Which tool brands are the best?

[CBW]

I've spent a fortune on Snap-on tools because they are a pleasure to use and I use them everyday.

Surely cheaper stuff would get the job done but how long will it last, some of my kit is 25 years old now.

You use yours everyday, which is a worthwhile investment. If you don’t use cheaper stuff everyday, then it could last, probably not 25 years, but you see my point. I have loads of Lidl Parkside stuff, because I might use some once a month, others I might use twice a week. It’s cheap enough and build, quality seems good enough for what I want it for.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I didn't know you could get power tools refurbished? Who did the refurbishment work? It's nice to know that some things can be refurbished and not everything is designed to be "thrown away"...

I rebuilt it myself. New body shell, labels, bearings, chuck and anvil plus springs and some steel balls. The motor and electronics were still ⁷good, and even the bearings were still OK, it was just that I didn't want them to potentially failing the future

Sort of illustrates my point about spares back up from the big boys

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Most of that is down to features, not brands being better. Speed, impact joules, weight, ergonomics etc all differ per model and are not indications of a poor brand just different specifications.

Really? Trade brands use better quality, more durable plastics in the bodies (generally with about 30% glass fibre filler for strength and impact resistance and have far better designed mouldings with extra buttressing. Trade brands tend to have better designed, more durable electronics as well as many more metal components such as gearboxes and gear teeth than DIY models which have, on paper, similar specifications. That's reflected in the price. I'd recommend you take a look at a few of AvE's tool teardown videos on YouTube which are most enlightening about this area of DIY vs. trade tools.

Surely DIY tools are aimed at a market where lifespan is expected to be in no more than tens of hours whereas trade tools are designed with a lifespan of 1000+ hours, where accuracy is expected to be better and spares backup is supposed to be a given (something Milwaukee need to take onboard)?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

An example of lovely old tools are the old Record and Stanley hand wood working tools. I believe some of those planes and chisels can last almost 100 years

Some of my planes are over 100 years old with Stanley introducing the Bailey-pattern bench plane in 1869, or 151 years ago, but they are hand tools with few moving parts and they still have their uses are useable. 100 year old power tools, though? I do have a Stanley electric router bought new in the UK in 1931 (so a youngster at a mere 89 years of age) and it is in full working order, however it can't pull the skin off a rice pudding......

 

[Keithmac]

Youtube member AvE is well worth a search if you're after a particular tool.

He seems very knowledgeable and takes them to bits, points out failure points etc.

Definitely a bit sweary though so be warned!.

 

[Keithmac]

You use yours everyday, which is a worthwhile investment. If you don’t use cheaper stuff everyday, then it could last, probably not 25 years, but you see my point. I have loads of Lidl Parkside stuff, because I might use some once a month, others I might use twice a week. It’s cheap enough and build, quality seems good enough for what I want it for.

Yeh I have a Parkside Lithium Oscillating Multi tool and used one of their drills for number plates etc. Both do the job.

My comment was more aimed at you "normally" get a better quality tool the more you pay for it, nothing wrong with the cheaper stuff for occasional use at all.

Saying that I've used other people cheap vise grip copies and they are useless imho, worth paying for a set of Irwin's there.

 

[^woody^]

Really? Trade brands use better quality, more durable plastics in the bodies (generally with about 30% glass fibre filler for strength and impact resistance and have far better designed mouldings with extra buttressing. Trade brands tend to have better designed, more durable electronics as well as many more metal components such as gearboxes and gear teeth than DIY models which have, on paper, similar specifications. That's reflected in the price. I'd recommend you take a look at a few of AvE's tool teardown videos on YouTube which are most enlightening about this area of DIY vs. trade tools.

Surely DIY tools are aimed at a market where lifespan is expected to be in no more than tens of hours whereas trade tools are designed with a lifespan of 1000+ hours, where accuracy is expected to be better and spares backup is supposed to be a given (something Milwaukee need to take onboard)?

If you look at Bosch, their green tools are not going to fail after a few hours and their blue tools go on for ever. They share design, development and components and its only in some areas where components may be better specified, but that it not to say that a careful user of a green tool wont get as much use out of it as if he used a blue tool.

We probably all know instances of trade tools being burnt out or broken as well as DIY tools, and I would suggest that the biggest factor on lifespan is the user and the use, and not the tool.

You may well buy branded trade tools for perceived reliability but its all relative. Why shouldn't a similar branded DIY tool last a DIYer just as long?
So is it worth a DIYer paying 3x the price for a branded tool that offers no guarantee that it will last any longer than a DIY tool? Bosch Blue only give a three year warranty the same as Lidl and Aldi do.

So my view is that its features that should be the factor and Brand should not be a factor at all - unless buying into a particular system for a particular purpose.