Der_Dachs

Ive always been a fan of Weed B Gone. Ive always found that it works well and works fast. You just have to be careful with it because it will kill every plant that it touches.

I wouldnt. Electric motors and water dont mix.

Brushless is more efficient, so you will get more power and longer run time. They claim the motor itself will last longer too. IMO, brushless is a little overrated but if you want the best, most powerful tool; you cant go wrong with brushless. I own brushed and brushless tools and they both do the job they were built to do.

I picked up a Dremel 200 at HD. One of my coworkers bought my Milwaukee M12 rotary tool basically for what I paid for it, so I pulled the trigger on the Dremel. I dont use a Dremel all the time but it is a handy tool to have around, so I went with a corded one. After I did the break in procedure, I did some light sanding and some tool sharpening with it and its a keeper.

Im impressed with the ones I have so far. Last weekend, I took a wall out of my basement and I used the jigsaw to break down some of the studs and drywall so that they would fit in the trash can. That jigsaw tore through that stuff and cut it down to size in no time. The blower on that saw is no joke either. It blew all the saw dust into next week, although I dont think that my Ryobi mower much appreciated being covered in sawdust. Same with my Bosch trim router. I made some barstools and used the router to trim the plywood for the seat flush with the sides. I put a Diablo flash trim bit in it and that thing went through it like a buzzsaw. It even covered the front of my shirt completely in sawdust. LOL Im happy thus far. Now Im looking at picking up a Bosch 3/8" corded drill/driver. I dont know that I really need one but for the money, its almost hard to pass up and you cant go wrong with a good corded drill, especially for drilling holes in wood with a spade bit.

Bosch 5" random orbit sander.

So, Ive been a big Ryobi tool user for a few years now but Im looking to step up to something a little bit better. I returned my cordless Ryobi circular saw because the shoe was crooked and returned my Ryobi router because it just felt kind of cheap. So, I look at what HD has in stock and I see Bosch. So, I pick up a Bosch CS10 7 1/4" corded circular saw, a Bosch 1 1/4 hp router and a Bosch 1/4 sheet sander. Thus far, theyre awesome. I used the circulaw saw to cut some plywood for some shelves yesterday and it cuts like a dream. Today, I used the router to trim the edge flush on a table I made for my miter saw and it worked great. By no means am I an expect with routers but its so easy to set up and use. I also used the sheet sander to do final sanding on the legs and table top of that router table and it was like butter when I got done with the 220 grit and the dust collection system is so good that I almost didnt think it worked very well at first, until I went to empty the dust box and found it was about half full. So, that leads me to ask, how are Bosch tools overall? I see that they make pretty much a full line and their drill/drivers and impacts look to be pretty nice. Im pretty deep in the Ryobi One+ battery line right now but Im thinking in 5 years or so, when Im looking at replacing batteries, I may go Bosch. Thoughts?

Id go vacuum too. Those Hackzalls are kind of useless, especially if you have a fullsize Sawzall. IMO, those little Hackzalls were made for plumbers and electricians who are cutting through PVC, copper or conduit when you need something more compact to get into a confinded space. A lot of people seem to want to use them as a replacement for a Sawzall and theyre not made for that and Milwaukee even tells you that its not a replacement for a Sawzall.

What about the Milwaukee M18 2-gallon vac or the packout vac? Ive got something similar but in Ryobi and its awesome. I just wish the hose were longer.

I picked up my M12 Fuel hammer drill back in November for $99 and it came with a charger and a 3ah battery. At the time, I had just moved into a brick house and needed a hammer drill and I jumped on it. Its a great little drill and as long as youre patient with it, the drill will do whatever you want. Its just not going to drill or drive screws like an 18v will.

That stinks. Thats one thing that Ive always loved about Ryobi though: any battery from the last 20 years will work with any tool, no matter if its a blue Ryobi or a lime green one. Batteries are expensive and it stinks when a company decides to phase out an old battery system and youre forced to invest in a whole new system.

That certainly is one con of Ryobi's battery platform but thats really the only knock against Ryobi and the fact that you can have a couple batteries and be able to have an array of tools that runs on those batteries is a huge plus. Not to mention the fact that Ryobi's batteries are much more affordable than Milwaukee or DeWalt batteries are. There was a time when I wished that Ryobi have a 12 volt platform but now that Ive used comparable M12 and One+ 18v tools, the 12v stuff is kind of silly unless you need a lighter, smaller tool. I used to have a Milwakee M12 jigsaw and recently replaced it with a Ryobi One brushed jigsaw and theres no comparison between the perfomance of the 2. The Ryobi blows its doors off, even with the orbital function turned off. Turn the orbital up to 3 and its like comparing a Bugatti to a Prius. Same with drills. My Ryobi One+ impact driver blows away my Milwaukee M12 hammer drill and thats even before the hammer function on the Ryobi kicks in. If I were a trim installer or did electrical and didnt need the power of an 18v, I could see the M12 but for anything else you have to use it hard just to do what you want to do. Just today I used my M12 hammer drill to drill pocket holes and it will do it but its not happy and it works hard to do it. For me, someone who is a DIYer, handyman and weekend woodworker; Ryobi gear is perfect because its simple and affordable. I love Milwaukee but I find many of their gear to be overpriced and unless you are a pro, Im not sure its worth the extra money. Hey, to each their own though.

It might be mistake to look at Ryobi as only a DIYer/homeowner tool. They really arent anymore and especially the newer brushless stuff can compete with anything from DeWalt or Milwaukee. Nowdays, Ryobi really is a prosumer and borders on being a pro level tool, especially the brushless stuff. I own DeWalt tools, Milwaukee tools and Ryobi tools and theres really no compromise in quality or performance with the Ryobi stuff and I intend to phase out my DeWalt and Milwaukee gear in the future so that I can be on 1 battery system.

Ive got the M12 Fuel hammer drill and its pretty awesome. You could also look at the M12 Fuel impact driver. I work in an auto plant where I shoot little screws all day long and I use an M12 impact driver all day long and theyre awesome. Most of the guns we have are the brushed version which is very good and powerful but one of our guns is an M12 Fuel and the Fuel is amazing. It has so much power and the battery lasts forever, even with just the 2ah battery.

Ive got the M12 Fuel circular saw and its pretty awesome for cutting 2x material. Really the only limitation is the smaller blade that limits you if you want to cut angles in 2x material. Ive also got the M12 Fuel hammer drill and its pretty awesome too. Ive used it for drilling into brick and its a bit slow but it does the job. I use it mostly for drilling and driving screws into wood and it works great for that. I kind of wish they made an M12 Fuel jig saw but they dont. Now that Im getting into the M18 line with the trimmer and the blower, I may look into transitioning more into M18 stuff but I really do like the M12 line because its so light, handy and easy to use. Not to mention its a bit less expensive than the M18 tools are, which is never a bad thing when youre talking Milwaukee. LOL I dont even want to know what Ive spent on tools over the last 4 months since we bought our house.