Now without all the comments:



Choosing a portable power tool

Choice of power tool is a topic that comes up for discussion at
regular
intervals on uk.d i y.
Opinions do vary.



The main buying policies are explained.

What do *you* mean by DIY?

DIY will mean
different things to different people. For some it will be about
saving
money, for others it may be a relaxing hobby, or building their own
house!

It is safe to say that the tool you purchase with the expectation
that
it will love in a cupboard for 362 days of the year, may well be very

different to the one with which you indulge your hobby of fine
furniture
making five days a week.

Class of tool:

A wide range is available, sometimes covering the range from =A35 to
=A3300.


Budget tools

It is not uncommon to find exactly the same
tool available under several different "brands" where the only
difference is the label and the colour of the case.

Getting any after
sales service and spares for these tools can be difficult or
impossible,
but also not important, since a new tool is generally cheaper than a
repair anyway.

Often the retailer may offer more attractive warranty terms to
mitigate
some of these limitations.

Although a long warranty may seem attraction remember that you
may need to factor in the cost of your time should frequent trips to
the
shop be needed to acquire a warranty replacement.

High End tools

There will be a service and support
network that will enable tools to be repaired, and spare parts
obtained.
Needless to say this backup and support has to be paid for in higher
tool prices.

Mid Range tools

The mid range can be even more confusing since it can encompass tools

from the "edges" of both categories above - often with the
range of
tools available under one brand spanning a good proportion quality
and
price range available. It is also an area with a large number of
suppliers, sellers, and advertisers, each competing for your money.

Where should I buy from?

Many tools are available from a wide range of sources including the
big
name DIY shop, to the specialised independent tool supplier. A
growing
market sector is the dedicated "online" seller.
Argos is also useful.

For easy availability of budget and mid range tools, it is hard to
beat
the big DIY shops.

If you want the best and most knowledgeable advice
and after sales service you will need to seek out a dedicated tool
merchant,
or uk.d-i-y.

If you are looking for the best possible price the online shop
will often give it to you.

There are cases where a average quality tool purchased from an above
average retailer will offer some of the benefits and after sales care

that usually only comes with much higher price tools.

The purchasing factors

Assuming you have dismissed hiring a tool,

that might be worth a paragraph actually, since it is often an option
in peoples minds, though not one I'd often encourage.


there are some are obvious
factors like features of the product and its price that you will
consider before you buy, but some are more subtle. For any given
purchase you will need to weigh up these factors, since they may
often
be different for each tool you buy.

1) Tool features
2) Purchase Price
3) Availability of spares and support
4) Tool quality (and quality of results achievable with it)
5) Total cost of ownership (factoring in your time to buy and
maintain
the tool, cost of spares etc)
6) Comfort of use (Not only ergonomic design, but also factors like
weight, noise, vibration, effective dust collection)
7) Speed of operation
8) Availability of suppliers (and service where applicable)
9) How much you anticipate the tool will be used
10) How long you need it to last
11) Brand image

Buying policies:

The disposable tool

For a single job, a cheap disposable tool is often the lowest cost
option, cheaper and more convenient than hiring.


Almost any DIY shop will have a suitable supply of tools. The down
side
it that the quality of the tool compared to a hired one may be
inferior
since the hire shops will typically buy top end tools so as to get
the
best life out of them, make sure they stand up to the abuse dolled
out
in unskilled hands, and to keep their trade customers happy!

yes, but by the time you get it its probably f---d. This is a real
problem with hired tools; if youre travelling to a job, try the tool
out before you go.

The tool
may also be less comfortable to use, achieve lower standard of
results,
and take longer. Finally, you either need to store or otherwise
dispose
of the tool when the job is done.

The second hand tool

Don't dismiss this option! Sometimes places like hire shops will
sell
off surplus tools. If you can find one that has not been hammered to
the
edge of its useful life

why else would they sell them? Even the stuff theyre hiring out can be
like that.


this can be a way of picking up a top quality
tool for not much money.

The buy to try approach

If youre not sure how much youll use a tool, a budget one will enable
you to try one, and find out what things to look for if you do want to
upgrade later.


The "buy several" approach

The own brand tool may not offer the reliability and performance of a

more expensive tool. However the price is often such that some people

advocate buying more than one of each tool, often for the less than
the
price of a single better tool. Should a tool fail, you simply discard
it
and switch to its replacement and carry on working. (The same policy
can
actually be applied to any type of tool in any price range if it is
important that you can carry on working, not just the "DIY shop
special", Even expensive tools bought for business use may fall
into
this category).

You can have several tools "on the go at once". With things like
drills
this may equate to faster working since you will not need to stop to
swap between say a drill bit and a screwdriver bit, just pick up a
different tool.
On some jobs that can save ages.


