Before moving house a year ago I hadn't invested in many decent power tools as being in a new house I didn't need to do too many big jobs. But now we have moved into a 1930's house that hasn't been touched in over 40 years I started needing to buy some much better power tools.
A friend of mine has done a lot of building jobs and is now a qualified electrician, and has always been into Makita tools, and I've always wanted an excuse to start buying some decent professional power tools. Researching all the brands/makes I decided Makita was one of the best and so was going to mainly invest in those as I needed them.
Before moving I only had:
Black and Decker cheap cordless drill.
Bosch Jigsaw
Evolution Fury Circular Saw.
Since moving I've been purchasing a lot:
Makita Palm/Detail sander
Makita 18v Cordless drill and impact driver
Makita 18v Cordless Reciprocating saw
Makita Multitool
Titan SDS Plus drill/chisel
Evolution Rage3 Sliding Mitre Saw
And in the garden:
Qualcast self propelling petrol mower
McCullock petrol Strimmer/brush cutter
Is anyone else into their power tools?
The need!
As I said, I was living in a new house before so only needed to do very small DIY jobs like drilling a hole, so no need for investing in expensive tools. But after moving I instantly realised the electric mower and strimmer were not going to be up to tacking the much larger garden so petrol mower and strimmer were needed. So much faster.
I then needed an electric sander as I discovered once stripping the wall paper off I needed to fill cracks, holes and uneven surfaces in the old plaster using Dry Wall jointing compound and sanding that smooth by hand was taking forever, Why didn't I invest in an electric sander earlier! Amazing tool.
My cheap cordless black and decker drill was great when I originally bought it, for what I needed, but the batteries took hours to charge and it wasn't that powerful. Investing in a Makita bundle with a really nice 18v cordless drill and an impact driver with 3 batteries and a 23 minute charger meant I could then buy cheaper future bare Makita tools without batteries. I'd also wanted an electric screwdriver for a long time so I didn't have to keep swapping drill bits and screw driver bits every few seconds. Amazing tools and worth buying pro tools for drills. I don't know how I lived with the cheap one now.
The multitool was something I had wanted for a long time and finally had an excuse to buy one for cutting floorboards, under doors, and skirting etc. Also great for cutting metal. The Makita kit I purchased also came bundled with a load of different blades for various jobs including grout removal. Will come in very handy.
The Titan SDS Plus drill was a departure from Makita due to cost and recommendation. Titan is Screwfix's own brand and they are nice solid tools at a great cheap price. Most of the pro SDS drills started over £100 for a bare drill and no SDS bits. Those costing £20+ in addition. The Titan was only £50 with a lot of bits and chisels. I needed it for chasing out walls for plug sockets and for drilling through a double skin exterior wall for a dryer vent. Great value and a very heavy drill that will go through anything and can also be used to chisel concrete around fence posts and other jobs.
The Mitre saw was a recent purchase as I need to cut mitre corners for picture rails I'm reinstating in the house and also for skirting board corners. It will also be useful for cutting wood flooring I'm going to be laying. I decided on an Evolution saw again because their blades cut through wood, metal and plastic and are good value for money compared to other makes. It also has some great features for the price, including a laser line guide for lining up the cuts.
And finally I just purchased the reciprocating Makita saw as it uses the same batteries I already have, as I need to cut down a lot of small trees and trim branches in the woods and garden, and a chainsaw is too big and overkill for this. Will also be good for cutting logs for the wood burner and kindling. Arriving tomorrow!
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