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Tool nut

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Hey guys, im new to the forum and I wanted to bring forth a question that does not really have a right or wrong answer but more or less just some insight and suggestion on the situation. So here goes. I just recently purchased a four piece milwaukee set for work. I love it but it will stay at work. Now i got it bacause i travel a bit (road work in state) and it is much easier to carry one charger. I had to streamline i just decided to pick milwaukee because there was an incredible deal i could not pass up. Im not a brand nerd but it had to be done simply for time and space. Now here is the situation im in. I have a hodge podge of tools at work and at home. They are dewalt 18v nicd set, drill and compact 1/2 impact, and grease gun that is brand new (one tube of grese thru it). I also have the bosch drill and hex driver combo which the drill is less than a year old and they both work great. That is just at work. Now at home I have the big nicd 18v dewalt 1/2 impact, a small 8v dewalt gyroscope screwdriver, and older 18v makita lion brushed drill. And last but not least a 20v black&decker drill mainly used in the house for hanging pictures and stuff. What i would like to do is some what condense closer to a single brand or two at most for my house. Note: i have a lawn mower repair shop in my back yard so time and space are also a factor im looking for. What should i do? Sell them all and start over? Keep one brand and expand it? I really like my bosch set but their selection is not that great. I have had good experience with the dewalt stuff but the batteries are outdated bad. I thank you in advance for any advice you may have and please feel free to share any experience you have had and what you ultimately did. Thanks guys 

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Here's my suggestion, take it for what it's worth.

 

I'd gift the Black and Decker drill to someone who can use it.  Then I'd sell either the DeWalt 18v or the Bosch* stuff (if it were me, the Bosch would likely go).  If I sold the Bosch, I'd buy the DeWalt DCB1820 adapter and limit future purchases to DeWalt 20v Max for mostly home and limited use at work, and Milwaukee for primary work use.  Getting the adapter will allow you to use 20v max batteries in the ni-cad tools, replacing worn out or broken tools as needed with their newer counterparts.  As for the 8v Max gyro screwdriver, I'd keep it for small jobs; I have two of them and they are great for replacing power outlets and lights. 

 

Personally, I'm in a similar boat, with a bunch of different battery platforms.  I plan to keep most of them but reserve them for various uses.  For example, my Bosch 12v drill will probably stay in the truck and may eventually be supplemented by an impact driver.  My DeWalt, Milwaukee, and Ridgid tools are stored according to use, e.g. the Ridgid sanders and router along with the DeWalt jigsaw reside in a box set aside for small woodworking projects.  My Hitachi 18v impact driver may be sold, or it may stay in the truck until and if I get the Bosch 12v. 

 

*Makita, not Bosch, sorry for the error.

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@Tool nut I'd say stick with your Makita. Large tool selection and the High demand line uses same batteries as 18v line. Also the subcompact line could be used in tasks you would normally use a 12v tool but without switching batteries. Another thing is you don't need an adapter to use your old Makita stuff. @fm2176 has a good point though, buying the DeWALT adapter would allow you to keep using your old DeWALT stuff. Another thing to consider is Your Ridgid Router and sander can be replaced by a Makita offering but DeWALT does not offer any cordless options. I like my DeWALT 20v and Flexvolt stuff but if I had a chance to go back and startover with my tool collection I would seriously consider Makita.

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Very good idea @fm2176 on the dewalt 20v. I as well love the 8v gyroscope driver. I have the light for it as well and it is a good tough bright light for looking under mowers and such. My mower parts guy uses nothing but makita and swears by them. I really like the idea of the sub com makita set. Anyone had any experience on the ridgid warranty? Is it worth it? A guy a work just baught the limited edtion set and he likes but im not sure how good the "everything" warranty is.

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10 minutes ago, Tool nut said:

Very good idea @fm2176 on the dewalt 20v. I as well love the 8v gyroscope driver. I have the light for it as well and it is a good tough bright light for looking under mowers and such. My mower parts guy uses nothing but makita and swears by them. I really like the idea of the sub com makita set. Anyone had any experience on the ridgid warranty? Is it worth it? A guy a work just baught the limited edtion set and he likes but im not sure how good the "everything" warranty is.

The LSA for Ridgid is awesome BUT you have to register it the correct way and it only applies to HD purchases. Ridgid makes great tools.

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8 hours ago, Jronman said:

and it only applies to something caused by ridgid right like a defect?

