Power Tools & General Tools Recommendations & Advice

Soldato
Joined
9 Apr 2007
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13,595
Treated myself to the top of the range Dewalt combi Drill the 996. It's such a joy to use, no doubt last my lifetime.
Goes well with my impact driver, multi tool and circular saw.
Want the hedge trimmer and strimmer next.
 
Soldato
Joined
26 Aug 2003
Posts
24,265
Treated myself to the top of the range Dewalt combi Drill the 996. It's such a joy to use, no doubt last my lifetime.
Goes well with my impact driver, multi tool and circular saw.
Want the hedge trimmer and strimmer next.

I got one of these for Christmas as all the magic smoke came out of my older brushed one. Do you like it?
 
Soldato
Joined
23 Nov 2019
Posts
3,307
I got this years back, it will be a good investment.
It's basically done an entire house renovation, cut backboxes, chases for all new cabling... great little thing.
Make sure you wear eye protection.

Oh boy this ^ so much this ^. I have a pair of safety specs with an almighty scuff in them from a bit of break-off. I don't think I'd still have a right eye if I hadn't been wearing the protection. The other thing to watch is the position/relative rotation of the handle as it has vents in the side which can blow air at a weird angle if you get your head in the wrong position and thus blow dust up under your specs and into your eyes. I need to find a way to adjust the bit to a set rotation when I put it on chisel action as the bit chuck is locked and the flat-head bits sat at a weird 45degree angle when I last used it. This meant holding the drill in a 45 degree orientation to get a vert+horiz cut pattern and hence the exhaust going right up my face at one point.
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Apr 2007
Posts
13,595
I got one of these for Christmas as all the magic smoke came out of my older brushed one. Do you like it?
Absolutely got it mostly for drilling wood, and small jobs where I don't want to get the SDS drill out.
Had no trouble drilling, 10mm, 16mm, 25mm and a 35mm through solid oak.
 
Soldato
Joined
13 Jun 2009
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My own head
Oh boy this ^ so much this ^. I have a pair of safety specs with an almighty scuff in them from a bit of break-off. I don't think I'd still have a right eye if I hadn't been wearing the protection. The other thing to watch is the position/relative rotation of the handle as it has vents in the side which can blow air at a weird angle if you get your head in the wrong position and thus blow dust up under your specs and into your eyes. I need to find a way to adjust the bit to a set rotation when I put it on chisel action as the bit chuck is locked and the flat-head bits sat at a weird 45degree angle when I last used it. This meant holding the drill in a 45 degree orientation to get a vert+horiz cut pattern and hence the exhaust going right up my face at one point.

Yeah from memory that's what got me too, luckily I was safety squinting.

That's the only drawback of that SDS is the port locations, especially if you're chasing! Shards of brick have a habit of going for the eyes. Now I usually don safety specs, or with a grinder I use safety specs + face shield.
 
Soldato
Joined
13 Jan 2003
Posts
23,677
Yup this will be used for a couple of jobs and then sell it on. I found an einhell for £120, £50 off. 49J will do the job I suspect. I'll put some padding on and gauntlets to help reduce the vibration but at the end of the day it's either long duration low/med level or fast heavier.

Mwahahaha :D
 
Soldato
Joined
26 Aug 2003
Posts
24,265
Absolutely got it mostly for drilling wood, and small jobs where I don't want to get the SDS drill out.
Had no trouble drilling, 10mm, 16mm, 25mm and a 35mm through solid oak.

Glad to hear it. I’ve got a new SDS recently and I also have the 12v compact Dewalt drill that I really like and use for most stuff but there is kind of a middle ground that I wasn’t really covered in and Christmas was coming up so I stuck it on the list.
 
Soldato
Joined
10 Mar 2006
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2,912
Location
Fife
Absolutely got it mostly for drilling wood, and small jobs where I don't want to get the SDS drill out.
Had no trouble drilling, 10mm, 16mm, 25mm and a 35mm through solid oak.

If you don't have a set of Bosch Self Drill wood bits for your rough drill outs you don't know what you're missing. It's so easy!
 
Soldato
Joined
23 Nov 2019
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3,307
Get the 6 bladed helical ones with a tapping screw head. They centre better and cut much more cleanly. I've also got a set of flat bladed ones and they work ok too, but the helical ones seen smoother to use.

I've got them in 20, 22, 25mm diameters. If anyone knows where to get 28 or 30mm versions do let me know
 
Associate
Joined
7 Jul 2003
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1,698
Location
Chelmsford

I used this for the first time today to drill through an exterior wall.

OMG, where has this been all my life :D

It went through the walls so easily, previously I’d drilled through a single brick wall with my 18v DeWalt and it was a struggle, the SDS is so much easier.
I would want to use it all day, but for brick it’s a beast!
 
Soldato
Joined
23 Nov 2019
Posts
3,307
I used this for the first time today to drill through an exterior wall.

OMG, where has this been all my life :D

It went through the walls so easily, previously I’d drilled through a single brick wall with my 18v DeWalt and it was a struggle, the SDS is so much easier.
I would want to use it all day, but for brick it’s a beast!
yeah it's fun isn't it! I had to chop a backbox into a wall that had flint render on it. Tried it by hand with a lump hammer and coal chisel, nothing. Just the odd spark. Used the SDS and it laughed at the flint. Such a great tool.
 
