Tools I need

[GrahamLinton]

 

[GrahamLinton]

..

 

[GrahamLinton]

I have the standard blade that came with the evolution and was under the impression it could not be changed other than for another evolution blade, I will have to look into the Freud blades.

Thanks for the Toolstation tip. I have some Wera drill bits actually, they're very good. It is mainly odd jobs here and there, family, friends, my local minister has asked me to do some flooring in the children's Sunday school area. Just little jobs here and there, nothing major. I wanted to also treat myself to some decent tools after years of treatment, just need to work at it gradually to gain strength back.

I used to be a kitchen fitter when I was 18, many moons ago, it was all corded them. The Milwaukee is great but I wanted a corded one just for using with metal work. I found the batteries run flat so wanted an normal drill to use with a wire brush etc. The Milwaukee isn't past it, no. It is nearly new but for the job I was doing with 2 batteries it wasn't enough so made me think about a corded percussion drill. I love their stuff but as you say the cost is inhibitive for tools I may seldom use.

 

[ETAF]

WOW - those look brand new
Going again my son-in-law has a lot of the Milwaukee bits and drills
BUT we also rate the BOSCH MULTIPURPOSE DRILL BIT, i have used to put up shelfs, and various jobs outside lights etc , But we also used to put 10x 2 gang sockets on garage wall and so far neither have needed hammer action, BUT the dewalt drills do

i have used my Dewalt Impact Driver & Drill making and putting up a gate - using 2x 3Ah batteries, lasted all day , also we put up my son-in-laws 8'x10'; shed using hes dewalt 4Ah batts and lasted all the job.
So i think you are good to go with that drill - and maybe a cheaper corded one as a backup just in case all the batteries run out , but you could buy a couple of spare batteries
https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product...826-18V-4.0Ah-M18-Red-Lithium-Ion-Battery-2Pk
You can charge over night or even have one set on charge at customer site, which most of our guys did, even asked to leave on overnight when leaving other tools onsite
OR perhaps look for a another tool with batts included - Like a multitool
https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product...mbi-Multi-Tool-Twin-Pack-18V-2-X-4.0Ah-Li-Ion
JUST CHECK THE BATTERIES ARE THE SAME

The dewalt cordless angle grinder i purchased just recently , 5Ah battery was flat after cutting through 8 10mm bolts with a 1mm disc , so not impressed, my son-in-law wanted to grind some concrete high spots in garage and only lasted 10-15mins - But i have a corded bosch so fall back to that, but fell i wasted £145 on the grinder

I also use a SDS dewalt corded , as i wanted the J to be higher , mine is just under 3J and i noted the cordless are much lower, and talking to the sparks & Windows guys using for cutting walls , both found the cheaper SDS cordless not great and both upgraded to a very high price model

I dont think Freud made a size to fit, BUT i'm trying to remember what my son-in-law purchased , i think a 60 or 80 tooth blade from another supplier is it 255 mm dia - I think it was a Saxton TCT https://www.amazon.co.uk/Saxton-Cir...EFXVQTC6WB4&psc=1&refRID=BCNAGDDY6EFXVQTC6WB4

We both now also now have a pair toughbuilt sawhorse stands C700 - brilliant kit, used all the time, and can put a 8x4 sheet on the side and cut with circular saw - you may want to look at those, we both got a pair when on offer , just around £100 https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product...se-Adjustable-Jobsite-Trestle-Table-Twin-Pack
I also purchased the toughbuilt pouches & Belt/braces , got on a really special deals at one of the tool shows
Have used putting up a fence and bolting posts to a wall , installing outside lights, and various other jobs , would not be without those now.

You may want to consider a multi-tool again cordless i would recommend - maybe get the extra batteries for the Drill/Driver you have this way along with a tool
CHECK BATTS MATCH
OR as you mentioned earlier also looking at Circular saw with 2 5Ah Batts, Planer with 2 4Ah batts, jigsaw
https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Milwaukee-M18Bp-402C-4002395137398-18V-2X4.0Ah-M18-Li-Ion-Planer
https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product...295-18V-2X5Ah-Li-Ion-150Mm-M18-Fuel-Metal-Saw
https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product...-2-X-5Ah-Li-Ion-M18-Fuel-Body-Grip-Jigsaw-Kit
NOT Sure Batts are the same as yours and need to be for flexibity


This went on a lot longer , sorry about that. and i'm not a PRO , but have done a lot of work with friends and family, Fitted a few Kitchens, rewired houses, in the 90s 18th Edition, a couple of bathrooms, re laid floors, decking, made built in wardrobes, windows seats in a few houses & flats now for myself and friends, made a few sheds, about 5 different garden gates , installed laminate flooring 3 times and returned back which a few PRO floor layers have said they would not have attempted , fitted out garages , benches shelving cupboards etc, so i do consider i have done a lot of diy BUT i don't use tools all day everyday for a trade

Corded drill, do you still plan to buy as a main tool now and looking for suggestions, the thread has got a lot longer, with a lot of noise

 

[GrahamLinton]

Thanks eta, I will look at your suggestions. Yes, still looking at all the reviews posted earlier so I can get an idea of what would suit me best. The Milwaulkee is a few months old now, I tend to clean them when I have used them. Thanks for the post, you've given me a lot to go on. I very much appreciate it.

