Tool Talk

N5GTi6 said:
I bought one of these a few years back....

View attachment 213608

Cheap Ebay item. 480nm supposedly - 1/2 inch so I have a 1/2 to 3/4 adapter for bigger sockets, and it's removed multiple crank bolts, driveshaft bolts and basically anything it's been pointed at. The crank bolt on the 308 HDi did require a little heat to soften the factory loktite.....

I got sick of hiring one, using it once, and returning it.............

Cheers

Justin
Click to expand...
good move. I was attracted to the one above because of the reviews on amazon

Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Hitachi WR22SA 7.5 Amp 3/4-Inch Electric Impact Wrench (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Hitachi WR22SA 7.5 Amp 3/4-Inch Electric Impact Wrench (Discontinued by Manufacturer) at Amazon.com. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users.
www.amazon.com

i was tired of cheap merde that didn't work. I have had an eye out for a couple of year for something 3/4" (so way to powerful) and either air or 240volt. Battery tools don't interest me, I expect these things to last a lifetime. Not 1/2dozen uses before the batteries die :clown:

I do have a cheapo ozito battery impact wrench here .... its bloody brilliant for what it is. but I'd never expect it to undo super tight nuts such as crank bolts and driveshaft nuts....
 
G'day,
while back, AFTER I had pretty much committed to Bosch Blue battery range, I picked up a superseded Hitachi 18V drill at Mitre10 at a silly price....
So much better made than the Bosch units I had collected. Hitachi now looks to be Hikoki, maybe....
That said, the Bosch stuff is doing the job for me, but if I had realised earlier.... :)
Bob
 
bob said:
G'day,
while back, AFTER I had pretty much committed to Bosch Blue battery range, I picked up a superseded Hitachi 18V drill at Mitre10 at a silly price....
So much better made than the Bosch units I had collected. Hitachi now looks to be Hikoki, maybe....
That said, the Bosch stuff is doing the job for me, but if I had realised earlier.... :)
Bob
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This explains the Hikoki Hatachi link.

https://www.toolstop.co.uk/blog/kno...hey may not be,and have 2500 patents globally.
 
It's related to takeovers. Metabo was acquired a few years ago by Hitachi Koki but operated independently. Hitachi then divested their tools interests to the KKK American private equity business in 2017.

Name changes have been introduced to remove "Hitachi", hence the similar Hikoki. There is also a brand Metabo HPT which is a moniker for Hitachi in North America. Metabo is still using the old name, but has moved a lot of manufacture to China.

You can't be assured the tools come from Germany or Japan any more.
 
bob said:
G'day,
while back, AFTER I had pretty much committed to Bosch Blue battery range, I picked up a superseded Hitachi 18V drill at Mitre10 at a silly price....
So much better made than the Bosch units I had collected. Hitachi now looks to be Hikoki, maybe....
That said, the Bosch stuff is doing the job for me, but if I had realised earlier.... :)
Bob
Click to expand...

probably all made in china from similar factories. Have a look at the ozito range and bunnings ... then compare them to the "cheaper" ranges everywhere else. They are the same tool from the same factory I'm pretty sure.

These days battery tools aren't such a problem as you can just buy "battyer converters", so all you need is a couple of decent batteries, then you can run any skin using the converters. eg: ozito don't yet have grease guns, silicon guns or shears. eg: grab a ryobi 1 grease gun (next cheapest brand) .... and use the converter so it fits your batteries.

www.ebay.com.au

NEW Adapter For OZITO 18V 20V Li-Ion Battery To Ryobi 18V Tools Adapter Only CN | eBay

Battery Adapter for OZITO 18V Battery Dock Power Connector 14 Gauge Robotic AU. NEW Adapter For OZITO 18V 20V Li-Ion Battery To Ryobi 18V Tools. This battery adapter for OZITO 18V 20V Battery to Ryobi 18V Tools.
www.ebay.com.au

or buy a used makita/bosch/whatever online ... and you can plug your batteries on.

This solves 90% of the battery tool issues IMO ... the fact they are junk once the batteries die.
 