 

From the LSA paper that came with my belt sander:

"This unprecedented protection covers all defects in workmanship or materials amd normal wear items for the lifetime of the original, registered tool owner."

 

This include batteries purchased as part of kits, which essentially makes a Ridgid combo kit a one-time investment to some.

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I wouldn't touch a Ryobi tool if you paid me, pure big box store garbage in a green wrapper. That color, ugh, what a puke-fest that is, and the tools!?!? I'd rather buy the cheapest crap I could find from Harbor Freight than even think of buying a Ryobi tool. Hell, I'd rather use my dad's old caveman tools before I'd touch a Ryobi tools. I could hold a drill bit in my hand, spin around, and drill a hole faster than their drills ever could...

 

 

 

 

...says the guy who has the Ryobi gif in his sig line and a garage full of Ryobi tools.

 

I've had one Ryobi tool over the course of 15 years fail me, and it was the old "blue" leaf blower. It had a cheap-ass plastic flywheel that broke, and I couldn't find a replacement for it so I ditched the blower. Otherwise all of my Ryobi tools work perfectly and put up with my bullshit without complaint. I have tools that are 15 years old that I used for years in industrial maintenance that still go strong today, and I've never had to worry about changing tools to meet the requirements of changing battery platforms. Being able to use the newest batteries with the oldest tools is a great ability to have.

 

Are they the greatest brand out there? Maybe not, but I'd put Ryobi against any other brand and be happy doing it, there's too much going for Ryobi to not make it a competent brand. Price. Availability. Range of tools in their 18+ lineup. The fact that, since changing to the green color scheme, it seems that they're focusing on putting out better quality tools. Heck, just in their AirStrike tools alone, you have to see that there's a pretty big step up from what they used to be to now. The fact that they're putting out brushless tools now, their brushless angle grinder is a beast...night and day difference from the brushed version. Would a Ryobi impact hold up against the same type of work as a DeWalt, or a Milwaukee?? Maybe not, but for the price you probably wouldn't care.

 

 

If you have multiple brands, and still have older NiCad stuff, I say use it all until it dies. Use it to death, and in the meantime pick a brand and start trickling in new tools as you need them. No sense in grabbing the big kits if you don't need them, but if you buy a one- or two-tool kit with a charger and batteries it's a good start. Then, after that, just add a tool here and there when needed (or when the "I want to buy a new tool" urge strikes) until you're set into that brand. The old stuff, use it until it gives up the smoke then toss it. At one time I had 24 NiCad batteries for my Ryobi stuff, and as they started dying to the point of no return, I started buying a new tool/battery kit every once in a while to start peppering in the new Lithium batteries. Was cheaper to buy the small kits and since Ryobi batteries old and new work for every tool, it was a no-brainer to stick with them. Regardless of the brand though, adding a tool/battery combo every so often isn't hard to do and in the end will be worthwhile.

 

 

The hardest part about tool purchasing is picking a brand. You either have to do the "eeny-meeny-miny-moe" method or you pick your favorite color...

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Jronman im pretty sure i saw the kiosk for ryobi in lowes. I am in and out of HD and lowes all week i could be mistaken. Now i guess i need to find out......so i can look at more tools. As of right now im really leaning toward mikita and selling the rest.

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Id probably start from scratch.  I have 4 18v (Makita, Milwaukee, Ridgid, Dewalt)platforms, and 3 12v (Milwaukee, Bosch ridgid).  Im trying to bring that down to 2 18v and 2 12v because keeping track of all those chargers and batteries is a pain.  I could probably get away with just Makita 18v and Milwaukee 12v if i really wanted, and if i had to choose it would be those two.  

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If cost doesn’t matter the first thing I would do is just go full-Makita at home since you already have their LXT platform. Unless you have some really substantial need for a big heavy drill, just one of Makita’s subcompact or compact drills could probably replace both of your home drills which lets you get rid of the Black and Decker stuff. Also easy to replace the old Dewalt impact with Makita. Viola...one home platform.

 

Then replace the Dewalt stuff at work with Milwaukee. You might be able to sell all the Dewalt Nicad stuff (home and work) in some sort of package deal. Nothing wrong with Dewalt in absolute terms but your Dewalt stuff is all older gen on an older format. I like the fact that they offer an adapter so you can power legacy tools with newer lithium batteries but to do that necessitates buying into yet another platform which seems counterproductive.

