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

Makita the Rolls-Royce of power tools? Not anymore,their quality ain't what it used to be,but that can be said of a lot of things these days.

I'm suprised no one mentioned Rigid. The boss just bought a couple and I'm a believer

Here are 2 tools that I have used for many years. At one time they were made buy B&D but when i went to buy a replacement for the drill this is what it is under the Dewalt Brand
http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_detail.asp?productID=22

And I think the B&D name for this was Saw Cat and i really liked it.
This is the Dewalt branded one http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_detail.asp?productID=3027

Then I needed a second cordless drill so i just bought another Dewalt 14.4 volt,3 speed cordless hammer drill in a combo kit with circular saw and reciprocating saw.

Today I needed a portable work bench and found this. http://www.eaglerock.ab.ca/

I mounted a vice on a length of 2x6 and C Clamped it to the work platform
Cutting conduit with my new cordless Reciprocating saw ( Dewalt) Made for a productive day for me.



[This message has been edited by dougwells (edited 09-07-2004).]

[This message has been edited by dougwells (edited 09-07-2004).]

I was in Costco tonite, and they had 18V. Dewalt combo kits for $350.00 not a bad price,I just cannot bring myself to buy one besides, have a 2 mo old Milw. combo, plus got the radio and 3 bay charger too boot.

[This message has been edited by Webmaster (edited 09-08-2004).]

I opened my mouth and inserted foot!

[This message has been edited by NORCAL (edited 09-08-2004).]

I had a 9 volt Makita that wasn't very tough. I left it on the side of my truck, took off onto to a 50mph road, it fell off and broke into a zillion pieces. Imagine that .

All DeWalts are not created equal. If you buy one at Home depot chances are you are getting a tool of lesser quality then if you purchase it at a good tool supplier. Home Depot (and some other big chains) get companies like dewalt to specially make tools for them for a certain price.

Dewalt cordless sawzall I had 4 years ago sucked!!!!!! Did not last long on commercial job site. 120 volt reconditioned Dewalt sawzall bought at pawnshop has lasted me almost 7 years though.

Just purchased a Rigid combo Kit. Plenty of power but I've got a few problems with it:

Drill is way too heavy for using as an every day screw gun. I don't touch a regular screwdriver for anything if I dont have to and this thing is a beast.

Sawzall has a VERY inconvenient safety button you you have to press before starting the cut. You have to push it in with your trigger finger which needs to be on the trigger to start the dam#%* thing.

The charger is the size of Texas!

I've mentioned it in another thread, but I'll repeat myself. I use a cordless drill as a screwdriver evey day to save wear & tear on my wrists. I like 12-volt models because they're lighter. I recently got a Panasonic with 3.5 Ah Ni-MH batteries. It has plenty of power, a nice chuck with good settings, and the batteries last all day.

A co-worker recently got a Makita 18-volt & he complained it was only 2 Ah. I said "You get what you pay for". I suspect the real power is in the amps, which I've used to measure in corded tools rather than horsepower.

Dave

Panasonic products have been good for me,but the lack of a local dist. when the time came for the need of a battery,would be a problem. Does anybody use the Milwaukee 2.4V. screwdriver? For light duty applications they are wonderful.

Joe Carpenter is right about varying qualities of DeWalt tools sold in retail stores according to my hubby who is a sales guy/ass't manager at a supply company. They sell a lot of DeWalt and a little of everything else. When we walk past the DeWalt displays at Lowe's and Home Depot, hubby always picks up and handles and checks the specs for the cordless tools. The construction & other crews he sells to are pretty demanding of their tools and keep coming back with good reports so perhaps there's a significant difference in quality compared to the orange or blue box versions.