School me on power tools

For higher end tools, we use mostly Bosch tools for our metal shop and they are bullet proof.

i don't think she will be shooting at her tools

another vote for the makita drill, impact set. shits mad dope and will screw the living shit out of whatever you are workin on. as for skill saws, are you lookin for a battery operated or chord?

For minor handyman/woman work,any of the big name brands will do.they are all pretty much the same product these days.Don't pay attention to gimmicky features like laser guides,they never stay aligned anyways.Watch the sales flyers for what you need.

FWIW,Dewalt used to have a reconditioned shop at 1st and Boundary. I used to buy a lot of my stuff there when I was doing a lot of fabricating and burning out an angle grinder and drill every week.

Dewalt 18v ni-cad cordless drill and impact gun. Usually go on sale for $200 for the pair with two batteries. Heavy but you will never buy another set. If corded skill saw, Makita 7 1/4" goes for around $100. Best bang for your buck hands down. If cordless….don't bother, all garbage.

default sucks, I hate their tools apart from drywall guns.
makita for the cordless drills/impact guns. ~$450 for a set though, I've got the 18V 3.4MaH kit, it rocks.
cordless skillsaw? waste of time unless you're doing siding or trim way the hell up on a building where there's no power.
Just buy a makita corded one for ~$150.
mastercrap tools suck if you're using 'em for industrial application, they just don't last.
ridgid's are ok, but they have several different lines, the difference is plastic vs brass bushings in the internal workings, and the difference in price/quality is noticable.
Ryobi is pure suck.

I have Dewault, Makita, Milwuakee and Snap-on For cordless drills and impact stuff my Milwaukee and snap on stuff rank about the same I use them everyday working on Buses. Had the dewault and makita they worked great for about 1 year of heavy use but then were retired.

any of the makita, milwaukee, bosch, dewalt or hitachi will be good and i'd highly recommend getting the kits/tools with lithium-ion batteries. the best place to get the stuff is summit tools in burnaby, they always have the best deals.

the most important thing to do is determine what you'll be doing with the tools, as each brand has it's own strengths and weakness.

overall, i'd say dewalt as they have the greatest selection of cordless tools available and they have a service centre locally on the southeast corner of boundary and 1st ave.

definitely buy one of the 18v combo packs, if you decide later on you need more power tools, most of the major brands (makita, dewalt, milwaukee) sell their 18v tools seperately (without a charger [HTML_REMOVED] battery).
You get the tool for basically half price and you're not stuck with a closet full of unused chargers.

This is one of the reasons i went with makita, they have a huge range of 18v tools available as tool only,
everything from drills to saws to mini-vacs to lanterns etc. Hell, they even have a cordless vibrator!!

KMS Tools in coquitlam has an excellent selection and they always have stuff on sale

I'd say look at getting a kit http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CatalogSearchResultView?D=980420[HTML_REMOVED]Ntt=980420[HTML_REMOVED]catalogId=10051[HTML_REMOVED]langId=-15[HTML_REMOVED]storeId=10051[HTML_REMOVED]Dx=mode+matchallpartial[HTML_REMOVED]Ntx=mode+matchall[HTML_REMOVED]recN=172201[HTML_REMOVED]N=0[HTML_REMOVED]Ntk=P_PartNumber
DeWalt is the most bang for buck for the home DIYer. Milwaukee and Makita are
over $100 more for the same tools. I paid $500 for my 18V set in a plastic case
over 2 years ago from HD on Kauai. I got: Impact drill (1/2"), 7 1/2" skill saw, reciprocating
saw, light w/ bendable extension thingy (I though I'd never use, but can't do without), a
charger and three nica batteries.

I'd say look at what you need, see which of the big 3 (DeWalt, Milwaukee or Makita)
has the best deal and get it. I use my cordless stuff 95% of the time. The only
time I use my sawsall, or corded skill is when I'm doing a heavy job (like demo).
If I'm doing repeat cuts I use my chopsaw. From the sounds of it Dawnchairy needs
tools for light use (occasional jobs), for that IMO cordless are the way to go….grab
a tool and go, no extension cords etc to deal with.

Hitachi! Expensive but great product.

Yeah, all my power tools are hitachi, It's taken me a while waiting until I find them on sale and what not, but they've all worked perfectly so far, and haven't let me down once. I sliding compound miter saw is particularly nice

Makita or Milwaukee.

You can find either of these brands on sale regularly, and they are solid tools. Dewalt is a decent brand as well, their batteries never seem to last, nor do their materials unless you're working 100% dry, indoors and no dust.

Hitachi if you can afford it and are needing something super dependable. After burning out drills so much mixing mud I finally sprung for one and it hasn't let me down.

The Ham

This.

Cordless tools come with either lithium ion or nickle cadmium batteries. The li-ion batteries are more expensive but hold a charge much longer, for the average home user this might not be necessary. Dewalt was one of the last companies to use li-ion batteries and that is why they are cheaper than other brands. If you aren't going to be using these tools every day you really don't need the expensive brands and even some of those have duds in their lines. Read some online reviews before you make your decision.

If you aren't going to be using these tools every day you really don't need the expensive brands.

I think many have lost sight of the OPs question and "why" they need tools. I'm going
on the assumption that they only need some tools for DIY occasional jobs, not work site
stuff. And really, if it's that seldom, then even Ryobi would work if it was cheap enough, no?

It's like recommending a V10 to someone that is going to ride the Galloping Goose
trail where a crappy tire bike would do.

quite happy with my 18v bosch drill, fwiw.

I doubt I am pushing it to the limits though

Today I used a red disc chucked into my black [HTML_REMOVED] decker with a cord to sand some stubborn deck stain ,that thing has to be 35yrs old but still does the job

I also got a cheap jobmate drill with 12V batteries that I inherited from pa after he "moved on"

If you arent using them for work almost anything will work and they last forever