 

[delmel]

Makita are one of the worlds leading battery tech developers and my understanding is they supply many cell units to others or certainly used to. But as I understood they keep the best for themselves, doesn't mean they have the best tools or best value for money though.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

The dewalt cordless angle grinder i purchased just recently , 5Ah battery was flat after cutting through 8 10mm bolts with a 1mm disc , so not impressed, my son-in-law wanted to grind some concrete high spots in garage and only lasted 10-15mins - But i have a corded bosch so fall back to that, but fell i wasted £145 on the grinder-

Unfortunately, I think that you have fundamentally misunderstood the task suitability of cordless tools - they are designed for short period, intermittent, relatively low power requirement use, e.g. drilling masonry, drilling wood, sawing smaller section stuff, planing-in doors (up to about 2 or 3mm), etc This is certainly NOT what you were doing. I use a cordless grinder regularly, but TBH it often gets used for minor trimming back tasks (such as pinging off soffit nail heads, cutting single threaded rods, etc) and for the odd bit of rakng out of mortar. I don't expect it to run for hours, even on 5Ah batteries

I also use a SDS dewalt corded , as i wanted the J to be higher , mine is just under 3J and i noted the cordless are much lower,,

Yes, single battery 18 volt SDS drills are generally in the order of 1 to 1.2J. However, this is good enough for 90% of the work most tradesmen will undertake in terms of drilling, given that people are mainly drilling into soft to medium brick, blockwork and lower strength concrete and that the majority of holes for plugs and the like (the most commonly installed fixing) will be 5.5 to 8mm (for red and brown plugs). For that a single battery 18 volt cordless will work well. Go up to, say, 14mm holes for resin anchors and start drilling into heavier stuff like blue brick and your cordless will be slower than a high powered corded drill and it will use more batteries, but it will still work. It will also do some light chiselling, but for the heavier stuff you are better off with a purpose made breaker - even if it's a case of hiring for the weekend. Given that you aren't normally drilling dozens of larger holes at a time or into extremely hard materials, a decent battery charger and a couple of 5Ah batteries should be enough to keep most folk going without interruption (other than to swap batteries) during the day. This is the sort of task I perform regularly with a cordless Makita SDS (this week, for example, I installed 20 resin anchored retaining straps each on three 12mm bolts - so 60 14mm diameter x 120mm deep holes - into hard red brick with a cordless SDS in the course if a day, all without the need to lay a 300ft cable to the nearest power source). In fact I gave up carrying round a corded 2kg SDS nearly 5 years ago simply because a "gutless" 18 volt brushless SDS could do the vast majority of the corded tool's work without the additional hassle of dragging cables to and fro or setting up a genny

..talking to the sparks & Windows guys using for cutting walls , both found the cheaper SDS cordless not great and both upgraded to a very high price model

And we are talking inappropriate tool (cordless SDS) for the task, yet again. A cordless SDS drill is fundamentally a drill and not a breaker. If you need to go hacking out great lumps of concrete or masonry even a corded 2kg SDS isn't going to be ideal for the task as it hasn't really got the power. If you need cordless to do this then the only way is to go 36 to 54 volt and have loads of spare batteries to get the duration. Even this technology is relatively recent, having only been available for 3 or so years

In terms of the Evolution, it is possible to get a 25.4mm ID to 30mm OD blade washer to allow the use of blades from other suppliers. I think that the choice if an odd sized arbor was deliberately made to lock in users to using their own blades. Freud blades are goo, but no better than Bosch, which are generally cheaper- odd when you consider that they are both Bosch brands. For general use, though, Saxton and Dart are good quality blades at a low price and are difficult to beat

I'm glad you've had success with the Toughbuilt saw stands. Mine disintegrated and needed to be rebuilt within 2 years of regular trade use. Rebuilt with replacement nuts, bolts and washers they lasted another year before I skipped them. If you are regularly taking them down, transporting them in a van and putting them up again they tend to shed a myriad of nuts, screws, washers, spring washers, etc. as well as getting really rickety. I got fed up with spending time every week repairing them (a bit like having an old British bike, but without the pleasure of riding it) and i gave up 4 years back, buying a pair of (so far) trouble free deWalt folding stands - pricey but uber reliable, probably because they have far fewer moving parts. Stronger and more rigid too

 

[ETAF]

thanks for taking the time to clarify those points

 

[lostinthelight]

i gave up 4 years back, buying a pair of (so far) trouble free deWalt folding stands - pricey but uber reliable, probably because they have far fewer moving parts. Stronger and more rigid too

Do you have the model or a link to these please I’m looking for a decent pair.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

deWalt DE7035. When I bought mine they cost me around £135 for the pair, but it was a while back

 

[lostinthelight]

Thanks for the info,they have increased in price by around 60 quid since your purchase. Are the legs adjustable to allow for sloping ground.?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

No. Designed for flat-ish floors