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I no longer think the cordless tools are junk when the battery dies (like they once were), as the batteries are readily available at a reasonable price. 10 years ago, it was cheaper to buy a new tool than to replace a battery, and I remember being amazed one day I went to buy a replacement battery from Bunnings, and they didn't even stock them! Then the Ryobi 18v range came along and it all changed - for the better.
I tried to stay with one brand, but have now expanded to 3 - Ryobi, Makita, and recently Ozito, because they each had a tool that I wanted, and once you have the first one, your options are open to buy more tools in that brand, once you have a couple of batteries.
I rarely use a corded tool these days.
 
Because some of my Battery powered tools might just outlast me rather that the batteries, I have kept to the Aldi 20 volt (batteries one year warranty ) (skin 5 years warranty) as this give me access to a continuing variety of small tools that might come in handy and they have 2amp cheap batteries and then 4 amp and now a whopping 8amp lithium 20 volt batteries.

I still have a few old 9Volt drills from years past complete with chargers but rarely bother charging them as the Aldi skins do all that and more. In the last 10 years have only had one Aldi 20 volt battery conk out/chucked out, and a couple that won't take a full charge, but still work.

My neighbour gifted me (they are not DIY types) two cased sets of AEG 18 volt, battery impact driver and Power drill sets, with about 4 dead batteries that obviously hadn't been charged for years, but one battery did revive and it was handy to keep them around which meant I could have different drill sizes set up ready to use.

One impact skin had a jammed broken drill, and that apparently was the reason the other one was purchased, that was easy to fix with a bit a prying and using various pliers to extract the broken bits, the one good battery was an issue, so I eventually purchased a new more modern AEG replacement battery at Bunnings. I was a bit unsure if the existing charger would charge the newer battery and Bunnings was happy to sell it to me and take the return if the existing charger didn't work!

It did work, so I now have two working AEG batteries, and the tools have quite some grunt, so I am keeping my eye out for another but cheaper AEG battery if they go on sale. The batteries are much dearer than the Aldi ones!!

Just about the whole range of drilling, cutting, trimming and pruning, light rotary saw skin, Recipro saw, chain saw, chain saw sharpener tasks are covered by my 20 volt Aldi tools. I still have a few heavy older drop saws, rotary saws, grinders that operate off mains connections, they are the sort of tools you can't kill and have done years of work before battery tools came on the scene.

When you use tools in a remote location far from any mains power, that experience just adds to the reason that I would probably only ever purchase a battery power tool, these days.

Ken
 
Hi.

Interesting conversation.

I have a few 240V mains powered tools in the old mid green Hitachi: 7 1/4" & 9 1/4" circular saws, 1/2" two speed hammer drill, and 5" angle grinder. I got the saws for nothing, put a new axle bearing in the 9" and oiled the other dry ball bearings, fresh grease in the gearbox, and sharpened the blades with new leads and they both cut very well indeed. I purchased the 1/2" drill and angle grinder 40 years ago from Des Elliot and they both still work fine.

I don't have a battery/skin system as yet, and have been thinking about what system to get into. I have a single older 18V Ozito drill that has been good, but doesn't match the current range. My son has several Metabo, my son in law has many lime green Ryobi. I see a lot of Milwaukee and DeWalt that trades seem to use more. Stanley has their FatMax range. I also quite liked the rebranded HiKOKI range, as I had a good run with the Hitachi.

I was browsing the options at Mitre 10 one day, and got talking to the chatty guy in the tool section. He was quite complimentary about the Mitre 10 Rockwell battery skin range. He said that they sell quite a lot of it, as it is half the price of other products. Interestingly he also said that they hardly get any warranty returns back for the Rockwell range for the years that he has been selling it. I said that he was pushing the Mitre 10 product, of course he said this wasn't the case as he doesn't mind what brand customers purchase.

He also said that sometimes there is a half price deal on the Rockwell starter kit with some 18V Li ion batteries, charger, drill and driver. The negative of the Rockwell product is limited range of skins, compared to Makita or Ryobi, which have very many.

I don't use these tools very much so have not bought into a skin system as yet. But I would like another drill and also the reciprocating saw for pruning in the garden. I wouldn't mind a battery whipper snipper for the lawn edges.

Has anyone used the Rockwell stuff?

The other option is I buy into Makita system, as they might compliment what my son has.

Cheers.
 
Whippet said:
Has anyone used the Rockwell stuff?
Click to expand...
Only 240V.
Kept killing the 13mm hammer drills. Usually stripped the gears.
They were good as far as replacing them under warranty, but I got tired of having to run into town half way through a job to get another.
I bought a Ryobi of all things (yeah, yeah I know), but it's survived 6 months so far.🤷‍♂️
 
Whippet said:
Hi.

