Where do you buy your cordless power tools?

[supermodel159]

I recently purchased a home, and now it’s time for me to acquire some cordless power tools...and get to work. After a recent trip to Home Depot and Lowes, I saw a ton of expensive, low quality tools. Any know of a good on-line store that sells either makita, dewalt or milwaukee cordless?

[dk_alaskan]

Ryobi at HD for the money can't be beat, same chasis as the Dewalts, but diff external housing. Dewalt has gone dh in the last few years in their quality. You are paying for the name, not the quality.

[KQ]

Ryobi at HD for the money can't be beat, same chasis as the Dewalts, but diff external housing. Dewalt has gone dh in the last few years in their quality. You are paying for the name, not the quality.

2nd the Ryobi rec.

[Tuckerman]

The cordless power tools store. Otherwise know as Home depot. Hey can batteries in cordless power tools stop taking a charge?

[dk_alaskan]

Hey can batteries in cordless power tools stop taking a charge?

YES. your charger should have some sort of light indicator, i.e. the one that tells you when fully charged or not, that has a blinking sequence to tell you when the battery is having issues.

[OldLarry]

the pleasure cheas... erm, I mean home depot

[Missiongravity]

Tooliday.com which is also toolking or something like that. It is the steepanadcheap.com of powertools.

[Tippster]

Amazon.com

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Factory-Reconditioned-Ryobi-ZRP824-18-Volt-Starter/dp/B0015IXMLK/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1256588235&sr=1-10"]Amazon.com: Factory-Reconditioned Ryobi ZRP824 18-Volt Starter Kit: Home Improvement[/ame]

Sheesh.

[bmg97]

After a recent trip to Home Depot and Lowes, I saw a ton of expensive, low quality tools. Any know of a good on-line store that sells either makita, dewalt or milwaukee cordless?

Lowes and Home Depot carry all the name brand tools. How do you figure they are low quality ? I would never buy Dyobi. They are total shit IMO. I'm a big Dewalt fan and for a cordless drill would buy nothing else but that. For my hand they are the most balanced and comfortable. Check out Ridgid (Home Depot Brand) They come with a life time warranty Im pretty sure. I bought my Dewalt Fat Boy kit on ebay for like $ 500.00.

[Pinner]

HarborFreight.com

[Missiongravity]

I will admit that Dewalt is releasing a lot of lower end tools to keep in competition with brands such as Ryobi and other lower end brands. Keep in mind that Dewalt is owned by Black and Decker one of the oldest names in powertools.
I have a Dewalt drill that lasted 2 years of being schlepped around in a hip holster whilst I rode my Suzuki DR all over creation and on more than one occasion it managed to hit pavement at 45+MPH and is still kicking today 6 years later.

[khakis]

Tooliday.com which is also toolking or something like that. It is the steepanadcheap.com of powertools.

no hard feelings, but if we ever meet I'm going to have to kick you square in the nuts.
That link is going to cost me a lot of money

[Tippster]

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home...s/4292657.html

Buy Makita if you have the $$$

[warthog]

If you want quality- look at Grainger. Prolly a ton of $$ though if you don't have a govt' account or otherwise.

[DJSapp]

Ummmm, not to be a killjoy, but cordless drills will see their most use as a glorified electric screwdriver. Some are even good enough to drill into studs to hang a picture or shelves, but if you're doing any serious work, go corded. You'll thank me when you're in the middle of a project and you've burnt out your third battery before lunch. Cordless anything else is fucking garbage. Every brand's battery pack will lose their max charge over time, and after 6 months of heavy service you'll be pissed off about it. Keep that in mind.

Find the tools that have the best combination of ergonomics, weight and features for your price range. If it's something you won't use often, don't be afraid of ryobi, just don't expect a lifetime of heavy service. There is also a point on the severe service vs. cost of battery replacement curve that you'll need to decide. Do you really need the cordless power and torque because your drilling steel all day long, or are more likely to break it by dropping it over the next 10 years of hanging pictures? It's a replacement battery vs. replacement drill question.

Sears may be another option in your area, depending on what they carry. Craftsman cordless were pretty good once upon a time, but not too much anymore.

[KQ]

Ummmm, not to be a killjoy, but cordless drills will see their most use as a glorified electric screwdriver. Some are even good enough to drill into studs to hang a picture or shelves, but if you're doing any serious work, go corded. You'll thank me when you're in the middle of a project and you've burnt out your third battery before lunch. Cordless anything else is fucking garbage.

Unless, of course, you're building a horse shelter out in the middle of a field. They have their uses. I have found Ryobi to be quite reliable.

