decently priced power tools

[ticklishbondageboi92]

as the title says, im looking for power tools that are decent and not overly expensive

im going to be renting a industrial unit (covault Livingston) so i got space to make self bondage gear/furniture - ive had a look online and best i can see is the black and decker tools, they seem like a good price but curious to see what others think, i'll be needing a drill(and hole saw bits), circular saw, electric orbital sander, jigsaw and a router - im going to be working with wood, and making things like stocks, bondage platform, st. andrews cross - and maybe more things depending on how those go lol - also happy to consider hand tools

[Shannon SteelSlave]

Harbor Freight has cheap stuff, maybe too cheap. Ryobi, from Home Depot has great stuff, all uses the same lithium battery, since 1996. You can find some great package deals there.

[ticklishbondageboi92]

Harbor Freight has cheap stuff, maybe too cheap. Ryobi, from Home Depot has great stuff, all uses the same lithium battery, since 1996. You can find some great package deals there.

ryobi in the UK is a small fortune, i seen people on eBay selling fake 5amp ryobi battery's, dunno how well they work though - B&Q do a ryobi set for £200 ($250), for that you get a drill driver, impact drill and a circular saw with 1 battery i believe

black and decker do a drill for £35($44) and a saw for £65 ($81) - do prefer the ryobi colours though haha

[Shannon SteelSlave]

Black and Decker had a reputation for being kind of light duty, maybe they are better now. Harbor Freight's Pittsburgh and Bauer tools are only good for like 2.5 jobs before they burn out or break. Good luck and have fun with it. Expect to see lots of your creations.

[ticklishbondageboi92]

Black and Decker had a reputation for being kind of light duty, maybe they are better now. Harbor Freight's Pittsburgh and Bauer tools are only good for like 2.5 jobs before they burn out or break. Good luck and have fun with it. Expect to see lots of your creations.

didnt know that, i might just go with ryobi then, kinda want tools that'll last more then 2.5 jobs lol

and yup i'll post pictures once i make some stuff - it will involve magnets anyways haha - i'll probably list some of my creations on etsy as well to cover part of the unit rent (just for alot cheaper than what fetters sells there stuff for)

[Shannon SteelSlave]

Harbor Freight has cheap stuff, maybe too cheap. Ryobi, from Home Depot has great stuff, all uses the same lithium battery, since 1996. You can find some great package deals there.

ryobi in the UK is a small fortune, i seen people on eBay selling fake 5amp ryobi battery's, dunno how well they work though - B&Q do a ryobi set for £200 ($250), for that you get a drill driver, impact drill and a circular saw with 1 battery i believe

black and decker do a drill for £35($44) and a saw for £65 ($81) - do prefer the ryobi colours though haha

You also want a good sander, angle grinder, hole saw set, large "F" clamps, and a coping saw for the magnet recesses, if you are building stocks. I have built a few, I may post soon about how I do it, but basically, mine don't have little towels around the holes. I prefer to chamfer or round off the hole edges, as I believe those towels just look wrong, I prefer that medieval look that a capture/torture device should have.
Battery life, charge/discharge cycles should always be a concern when choosing tools. I don't think I will ever worry I will have to throw out a Ryobi anytime soon if they have 23+ years of backward compatibility.
Are you planning to paint, stain, or just go natural on the finish?
I hope to see another good DIYer on this site, and don't at all mind helping you come into the right tools. As a new homeowner, I have been seeing what works and what's cool.

[lj]

I personally wouldn't touch Black and Decker. MIght be biased by bad experiences 20 or so years ago but all the tools I have had from them have been short-lived and disappointing in performance - though I still have my Dad's mains powered B&D drill, complete with metal body and handle (no plastic) which still works and must be at least 60 years old!

My choice for tools that keep going would be Hitachi ( drill and screw-driver, both over £100) and Makita - just bought an orbital sander(approx £45) which is excellent, but obviously can't give any comment on life-span, and have a Makita 4-stroke strimmer which is also excellent.

