Kato

Buy Ryobi and be done with it. You'll find that it's a very capable brand, it's cheap, and it's anywhere a Home Depot is. They have every tool you could need or want, and you won't have to worry about different batteries for different tools. If someone steals them you're not out a ton of money. Buy a few kits so you get tools, batteries, and chargers, then pick up a few sets of the 4Ah batteries.

I actually use several of these every day, multiple times a day. They come in super-handy and hold all of the bits I need for the day. A little more bulky than the standard Klein-type, but very, very useful. I use them for electrical all the time, never have any issues and the bits work great. The only difference in the stock one and mine is that I replaced a lot of the bits with the same size in a security-style bit for those applications.

I haven't had that problem yet...

Ryobi has 18v sanders, corner cat, ROS, and quarter-sheet...just sayin'

Is this a Sunex set? Looks exactly like the sets we sell, I’ve got one on my tool cart like this in metric.

You can destroy a camera sensor by aiming a laser at it...just an FYI...

Was doodling while watching tv, decided to turn the doodle into a reality. Not finished yet, gotta smooth it out and paint it...

if you guys are looking for this kit someone on GJ posted that it's marked to $299 now...just an FYI

Went and put the sign up today...

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...

Ryobi...tee hee hee...he said Ryobi...

Thanks. Of course I would prefer the fancier version, but my daughter likes the final one so I'm happy with that.

Making a new sign for my daughter, the first one kinda took a turn for the worse when I tried to router the letters. I wanted to do it freehand and do a calligraphic style of lettering, but the router bit had other ideas. Funny how the grain of the wood grabs the bit sometimes, regardless of how hard you hold the router. Dang thing kept skipping off the lines I drew, tried to fix it but it was a no-go. It's okay though, a little bit of practice and I'll be able to do a lot better. This time I opted for an easier approach...clamp a piece of flat bar to the wood and run the router base against it. Waiting for the first step of NeverWet to dry, then the 2nd step goes on and done...

Someone posted this on Garage Journal, thought I'd post it here for anyone interested. When you checkout, use the code "freemix" and it comes to a whopping $10. All you're doing is paying shipping, the discs are free. I ordered a set, might order more if the code holds out... Benchmark Abrasives

Making a sign for my daughter, it'll have her horses name on it and it'll get hung on the horses stall at the barn. Used the Ryobi trim router to do the edges, nice router for sure. Haven't decided on whether I'll use the router for the name or if I'll engrave it in with the Dremel...

I went from a 6 plus to an 8 plus, and the real joy for me is the larger storage capacity. I kept running into issues with the 6 plus and finally realized it was a loss of capacity. I kept having to remove photos just so I could take more photos. It was a pain in the neck. This phone being 256Gb is a joy, no more worrying about running out of space.

I want a ceiling-mount unit, but I'll have to clear some stuff out whenever I figure out where it's going. Doing the work is the easy part, I've been in industrial maintenance over 30 years, doing stuff like this is easy. However, getting the cash to get the ball rolling is a different story altogether. As far as actual heat, I could deal with mid-range degrees in the garage, 40°, 50° would be good enough. Cold though, if it's below 40° I'm a little pussy, can't stand being cold at all.

I don't care about the electric bill, if it goes up it goes up. It goes up like crazy during the summer when we're running the pool pump...on the pool I never wanted. Small price to pay to be able to work in the garage without freezing my balls off...which would probably cost more to fix than paying the electric bill. As for the type of heater, I don't care. I need to upgrade to 200-amp service before I even think of anything 240v, I'm already doubled-up on a few breakers. I was thinking of a propane heater but who the hell knows, I haven't got a clue what I want to do yet.

I can afford to upgrade to 200-amp service and install a heater much easier than moving to Florida. The two heaters didn't do shit, it's way, way too cold outside. Oh well, I spent about 10 minutes with the router running it around a piece of wood...it's a nice router. But, then I gave up, it's too cold out there. I'm gonna sit inside the warm house, browsing around for lettering guides for the router.

Winter sucks, I hate cold weather, never liked it. Not even when I was a kid did I ever like the cold. Of course as a kid I played in the snow, and enjoyed a good snowball fight or igloo fortress, but cold weather has never been my friend. It's fucking (pardon my language but it's not just "regular" cold out, it's "fucking" cold out) cold outside, as Illinois always is during winter months, and that means my non-heated garage is off-limits. I typically can warm it up to a tolerable level with a space heater, right now I have two running in there with the hopes of spending at least 30 seconds with some new tools. I'm curious to know how everyone gets by in the wintertime, and how you all heat your garage. Hopefully we can update the house to 200-amp service, which means I'll add heat to the garage. However, right now I'm pissed as a rattler in a box that I can't be in the garage. What's the lowdown on tips or tricks on keeping the garage warm, what's a good heat source, etc.. Hit me with the knowledge my TIA peeps...

That's good to know, thought maybe it was a characteristic of the brushless motor but wasn't sure.

I was just out in the garage with the angle grinder and a cutoff wheel, tried as I could to make it quit, bog down, etc., it didn't make a peep. It cut through with no problem. New 4Ah battery, somewhat new cutoff wheel...angle grinder buzzed through with no issues. I'm curious about a characteristic of mine, since it's my first brushless tool I haven't got a clue about this...is it supposed to kinda "ratchet" when you spin the wheel by hand?

AWESOME!!! Glad to hear you are doing well...I had a hell of a time trying to think up how we were gonna whack up your tools between us all...

That certainly is concerning. I saw the Workshop Addict video, wasn't too worried about their review of the angle grinder. After seeing your post I went out into the garage and tried to bog the grinder down, didn't seem to be an issue. I put some force into grinding an old lawnmower blade, all the grinder did was throw sparks and eat metal. Gonna throw a cutoff disc on it and see how well it cuts. So far it's been a good tool for me but I've only done some random quick stuff with it. I'll have to really go nuts with it and see what happens. Not too concerned, it's under warranty. I really want it to be a good tool though and don't want to hassle around with returning it if it turns out to be a dud

Hmmm, mine came with the type that uses the wrench. Guess I'll have to inquire with Ryobi as to what the deal is with the tool-less version...