Interesting conversation.

I have a few 240V mains powered tools in the old mid green Hitachi: 7 1/4" & 9 1/4" circular saws, 1/2" two speed hammer drill, and 5" angle grinder. I got the saws for nothing, put a new axle bearing in the 9" and oiled the other dry ball bearings, fresh grease in the gearbox, and sharpened the blades with new leads and they both cut very well indeed. I purchased the 1/2" drill and angle grinder 40 years ago from Des Elliot and they both still work fine.

I don't have a battery/skin system as yet, and have been thinking about what system to get into. I have a single older 18V Ozito drill that has been good, but doesn't match the current range. My son has several Metabo, my son in law has many lime green Ryobi. I see a lot of Milwaukee and DeWalt that trades seem to use more. Stanley has their FatMax range. I also quite liked the rebranded HiKOKI range, as I had a good run with the Hitachi.

I was browsing the options at Mitre 10 one day, and got talking to the chatty guy in the tool section. He was quite complimentary about the Mitre 10 Rockwell battery skin range. He said that they sell quite a lot of it, as it is half the price of other products. Interestingly he also said that they hardly get any warranty returns back for the Rockwell range for the years that he has been selling it. I said that he was pushing the Mitre 10 product, of course he said this wasn't the case as he doesn't mind what brand customers purchase.

He also said that sometimes there is a half price deal on the Rockwell starter kit with some 18V Li ion batteries, charger, drill and driver. The negative of the Rockwell product is limited range of skins, compared to Makita or Ryobi, which have very many.

I don't use these tools very much so have not bought into a skin system as yet. But I would like another drill and also the reciprocating saw for pruning in the garden. I wouldn't mind a battery whipper snipper for the lawn edges.

Has anyone used the Rockwell stuff?

The other option is I buy into Makita system, as they might compliment what my son has.

Cheers.
Click to expand...
I reckon they are all the same, rockwell, aldi, ozito... and the brands supercheap, autobarn, repco and ballarat bearings all sell..... some thing iwth a different label. I just go bunnings as I know there warranty is good.
 
DoubleChevron said:
I reckon they are all the same, rockwell, aldi, ozito... and the brands supercheap, autobarn, repco and ballarat bearings all sell..... some thing iwth a different label. I just go bunnings as I know there warranty is good.
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The Rockwell is the only brand I've stripped the drive in, usually my drills go up in a cloud of smoke accompanied by a fireworks show and little bits of something flying out of the motors ventilation slots.
I think I might be a bit "hard on the gear".🤔🤣
 
Aldi's guarantee is good too - no quibbles. But all these cheap power tools are just that - cheap and compromised in some aspect to keep the cost down, even when they look to be a dead copy of a pro model. They are OK for occasional home use, assuming they cut or drill true, which isn't always. Time is rarely money. They are never repaired.

Go to a building site and see what power tools the tradesmen use. Milwaukee, DeWalt, Metabo, Makita, Festool, some Hitachi. Poor tools and failures cost time, and time can be money. This makes the extra cost of the major professional products a no brainer.
 
seasink said:
Aldi's guarantee is good too - no quibbles. But all these cheap power tools are just that - cheap and compromised in some aspect to keep the cost down, even when they look to be a dead copy of a pro model. They are OK for occasional home use, assuming they cut or drill true, which isn't always. Time is rarely money. They are never repaired.

Go to a building site and see what power tools the tradesmen use. Milwaukee, DeWalt, Metabo, Makita, Festool, some Hitachi. Poor tools and failures cost time, and time can be money. This makes the extra cost of the major professional products a no brainer.
Click to expand...
the builder that did the extension down here. He buys his apprentices ozito branded stuff. he reckons it lasts and his expensive tools aren't much better. The warranty however does not cover commercial use.

try it, its surprisingly good. i doubt anything is repaired these days. any major brand skins with any sort of failure would be just replaced as well.
 
Tools that cost four or five hundred dollars each or more are being repaired all the time. (Have you seen the price of a plunge saw).

There are several workshops in Sydney, backed by the pro tool makers for parts, Only low end stuff gets thrown away because of repair cost. There will be several in Melbourne or any other major centre.