I learnt the hard way that cheap tools are a bad investment - I did use cheap drills, £25 bracket, each lasted about 6 months, one only made it to 3! whereas the Hitachi ones are still going perfectly after 5 years. You can, as they say "do the maths"

[Blacky]

I personally wouldn't touch Black and Decker. MIght be biased by bad experiences 20 or so years ago but all the tools I have had from them have been short-lived and disappointing in performance - though I still have my Dad's mains powered B&D drill, complete with metal body and handle (no plastic) which still works and must be at least 60 years old!

My choice for tools that keep going would be Hitachi ( drill and screw-driver, both over £100) and Makita - just bought an orbital sander(approx £45) which is excellent, but obviously can't give any comment on life-span, and have a Makita 4-stroke strimmer which is also excellent.

I learnt the hard way that cheap tools are a bad investment - I did use cheap drills, £25 bracket, each lasted about 6 months, one only made it to 3! whereas the Hitachi ones are still going perfectly after 5 years. You can, as they say "do the maths"

I've made the same experience with B&D. They do have a heavy duty branch though. If I'm not mistaken it`s named DeWalt (validation required).
Recently i got my hands on a (comparatively) cheap Makita Drill and angle grinder, wich both seem sturdy and do an excellent job each.

In case you intend to build toys for a living you may want to consider Festool as well. Theirs certainly are NOT budget tools. Rather the opposite, but they are, by far, the best tools I ever put my hands on.

There's one more thing to consider: The quality of the tools you use will have an effect on the result you can achieve. This might be of minor importance if you just build toys for your own use, but as soon as you intend to sell your product high quality is an absolute must.

Anyways, just my 2ct.
Kind regards

Blacky

[Shannon SteelSlave]

Friends Blacky and LJ, might I ask your opinion of Ryobi as a budget tool? If I have to be frugal with the less often used tools, are they not a good choice?
Blacky, how is that Makita impact drill? I actually turned that one down for the Bosch for chipping foundation rocks, as I already have 2 angle grinders, and wanted a true $200 impact.
LJ as a master of tools, I appreciate your input as well.
BondageBoi, the least I can say is steer clear of Snap On tools. They are great, but waaaaay over priced, and are often clones of other tools selling for less. They are currently in a lawsuit with Milwaukee over a design similarity with their new 1450 ft.lb. impact 1/2 inch driver gun. Good luck with your tool search and hope we have been helpful.
Shannon salutes you all.

[ticklishbondageboi92]

Harbor Freight has cheap stuff, maybe too cheap. Ryobi, from Home Depot has great stuff, all uses the same lithium battery, since 1996. You can find some great package deals there.

ryobi in the UK is a small fortune, i seen people on eBay selling fake 5amp ryobi battery's, dunno how well they work though - B&Q do a ryobi set for £200 ($250), for that you get a drill driver, impact drill and a circular saw with 1 battery i believe

black and decker do a drill for £35($44) and a saw for £65 ($81) - do prefer the ryobi colours though haha

You also want a good sander, angle grinder, hole saw set, large "F" clamps, and a coping saw for the magnet recesses, if you are building stocks. I have built a few, I may post soon about how I do it, but basically, mine don't have little towels around the holes. I prefer to chamfer or round off the hole edges, as I believe those towels just look wrong, I prefer that medieval look that a capture/torture device should have.
Battery life, charge/discharge cycles should always be a concern when choosing tools. I don't think I will ever worry I will have to throw out a Ryobi anytime soon if they have 23+ years of backward compatibility.
Are you planning to paint, stain, or just go natural on the finish?
I hope to see another good DIYer on this site, and don't at all mind helping you come into the right tools. As a new homeowner, I have been seeing what works and what's cool.

