Yet another cordless power tool question

[big-all]

remember ITS are plus vat so look cheaper

 

[Stringman_uk]

Thanks for the heads up, God there are so many choices

 

[big-all]

ones i use
ffx https://www.ffx.co.uk/Product/Get/Dewalt-Dcb182-5035048392782-Xr-18V-Li-Ion-Battery-Pack-4Ah
powertoolsuk
tooledup https://www.tooled-up.com/?referrer=msntooled-up
tools4trade https://tools4trade.co.uk/
toolstop https://www.toolstop.co.uk/?gclid=CPv5yNXyvb8CFQPnwgodMU4Aqg
and ryobi tools uk https://www.direct-powertools.co.uk/PBUserLogin.asp?CCode=33
and quite a few more

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Lidl's Parkside 20v range are also worth looking at.

 

[johnny2007]

A couple of years ago I was buying a new cordless drill driver and naturally went for a makita as I have other tools of this brand.
Chuck was off centre and wobbling like mad.
I didn't expect that from their top of the range.
I returned it to screwfix, opened another one and it was the same.
Screwfix was very good at letting me test them in store.
I also tested a Dewalt, wobbly chuck although less than Makita.
Milwaukee was centered but I didn't like the feel of it, so eventually I settled for a Bosch professional (blue version).
I later bought 2 extra batteries, a 2amp and a 5amp, so along with the supplied 3amp I can decide on having an "easy on the wrist" battery for light work, a medium or a hard worker all day long 5amp.
All for less than £300.
My 2 pennies.

 

[Stringman_uk]

Thanks for all the replies.
I am leaning towards the Dewalt system as they have loads of optional tools ( I know that makita do as well)
Thinking of the DCD 796 drill or the DCD 996 drill- not really sure that the 996 is worth the extra money though for what i need?
Then the DCS 931 circular saw or the DCS 570 which is brushless, but not sure for what I need it s worth the money?
and as an optional extra the DCF 887 impact driver. I will probably pair this with a couple of 4.0ah or maybe 5.0ah batteries
Sadly most of these are cheapest on Amazon
I havent got around to doing an exact match on the Makita stuff yet but the drill I looked at by price seemed to have a lower spec.

It looks like I will be buying various bits from various places, any idea on the best place for batteries?
TIA

 

[big-all]

dewalt batteries tend to be £11 or 12 per amp as in 44-48 for a 4ah and 55-60 for a 5ah very occasionally you will get them for around £10 an amp
the 796[420w] is half the power off a 996[830w]

 

[sxturbo]

In regards to battery life, I have a hikoki 18v brushless circ saw with the 5ah battery my and my dad was using it solidly for a whole day building a pergoda lean to on the back of my house.

We were using it to slot 2" sections and then knocking them out with a chisel so we could interlock the various beams, it had a hard day's graft.

The next day it cut 8 sheets of 4 meter length plastic, before having to be put on charge.

My dad was very impressed with it. Cordless tools have come a very long way from the old days, my dad was telling me about his best mate (rip) who had a cordless Bosch circ say about 7 year ago and it struggled to cut through hard board.

12v is good for light work. But 18v is better for the heavier stuff like grinders. A lot of companies are now doing 36/40v tools, but making the batteries backwards compatible so people don't have to restart their collection. These higher powered tools are said to be at least as powerful as corded tools with plenty of run time.

 

[sxturbo]

A couple of years ago I was buying a new cordless drill driver and naturally went for a makita as I have other tools of this brand.
Chuck was off centre and wobbling like mad.
I didn't expect that from their top of the range.
I returned it to screwfix, opened another one and it was the same.
Screwfix was very good at letting me test them in store.
I also tested a Dewalt, wobbly chuck although less than Makita.
Milwaukee was centered but I didn't like the feel of it, so eventually I settled for a Bosch professional (blue version).
I later bought 2 extra batteries, a 2amp and a 5amp, so along with the supplied 3amp I can decide on having an "easy on the wrist" battery for light work, a medium or a hard worker all day long 5amp.
All for less than £300.
My 2 pennies.

thats why i prefer hitachi/hikoki, the quality of the components is very good.

 

[blup]

Thinking of the DCD 796 drill or the DCD 996 drill- not really sure that the 996 is worth the extra money though for what i need?
Then the DCS 931 circular saw or the DCS 570 which is brushless, but not sure for what I need it s worth the money?

I have the dcd796, very powerful but more importantly compact and lightweight, and at a good price atm. The dcd996 is more powerful but has a weight penalty.

Blup

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I havent got around to doing an exact match on the Makita stuff yet but the drill I looked at by price seemed to have a lower spec.

The top spec Makita combi drill is the DHP481, although there is a brushed equivalent which is also excellent, the DHP458, which is a lot cheaper (£73 bare from Power Tool world, for example), the main difference being slightly lower torque and shorter run time. Still good enough to pilot drill 6mm steel plate, though. These drills are heavy duty and have high quality metal chucks (without any wobble on either of the 481s I've had). In fact the only Mak I've seen wobble on was the DHP453 "bargain basement special" drill which one of our apprentices bought - I'd suggest avoiding those, together with any of the specials that Screwfix offer, as they allegedly pare down the spec/build quality on DW cordlesses. Whatever else if you want durability that means metal gearbox and metal gears - which both come with a weight and cost penalty

In circular saw terms the Makita to go for is the DHS680 brushless which is a far better (more powerful) tool than the DSS610/DSS611 brushed models. Tried mine against the equivalent DW a coupe of years back and I thought the DW was a bit bigger and heavier, but otherwise similar in performance. Main thing is to get decent blades and I'd recommend the deWalt DT10624-QZ 165mm 24t for general cordless use with the DT10640-QZ for sheet materials where a better cut is required - I use them on my Mak saws

Whatever you go for any of the big brands should be equally good providing you avoid the cheapest tools in the range.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

dewalt use only the big square battery format where as makita bosch and a few others have both the compact round and some with the larger square battery base

Makita changed their battery style a few years back and they are now a miniature version of the 18 volt "square" batteries. AFAIK Bosch and Milwaukee are the only ones offering the slimline "stick" batteries these days - with a limit of 2Ah (possibly 3Ah although Milwaukee appear to have dropped those)

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Ive had three Milwaukee M18 circular saws in 5 years and on my third angle grinder, second impact driver.. getting repaired isn't that straightforward if you need the tools now.
we have some makita stuff which have been trouble free.

I worked with a guy a few years back who had endless trouble with a M18 combi that had a ticking bearing - he kept taking it back to Rex Crystal to get it sorted, then a few weeks later it would start ticking again! My M12 stuff has been good, though, although I've been on Mak 18 volt stuff since about 2006 (trade)

 

[Stringman_uk]

Thanks for all the replies. I have seen a load of dewalt stuff on an auction site (proper auctions not ebay) from a shop that has gone bust so will have a look at those. But I have also seen this for sale on facebook

DeWALT DCKTS781D2M1 20V MAX Cordless Li-Ion 7 Tool Combo Kit
which is very cheap
But I wonder if the 18v batteries are compatable?

 

[ETAF]

The USA call the same battery 20V we call 18V
UK is 18V nominal voltage and US is 20V max voltage

https://www.protoolreviews.com/20v-max-vs-18v-battery-power/

Maybe subject to import duty if from USA, and no warranty