You need to balance this with the fact that the money spent on two
tools
may buy one of better quality, which may outlast the two cheaper
ones,
give better results, and be nicer to use. Also you will need more
storage space if you have several of each!.

The mid range choice

A wide range of brands and qualities. Individual brands may make tools
of significantly varying quality.

Bear in mind if tempted, and many are, that megapacks of drill bits
bundled with tools can be junk in some cases.

Mid range tools are often well suited to the less intensive user. The

results and quality of work that can be produced will often be higher

than with lower end tools, and some after sales service and support
may
be available

frankly I regard that as more of a millstone. I dont like the downtime
and aggro that accompanies repairs.

(this is often true where the manufacturer sells tools in
several ranges (like B&D or Bosch for example). You have ready
availability of tools and lots of competition keeps prices low. You
may
find that the quality, comfort of use, speed etc, may still be
lacking.
yes, and it can be pretty good too. Quality varies.


The "top quality" approach

Sometimes only the best will do. If the work you want to do demands
the
highest quality of finish, or you want the utmost comfort and ease of

use from your tools then this might be the approach for you. You can
expect tools in this category to stand up to intensive every day use,

even for "trade" purposes. Reliability should also be better than
the
other groups, and spares and after sales service should be readily
available.
if sometimes pricey

Ideally suited to the serious DIYer, the tradesman and
craftsman. You will be getting the smoothest operation resulting in
good
finish and low operator fatigue, with good finesse of control. If you

have a habit of being a bit "heavy handed" with your tools then
remember
these were designed to be used and abused on building sites!
Sometimes
there is just the satisfaction in using and owning "the best"

The tools are going to be more expensive, and are more likely to be
stolen if not carefully looked after! Note also that just because
repair
services are available there may be down time waiting for repairs to
be
carried out.

Yes, and I think that needs serious emphasis, it is a real problem with
decent tools. It can put people out of action for 1-2 weeks. This is
where budget backup tools come in, even cheap old sht can get the job
done.


Mains or Cordless

Over recent years the number of cordless (i.e. battery powered) tools

available has grown enormously. In many cases available power is but
an
extension lead away and so you may not "need" a cordless tool.
There are
some items (drills / powered screwdrivers notably) for which the
cordless tool is desirable as a class of its own - often in addition
to
a mains equivalent. If in doubt as to whether to go cordless (for
things
other than drills) you are probably better sticking to mains.

There are a few "givens" with cordless tools: they cost more, and
will
often deliver less power than a similar price / size mains tool,

always, and much less. Its inevitable. Codless is a feature you will
pay for. To make codless tools affordable, heavy compromises are made.
They have to be. Codless tools are rated in volts instead of watts
precisely because they are not comparable, and they dont want to tell
you how big the difference is. This is getting into what I'm properly
qualified in.

Take a circ saw for example: the motor power is so much lower that
other compromises are made to squeeze acceptable performance. The blade
has larger tooth spacing to speed up cut, though it gives a rougher
finish. The blade may be thinner to reclaim some lost cut speed, but
you will then have a much weaker blade, and one with a less clearance
from cutting edge to blade body, making jams much more likely. And you
still have lower cut speed after all that, and poor duty cyle as well.

Take a codless scerwdriver: expect a fraction of the power, far lower
top speed in order to reclaim some of the lost torque, often cheap
plastic gears to trim the price, low duty cycle motor to trim price,
and low duty cycle batteries.

This isnt some personal pet issue, there is a big difference, and the
mfrs try to disguise it as much as poss. You only need look at the
sizes of the motor in mains vs codless drill to realise just how much
difference exists. Electronics is my subject.

The other difference is tool life. In short, only buy codless when you
specifically want the codlessness, or only expect light duty use with
slower and more limited abilities.


and if
you use them infrequently then they will be flat when you want to use
them!
i make it a rule to recharge after every job, no matter how little its
been used.

There is also a huge range of difference between the best and the
worst
examples. The worst cordless tools are virtually useless. The best
can
be used as non stop work horses.

The single biggest influence on the quality and usability of a
cordless
tool are its batteries and their charger. It is simply not possible
to
purchase good quality rechargeable cells at very low cost. Many
budget
cordless tools are sold at a price that is less than the wholesale
cost
of a decent set of batteries. So
..=2E.in most cases everything has to give, to try to get acceptable
price.

The quality of
the batteries will affect how long it runs, and the power or torque
available. The quality of the charger will affect how long the
batteries
take to charge, and more importantly, how many times you can recharge

and still get useful performance from the tool. Batteries will need
replacement eventually. With a budget tool this will usually be a non

economic exercise (assuming spares are available), with a higher end
tool it may well be more expensive than you expect.

Whereas midrange mains kit usually lasts decades.

One can repack the batteries with sub-c cells oneself for way less
money.

A good one will deliver lots of torque and control,
even at low speeds. The poorer ones will only deliver torque at high
speeds which is far less useful.

