and keep your customers house as neat as if Alice Nelson from the Brady Bunch was following you with a pink fluffy feather duster and a dust pan, but cost you a smooth grand and a half.

 

Anyways, let us know what you plan to do with your next big investment!

[youngcarpenter]

Thanks guys so much for the helpful advice especially carl and chris  

I do a lot of finish carpentry and just orders desalts 20v max 5 tool combo kit 

i went with dewalt because every shop I've worked in has used it and i trust the yellow 

but for my miter and table saws i haven't decided yet on what I'm going to get I've heard great things about festool but also great things about boschs new miter saws. Any advice?

[Grumpy MSG]

I won't tell you which brand is better, because that is just an opinion and you don't know me from Adam. My advice to you is to make a wish list of what tools you would like in cordless. Look at the various brands other folks have recommended. Pick up the annual tool issues of magazines like Fine Homebuilding. I prefer to stick to one brand for all tools so I only have one or two battery types that use the same charger, others like to have the "best" tool of any particular type and don't mind having 2 or three different batteries and chargers to keep track of. Look at what is easily available in your area, including your big box stores, local hardware stores and building supply centers.  Also look at where the nearest service centers are and use that to help in your selection process. You may find that on brand dominates your region and that makes choosing it even easier. 

[Hugh Jass]

1 minute ago, youngcarpenter said:

Thanks guys so much for the helpful advice especially carl and chris  

I do a lot of finish carpentry and just orders desalts 20v max 5 tool combo kit 

i went with dewalt because every shop I've worked in has used it and i trust the yellow 

but for my miter and table saws i haven't decided yet on what I'm going to get I've heard great things about festool but also great things about boschs new miter saws. Any advice?

 

Nobody will argue with Dewalt leading on the SCMS battle. The DWS780 is a tested monster, I have it and the XPS light system is so good, it's actually made me a better carpenter (really). Festool may claim better accuracy, but you're only as good as your calibration when it comes to lasers. And recalibrate. Again and again... XPS is where it's at, man. 

 

As for table saws, this one can get complicated depending on your needs. If you have a mobile setup, Dewalt table saws rock and have one of the best fence's money can buy. I have the DWE7491RS and it's really good. I used it today to manufacture tongue and groove that is larger than is locally available by joining two boards to make one with no preparation to the joined cut edges. Useable joint straight from the saw, glue, sand, install... however If you have a shop and don't need the portability there's better options because of table size. I can't tell you I wish I had a good method for outfeed with my saw, but portability and terrain means I struggle with this no matter how good the saw is with 12ft and 16ft lumber. All solutions are too time consuming so I just deal with it. If I had a shop and a nice table system, I'd accept an inferior fence system in a heartbeat. 

[Hugh Jass]

Also I'd note that since you've gone with the 20v the Cordless DCS361 miter saw is damn good. I grab it out of the tool trailer 9 out of 10 times, but it's single bevel. If you ever run crown, forget it and buy a bigger saw. But it's hard to beat the portability of this unit if you're mobile for sure, and would save you money from a bigger saw if it's not necessary in your use. It uses the same lighting system but is not nearly as bright as the DWS780 so outside you can just about forget it, but still great indoors or low light conditions. 

[ChrisK]

4 hours ago, youngcarpenter said:

Thanks guys so much for the helpful advice especially carl and chris  

I do a lot of finish carpentry and just orders desalts 20v max 5 tool combo kit 

i went with dewalt because every shop I've worked in has used it and i trust the yellow 

but for my miter and table saws i haven't decided yet on what I'm going to get I've heard great things about festool but also great things about boschs new miter saws. Any advice?

Prior to making my purchase I went through the woes of comparing a ton of SCMS's and at the head of the pack were the Dewalt 10", the Milwaukee 10", and the Bosch Axial and the Hitachi 10". You cannot go wrong with any of those ones. As far as table saws, I'm a woodworker and made due with the Dewalt 10" DW745. I replaced it later on with a Sawstop but I loved my DW745. Super compact, I built a mobile cart for it. The fence is rock solid, the saw is super light and has plenty of power for most applications. I was looking at the Bosch because it could handle a dado stack whereas the DW745 cannot. I went with the Dewalt. I could double stack blades on the Dewalt and the fence is what sold me. To quote @Grumpy MSG though, the brands depend on you. It's all about preference. They are all great brands. 

[JimboS1ice]

Dewalt has a solid line up, it lacks some of the more brushless tools from its red and teal running mates but it still has solid proven tools.

Jimbo

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[Hugh Jass]

5 hours ago, ChrisK said:

Prior to making my purchase I went through the woes of comparing a ton of SCMS's and at the head of the pack were the Dewalt 10", the Milwaukee 10", and the Bosch Axial and the Hitachi 10". You cannot go wrong with any of those ones. As far as table saws, I'm a woodworker and made due with the Dewalt 10" DW745. I replaced it later on with a Sawstop but I loved my DW745. Super compact, I built a mobile cart for it. The fence is rock solid, the saw is super light and has plenty of power for most applications. I was looking at the Bosch because it could handle a dado stack whereas the DW745 cannot. I went with the Dewalt. I could double stack blades on the Dewalt and the fence is what sold me. To quote @Grumpy MSG though, the brands depend on you. It's all about preference. They are all great brands. 

 

My co-worker has the DW745, while a great saw and more compact than my 7491...he sneaks into my trailer and pulls out mine whenever we work together. Better tool storage, faster blade RPM, wider rip capacity, and heavier weight make it more stable when pushing long rips (he has the same stand as I do). If price is a concern the 745 is a solid option, but myself and my buddy agree that the upgrade is well worth it. 

[ChrisK]

No doubt on that. My 745 was purchased because I got it for like $220 at HD. Killer deal, but the upgrade is worth it.

[Jspeed]

if your gonna switch and upgrade you have to go with milwaukee they offer the best warranty and they have a wide variety of a lot of 18v tools especially in the trade category. plumber electricians HVAC they cater to them a lot better. they just make awesome reliable tools, plus the red and black color is sick!!!!

[kruton]

Dewalt makes good tools. You will like them. Congrats man.

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[justin22]

MAKITA!! they even have an 18v cordless coffee maker!

[DaveJr.]

Why don't you stick with DeWalt? Honesty any of the big name tool brands will work fine for most people.

[rrich1]

2 hours ago, DaveJr. said:

Why don't you stick with DeWalt? Honesty any of the big name tool brands will work fine for most people.

He already bought a new dewalt set

[youngcarpenter]

On May 22, 2016 at 11:22 PM, Hugh Jass said:

Also I'd note that since you've gone with the 20v the Cordless DCS361 miter saw is damn good. I grab it out of the tool trailer 9 out of 10 times, but it's single bevel. If you ever run crown, forget it and buy a bigger saw. But it's hard to beat the portability of this unit if you're mobile for sure, and would save you money from a bigger saw if it's not necessary in your use. It uses the same lighting system but is not nearly as bright as the DWS780 so outside you can just about forget it, but still great indoors or low light conditions. 

I was looking at gettng the DCS361 and i was debating on if I would rather have the amp that a corded saw can get or the mobility of a cordless. Does the DCS361 come in a kit or is it only a bare tool because I have more then enough batteries but if it comes with 5.0 Ah it might be worth it to invest

[youngcarpenter]

On May 25, 2016 at 9:55 PM, rrich1 said:

He already bought a new dewalt set

I did it works great i love it but I also received the 12v Rigid drill/driver and impact driver set. I wanted to see if there were any rigid users out there that had some insight if the 18v Rigid line is worth the invest.