 

As far as Ryobi is concerned, I like them just fine. Growing up they were my backup option any time Dewalt’s premium prices didn’t feel sensibleand I’ve never had a Ryobi let me down. The price makes them crazy accessible to cover those pesky “in-between” tasks. Plus especially now they have so many atypical products that are so useful. I kinda wouldn’t mind if they moved just a hair upscale, and maybe their recent move to brushless products and larger batteries signals they may be doing just that.

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There’s no real need to have work and home tools on the same platform if you don’t carry them back and forth. 

 

Are you doing construction work or mechanic work? If both, you really need to keep the tools separate. I’ve been hanging a fan or light and ended up with black smudges all over the ceiling because I had used that screwdriver to work on a vehicle. 

 

I’d use the Milwaukee stuff for clean jobs, consolidate the Dewalt stuff for dirty jobs with a pair of the 20v batteries and adapter, take the Bosch stuff home and get rid of the Makita and Black and Decker. 

 

You’ve already got 4 quality brands (Milwaukee, Dewalt, Bosch, and Makita), so it would be foolish to get rid of those and buy a bunch of junk Ryobi stuff instead. Also, if your Makita drill is outdated there’s really no reason to convert everything to them.

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Here is a couple of thoughts about your questions, You probably saw the Ryobi stuff at Home Depot not Lowe's. If you got a great deal on a Milwaukee combo for work congratulations, they always seem to be a little more expensive around me.

 

If it were me I'd push the 18 volt DeWALT stuff out to the lawnmower shop and consolidate it out there, right at the moment a pair of 20V MAX batteries, adapter and charger are $99 at my local Home Depot. Another option is to pick up a pair of the NiCad XRPs for the same $99 and you will be good for the next half a dozen years or more. If you go the adapter route later on as tools wear out or you need something new you can start sliding toward the 20V MAX line

 

I'd push to replace any other stuff at work with Milwaukee and since you have the Bosch drill and driver combo you like, I'd clean it up and pull it back to the house, maybe pick up some other tools that run the same battery along the way.

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14 hours ago, ToolBane said:

If cost doesn’t matter the first thing I would do is just go full-Makita at home since you already have their LXT platform. Unless you have some really substantial need for a big heavy drill, just one of Makita’s subcompact or compact drills could probably replace both of your home drills which lets you get rid of the Black and Decker stuff. Also easy to replace the old Dewalt impact with Makita. Viola...one home platform.

 

Then replace the Dewalt stuff at work with Milwaukee. You might be able to sell all the Dewalt Nicad stuff (home and work) in some sort of package deal. Nothing wrong with Dewalt in absolute terms but your Dewalt stuff is all older gen on an older format. I like the fact that they offer an adapter so you can power legacy tools with newer lithium batteries but to do that necessitates buying into yet another platform which seems counterproductive.

 

As far as Ryobi is concerned, I like them just fine. Growing up they were my backup option any time Dewalt’s premium prices didn’t feel sensibleand I’ve never had a Ryobi let me down. The price makes them crazy accessible to cover those pesky “in-between” tasks. Plus especially now they have so many atypical products that are so useful. I kinda wouldn’t mind if they moved just a hair upscale, and maybe their recent move to brushless products and larger batteries signals they may be doing just that.

What kind of speaker is that in your post? Looks pretty good

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jpgwoodworking i mostly do mechanic work but am lot limited to it. I do every now and then have the need for carpentry tools to add on to the shop or help my dad with rental houses. Not high demand for woodworking. But i do like the idea of having a platform where i can expand into different areas of speciality if needed. I also am leaning towards something brushless simply for the safety aspect of working around gas.

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5 hours ago, Tool nut said:

Is there any difference between the blue and white makita tools?

Depends on what we’re talking about. In the States Makita lately has mostly only been using white on their older (and possibly outgoing) 12V line. A lot of the designs they use in that line they just copied and made blue for their initial 12V CXT models. Although both use 12 volts batteries they can’t be interchanged with each other, and LXT batteries can’t be used on them either.

 

They might look cute but I think the white 12V in your case is counterproductive as that’s effectively just like adding another battery platform. Also they’re very “light duty” in design and are unlikely to get many more products if any down the road.

 

More recently I notice they may be trying to do use white for some of their older, “budget” LXT models. Not something I specifically gravitate toward but hey if you like it more than the standard teal...

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