Tool Buying Guide.. (For the Beginner)

Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Power Tools). This thread is read-only.

comp56Member since Sep 2014Mar 11, 2016 10:10 AM CT

Tool Buying Guide….

Tools have been around for a very long time helping people everyday from just being there to show manhood to down right making a living. Everyone has to start somewhere, some people are lucky to have other people in their lives to help with this part of life by showing them the ropes. I’m going to go over a few things you should think about if you are ready to have tools be part of your everyday life for helping with self accomplishment or profit.

There are many brand names available that tend to show off their flagship tools, with ads that tend to make the tougher jobs look simple, that is all well and fine if you have experience with tools but what if you don’t.

If you are ready to dip into the tool world and have very little to no experience here are a few things to think about.

You can start out with basic hand tools like a hammer, tape measure, and a hand saw but now days we all want convenience as well….. so power tools are usually the way to go. Many brands offer corded power tools in pretty much every shape or form but taking a step further are cordless power tools. Now in saying that many brands have most all cordless power tools needed to do almost every tasks.

Some manufactures cater to different area’s of the work force, not all brands offer all kinds of tools in every field, think about what you might want to do with your new tools now and in the future. This is important because it can reflect on what brand to buy into. This without saying there is nothing wrong with buying into more than one brand or battery platform but you may want to do this in the future.

There are also different power in tools mainly in the volts you see advertised. 12V and 18V/20V are the most common, most tool companies offer many tools in both power ratings. These tools are very different in size and power, the 12V options offer adequate power to handle most things with a compact size as well. The 18v/20v versions are usually the power houses of the line of tools offered. So the question is do I need one or the other or both, well this is where it can get tricky, the 18v/20v versions of the tools are not only larger and heavier but usually come with a larger price tag as well. Again it is not wrong to have or want both but if you are just starting out, the larger more powerful 18v/20v is usually the way to go to get started.

Another thing is all the talk about brushed or brushless versions of tools, not all tools are equal not all brands offer all tools in both versions. The newer technology is the brushless tools and they usually come with a higher price. Is the brushless style needed? well not totally. They will however offer slightly more power and battery run time but that is not saying a brushed version is not good.

If you are just starting out most times the best economical way to buy your tools are in combo kits, you will receive multiple tools that are mainly paired up with a drill/driver and an impact/driver,

Note about impact drivers: Although most manufactures introduced the impact driver not all that long ago and deem the new tool to be the drivers of all drivers they don’t play nice with every application. As impact drivers tend to pound or hammer when driving, an impact driver is still a great tool for many applications however for some delicate driving a regular drill will do a better job.

Some of the larger kits will tent to include a reciprocating saw, circular saw along with a light of some kind. These kits generally come with 2 batteries ranging in power ratings of small compact 1.5 ah right up to 5.0ah batteries and a matching charger. You may think I’m never gonna need these extra tools that are included in the kit but when you add up the costs the more in the kit the cheaper the individual tools become, so in saying that once you do own them and you find you don’t use them there is a good chances someone will purchase them from you to help offset the original cost.

Do some research, think about what you will want to do, find a big box store that have these different brands on display so you can get a feel for the tools in your own hands, just like seeing a fancy sports car, it may look great but not always are they comfortable for everyone to drive.

All different tool companies come with all different warranties for their tools, some are very different from one another some are better than others as well. This can reflect on what brand to buy into but it shouldn’t.

I am not going to go into what brand is best or what brand to try and avoid but I would stick to brand names that are known.

I hope this helps by giving you something to think about before jumping into the tools world…..Good Luck!

JimboS1iceMember since Sep 2015Mar 11, 2016 11:50 AM CT

Comp that is well said, great to leave brands out of this guide as well

Jimbo

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Mondo1310Member since Jun 2015Mar 11, 2016 2:39 PM CT

Well said comp. Walking in Home Depot and seeing the sea on tools came be intimidating for a 1st time buyer.

jswoger1986Member since Jan 2016Mar 11, 2016 5:49 PM CT

Brands are like football teams… Gotta love the rivalry but at the end of the day they are all in the same league. Good advice comp

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comp56Member since Sep 2014Mar 11, 2016 8:01 PM CT

thanks guys , ya pinning it would nice….

