should i buy into 2 diferent cordless manufacturers

hi there.  my name is alan

im a carpenter but do a wide variety of home improvement jobs.

I currently have bought into the dewalt 18 volt line and have

drill

impact

angle grinder

sds

jigsaw

vacuum cleaner

1st fix nailer

4  4 ah batteries

2 chargers

I would like to own more of the dewalt gear like the multi tool, 90 degree drill, radio ,lights, skill saw, usb charger, recip saw, 2nd fix nail gun when its out, and probably a few I forgot

I occasionally work on sites where power is very limited or non existent. usually sparks are rearranging so its disconnected . some times they turn it on and off so I wouldn’t trust the power not to ruin my batteries

I have used a 4 of my 4 ah batteries in one day

I have enough now but if I buy more tools I will need more batteries

I have been thinking that if I buy into Makita’s 18 volt line I could buy even more tools

like the sander, planer,36volt skill saw and 36volt sds that use 2 18volt batteries and a few extra

if I bought into the Makita 18 volt line and bought 4   5ah batteries  and 2 chargers or a double charge

I could buy the Makita specific tools and some of the ones I would buy from dewalt. this would keep the batteries in use when im not using some of the more specific tools.

I might also buy an impact +drill set (to get the batteries  and tools cheaper ) and use those instead of the dewalt ones. that would leave my dewalt batteries out of the impact most of the time and allow me to use them on other tools

what should I do

I am at the point that if I buy more dewalt tools I need more batteries  so im not swapping all the time.

I worked out the cost roughly and its about the same which ever way I go.

I would end up with more tool choices going with both but then I need two chargers have to think about what is where etc.

then there is  bosch  think about great tools but  missing a few key tools to win me over

then Milwaukee, great tools but most of their line up is for plumbers or mechanics

what would you recommend

thanks alan

T hunk it’s a personal choice. I do own tools from a few different companies. But that being said, I prefer dewalt and would say go all in.

Oh yeah welcome to the forum

thanks for the welcome.

I would like to stay with one company but I would really like the planer, sander, biscuit jointer, 90 degree impact and 36volt skill saw

what is really holding me back is the lack of charge indicator on the batteries. I use that on all my dewalts every day

Welcome to the forums Alan, I like to stay with 1 company however I am a firm believer that not all companies make everything perfectly so in saying that I’m not shy to have different company tools….

Need some picture of your collection. Just curious r u located outside us. 1st clue is your 18v is our 20v., just guessing since u mentioned battery indicator.

Welcome to the forum Alan!! I’m a big Dewalt fan and I tried to stay only Dewalt I have a lot of there 20v line and love it and I also have a m18 right angle impact wrench that I got for Christmas from some some special friends here in T.I.A and man I gotta say I’m lovin the m18 line so much 2 that I even added a blower to the collection something Dewalt hasn’t brought out…yet and as for my 12v line I have milwaukee and there also great. Milwaukee and makita do have more specialty tools that I would love to c in the Dewalt line, supposedly this year is gonna be team yellows year for new innovation so u might wanna hold on for a couple more months and see what Dewalt brings out ,right now I feel that I have the best of both worlds but that also means I’m gonna need more batteries for m18 line and I know it’s gonna get a lil pricey for me as batteries are not cheap in either line U go with. Damn u DAN and Eric!!lol!!!

Hey Alan, I’ve got several brands in my shop…even a Ryobi (air strike brad nailer – awesome). I’ve also got a Black + Decker 20v Autosense drill that I ABSOLUTELY love. One of the guys here commented on a pic I had posted of my B+D next to my T15+3 and Ti15 from Festool. I’ve got a Dewalt 20v hammer drill and circular saw and a coup,e of (that’s about to change….thanks Eric and Dan!) M12 tools. I tried staying with one brand and realized for the multitude of DiY projects and hobby woodworking projects calls for more lines. But then again, I’m not a pro like you so really you have to figure out that sweet spot that works for you!

im in ireland

when do dewalt (and Makita)release their new tools.

I probably wont buy too much for a while but I would like to know what my plan is. if im staying dewalt I can buy another battery now instead of waiting

Generally Alan, Dewalt, Makita, FESTOOL (For Pete sake)…even Milwaukee and Bosch hit the other side of the pond before they come here sometimes by a couple of years!

I’d try Makita and Dewalt (UK) sites for current releases.

thanks Chris.

im really torn. last week I had to plane a few doors in a big old office building that was being moved into that were not fitting correctly . nothing major but it took longer to set up the cable and planer than it did to plane the door. you know the craic a door here  another upstairs , 2 downstairs, one on the shed etc. a cordless planer would have saved me  an hour or more finding sockets and moving around . I then had to sand any sharp edges off. another job a cordless sander would have saved a lot of hand sanding ( I wasn’t setting up my festool sander and vac just for that

Well I’m not speaking from experience but…I’ve heard the Makita LXT 18v Planer and the Bosch 18v planer are both fantastic tools. Two very respectable lines to say the least. Plus getting into another line gives you so many other options.

What’s the situation with the 18v DeWalt tools over there? Over here, they claim that the 18v stuff will be going away (though the big box store still carry a ton of it) and the 20v Max stuff is the future, I dunno.

I’m not exactly a good person to seek advice from… I just bought into my third battery platform (M12 and M18 Milwaukee, 18v Makita LXT, and would not be at all surprized that buy summer was into the Ingersol Rand 20v (and possible 12v) IQv systems… If I were starting over, I’m not sure but what I might just go with the Makita stuff. The only thing they seem to be lacking is a super-mondo heavy duty impact wrench. They sure seem to be stepping up their game lately, with the Godzilla drill and more impact drivers than you can shake a stick at…

It sucks but it seems like your never going to get perfect 100% coverage of cordless power tools. One brand has a tool you want, and the brand you have seems to have no interest in making one. I just don’t see Milwaukee making tools like a cordless biscuit joiner. Also tools like a cordless nailer I’m not sure about.

