Power tools.

[Toothpick]

I went a bit nuts when we moved in to the new house. Never had anything but a few janky mismatched tools. I’m pretty sure the first couple months I single handedly hit Lowes monthly sales goals. I was buying new tools weekly. Drills, saws, screwdriver sets, wrench sets, electrical stuff, whatever I felt like I needed.

I use the DeWalt brand. 20v Max Brushless power drill / impact driver. The sander, circular saw, and reciprocating saw all plug in though. I figured I would use them a lot less and the batteries would naturally drain before I’d use them. For a very casual home user it’s all overkill for sure. But I should never have to replace anything.

I would have went with the Craftsman brand if they had re-launched it before I was buying everything. Just because it’s red, and I like red. Whoever inherits my tools is going to think I bought them all weeks before death. Virtually unused.

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

Yup, lots of nice drill driver options available, brushless is the way to go for power and battery life.

There is an interesting conversation going on about voltage vs battery size/weight and what you need. For most folks, 12v is plenty of power and battery life, and the reduced weight and size is more practical than 18/20v. Most 20v are really 18v.

All the name brands work well, and brand/voltage is a consideration without ending up with a bench full of chargers, unfortunately by design from all companies. Makita makes good stuff.

I have several drill/drivers, but my go to, is an old Bosh 12v with 2 quick charge batteries, thin, small and light, about 6-8 years old and still going strong. And the Bosh charger charges my Dremel batteries.

It is older technology, not brushless, but with 2 lithium batteries, drill and charger at $100 hard to beat.

 

[ZJ68]

Gotta have a cordless drill and impact driver. I don’t know how I’d get anything done without them, other than slowly and badly.

 

[Mr. Bonney]

I'm a Makita man myself (the old 9.6 volt stick battery kind).

 

[Henry Green]

I love tools, and using them. I’ve never bought a tool that hasn’t earned its keep. For years I’ve tried to interest my son in this stuff, to little avail. Just got a text from him asking to borrow a few for some weekend projects- meeting him with a drill, tape measure, level, and a few hand tools. He’s asking me about those “funny screws with the star shaped heads”. It’s a slippery slope once you start.

 

[Toothpick]

funny screws with the star shaped heads

Torx? I was turned on to the Torx head a couple years ago. May I never use anything else! I really like the Spax brand.

 

[Basil]

I love tools, and using them. I’ve never bought a tool that hasn’t earned its keep. For years I’ve tried to interest my son in this stuff, to little avail. Just got a text from him asking to borrow a few for some weekend projects- meeting him with a drill, tape measure, level, and a few hand tools. He’s asking me about those “funny screws with the star shaped heads”. It’s a slippery slope once you start.

I always hated Phillips head so I went to square instead. Torx however is pretty awesome and I try to go that route when I can.

 

[Henry Green]

Torx? I was turned on to the Torx head a couple years ago. May I never use anything else! I really like the Spax brand.

Me too! Spax are great. I just thought his description was funny.

 

[Henry Green]

I always hated Phillips head so I went to square instead. Torx however is pretty awesome and I try to go that route when I can.

Me too! All the pro builders I know use them. Added them, and the drivers to my tool bag some years back.

 

[Basil]

Me too! All the pro builders I know use them. Added them, and the drivers to my tool bag some years back.

Haha I was just at Home Depot as I read this and figured I might as well buy a new bit while I’m here. I picked up a t20/t25 double sided bit from Milwaukee

 

[Eben Stone]

I have a few nice power tools: drills, impact wrench, reciprocating saw, hammer drill, grinder, sander. Most of my tools are Rockwell, Milwaukee, Skil, or DeWalt.

Occasionally I've had a special project where I had to rent some tools. A noteworthy rental was a Makita 15 lb demolition hammer. That was fun.

 

[velocityboy]

Finally got tired of paying $85 twice a year to have my summer and winter tires switched so I bought a second set of rims and a couple of impact wrenches to make changing them myself easier.

The smaller one is usually powerful enough to loosen the lug nuts and is much lighter and easier to use but I have the big one mostly as backup. It does have monster torque though.

This video may or may not have influenced my decision to get some impact wrenches. I've got the drill to jack adapter on my amazon wish list but am still debating trying the whole two minute tire change scenario.

 

[Rhody]

Finally got tired of paying $85 twice a year to have my summer and winter tires switched so I bought a second set of rims and a couple of impact wrenches to make changing them myself easier.
View attachment 1334342View attachment 1334343
The smaller one is usually powerful enough to loosen the lug nuts and is much lighter and easier to use but I have the big one mostly as backup. It does have monster torque though.

This video may or may not have influenced my decision to get some impact wrenches. I've got the drill to jack adapter on my amazon wish list but am still debating trying the whole two minute tire change scenario.

Drill to jack adapter. Very cool
Never thought a drill or driver could be used this way. Cool
I was taught in the olden days to loosen the lug nuts before jacking the car so the wheel doesn’t spin. He did it after jacking. Also the tire he changed didn’t look flat but that might have been for the movie making.

 

[velocityboy]

Drill to jack adapter. Very cool
Never thought a drill or driver could be used this way. Cool
I was taught in the olden days to loosen the lug nuts before jacking the car so the wheel doesn’t spin. He did it after jacking. Also the tire he changed didn’t look flat but that might have been for the movie making.

An impact wrench will loosen/tighten the nuts without trying to spin the tire even if it's off the ground. Yeah, his tire wasn't flat but he was just demonstrating how to do it I guess.

 

[McBlade]

I recently bought an orbital sander to repair a sheet rock wall. Sanded, filled and sanded again. Sanding part took maybe 10 min., by hand would have taken well over an hour.

And then cleaning up the ultra-fine dust kicked up by the sander takes three days

 

[ColtRevolver]

Invest in torque sticks if you are using impact tools on lug nuts. After using sticks, I still check the lugs with a torque wrench.

 

[velocityboy]

Invest in torque sticks if you are using impact tools on lug nuts. After using sticks, I still check the lugs with a torque wrench.

Yeah for sure, my lug nuts need 80 ft.lbs. because Honda so I use the 65 ft.lb. stick with my impact wrench and that gets me pretty much within a quarter turn or less with the old school torque wrench to finish.

 

[ctr]

Had many tools accumulated over nearly 50 years. Made the decision to downsize a few years back. Have everything in a small GI tool bag except the drill which has its own case.

 

[Mr. Bonney]

Found a few more stick battery Makita items yesterday.
Bit case full of bits was $2, the flashlights and carry case were $1 each. Not that I need any more flashlights but I grabbed them, as parts like lenses and caps and clips are NLA. But they are NOS condition, so, could slap a battery in and find my way in the dark!

 

[Basil]

Figured I’d take a pretty pictures of some tools I used this week.