Power Tool Brands - Accessibility

[sinnerman]

Cordless power tools are like camera gear.

If you start off with a Canon or Nikon camera and gear , you are pretty much stuck with the same brand for life.

I use Makita, but DeWalt is a higher grade tool.

[jimellifritt]

Originally Posted by ColourfulOwl

I'm sure this might open a right can of worms....

But I'm interested in hearing from you all as to which power tool brand has been the most accessible and had readily available parts (batteries)? As well as having a diverse range of tools to cover all your boating needs.

I'm currently in the process of moving all the tools and supplies on to my boat, but my home tool collection is filled with random tools, mostly from different manufactures (Dewalt, Ryobi, Worx, Bosch, Milwaukee etc etc). This means they all have different batteries, with different chargers... etc etc...

It's a bit of a mess really. Going forward I'd rather invest into one ecosystem so I don't have so much tool clutter!

I bought a set of ryobi, all battery powered are interchangeable. We moved on board 8 years ago. I wanted to minimize different sized btry and chargers. These are not as good as my milwakee, dewalt, or Marita, IMO. I will say the only one that has had any concern was the drill, I believe it is on the way out but a spare was inexpensive. Set included Sawzall, Skill saw, impact driver, drill, random sander, oscillating cutter, angle grinder. Least used is the skill saw, but I have used it. One tool that is have used the most is the Drill and the orbital sander. I also have a dewalt hepa shop vacuum both corded and battery operated, small foot print, and I have made a way to attach orbital sander to it to keep dust out of boat. All these have survived Marine enviornment. My opinion is what ever tools you have you will use. I am fortunate I have a place to keep them in the work room and the most used reside there within easy reach. BTW I have been able to replace drill thru Amazon in Mexico, I Panama all variety of tools are available, it just a bit more pricey.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by Jammer

There is wide variation in the quality of Li-ion cells. There is wide variation in the care taken in bundling these into packs.

High quality cells are safer than sloppily made cells. There are safety standards. There are tests. The good quality cells pass these. Careful pack makers cushion the cells, balance voltages, and limit temperature.

The cheap scooter/ebike battery packs built by no-name makers from the cheapest obtainable cells in places where there is no product liability are examples of what can go wrong with sloppy, irresponsible design.

The risk from well-made packs is not zero but neither is a carefully designed propane system, shore power, diesel, dinghy gas, etc.

Sure there are good brand and bad brands but there are obviously a large number of bike/scooter battery fires that major city fire departments are issuing warnings. The video footage of these batteries catching fire, some of them look like explosions, should make one think before charging in the house, much less a boat.

My battery was NOT Lithium and from a good grand name, almost burned down my house and had very little contained energy compared to the lithium batteries. It was an eye opener to say the least.


Short of disability, I won't ever own a battery powered bike much less a scooter. Heck the scooter will likely cause me to have a disability. I do now have a battery powered drill but I am danged careful with how it is stored and charged. Fool me once and all of that...

Later,
Dan

[OS2Dude]

RYOBI. Be aware there seems to be two tiers of cordless tools - Light Duty & Heavy Duty. No real reason, wife had a 'Gator Light' that was Ryobi, then I found a Drill/Saber saw combo at a garage sale that was also Ryobi. From there it has grown to a sizable collection of tools. I carry my tools in my car so I'll have access to them at home or the boat.

As an aside, one tool I bought recently was the Ryobi ONE+ 18v 4 mode 1/2" impact wrench (Part P262) and a high impact socket for the lugs on my car. Blew a tire in the middle of the boonies. I could not get that tire off to (literally) save my life. Eventually someone with an impact wrench stopped and got it off in no time. If you look at them, be aware that some have torque listed in inch/pounds and others in foot/pounds. You will want something in the 7200 in/lbs (600 ft/lbs) range. The socket needs to be HIGH IMPACT (BLACK) or it may shatter on a stubborn lug. Lugs are usually 17mm, 19 mm (US CARS), 21 mm (Foreign cars) and 22 mm. Your cars user manual should specify what is on your car.

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by ColourfulOwl

I'm sure this might open a right can of worms....

But I'm interested in hearing from you all as to which power tool brand has been the most accessible and had readily available parts (batteries)? As well as having a diverse range of tools to cover all your boating needs.

I'm currently in the process of moving all the tools and supplies on to my boat, but my home tool collection is filled with random tools, mostly from different manufactures (Dewalt, Ryobi, Worx, Bosch, Milwaukee etc etc). This means they all have different batteries, with different chargers... etc etc...

It's a bit of a mess really. Going forward I'd rather invest into one ecosystem so I don't have so much tool clutter!

It depends, I use Makita for all battery power tools, drill, saber saw, Screwdriver.
My sanders are Festtool random orbital 150mm and RUPES orbital, 75mm belt sander, trimmer, 150mm angle grinder, Bosch geared 1/2"drill and power wood planer are corded..240V
I also carry a 180A inverter welder....small and handy.
Corded tools can run on my 1000W Honda generator if need be...
One can do with less, however, I can just about do any kind of repairs without borrowing tools.

[TPG]

Makita in the 90's till 2010's then DeWalt