There are also spare parts retailers for DIY small tool repairers. This makes repair possible for cheaper machines which suits many non-tradesmen. Eg, https://www.toolspareparts.com.au (There is a repair workshop associated with a different URL)

Like your Ozito apprentices, I know a heavy vehicle mechanic who equips his juniors with Aldi spanners. The same reason - they abuse or lose stuff the boss paid for.
 
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DoubleChevron said:
the builder that did the extension down here. He buys his apprentices ozito branded stuff. he reckons it lasts and his expensive tools aren't much better. The warranty however does not cover commercial use.

try it, its surprisingly good. i doubt anything is repaired these days. any major brand skins with any sort of failure would be just replaced as well.
Click to expand...
Hi.

I tend to agree with Shanes builder. I am not earning my living as a tradesman, so don't need the higher priced more durable gear for commercial use. I am an occasional user and for my purposes I tend to think that one system is much the same as another. I've had my *Ozito 18V drill for several years now and it has never missed a beat. Maybe, unlike Greenpeace, I am too gentle on my tools.

I find that with screws into timber etc I often need two drill bit sizes, a small drill for a pilot hole and a larger drill for a clearance hole, so two electric drills means you don't have to swap drill bits all the time.

What I have never used are the impact drivers for screwing in long and larger screws into timber with. I also notice different driver bits that are needed for these. Until this was explained to me I couldn't understand why you would use a "rattle gun" to drive screws.

I also see that brushless motors are now a selling point. I'm sure that they are "better" reduced battery consumption, lighter, more compact and for a tradesman they are all positives. But I very rarely exhaust my battery for a job, so these are not so attractive features for my limited and occasional use.

*it was a gift, I did not select it.

Cheers.
 
I've been accused of being "slightly" hard on my tools. I haven't managed to break any of the ozito stuff yet. the brush drill isn't very grunty. the brushless one will probably break your wrists ifyour not careful. Impact drivers are the best thing since sliced breed. They hammer any screw in/out pretty much anywhere ... wihtout a pilot hole .... either htat or they will sheer it off (even the cheap ozito one). I never really bother drilling pilot holes. the drill is there to work :ROFLMAO: the gearbox exists for a reason!
 
DoubleChevron said:
They hammer any screw in/out pretty much anywhere ... wihtout a pilot hole .... either htat or they will sheer it off (even the cheap ozito one). I never really bother drilling pilot holes.
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Hi.

Maybe I am old fashioned. My understanding is that the purpose of a screw is to clamp one piece to another piece. If you just drive a screw into two pieces of timber the screw will "cut a thread" into both pieces. So how does it clamp?

By having a clearance hole in the first piece under the screw head, the screw thread bites into the second piece and then actually clamps the first to the second piece. It can also be tightened at a later time if the timber shrinks etc.

Cheers.
 
Battery tools have come ahead in leaps and bounds over the past 40 years. I can remember using a battery drill about 40 years ago and it was slow and did not have much power and the battery didn't last all that long either. The battery packs were NiCads with the memory issue.

I bought a Dewalt battery drill, circular & reciprocating saw plus torch in a kit 20 years ago came with 2.3 Ah NiCad batteries and had lots of torque. I have purchased various skins since as I only use this at home now and I'm not in the contract game anymore. The batteries have mostly died so I'm replacing the cells with Li-Ion cells (a job I still need to do).

Over the past 10 years we have moved to brush-less motors that are smaller and more powerful than the their brushed counter parts and Li-Ion battery packs which are smaller, lighter and have greater capacity than the previous NiCad and NiMh style batteries.

As far as putting all your eggs into one basket system Dewalt was the king of brands 20 years ago. I have used many brands of battery powered tools. Milwaukee seems to be king of the brands at present, but I know of a builder who uses Makita. I have also used Ryobi and their tools seem to be powerful and the batteries seem to last well.

I think it depends on your budget and how often you are going to use your battery tools what brand you will buy.
 
Hi.

Nice summery Col.

I went to Total Tools a while ago to puruse the range of skin systems. They had about a dozen different brands, not counting the brands at Mitre 10 & Bunnings. As you mentioned the general rule applies, that you get what you pay for. But there are always sweet-spots in the mid prices zones. But to be honest I found it very difficult rank and differentiate the various brands, it was just so confusing and a very crowded market segment.

Cheers.
 
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