KnarlyCarlMember since Jan 2016Mar 11, 2016 11:07 PM CT

I know what you’re getting at, and everything is spot on, but i keep thinking of your one post awhile back LOL it was something Like Milwaukee no I don’t want Milwuakee to give you any Milwaukee nudge in any direction Milwaukee toward one brand or Milwaukee another because etc etc haha why do I remember the goofy stuff, but forget my wife’s birthday

JimboS1iceMember since Sep 2015Mar 11, 2016 11:08 PM CT

KnarlyCarl wrote:
I know what you’re getting at, and everything is spot on, but i keep thinking of your one post awhile back LOL it was something Like Milwaukee no I don’t want Milwuakee to give you any Milwaukee nudge in any direction Milwaukee toward one brand or Milwaukee another because etc etc haha why do I remember the goofy stuff, but forget my wife’s birthday

Can’t argue with a guy that has nothing but quality tools and great experience with a brand.

Jimbo

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Dano123Member since Feb 2016Mar 11, 2016 11:37 PM CT

Well said Comp. My most used power tools are my drill, impact, miter and circular saws. My advice starting out is to buy a better quality cordless drill and impact and save a few dollars with a cheaper saw. I have used my $90 HF miter saw for hundreds of cuts over the last 3 years and it still works great.

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comp56Member since Sep 2014Mar 11, 2016 11:50 PM CT

KnarlyCarl wrote:

39 minutes ago, KnarlyCarl said:

I know what you’re getting at, and everything is spot on, but i keep thinking of your one post awhile back LOL it was something Like Milwaukee no I don’t want Milwuakee to give you any Milwaukee nudge in any direction Milwaukee toward one brand or Milwaukee another because etc etc haha why do I remember the goofy stuff, but forget my wife’s birthday

your right, however I wrote the guide directed towards beginners, when I posted the dig about Milwaukee it was among experienced tool users and partly joking….

KnarlyCarlMember since Jan 2016Mar 12, 2016 12:09 AM CT

Yes exactly! And I caught the joking part, it was a given and I hope everyone else took it as such

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LoganMember since Jun 2015Mar 12, 2016 10:15 AM CT

Vary well said

unclebudMember since Dec 2015Mar 12, 2016 10:37 AM CT

Well done Comp. This will help new and experienced tool users.

KnarlyCarlMember since Jan 2016Mar 12, 2016 1:17 PM CT

It may help to put this specific example here as well in saying that impacts are not exactly the answer to all screw driving applications. If someone is expecting to drive in painted exposed fasteners, as I have before, an impact will hammer on the screw, removing a lot of the paint, compared to a regular drill, or even a screwdriver if it’s that particular. I just brought up this example because all the manufacturers push the impact as the answer-all to every driving scenario. Don’t have to get into that mindset that you must have a drill with an impact, the drill was all I was used to growing up, and mostly corded ones at that.

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John GlasseyMember since Jan 2014Mar 12, 2016 1:32 PM CT

Very nice write up Comp! Keep them coming.

John, Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk[emoji848]

JimboS1iceMember since Sep 2015Mar 12, 2016 3:43 PM CT

Yea too back up what Carl said I never had an impact until a few years ago, growing up it was only drills, I knew guys that ran two drills. But the right tool should be used for the right job, I would love to see, other than metabo, an impact that had a clutch like a drill with the settings other than 1,2,3. On my Dewalt the high gear rocks in at 1825 in pounds of torque at over 2000 rpms, just insane and not needed for a lot of stuff. So don’t get caught up in having the biggest and baddest tool on the market.

Jimbo

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comp56Member since Sep 2014Mar 12, 2016 3:50 PM CT

guide edited……

BigmikezMember since Jun 2013Mar 14, 2016 7:49 AM CT

Comp your full of knowledge my friend!

StercorariusMember since Dec 2015Mar 14, 2016 10:38 AM CT

Great write up Comp. Very informative. +1 on what Jimbo and Carl said. I had never even heard of an impact driver until I got my current job and my boss handed me what I assumed was just a small drill and it started clattering and I assumed that I broke his tool. When I worked with my dad growing up we used a corded one speed old Makita drill for any and all screws with the exception of drywall where we nailed it and used a screwgun.

KnarlyCarlMember since Jan 2016Mar 14, 2016 11:48 AM CT

Back to getting a baseline for a beginner to start with, there’s a ton of opinions and viewpoints about any tool you’re looking for. Reviews on YouTube are awesome, I’m a sucker for them, but don’t rely soley on that for accurate information. The real test of a tool is of course the test of time. Thats what consumer product reviews are generally good for. Amazon has them on just about everything, and probably anything you’re looking for has several consumer reviews, good and bad. Just make sure to go through both sides of the story, I usually run through a random couple of reviews on both positive and negative columns to get a feel for a pattern that consumers have noticed about the tool. That way, I dont just have to take one person’s word on it, there are several others to back it up. There might be an aspect on a certain tool someone didn’t like, but it may not be a big deal to you in your mind, and vice versa. As mentioned before, also give your tools a trial run at a retailer before you buy.

