ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area "Friends Don't Let Friends Buy Dewalt"

I liked this quote from another thread so much I decided to start another thread with it.

Seriously, I'm interested to know...Is Dewalt one of the big hitters, or is it a repainted Black & Dacker?

My understanding is that Black & Decker had such a bad reputation that it was decided to start another brand name. However, that was many years ago.

I personally tried a Dewalt cordless drill on a 30 day trial (the only way I would have tried it was on a trial basis). The motor had some serious clatter noise and the chuck loosened and tightened in use, so it went back. That was also a long time ago.

I pulled the trigger on someone elses Dewalt drill recently and the motor sounded and felt smooth, so perhaps they've turned things around in the last decade.

So, how are they? Do you use it all day, or only on the weekends? Did it survive some falls? Do the batteries last all day? Are they OK, but the boss buys them, so you don't care how long they last?

Most importantly, if it broke, or was stolen would you buy another Dewalt???

Dave

My tools are provided for me and the company has gone DeWalt for almost everything.

I have had good luck, I did bend the armature on one 14V drill when it fell from about 10' onto cement. It continued to work with serous vibration until it fell again.

Now it is back to normal.

I do not consider them the best but acceptable for the cost.

Bob

The Makita 24volt combination drill/hammer drill rules.

All of our cordless tools are DeWalt 18 volt. I started buying them years ago and now we have so many of the tools, batteries, and chargers that whenever we need a new one, we buy DeWalt so that everything will interchange. Power tools are different, they are mostly Milwaukee with a few Bosch's here and there.

I've been using a DeWalt circular saw for a couple of years now, the only DeWalt power tool I've ever owned.

I have no complaints. It's easy to adjust and use, seems pretty rugged, and the 1100W motor seems powerful enough to handle anything you would throw at a blade with a 3" cutting depth.

Hilti 36v for the real graft, but the Dewalt runs a good second for the price, have used and abused a 14v every day for the past couple of years and it still keeps going, just starting to lose its charge a bit quicker these days. Will buy another, probably 18v though.

Well I didn't really have any strong feelings brandwise-We first started buying cordless when makita 7.2v wall really all there was- but since then I've tried various combos and the latest is the 18 v Dewalt combo. I wouldn't want Mr Dewalt around my sister, but I have to say that I use the sawzall, hammer drill, and the small 9.6v screwdriver that came free with the combo every day in all sorts of places.the small driver is my favorite-lots of torque, low rpm, quick change bits. The circular saw doesn't get out much, maybe 2X/week. After 2 yrs, still using originial batteries, good for 1 to 1-1/2 days of work, charge well in 1 hour, and are still as powerful as when I got them. I didn't expect much, just wanted something decent and the price was right. Also the xvr+ batteries seem to charge faster and last longer than makita, milwaukee. Cordless tools seem to fade in and out, sometimes with a little help, And I kinda plan on replacing them every 5-8 years. I don't think I've ever laid down a corded tool and couldn't find it fast.

My first cordless tools were Makita, took a lot of abuse dropped em, left them in the back of my truck to get rained on,the old Makita gear was some rugged stuff,now I would not be as likely to buy them now.

My Milwaukee 14.4V has been a good tool had it now for a couple of years (it replaced one that was stolen w/ about 2k in other tools)Just bought a Milw. 18V combo so far so good but the drill is a little heavy.

The reason I hate Dewalt is that have no use for Black and Decker tried to buy parts a few years ago to no avail.

The line "Friends don't let Friends buy Dewalt" is a ripoff of "Friends don't let friends drive Fords/Chevys". If everybody drove the same car/had the same tools it would be a boring world.

What do you want? Makita is the Rolls Royce of power tools.

My money is on DeWalt. Makita is a great brand too. I consider DeWalt to be the Honda of cordless/power tools, and Makita to be the Toyota of power tools. It seems that the DeWalt (Honda) guys are more imaginative and innovative with their designs, and Makita copies and sometimes betters their ideas.

Having said that, the Dewalt 18V line is a tremendous value. My DeWalt 18V drill is thorougly used and abused and still works great. Be sure to change the brushes every few years. Makes a big difference.

The 18V Sawzall is another godsend. Can't work without it. The poorest tool is the 18V circular saw. Its more like a toy.