I bought a bunch of Dewalt XR tools right after buying our house. I can’t compare them to anything, but so far they have been able to handle everything I throw at them.
All over the map, but ~7 years ago when I moved into my new house I bought a set of Porter Cable cordless 20V that has served me well. DeWalt table saw and drywall screw gun, Hitachi and Makita nail guns. Bosch router and sander. Old school Milwaukee sawzall. Old American made Craftsman socket set. Makita compressor.
The big issue with the PC is that they just don’t have a very big tool eco-system.
I got the Porter Cable because I previously had a small set of DeWalt tools and felt like I under utilized them over 20 years. So instead of going contractor grade I went more prosumer. In retrospect I wish I’d bought Milwaukee, because I’ve used the hell out of the PC, but they’ve served me well.
I bought most of the porter cable 20v range when Lowe’s clearanced them out right before I bought my house a few years ago figuring they would last me a few years and I could upgrade to one of the pro-sumer brands. I’ve put the drill and impact through hell and they keep coming back for more.
Started life as a Makita user for electric handhelds. Became a Milwaukee user after finding the magnificent beast that is their higher end impact lines. All hail the torque!
We’re a Makita home, but I wouldn’t mind other nice brushless based tools from other brands. I’ve considered custom printed battery adapters to be able to make other brands compatible with my Makita battery investment.
Absolutely agreed that the battery situation is stupid and creating a lot of waste. Unfortunately I don’t think these companies are going to willingly give up the cash-cow that is proprietary batteries and chargers, along with the sunk-cost customer base they maintain with it, unless they’re forced to. It’s a shame other countries don’t protect consumers with as much vigor as the EU.
I don’t know enough to have any brand loyalty, though there might be a handful of brands that I probably won’t buy from again. If I could buy some of my cordless tools again though I’d try to consolidate down to a single brand so I didn’t have so many dumb chargers to sort through.
Hitachi/Makita/Metabo (Metabo is Hitachi) Some bosch sometimes. I think the saw stop is nice for table saws after using it in a hackerspace, saw it save enough people from losing fingers it seems like a good idea. For woodworking and gardening I mostly use cheap (but not knockoffs from amazon) japanese tools, as long as you clean the blades and keep them sharp they are a really good value.
Thought I’d be alone to admitting using Hitachi/Metabo HPT. They kinda suck but get light duty stuff done and they don’t cost much, especially if you buy gray market versions.
Metabo HPT is called Hikoki outside of USA afaik. Only seen them at hardware stores but I remember the DV18DD being remarkably quiet for an 18V brushless drill driver, even compared to the competitors’ smaller models. In what way do they suck? At least here they are in the same price range as Makita and Dewalt.
I have a bunch of Snap-on tools that I rely on for various things. For things I don’t have, I go to harbor freight for a “good enough to at least get the current job done” tool.
I’ve been pretty happy with the Kobalt 24V Max tools. I’ve got almost every tool you can think of, tons of batteries, and have been 3D printing wall mounts for them.
Milwaukee. I bought early into the launch of the brushless fuel line when they were clearly above the rest, and now I’m in their ecosystem. Anything corded or doesn’t have it’s own battery I’ll use whatever I meets my needs best though.
My cordless tools do get used professionally though. I might add some Ryobi to my kit for some of the odd ball items that only exist in their ecosystem like the extended power brush.
Same. I bought an electric impact and used it for working on cars for something like three years. I think that was like six or seven years ago and it’s still going strong.
I have the EGO mower and Weed whacker. They have been fantastic. Not having to deal with gas and oil and a fucking ripcord is a godsend.
Side note: Originally didn’t think I needed the blower. Now I can’t stop thinking about getting one. The girlfriend still mocks me whenever I use the push broom to clean up the driveway and sidewalk.
I have the blower and I guess you cant win either way. I like the mini EGO blower i got but I still feel a little silly trying to blow all the debris back onto my lawn instead of into the street or into my neighbors lawns, but it feels silly because often it seems like Im just blasting stuff into the air to get blown back onto me lol. So either youre sweeping manually or blowing shit all over the place lol
Used to have cheapo 12v hitachi. Its poor little clutch didn’t fair well when I asked it to drive several 5 inch lags.
DeWalt what I use now. Received a 6ish tool kit as a present a while back. They all get light use but the sawzall is certainly the most used. Diablos 3tpi blade makes for a great and violent pruner.
No more cheap bits though. Driver or drill. (Sockets too.)The level of annoyed and frustrated cheap bits makes for just isn’t worth it. Drivers hold better, strip less, and last longer. Drills go through material faster, break less, hold an edge longer.
