With modern cordless power tools becoming more prominent in the modern fab shop. Of the following options, what brand do you think has the best line up of tools and batteries? Share what you think are the best cordless tools that draw you towards a certain line of tools.
Jason and I use DeWalt in the Fireball shop but in my personal shop I use Milwaukee. My side hobby being wood and metal custom furniture and automotive. I deal both with fabrication, fine woodwork, automotive. My first couple years in the trades I used Hitachi for my basic power tools but quickly switched to Milwaukee because the crew I worked with was on the Milwaukee battery platform. I haven’t ran into a problem since. The fab specific tools that make Milwaukee worth it for me are the low profile angle grinder, die grinder, porta-band, and small band file. In our Sci-Fi office build I have used a lot of my Milwaukee tools like my track saw and other that offer better solutions for woodworks like dust collection over the DeWalt tools. Ill give DeWalt the nudge for stationary power tools and there oscillating tool is the best on the market.
I use dewalt but the only thing I would suggest is to decide on one brand and battery size.
my experience
Red tools one for every job, but they don’t last long.
Yellow tools are toys
Blue tools expensive but last
If I had it to do over again for my home shop, I would have started with CAS tools rather than any mentioned above. I don’t do carpentry or construction, just fabrication in my garage. At this point I would probably trade all my cordless Milwaukee for CAS.
CAS gives me access to Metabo and other European cordless tools, both of which really cover a ton in terms of fabrication. If Evolution offered their tools in a CAS battery that would really cinch it
Pnuematic and corded still make up the majority of my power tool usage. If i had to start over right now id skip any 12v line its all pretty underwhelming compared to pneumatic counterparts that are smaller and more powerful. 18v id just get m18 fuel drill, driver, grease gun and high/mid torque impact. Only 2 of those are fabrication related.
Maybe its because i work in equipment repair and have a heavier duty use case though.
Edit: I will say i do like my m12 lights and my m18 jigsaw has been awesome.
Unfortunately no one make makes every tool you need and some are just better than everyone else’s. That said I’m heavy into Makita 12 & 18v, Milwaukee 12v and Ridgid 18v.