We’ll never get 100% tool coverage from 1 brand 😀  Too bad…

Having 2 different charger isn’t the worst yet tho 🙂

Makita does indeed have some very specialty cordless tools 🙂

The biscuit joiner, planer, 36V rotary and 36V cirk saw work like a charm tho 😀

welcome to the forum man

BK13 wrote:

What’s the situation with the 18v DeWalt tools over there? Over here, they claim that the 18v stuff will be going away (though the big box store still carry a ton of it) and the 20v Max stuff is the future, I dunno.

 

I’m not exactly a good person to seek advice from… I just bought into my third battery platform (M12 and M18 Milwaukee, 18v Makita LXT, and would not be at all surprized that buy summer was into the Ingersol Rand 20v (and possible 12v) IQv systems… If I were starting over, I’m not sure but what I might just go with the Makita stuff. The only thing they seem to be lacking is a super-mondo heavy duty impact wrench. They sure seem to be stepping up their game lately, with the Godzilla drill and more impact drivers than you can shake a stick at…

I believe that the 18V (lithium ion) in Ireland (and the rest of the world for that matter) is the same as the 20V max here in the US..    “20v max” is just marketing to target dumb Americans, haha, its actually just 18v like everything else.      so unless he has the older stem style  18v batteries (non slide pack) then he has dewalts most current line.  

Alan,   I am a remodeling contractor who does all my work on site so i like to keep everything as similar as possible.  i have different lines for 18v and 12v but they require different batteries anyway so i didnt feel stuck to one brand. 

I use Makita 18v (have a fairly sizable collection) and am really happy with the durability and vast options.  It sounds like they have everything you want. also its great that you can get into the 36v line with the same battery packs as the 18v

supposedly dewalt is going to be releasing a bunch of new tools this year, maybe a cordless sander but i doubt things like the biscuit or planer.. 

I dont think its the worst thing to have two lines..  hows the used tool market over there?  you could always buy into Makita now and then sell off the dewalts over time as you build to a makita only line..

Makita seems to have woken up the last year with some very impressive new tools. and only more things coming out in 2015  =)  

kornomaniac wrote:

Makita seems to have woken up the last year with some very impressive new tools. and only more things coming out in 2015  =)  

any specifics you want to share that we dont already know about ?!?!  🙂

yes the 20 volt line the us has is the  same as the 18 volt line everywhere has.

I have (but retired ) the old NiCad batteries. I wore out my impact and the batteries were loosing charge.

I have the new lithium ion line up.

I must post a pic of my collection

I don’t think the used tool market is any good. I wouldn’t trust the tools.

I wouldn’t leave the dewalt line because of the 1st fix nail gun and 2nd fix on the way. also their jigsaw and multi tool are reviewing better than the makita

I buy what I need if a brand don’t make it or their attempt is poor I will buy a different brand…….I prefer Milwaukee but that doesn’t mean I don’t like the others also……

Alan m wrote:

I don’t think the used tool market is any good. I wouldn’t trust the tools.

I wouldn’t leave the dewalt line because of the 1st fix nail gun and 2nd fix on the way. also their jigsaw and multi tool are reviewing better than the makita

I was more thinking that you could sell your dewalts as you replaced them with makitas to help offset the price of the new tools not to buy used tools yourself. 

Makita does have a few guns but i dont think their lineup is as good as others.. i know they make a framing gun (i think this is what you refer to as first fix) and i think they have a new 18ga brad nailer in the works BDN500  but i dont know anything about it and it is quite the ugly little guy!

also they have a few new brushless jigsaws on the way which should be here sooner than later

i can understand how your reluctant to have two brands but i say go for it.. the efficiency of having the right tools for the job will far out weigh the inconvenience of having two battery styles to deal with.. 

Brushless jigsaws have bene out here for a few months.  In all honestly they are ALOT better then any previous brushed cordless models.  Dewalt’s / Bosch’s do not compare really 🙂

I used lots of Makita tools back in Germany when i helped a friend’s business start up. Now im here in the states and i have mainly bosch. Here and there some dewalt accessories; milwaukee impactor from TIA, maybe i get more red stuff

NERemodeling wrote:

I believe that the 18V (lithium ion) in Ireland (and the rest of the world for that matter) is the same as the 20V max here in the US..    “20v max” is just marketing to target dumb Americans, haha, its actually just 18v like everything else.      so unless he has the older stem style  18v batteries (non slide pack) then he has dewalts most current line.  

Yeah, I knew that, but my post was getting long and wordy already, and I have a hard enough time paying attention when I’m writing stuff, I can only imagine how boring it is for someone else to read.  😳

What I was trying to ask is if the stem packs were still big there or if the slide packs had taken over

some people still have the older style batteries and there were sets still for sale up to  2years ago if not closer. you can still buy the finish nailer with the older batteries

when the new style came in the older style petered away. you can still buy the batteries but they are too expensive. more than the new style

I was talking with my dealer yesterday. he says dewalt have no plans to have a cordless sander and planer. that’s what the rep told him.

he said the nail gun will be here in august . so happy days

looks like I can start creating a Makita line up

first up would be the 36volt saw. then the sander and planer

hopefully when the slack start of the year is over I can buy all before me

You’ll be happy with those tools =)

The makita 36V is probably the most interesting cordless saw available on the market today.

Planer is a nice piee of kit !

Sander is a more unique cordless tool you won’t find that much 🙂