Soldato
Joined
14 May 2007
Posts
2,650
I got a dewalt jigsaw a couple of weeks back its come in quite useful. Going to get a few tsak boxes to go with the ones j have as I've found they're really good quality.
 

JRJ

JRJ

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Joined
21 Oct 2010
Posts
1,343
Treated myself to the top of the range Dewalt combi Drill the 996. It's such a joy to use, no doubt last my lifetime.
Goes well with my impact driver, multi tool and circular saw.
Want the hedge trimmer and strimmer next.

The 996 is an awesome drill and sits nicely alongside the 796 and 887 impact driver, I do like the 997 with the smart speed settings :D
 

JRJ

JRJ

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Joined
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1,343
I got a dewalt jigsaw a couple of weeks back its come in quite useful. Going to get a few tsak boxes to go with the ones j have as I've found they're really good quality.

Which model did you go for, hoping to add a brushless Dewalt jigsaw in the next few weeks?
 

JRJ

JRJ

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21 Oct 2010
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Any recommendation's for a decent but not budget blowing wet tile cutter? Got a few 100m2 to tile so probably more economical to buy and sell on rather than rent, probably looking at replacing my cheap Aldi 4" grinder as well to variable speed to tile with as well.

*Edit oops multi quote didn't work
 
Soldato
Joined
14 May 2007
Posts
2,650
Which model did you go for, hoping to add a brushless Dewalt jigsaw in the next few weeks?

I got this one, i'm not to fussed about it being brushless or not. It's one of those tools i'll use from time to time.

As for the tile cutters.... I've done a fair bit of tiling, i have used a grinder with a bosh tile cutting disc which was ok for the odd tile cut but deffo for no more than that. I tried a jigsaw and that was rubbish. For straight cuts i recommend one of the score and snap ones, although it took a little geting used.
For most of my tiling i used a cheap titan (screwfix own brand) and it was pretty good although like a lot of cheap things didn't have replaceable blades and you could tell when they were getting blunt as it chips a lot of the tile.
Next time i have to do a bunch of tiling i'll likely look to spend a few hundred and get a better one or just pay someone to do it for me lol
 
Soldato
Joined
13 Jan 2003
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23,677
Any recommendation's for a decent but not budget blowing wet tile cutter? Got a few 100m2 to tile so probably more economical to buy and sell on rather than rent, probably looking at replacing my cheap Aldi 4" grinder as well to variable speed to tile with as well.

*Edit oops multi quote didn't work

I have an Ebauer (screw fix) wet tilesaw. It's done a sterling job with hard bathroom floor ties, kitchen floor tiles and backsplash ties. I also have a tile breaker (ie one with a leave and it moves on runners) which gives a cleaner edge but sometimes the saw is better.
It's surface is extendable/adjustable and has a claimable guide rail. The laser thing is ok, but I never use it.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-...c-tile-cutter-220-240v/134fv?_requestid=49832

I have a 4" bosch axel grinder - I have a diamond blade (cut out of bathroom tiles in-situ for a shower) but you don't get the dust control compared to the wet saw.

This was the 4" blade I used for the bathroom tiles: https://www.toolstation.com/abracs-tile-porcelain-diamond-blade/p87878

Impressed with the cut and the speed of the cut.
 
Last edited:

JRJ

JRJ

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Joined
21 Oct 2010
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1,343
I have an Ebauer (screw fix) wet tilesaw. It's done a sterling job with hard bathroom floor ties, kitchen floor tiles and backsplash ties. I also have a tile breaker (ie one with a leave and it moves on runners) which gives a cleaner edge but sometimes the saw is better.
It's surface is extendable/adjustable and has a claimable guide rail. The laser thing is ok, but I never use it.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-...c-tile-cutter-220-240v/134fv?_requestid=49832

I have a 4" bosch axel grinder - I have a diamond blade (cut out of bathroom tiles in-situ for a shower) but you don't get the dust control compared to the wet saw.

This was the 4" blade I used for the bathroom tiles: https://www.toolstation.com/abracs-tile-porcelain-diamond-blade/p87878

Impressed with the cut and the speed of the cut.

Did you use both cutters on porcelain? If so how did they fair?

Is the bosch variable speed?
 
Soldato
Joined
13 Jan 2003
Posts
23,677
Did you use both cutters on porcelain? If so how did they fair?

Is the bosch variable speed?

I don't know if they're porcelain so I'd err on saying no to the porcelain. ". Cuts a variety of materials including ceramic, terracotta, slate and porcelain" according to the marketing blurb. What I do know is that the bathroom tiles are rock hard.

Tile saw disks tend to be square edged and using waterproof tape helps reduce chipping (same as masking tape on the dry cut bathroom tiles), with a tile saw you will get some chipping of the edge - an old manual score and snap will give cleaner edges. However you may find that the grout simply covers that up.

No it's not variable. The Bosch is this one - https://www.toolstation.com/bosch-gws880-115mm-412-angle-grinder/p58377 - the only issues I have (a) the gearbox has leaked a small amount originally and (b) the earth pin on my plug broke off when I dropped it (the pin is plastic). I've cut pacing stones, tile with it - mechanically it's sound, the disks don't move/skip due to shaft movement at all when you start the cut.
 
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