Tool Recommendations

[trea]

What's up,

Can someone recommend some nice tools to have on hand? I live in apartment, so table saws and big guns like that are out. Specifically, I was looking for a nice rechargeable drill. My Black and Decker recharge went up, so I can't recharge the battery or use the drill. I really liked that drill. I also heard that Black and Decker were not the better drills. Please advise.

[rugar20]

for the money i really like my craftsman 19.2 v and the better part about those is that they sell circular saws and a bunch of other tools that use the same batteries

[Geoff]

i have had good luck with the Ryobi cordless kits. the drill is a must. the small 5" circular saws are great also for working with acrylic and most wood.

a good carpenters square and some clamps are also helpfull for making long straight cuts. i had a long aluminum clamp fence that i used for many years for cutting long boards. it worked ok. nothing beats a table saw, but sometimes you just have to make do with what you have and the aluminum clamp fence will get the job done.

a jig saw is also handy. this actually comes before the circular saw in priority, but they both cut differently so both are a good thing to have.

G~

[trea]

Thanks. I have heard of Craftsman. Not sure I heard of Ryobi. I hear a lot people say great things about Dewalt.

[crvz]

I've got a lot of dewalt tools (jig saw, scroll/circular saw, recipricating saw, corded and cordless drills, hand sanders) and like them quite a bit. In terms of DYI, a jig would probably be the most versatile, but a circular saw is a very nice to have if you're ripping sheets of material. Cordless saws are very limited on battery power, and I'd recommend getting corded hardware.

[tjp]

for the money I like the craftsman 19.2 v myself, Dewalt is great but i don't use the tools that much so spending that kind of money isn't worth it.
I got my craftsman 19.2 v set on ebay used for about $120.00 with 3 batts.

[storrisch]

I would not use ryobi at all....cheaply made. Dewalt is starting to go downhill since their popularity peaked. Personally I would only buy either Rigid for their lifetime warranty. I also love Makita's tools.

[Goldstripe]

I just got one of those Hitachi 18v Lithium Ion hammer drills for christmas. I've been using it a ton lately around the house with good results anchoring tap cons into concrete. I really like how much lighter these batteries are than the standard NiMH or NiCd types. The warranty on the drill and batteries is 5 years so that's a plus. At the time, Lowes was offering a $50 gift card rebate and Hitachi was offering a free 18v Li Ion impact wrench rebate for this purchase so it worked out great. This is my second Hitachi tool, the other was a 12" LCD compound miter saw. They gave me a free brad nailer for that one. You may be able to snag something free if you go with Hitachi. Check out their website

One other note. If you have a Costco membership, go get the Kawasaki drill kit they sell. for $40 you get the drill, 2 batteries, charger, and some bits. When the batteries die on it, it will go in the garbage. For $40 you can't beat it for a throwaway drill. It has horrible torque compared to my Hitachi but it's still good for pre-drilling holes driving short screws, etc.

[frankandmaura]

I would look for one of those sets...for about $200 or $250, you can get a nice set with a cordless drill, a small saw, flashlight, etc...usually they are like about 5-6 pieces. Most of the big manufacturers (Dewalt, Makita, Craftsman, Ryobi, etc...) make them.

[crvz]

Hitachi and Makita is great, also. And regarding that Ryobi comment, their table saw sent me to the ER. Granted, it was more my fault, as I erroneously assumed their fence would be parallel to the saw blade, but kick-back is not that much fun (unless your in the mob). Anyways, their drills are fine, but I'd make sure you know what you're getting when it comes to some of their more complicated equipment.