Power Tool Recommendations

[DJH]

It's George Henry's younger brother. He's a wet and dry model.

Mr Google just told me there is a whole extended family, you learn something every day !

Numatic is not far from where I once lived and I once carried out the plumbing and heating in their museum/ test room and I also sold them through a friend of mine a first edition of Millar's book about plastering. It's my understanding that after he left another local company to set up his vacuum cleaner business ( I once called them hoovers in front of him :roll: ) and he called the models after his children.........

Doug

 

[Me!]

I have a Bosch multitool which I've owned for a few months now and I'm very happy with it so far. However, the time has come to buy some more blades, and as has been mentioned already, the prices can be rather high. The ones I've found most use for so far are the 35mm wood blades and also the 10mm steel cutting blade which has been excellent at cutting through a few old bolts and nails. So, do people suggest that I buy genuine Bosch blades again to get the same sort of quality, or does anyone have any experience of Saxton, Shark, Red Star, Faithfull or any other Bosch compatible blades please? Also, has anyone tried any of the titanium tipped blades of any make? If so, do you think they are worth the extra cost?

Thank you.

PS. Sorry for dragging this thread back towards its original topic again

 

[Nigel Watts]

I've just added one of these to my collection of gadgetry.

Can anyone tell me how to use it, as it didnt come with instructions.

 

[philpjuk100]

The battery on my bosch drill does not hold a charge any more and the drill has started to rattle,I was off to screwfix to buy a new battery(£60) but had to go to asda on the way where I saw a draper drill/driver for £19.95 so I bought that instead. I have just used it hard for the last three days drilling 25mm holes in softwood and it came through with flying colours,I could buy three of these for the cost of a battery for the bosch!

 

[Zebra]

Really? That's amazing. I've always found it to be the case with drills that you get what you pay for. My 14.4v Makita, less than a year old, is not holding a charge any more, my old Bosch did a bit better, but died after a few years. The cheap "Performance" brand that I bought from Wickes a while back is worse, far worse, whereas my colleague's six-year-old (expensive) DeWalt seems to outperform everything.

 

[Feltwell]

The type of battery makes a huge difference. Ni-Cads, even decent brand ones, only last so long.

I splashed out a while ago on a Makita LXT Drill with 18v Lithium-Ion batteries and it's brilliant, worth every penny. Genuine replacement batteries are very pricey but as it's so popular a range with trade users there are various people making pattern batteries for about half the price now. As to if they perform as well - no idea, my originals are still going strong, long may they continue to do so! I've since bought other tools from that range as "bare" units with no battery or charger, which makes them much cheaper.

 

[DJH]

I'm a Hitachi person myself but that could be that when the rep from the fixings company called we had good deals from him. However I recall him saying that for optimum life from the batteries right from the start was to exhaust them completely before re-charging which i used to do by wrapping an elastic band around the handle and switch. I think back then it was thought that the old style (not Lithium-Ion) had memories and if they were re-charged when only half discharged meant that they would only accept a half from then on.

Another thing he told me was that the batteries should not be re-charged when they were 10 C degrees or under and that the charger should be given twenty minutes or so between charges.

How true all this is I'm not sure but I'm using battery drills now that are 10 - 15 years old and I reckon it's because that's how I used them. Who know's but I guess that doesn't apply to these new type batteries.

 

[Me!]

I have a Bosch multitool which I've owned for a few months now and I'm very happy with it so far. However, the time has come to buy some more blades, and as has been mentioned already, the prices can be rather high. The ones I've found most use for so far are the 35mm wood blades and also the 10mm steel cutting blade which has been excellent at cutting through a few old bolts and nails. So, do people suggest that I buy genuine Bosch blades again to get the same sort of quality, or does anyone have any experience of Saxton, Shark, Red Star, Faithfull or any other Bosch compatible blades please?

Well, as people are writing their Christmas lists at the moment, I thought I'd report back that I bought a selection of Saxton multitool blades about a year ago now, and they have been absolutely fine. I can't say I can notice any difference between them and the Bosch ones.

 

[Feltwell]

I'd still heartily recommend a cordless impact driver to anyone who hasn't got one. So much better than a cordless drill/driver for driving pozidrive screws in! Definitely No.1 on my "List of tools that I didn't use to own or see the need for but now would not be without".

 

[Flyfisher]

I have a Bosch multitool which I've owned for a few months now and I'm very happy with it so far. However, the time has come to buy some more blades, and as has been mentioned already, the prices can be rather high. The ones I've found most use for so far are the 35mm wood blades and also the 10mm steel cutting blade which has been excellent at cutting through a few old bolts and nails. So, do people suggest that I buy genuine Bosch blades again to get the same sort of quality, or does anyone have any experience of Saxton, Shark, Red Star, Faithfull or any other Bosch compatible blades please?

Well, as people are writing their Christmas lists at the moment, I thought I'd report back that I bought a selection of Saxton multitool blades about a year ago now, and they have been absolutely fine. I can't say I can notice any difference between them and the Bosch ones.

That's very reassuring as I recently bought a set of Saxton blades for my Fein Multimaster. They seem fine so far.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Saxton-SH13CS01-Blades-Multimaster-Multitool/dp/B006CUAUZC/ref=sr_1_1?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1386516601&sr=1-1&keywords=saxton+blades

 

[Toby Newell]

Fein Fein Fein Fein.

They invented the damn thing. As well as the first electric drill I might add, the first real mass produced electrical tool. I have 2 of them and have used them for years. The patent ran out and every man and his dog built one.

I like Bosch, I have over £2000 of Bosch blue professional tool, but just get the Fein, the quick change, you can get them for £120 on their own, it's just better. If you think you won't use it after you have finished your project, put it on ebay, it will sell much quicker than a Bosch one because Fein is what the professionals use.

Top tip: Saxton blades. Apparently they are reasonably good. I used to buy the Fein blades at their idiotic prices (£10 to £15 a blade) Bosch are not much cheaper, try the Saxton blades they are 4 x cheaper and just change when blunt.

Remember it's the blade that does the work.

 

[philpjuk100]

Clearing the workshop for some new shelving I found my old wolf cub,it was given to me by my dad when he upgraded to a bridges drill! 5/16" chuck, cotton covered lead,5 amp round pin plug, £6/2/6d on the box! I think he bought it in 1952/3 but it only had a 5/16" chuck and he needed a powerful 3/8" model so he upgraded to a bridges (you coud stall both easily) blew the spiders out with the air line changed the plug and it still works! rattles a bit.When I get a bit of spare time I may build a display cabinet for it,it brings back many memories of my dad doing a "Barry Bucknel" with sheets of hardboard!.He covered those horrible paneled doors with hardboard,threw away those nasty brass knobs and fitted nice plastic ones with flowers on,took down the picture rails,cut out the banister spindles and replaced them with a zig zag rope,replaced all those difficult to clean window panes and replaced them with nice big sheets of glass!Ah those were the days!.

 

[Flyfisher]

Now that's really the purist approach - period tools for period property works! A display cabinet sounds like a nice idea, especial with the family connection, and it would be a shame to just throw it away (though if you're anything like me you won't actually understand that concept).

As for 'doing a Barry Bucknell', I also remember my father covering panelled doors with hardboard and removing picture rails and even replacing some internal doors with fully glazed ones. It was in the late 60s and the house was only a pre-war semi but even so. I was going to remark about how times change, but with the proliferation of rapid makeover tv programmes I'm not so sure.