jeffmcmillan

To put it nicely, Dewalt is taking their time with high power brushless tools. It's a bit of a tossup between Milwaukee and Makita for most powerful drill, but they both leave Dewalt in the dust.

For most companies you have four powers of small grinders, cordless, one around 7 amps, one about 10 amps, and one around 13 amps. For each of those powers you typically have slide switch, paddle switch without lock, and paddle switch with lock. On top of that, most grinders will have an older and newer model which brings us up to about 24 models. Once you add on things like SJS, vibration reduction, variable speed, braking, quick change, and tuckpointing guards that can easily push it up to the numbers you found. Instead of trying to look through every grinder, think about each decision individually. Pick a disc size, power, and switch type, to narrow down the options, or just tell us what you plan to use a grinder for and we can recommend a couple in your price range.

I have seen an sds needle scaler attachment you can use in a cordless rotary hammer although it was unclear how effective it was. As for the magnetic light base, you can easily screw a couple magnets to the bottom. Quite a few guys around here have screwed magnets to tools with some pretty interesting results.

Remember to charge the batteries first so there's more energy to release. Discharged batteries just smoke and smell terrible.

Looks to be about 18" long so same size as the ancient model.

In light of the drill test tia did, that probably wouldnt help. Luckily I'm in need of a couple new batteries.

If you're ok with a friction ring instead of a ball detente, you can always take a grinder and file to a 1/2 impact. You could even replace the ball detente if you wanted but that would be a bit more difficult.

I don't want to sound like an ass, but if you can't teardown a recip saw easily, you probably want to look at tools that either last longer or have a better warranty. Plus, the difficulty of fixing tools is more dependent on the type of tool than brand, so there isn't really a reason to find tools that are more serviceable.

I cant seem to find any pictures of these. Care to post them?

Something like this? I'm not sure how the magnets are done in hollow bits, but if it's a solid bit you can order a neodymium magnet of the appropriate size on amazon. If you have larger magnets you can cut off a piece of one. I have no idea where they keep coming from, but I have a ton of these magnets on hand because they tend to be useful. If you don't have magnets on hand, it might be cheaper to buy a new bit. Also be sure to thoroughly clean the magnet before gluing because the metal filings stuck to it will keep it form sticking in the glue.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_wrench#Effects_of_impact_drive I agree it's a useless measure of torque, but it allows manufacturers to inflate their specs by around 30%. Of course the impact energy is also a significant value and I've never seen that specified by a manufacturer for an impact wrench or driver.

Makita seems to have come around quicker than we expected. http://professional-power-tool-guide.com/power-tool-forum/index.php?/topic/7757-makita-brushless-torque-wrench-1050-newton/#entry85255

"Nut busting" torque is usually measured as what you can torque a bolt to and still break it free with the tool. The tightening torque of this impact is the same as the Milwaukee and Dewalt equivalents. If it's anything like their impact drivers though I'm hoping it has more energy behind the impacts for driving lags and auger bits.

Same here. It's been so long they better blow us away when it finally arrives.

I believe the only difference between Dewalt and OIS is the slot so it fits around the connecting post. This means adapters won't work but you should be able to cut a slot in the back of any OIS blade and use it with the Dewalt.

Thanks. It's a shame though that's not quite long enough for a sawzall. At $20 a case I would love to have interlocking cases for all my tools, but I guess it's too good to be true.

What are the internal dimensions? I'm trying to figure out how much I can fit in one of those. Milwaukee really needs to get this together. Swap the try inserts with a block of foam and suddenly they have a stackable tool case half the price of most others.

Trying to stick with one brand when you have half a dozen tools and as many batteries makes sense. With a dozen batteries and probably as many tools though, an extra charger and one or two batteries are worth opening up another line of tools. You will be disappointed if you switch everything to Makita, just as you would be switching the other direction.

Glad you're ok. Good thing you weren't one of those morons who runs bonded abrasives without a proper guard. You may want to check the clamp because it looks like you're cutting at an angle and if the clamp is mucked up the workpiece can slip and bind the blade when you're cutting at an angle. I've never seen a large blade shatter like that. Can't even imagine how terrifying that would be. Thankfully most places are replacing chop saws with the ones using carbide blades since the cut speed and finish is so much better.

A slower electrical system to stop the saw would be much nicer so for wet wood and such you can just pull a lever and go back to cutting. I dont care if the saw disappears in a quarter turn or just stops in one. A slightly larger nick in your finger is cheaper to fix than replacing the cartridge particularly if you get more false alarms cause you dont run your hand through your table saw much.

I love matching tool sets too, but when I'm extremely limited by how much I can carry so most of what I carry needs to have extra functionality or work for things outside its intended design. My preferred screwdriver is none. I have one precision and one regular socket screwdriver that are used only when I can't bring a drill or impact. Last time I needed a regular screwdriver for some recessed security torx I finally cut off the handle and stuck the remaining shaft of the screwdriver in my drill. I think this is a particularly good idea in your case because arm fatigue is a problem regardless of screwdriver handle. A 12V drill or impact won't take up much space and you get a huge boost in speed and functionality. If that isn't an option you can try a spiral ratcheting screwdriver where you push in on the handle and the spiral ratchet spins the bit. They're bulky but help with arm fatigue immensely.

With the price of some premium tools, budget can quickly become an issue if you don't pay attention, and even if tools don't break you may decide you want something different. I wouldn't go exclusively with knipex and klein because often you'll get the same quality and sometimes different features with other brands. Of course there are some tools like the pliers wrench and cobras that are either not available or lower quality from other brands. In particular the teeth on their pliers are very good. Insulated tools don't matter at all...until you work on a live circuit. Then suddenly they are not optional. For wire strippers I would suggest these, and you may want to swap out the channel locks with push button locks (the knipex cobras and pliers wrench make a great combination). For a razor knife, the milwaukee fastback is a great option. Milwaukee also makes some good tin snips, but make sure whatever you buy has a forged, not cast head (Wiss switched from forged to cast recently which tricks many people). I'm curious why thy only specify straight instead of a full set. Milwaukee's nut setters are also great because the entire handle is hollow so it slides up threaded rod. I prefer 8" diagonal cutters with some sort of compound action, particularly the Irwin powerslot cutters since the head is more secure than most compound cutters.

A brushless recip saw is long overdue. I recall bishop saw one at world of concrete, but there's nothing else concrete about it. I'm surprised they haven't started putting out specialty brushless tools since the cutout tool, die grinder, nibbler, shear, biscuit joiner, etc. use the angle grinder body with a special head, and the new brushless grinder looks like fundamentally the same head.

I'd be really interested to see the list, and like Dwain said it all depends on the tool.

Smaller wheels are perfectly safe since they'll be rated for a higher RPM, but it generally won't be as effective. Are you planning to get dust shrouds cutting and grinding masonry? I would care more about those than the specific grinder used since grinding masonry is so messy.