Are more "volts" better?

The more volts,
the more cells, the bigger and heavier the tool will be. If you want
a
nimble easy to use drill/driver this is not a "good thing". Then
we come
down to quality of batteries again: a top end 14.4V drill will out
perform a 18V or 24V budget tool for just this reason, while being
smaller and lighter into the bargain.


Which brand is which?

Bear in mind opinions do vary to some extent:

Budget brand tools:

NuTool, JCB, Many DIY shop "own brand tools", Power Devil, Ferm
kinzo, challenge, silverline,

Mid range tools

Bosch (green bodied), Black & Decker, Skill, Wicks own brand (grey
bodied), Freud, PPPro (B&Q), Ryobi

'Skil' I think it is. Not sure tho.

And why did someone call their tools 'peepee pro'??

I cant remember if it was erbaurer or ryobi that kept getting slated as
the worst of all brands by the woodwork reviewers.


High End

Makita, Trend, Bosch (blue bodied), Hitachi, Festool, Fein, Lamello,
Freud, Elu, Metabo, DeWalt, Atlas-Copco/Milwaukee, Panasonic



All about Different Tools

The following section lists lots of tools, why you may want them, and

highlights specific things to look for that are particular to the
tool.

[feel free to jump in here guys and gals and provide some sections!
-
this could go on a bit]


The jigsaw

Budget jigsaws suffer from blade bend, twist, misalignment, wander, and
blade snapping due to bending sideways during work. They must be
steered by twisting to keep them in line, using them agaunst a straight
edge will simply break the blade. Cutting is slow, the cut edge a mess,
and expect blade breakages.

simpler to treat these as two separate types of tool:

The budget / mid range jigsaw:

Ideal for cutting curved lines, (indeed without practice, that may be

the only type you can cut!). If you need to cut out shapes, (i.e.
hole
for a sink in a worktop), or make some ornate woodwork this may be
the
tool for the job. If you need a jigsaw then there are few
alternatives,
there are some jobs that only a jigsaw will do. The speed of cut is
relatively slow (ones with pendulum action will cut faster (and
rougher)). The tools are pretty small and light. They are often a bit

uncomfortable to use since you get a fair bit of vibration. They are
not
suited to being a general purpose saw (a circular saw will often be a

better choice). The quality of the cut is moderate, and will need a
fair
amount of sanding etc prior to finishing if it is to be on display.

Features worth having include tool less blade change (sometimes
called
SDS just to confuse), an illuminated cutting line is nice, as is a
dust
blower that keeps the cutting line clear of sawdust.

The high end jigsaw

This will do all of the things the budget one will do. However it is
a
far more general purpose tool. It cuts quickly and smoothly with
little
or no vibration. It is much better at cutting straight lines, and can

often be used with a straight edge or rip fence without the blade
wandering to "interesting" angles. Tool less blade change is a
given, as
is a good speed controller. The base plate will be a solid cast
metal
rather than a flexible pressed steel one. With a fine or medium blade
it
will also give a very fine finish to a cut.


The Drill

The SDS Drill

SDS drills operate in 3 modes:
drill
drill and hammer
hammer only, no rotation.

Descriptions routinely fail to mention which functions the machine
does. Beware, many dont do all 3.

Look for:
sensible weight, ie 2.2kg not 5kg
one that does all 3 functions!
a brand name that will survive
chisel position lock when used in hammer mode.

SDS Downsides:
Sds drill bits are several times the price.
Cant put hex bits in an SDS chuck


The Sander

so many types... a whole faq in itself probably.


The Circular Saw

Many Low cost circs do a fairly good job. Avoid power devil, have had
problems with the blade guard. Low priced laser line ones often have an
unalignable laser line.

Avoid that 1970s one for =A31, it has no riving knife and no blade
guard, both dangers, and performance best described as pathetic.


The Planer

there is a technique needed for electric planes, and not everyone gets
the hang of it. When going onto the workpiece, all th weight needs to
be put on the front end of the plane. When coming off, all weight
should be on the rear end. Otherwise you'll gouge lumps out at one end
or the other.

There is no blade guard, the blade is still spinning when the motor
noise has stopped, and the lightest touch can take a finger off, so
always treat with respect, never get cocky.


The Router

The Biscuit Jointer

The Reciprocating Saw

The Mitre Saw

Low cost ones suffer from:
plastic bases that bend out of alignment as you press the workpiece
down
poor blade that can burn the wood
imperfect alignment all round
failure to extract dust

Avoid the uncommon rock bottom ones that use a steel tipped blade. Such
blades cut slow and dull fast.

Check the dimensions of cut are adequate for your uses.

Prices: =A326-=A3400.


I wonder if its worth mentioning the old hammer drill tricks used in
the days of non-hammer drills? Occasional diyers may only have non
hammer types, even today.


NT