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Cordless tools


LeeM
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 Thought I'd post this up if anyone is interested. Too bad if not, coz you're reading it anyway! ?

  I'm a contractor installing sliding wardrobes etc, and use nothing but cordless tools which aren't under a lot of stress drilling holes and screwing 50mm screws into melamine board, and carrying a 3kva generator around takes up too much room in the van, not to mention the fuel smell and carrying a fuel can around doesn't interest me in the slightest  (done it before, never again!) 

 Anyway, I bought a couple of grands worth of AEG cordless tools last December (drills, multi tool, circular saw, planer and drop saw) and have been adding a few 6.0ah batteries of which I have 9 or 10 now. Cutting this short, 2 drills and their batteries have died with 2 batteries gradually giving up pretty quickly now, planer height adjuster dial broke, drop saw blade safety guard fell off and one multi tool rattles very badly (I bought another one from Crime Converters as a spare). All this within 8 months or so

 As I rely on these tools every day, I decided to buy some Ozito Power Exchange tools just incase the AEG tools die onsite, and a $179 skin only drop saw when the $600 AEG was in getting fixed under warranty. Ozito have had a really bad rap as cheap crap DIY tools in the past (probably rightly so) yet to say I'm very impressed with the new Ozito brushless range is an understatement! So much so, that I've been using them all every day for 3 months, and am planning on adding a few more Ozito tools soon. The 5.0ah batteries last longer, the impact driver has the same torque as the AEG yet spins up quicker and the other tools just do everything as well as any other tool I've used yet are a quarter of the price! That, and a direct replacement warranty if there is a problem. If it does, just take it back to Bunnings for a new one, not send it away for 4 weeks and have to buy another tool in the meantime like the AEG warranty. I was onsite today (which is what prompted me to post this here now), and a carpenter noticed I was using Ozito drills, and he showed me his trailer full of Ozito gear. He's been using Milwaukee for years, yet couldn't afford to buy all new tools, so he tried a couple of Ozito drills and was amazed at how good they are and bought a few more and none have failed on him since. A couple of friends in the same trade as me tried my drills and bought some themselves too

  If you're looking for any cordless tools for home jobs or whatever, check out the prices of AEG, Makita etc, then look at the price of Ozito's Power Exchange at Bunnings. Once I've stocked up with a few more tools and batteries, I'll be selling all of my AEG tools and batteries 

 

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Couldn't agree more Lee.

I have been using a NRG cut off saw that I bought 20 years ago and has never let me down plus I have an old drill press ( Rhino I think ) that I bought for $99 back in the very early 90's and is still going strong.

 

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1 hour ago, Peter M said:

+1

I used to be a tool snob until I tried Ozito. Have not looked back.

  I've told quite a few tool snob guys about them, and they've all been impressed. I also used to use a Paslode gas nail gun before they changed to the small gas cartridges which are crap in my opinion, as it used to misfire every 5 or 6 shots. Got fed up and bought an angled gasless Dewalt 15gauge nailer which has been brilliant. I've owned that for 7 years and never been serviced until it started misfiring a few months ago, and as I need it, I bought an AEG nailer to get me by until the Dewalt was fixed. Man that was an exercise in futility! I tried the straight nailer, No good. Angled one (to do top shelves) and it leaves the nails proud of the melamine which is useless to me. Tried both RyobI straight and angled with the same results (props to Bunnings for always taking them back) so I ended up lashing out on another new gasless 16gauge Dewalt. That thing is brilliant. Light, quick and fires as quick as you can in quickfire mode and rarely jams up like Paslodes do. I lent it to a guy doing 2nd fix onsite who has 4 Paslode guns which always jam and misfire, and he has since bought 4 of the same Dewalts and sold his Paslodes off. 

 I use the new Dewalt for fixing shelving down, and the old 15g one for other bits n pieces. That nicad (or whatever it's called) battery is slowly dying though, so I'll have to get a new one soon. 

 I'm not a tightarse, yet I can't see the point in spending $300 on a tool when you can buy 3 or 4 of basically the same thing that does the same job. 

 Whilst I'm here, I'll also mention my favourite tape measure, the Lufkin Multiread. As I have to measure inbetween walls accurately all the time, they have been a godsend, as the centre mesurement on the tape includes the tape housing, So there's no chance of behind 2 or 3mm out. I also mainly use a Bosch laser measure for wall to wall and floor to ceiling meaaurements which is so accurate, anyone can ensure they measure anything very accurately. 

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Agree with the the Ozito sentiment - not a tradie but have a go at home and we've built 60m2+ of decking and gutted and rebuilt an old kitchen and complete font of a house using half a dozen corded Ozito tools over about 4 years. None have failed. Their drop saws are robust, just need adjusting now and then..

Slowly moving to battery power but down the Makita path so far as I had batteries left from some older cordless drills.

Will have a look at Ozito battery tools next time I'm at Bunnings "greenhouse".

 

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I used to have all Ryobi cordless tools, but I eventually bit the bullet and swapped over to Dewalt at twice the price. I did notice there were a lot of little things that made the Dewalt stuff better. Not sure how you find it, but little things were better sorted on the Dewalt. For example, the LEDs on the Ryobi impact would only come on while you were pulling the trigger, but the Dewalt stayed on for a few seconds, so if you were screwing inside a cupboard you could see without having the thing spinning. I don't think there was much of a power difference though. Have you noticed any little things like that which are annoying?

I use a lot of Ozito tools at home, particularly if it is going to be used sporadically.

