On Saturday, October 18, 2014 8:11:16 AM UTC-5, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

Ryobi seems to have many followers for the reasons you state. One fellow

I know just tosses it every few years and buys a new set of cordless

tools.

Yessir, and I made that reference in an earlier thread somewhere around here. It seems to be a trend. I don't think most "high performance" "professional tools" are worth the money these days. I make a living with my tools so I don't save a dime to spend a dollar, but so many of the more expensive tools we see these days are not much better quality than the home owner varieties it is pathetic.

40 years ago when I saved up to buy a real Milwaukee "hole shooter" it was a big drill. $90 for a corded drill 40 years ago! Used on the job nearly daily for a decade and off and on since then, it still runs. I have worn out more circular saws than I can count from my days as a production house/commercial framer, and then as a contractor. Milwaukees were the top of the heap then. My oldest Milwaukee is around 30 years old, and I finally got tired of rebuilding it with switch, bearings and cord when it came up to $125 or so to do it. But... it still works. My oldest Milwaukee Sawzall with the all aluminum housing and red lightening bolts down the side was my only recip saw for years and years. I bought it in a pawn shop for $50 bucks in the late 70s, and it still goes to the job once in a while when I need it. (It was replaced with a 15amp monster oscillating recip model.)

I wear out tools now, so I always look at performance first, then bang for the buck. If I worked in a shop like Leon and NO ONE ELSE touched, handled or used my tools (rumor has it Karl was allowed to use the Domino machine only under close supervision, then just once...!) I would most likely buy Festool or brands similar and know they would last me the rest of my life.

But I have to balance the price with the fact that my tools might get dropped or knocked off a scaffold or ladder (by me!), be used in the rain, subject to misuse by others, theft, or anything else out of my area of control. On a job, $hit just happens sometimes.

I am hoping that this new Ryobi drill/driver set fills the bill for a while.. I am not really at risk for many dollars, and although now I find I use the impact driver much less than I thought I would it is a handy tool when needed. For its warranty, I almost bough the Rigid 18v li drill, but the handles are just too damn small for my mitts.

Robert