[dk_alaskan]

Ummmm, not to be a killjoy, but cordless drills will see their most use as a glorified electric screwdriver. Some are even good enough to drill into studs to hang a picture or shelves, but if you're doing any serious work, go corded. You'll thank me when you're in the middle of a project and you've burnt out your third battery before lunch. Cordless anything else is fucking garbage. Every brand's battery pack will lose their max charge over time, and after 6 months of heavy service you'll be pissed off about it. Keep that in mind.

Find the tools that have the best combination of ergonomics, weight and features for your price range. If it's something you won't use often, don't be afraid of ryobi, just don't expect a lifetime of heavy service. There is also a point on the severe service vs. cost of battery replacement curve that you'll need to decide. Do you really need the cordless power and torque because your drilling steel all day long, or are more likely to break it by dropping it over the next 10 years of hanging pictures? It's a replacement battery vs. replacement drill question.

Sears may be another option in your area, depending on what they carry. Craftsman cordless were pretty good once upon a time, but not too much anymore.

This is a VERY good argument and the op should look at the immediate vs. long term needs. If you do decide to go with a corded drill at some point, i EMPHATICALLY URGE you to go Milwaukee. They are the burliest, meanest, toughest drills you can use. At -60, they run as well as when it is 80+, the only catch is, when you get close to having whatever you need drilled, make SURE you have both hands on the drill or a DAMNED good grip, otherwise, you may snap your wrist. The torque on their drills is beyond amazing And their durability is phenomenal.

http://www.milwaukeetool.com/Product...2f2+in.+Drills

[Streebo]

Does Harbor Freight sell cordless stuff?

[grinder]

Toolking. Get some cheap Milwaukee and Dewault Cordless Power Tools here..

They also have a refurb. department that has a ton of crap.

[Pow4Brains]

Toolking for the win. Ryobi is good for building bird houses at most.

If you are going to be doing lots of screwing go with a cordless impact driver. You'll never use a drill again.


FWIW - I have owned pretty much every brand and Makita owns this market.

Edit 4 - A good recond Makita deal here.

[DJSapp]

Actually, after rereading my post I guess I never answered what to get.

Both. Get a cheap around the house cordless and get a burly corded. Odds are whenever you're using the corded, you're using other tools and will already have the extension cord out.

And KQ, you seriously built a horse shelter with cordless tools? Prefab? I'd just rent a generator.

[KQ]

And KQ, you seriously built a horse shelter with cordless tools? Prefab? I'd just rent a generator.

They were 12x12 shelters with three sides (what we call a loafing shed). The frame was prefab but the walls are wood and the sheet metal roof had to be secured to the metal frame with self tapping screws which didn't really self tap all that well so I had to pre drill the holes. I used the Ryobi cordless to build three of them - I have a couple batteries and just switched between them. Oh yeah...I used a cordless saw too to cut the wood to fit the frame. It was slightly more work than building a bird house

I suppose I could have rented a generator but then I would have had to rent a generator and haul it home (or pay to have it delivered) and then haul it out to the field. I had the Ryobi...no reason not to use them.

[DougW]

I would agree you need both. If you buy cheap make sure keep receipt to take advantage of warrenty.

A cordless would not do a heavy days worth work with 2.5 or 3" screws or hundreds screws screwing down a floor. And they are cheap. I got a top brand combo pack of drill and 4.5" grinder for $80 . I already have both but they are crapy tire so will eventully die.

and have been reasonably happy with Ryobi. Buy the biggest set you can just to buy the largest number of batteries. The circ saw is the funniest thing, can make all of 2 2x4 cuts on a battery. But is light so could have a use once a year.

[Viva]

If $$$'s no object, investigate Festool. I have a couple of their (corded) sanders and have tried some of their battery drills. Awesome tools. The Jerries know their stuff.

Right now have a drill and an impact driver, both Panasonic and about two years old. Well-built, but not happy with the batteries. My previous Panasonic tools held a charge for much, much longer than the current ones.

EDIT: Oh, and in answer to the question, I'll typically buy at my local specialty tool store. You'd think it would be more expensive, but it usually isn't. Plus, they bring in models that HD or Loews don't. Where I currently live it's Tool Depot.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Disclaimer: I buy Dewalt cordless because it is what the local lumber yard sells, I git um cheap, and I need to be on good terms with the yard.

I'm sure Makita, Bosch, Milwakee et al. have their strong point, I own each of their tools. That being said, We put our Dewalt stuff through hell and it does great. The 3" screw comment, IDK. I run big ollie lags, ledgers locks etc. into logs and engineered lumber all day with a impact driver and it does great.