yeh i'll defo need a sander, got some clamps already from car diy's, angle grinder i could probably skip for now, i wasnt going to recesss the magnet, going for something slightly different, finish wise im probadly going to go for painted then leather covering (im a wimp and like to be comfy haha, so around the ankle holes i'd do padding then nail/staple leather around the padding and then glue on little gold/piece circle thingys to hide the staples/nails)

the idea for the magnet is thus, on the side of the stocks that faces me when in them, i was going to put on 2 sections of wood, one on top and one on bottom, secure the magnet on to one part then the solid metal part on the other, so when it closes its got good contact and cant be seen from the other side (which imo looks better in pictures/videos)

ryobi does sound good so as i say i'll go with them, i seen they also do a warranty for 3 years, so that helps haha

i hope to live up to your diy'er expectations - just bear in mind im not a trained wood worker/carpenter/cabinet maker, im a techy - my dads a master joiner though just he doesnt approve of my life choices so i dont think he'd help me build stuff like this lolz, if i wanted to build a shed he'd be there but not for stocks

[ticklishbondageboi92]

I personally wouldn't touch Black and Decker. MIght be biased by bad experiences 20 or so years ago but all the tools I have had from them have been short-lived and disappointing in performance - though I still have my Dad's mains powered B&D drill, complete with metal body and handle (no plastic) which still works and must be at least 60 years old!

My choice for tools that keep going would be Hitachi ( drill and screw-driver, both over £100) and Makita - just bought an orbital sander(approx £45) which is excellent, but obviously can't give any comment on life-span, and have a Makita 4-stroke strimmer which is also excellent.

I learnt the hard way that cheap tools are a bad investment - I did use cheap drills, £25 bracket, each lasted about 6 months, one only made it to 3! whereas the Hitachi ones are still going perfectly after 5 years. You can, as they say "do the maths"

well my saying is, buy cheap, buy twice - i tend to go for a balance of price and quality - i always thought B&D were decent but maybe im wrong, i dont use power tools in any trade capacity, so i dont know whats good and what isnt, hence my post on here

[sweh]

I personally wouldn't touch Black and Decker. MIght be biased by bad experiences 20 or so years ago but all the tools I have had from them have been short-lived and disappointing in performance - though I still have my Dad's mains powered B&D drill, complete with metal body and handle (no plastic) which still works and must be at least 60 years old!

That's the problem with brand names; stuff that used to be excellent would fail to keep their standards. As you've noticed, B&D drills used to be something people would swear by; I remember professional builders and workmen using B&D tools. Now they seem to be something to swear at. Although I've not had a problem with my Workmate, it's definitely lower quality than the one my Dad had 40 years ago!

"Craftsman" (Sears) used to have lifetime warranties and they honoured them; I saw a story where someone accidentally cut a wrench with a blow torch, and Sears replaced it without question! But since the collapse of Sears the stuff sold under that brand name aren't the same.

Indeed, Craftsman, Black and Decker and Stanley are all the same company, now!

But they're still better than anything you'll get from Harbor Freight

[ticklishbondageboi92]

I personally wouldn't touch Black and Decker. MIght be biased by bad experiences 20 or so years ago but all the tools I have had from them have been short-lived and disappointing in performance - though I still have my Dad's mains powered B&D drill, complete with metal body and handle (no plastic) which still works and must be at least 60 years old!

My choice for tools that keep going would be Hitachi ( drill and screw-driver, both over £100) and Makita - just bought an orbital sander(approx £45) which is excellent, but obviously can't give any comment on life-span, and have a Makita 4-stroke strimmer which is also excellent.

I learnt the hard way that cheap tools are a bad investment - I did use cheap drills, £25 bracket, each lasted about 6 months, one only made it to 3! whereas the Hitachi ones are still going perfectly after 5 years. You can, as they say "do the maths"

I've made the same experience with B&D. They do have a heavy duty branch though. If I'm not mistaken it`s named DeWalt (validation required).
Recently i got my hands on a (comparatively) cheap Makita Drill and angle grinder, wich both seem sturdy and do an excellent job each.