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 @MFX That's probably my only little gripe with regards to the light mate. AEG stay on a little bit longer too where the Ozito doesn't, yet the higher speed and general ergonomics of the Ozito are better for me personally. I bought a Dewalt drill that was on special just to get the 2 batteries and charger for my new nail gun but haven't used it yet, so that's just a spare if the Ozito shits itself. My very first drill doing this job was a 14v Dewalt and that lasted for a while. I also used 2 Panasonic drills which were great and still are (batteries are dead though) and a Festool which to me far surpass ANY tool on the market. Bloody expensive though at $900 per drill I think. Know a guy that has about 20 Festool tools, but he's a plumber and can afford it on his hourly rates ?

 Having to charge 10 AEG batteries every few days was getting annoying (the drop saw needs 2 x 6.0ah to run it well enough), yet now I only do it once a week 3 of the 5 x 5.0ah batteries with the Ozito. The little drop saw with 210mm blade is fine for what I do, and the battery lasts a full week no worries

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4 hours ago, Jim45 said:

 

Will have a look at Ozito battery tools next time I'm at Bunnings "greenhouse".

 

 You'll find the 18v brushless tools are the better ones than 'standard' Ozito, so make sure you look on the box for brushless, as the prior drills, especially impact drivers, lack a little torque (150nm I think) and slow down too easily. I have one for screwing cupboards together and fitting drawer runners to boards and drawer assembly outside on my table, but now use the old AEG with 180nm, same as the brushless Ozito has. I do use a non brushless Ozito to drill holes in 16mm melamine though, and that works fine. They're releasing a new Power Exchange multi tool soon too according to their rep which I use for cutting skirting and cornice with to fit wall plates and tracks, so I expect that to be half the price of a skin only $219 AEG and will grab a couple. The AEG has a tool free blade release thing which is handy, yet the blades are starting to slip on the securing pegs for some reason which is bloody annoying. 

 I'll add that I buy tools if it will make my life easier and quicker onsite, (not because of the brand) as I fit 15-20 robes a week plus shelving in pantries etc. The other recent purchase was a cheap lime green $9 gap fill gun from Stratco which is the BEST one I've ever used, as it clicks itself off where a lot of much more expensive ones don't. I always need to have spares of all tools just incase, so I have 2 of them instead of paying $40 for one. I also use the cheapest $2.50/ tube gap fill from Bunnings, Parfix, as I've tried a few more expensive brands and there isn't much difference yet is only $2.50 per tube. 

 I've also just bought a ratty leather grip 30 year old Estwing hammer from the US on eBay too, as mine and my trusty 16mm through tang Stanley chisel got nicked when I left them onsite which I was devastated about, as personal tools to a tradie are a part of you, same as our crappy old toolbelts that are falling apart or constantly repaired. You can't beat old stuff like that, and Estwing hammers are the best. I've been looking for one for bloody ages, and even offered $150 for a mates Estwing hammer, yet even though he's not a tradie anymore, I got told pretty quickly to .... off! ?

 S'pose I get a little too excited talking about tools, so excuse my long posts/dribble 

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  I just bought the new 18v Power Exchange Ozito multi tool and used it as I would onsite. It's a cracker for $69 skin only (kit with battery, charger and some blades is $99) 

 Tooless blade change is great and saves using a hex key (most cordless multi tools are tool free operation), and I much prefer the thumb operated switch ontop which is on or off, as opposed to it underneath like the AEG which is awkward at times and the Ozito also has a 6 position variable speed function which the AEG doesn't.

 Just need someone to invent and cheaply produce some wood blades that last longer than a few cuts into 18mm MDF board and you'll make a fortune! Or if someone has an idea how I can keep sharpening them I'd be a happy man

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  • 1 year later...

 So! 

Now that I'm away from solely installing robes and doing all sorts of carpentry type work (among many other things), my AEG tools are just shit!

 My year old circular saw went up in smoke in October, bought another one and that did the same thing yesterday! 😡 I had to buy yet another one today, yet at $200 just for a skin, its only a few dollars cheaper than a Dewalt! I've had enough of these tools failing, 

 So my question to those who are in the building game and regulalry use cordless tools, what are you using and/or what do you recommend? There's obviously Makita, Milwaukee and Dewalt (forget Hilti and Festool, as I'm not on plumbers kinda money, and Hitachi is just crap that I've used before). I want to buy a package that includes a couple of drills (impact and driver) circ saw and planer etc. Budget is around $1500, though I may up that a bit. I am leaning more towards Dewalt, as I have a couple of their nail guns, so the batteries fit.

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Makita 18V all the way 

Just do some calculations on large combo kits vs multiple small combo kits, i recently needed to buy 3 new 5ah batteries & 3 charges for various sites. Ended up buying 3 small combo kits that had a 5ah battery, charger & a brushless impact driver for less than just the battery & charger would have cost me & got the impact driver also 

Needed the 2 items below 

https://sydneytools.com.au/product/makita-dc18sd-18v-li-ion-cordless-battery-standard-chargerhttps://www.bunnings.com.au/makita-18v-5-0ah-lithium-ion-battery-with-gauge_p6240325

Ended up with this for way less & a bonus, battery & charger are identical to the above

https://www.bunnings.com.au/makita-18v-brushless-impact-driver-kit_p0170013

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21 minutes ago, LeeM said:

 I was looking at them the other day and wondered what they're like. Cheers @StevepGT3

Got one for Fathers Day last year, love it!!!

Re Tools, personally I have Makita 18v because that's just what I started with and bought extra skins as I went, but all the tradies I know use Milwaukee, and that's what are used at the Building company and Engineering businesses that I work for.  As my usage is strictly amateur I don't stress test them at all 🙂  When my base lot of cordless went down with our new yacht during the Bass Strait delivery a couple of years ago I had the opportunity to change, but I still had some Makita cordless gardening stuff and a couple of batteries, so I just bought the drill/driver combo.  Recently bought a dirt cheap 20v Toolpro impact driver for  which is OK, as I couldn't justify 2.5 x for the Makita version.

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