And then there’s this forum for advice, if nothing else, we’ll steer you in the right direction!

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99_XC600Member since Jun 2015Mar 14, 2016 1:47 PM CT

Great Write Up Comp!

james mimsMember since Apr 2016Apr 10, 2016 2:18 PM CT

nice write up very good info. def agree about the impact never had one but now that I do idk what would do without it. the place I thought I went to cheap was my miter saw but turns out the Kobalt 10in compound miter saw actually rocks for 180 bucks and cuts like 12 in wide or somethin crazy like that.

Captain ObviousMember since Jan 2017Jan 5, 2017 2:09 PM CT

I’ve gotten my first impact driver in the past year and I absolutely love it! I can’t believe it took me so long to put down the cash for one.

JaybirdMember since Dec 2016Jan 16, 2017 2:21 AM CT

Great advice.

ChrisKMember since Dec 2012Jun 17, 2018 8:31 PM CT

Wow. That’s awesome. First post, link, no permissions……hmmmm……

Video (YouTube)

That’d be…..buh bye.

Sorry for the missing link guys, new member spamming us.

ewcommMember since Aug 2019Aug 21, 2019 9:46 PM CT

This is great, Tony. Huge thanks!

James kellyMember since Aug 2020Aug 22, 2020 6:38 AM CT

This is great, i always use power tools at my work.

EvaMember since Sep 2020Sep 15, 2020 6:28 AM CT

great guide as a beginner it just help alot thanks for sharing🙂

Beatrice_momMember since Jul 2020Sep 22, 2020 3:00 AM CT

The guide is excellent. It is helpful to know the basic concepts of tools. But as for me, it would be necessary to make lists of brands for beginners and advanced users. And also lists of manufacturers by price category. I mean, make lists of brands that are recommended. Because not all of them are great.

James kellyMember since Aug 2020Sep 25, 2020 6:52 AM CT

So many useful information.

MathewMember since Oct 2020Oct 15, 2020 4:36 AM CT

Great thread Comp, also i would like to add Design and ergonomics should be considered along with the Power i.e Variable speed . and type of motors used. should be checked before buying a tool. hope this helps

EvaMember since Sep 2020Feb 13, 2021 5:16 AM CT

great true quality matters thanks for informational guide

TomBanton233Member since Jun 2021Jun 29, 2021 4:10 PM CT

oh wow nice information

FahadMember since Jul 2021Jul 5, 2021 10:17 AM CT

described pretty well. But I guess you should mention some of the brand so that we can choose.

BelliyanaMember since Sep 2021Sep 16, 2021 11:48 AM CT

Thanks for sharing this

supplyvantoolsMember since Mar 2022Mar 25, 2022 2:45 AM CT

Usually, the power tools shopping is quite complicated as it does not come with essential accessories and you need to purchase them individually. As a result, you end up paying more for a power tool than the sticker price. Thus, you should choose a product that includes all the extra essential items, so you can also get the original price and true cost as same. Some tips for purchase power tools check online like True cost, Cord/Cordless, Safety measures and Usage etc.

fyrfytr998Member since Mar 2022Apr 2, 2022 8:55 AM CT

My .02 cents I would like to add to this topic is that not all of a users purchases need to be cordless.

While it is currently all the rage to be on a cordless battery platform. I see a lot of negative reviews on sites that say such and such a tool is no good due to short battery life. Well, if they buy the lowest brushed entry model with a 1.5/2.0ah battery and no fast charge, what do they expect?

I myself recently flubbed an Angle Grinder purchase in an effort to be a cool dude with a brushless cordless tool. I have plenty of batteries and fast chargers to keep going, but it’s still a pain to stop and switch after a period of time. Not only was a corded Angle Grinder in order, but I could have saved myself a few dollars on the purchase as well. Because if I have enough electricity to power the 4 chargers to keep the 5 battery rotation going. I have enough electricity to run a cord and save some time, lol.

So my additional .02 cents would be that if the tool you need has a continuous run time, like an angle grinder or sander, go with a corded model and save yourself some time, money, and wear and tear on your batteries. Batteries do in fact have a limit to the number of cycles they can be recharged.

supplyvantoolsMember since Mar 2022Apr 8, 2022 3:18 AM CT

This tool has a 4 ½ inch grinding disk and a brush less motor that can reach 9,000 RPM and can quickly remove and unwanted material. It features unique air-cooled batteries that can go right in the charger without any cool-down time like many other brands, and each battery charge can last more than five hours.