In case you intend to build toys for a living you may want to consider Festool as well. Theirs certainly are NOT budget tools. Rather the opposite, but they are, by far, the best tools I ever put my hands on.

There's one more thing to consider: The quality of the tools you use will have an effect on the result you can achieve. This might be of minor importance if you just build toys for your own use, but as soon as you intend to sell your product high quality is an absolute must.

Anyways, just my 2ct.
Kind regards

Blacky

for me, this is more of a hobby/building my own stuff because im tired paying over the odds for fetish furniture lol (i bought a set of portable stocks from MIV 3-4 years ago and they were £110 for what really was £20 in wood and maybe £5 in bolts - and there not even quite what i wanted lol, my finish might not be as high quality as say fetters or MIV, but its a fraction of the cost to make and gives you the satisfaction of you built it - by no means this will turn into a proper business, obviously im going for sturdy and long lasting but my creations wont be a saxon dungeon master piece made from African mahogany haha - if something turns out good imo, i'd pop it on etsy to recoup some money back from the rent/tools, if i get 1 sale every quarter i'd be happy with that - income from my investments covers all the rent for the unit and my disposable income from my employment is £280 per month (thats what i got left after bills n stuff) - so yeh, for my own pleasure basically

[ticklishbondageboi92]

Friends Blacky and LJ, might I ask your opinion of Ryobi as a budget tool? If I have to be frugal with the less often used tools, are they not a good choice?
Blacky, how is that Makita impact drill? I actually turned that one down for the Bosch for chipping foundation rocks, as I already have 2 angle grinders, and wanted a true $200 impact.
LJ as a master of tools, I appreciate your input as well.
BondageBoi, the least I can say is steer clear of Snap On tools. They are great, but waaaaay over priced, and are often clones of other tools selling for less. They are currently in a lawsuit with Milwaukee over a design similarity with their new 1450 ft.lb. impact 1/2 inch driver gun. Good luck with your tool search and hope we have been helpful.
Shannon salutes you all.

thanks for all your input Shannon and others - glad i made this post, its been a great help

I personally wouldn't touch Black and Decker. MIght be biased by bad experiences 20 or so years ago but all the tools I have had from them have been short-lived and disappointing in performance - though I still have my Dad's mains powered B&D drill, complete with metal body and handle (no plastic) which still works and must be at least 60 years old!

That's the problem with brand names; stuff that used to be excellent would fail to keep their standards. As you've noticed, B&D drills used to be something people would swear by; I remember professional builders and workmen using B&D tools. Now they seem to be something to swear at. Although I've not had a problem with my Workmate, it's definitely lower quality than the one my Dad had 40 years ago!

"Craftsman" (Sears) used to have lifetime warranties and they honoured them; I saw a story where someone accidentally cut a wrench with a blow torch, and Sears replaced it without question! But since the collapse of Sears the stuff sold under that brand name aren't the same.

Indeed, Craftsman, Black and Decker and Stanley are all the same company, now!

But they're still better than anything you'll get from Harbor Freight

my mum always says (insert brand/item here) they dont build em like the used to - maybe shes right hehe

[Gregovic]

There are a lot of shit tools out there from many different brands and it voukd well be that for instance a drill from deWalt is shit but their angle grinders are good (don't know, don't own either).

For battery drills/screwdrivers I've had good experience with Makita (they make good circular saws too) and Bosch Blue (specifically the blue professional line, their green DIY stuff tends to be a bit shit).

What I am missing from your list for a workshop is a pillar drill. Yes you CAN do most of the work with just a handheld drill, but when it comes to drilling nice straight holes in metal brackets and such or making sure holes are square to the surface nothing beats a decent pillar drill.


I have more thoughts, but typing on my phone isn't ideal. I'll try to remember to get back to this and provide some more ideas.