/diy/ - Do It Yourself

[Anonymous No.1561679]

What powertool brands are recommended for the hobbyist?

[Dr Bepper No.1561682]

>>1561679
For cordless? Ryobi is probably the best option unless you’re willing to spend more money on contractor grade stuff for extra quality and features that will barely be noticeable in hobbyist level work. Porter Cable is about the same level, but Ryobi’s lineup is better and the sales will allow you to get fully outfitted with brushless stuff for <$300.

[Anonymous No.1561684]

>>1561679
Get whatever does what you need it to do/survive at the price you can afford.

[Anonymous No.1561695]

>>1561679
I buy used tools. I get good brands for a fraction of the cost of new and, if they have survived this long, they are good examples. No buyers remorse from getting a tool that dies within an hour of buying it. That is harder with cordless tools but I know how to rebuild batteries. That and there are plenty of tweaker construction workers selling their tools on CL to make a buck and pay for their next high.

[Dr Bepper No.1561697]

>>1561695
Every pawn shop I have been in is asking for 60%-95% of full MSRP on power tools that were made in the past 3 decades. You can wait for sales and get the same power tools on sale for 50%-70% of MSRP, brand new with a receipt and a 3+ year warranty from Home Depot.

I guess maybe estate sales could be better, but I would only get shit that’s worth buying corded like high quality saws and drill presses and shit.

[Anonymous No.1561711]

>>1561697
Pawn Shops are a business. You never get good prices that way. eBay is also generally shit. Too many fucking dickheads with their .03% off retail 'buy it now' sales.

The only stores I've ever gotten good deals on tools at are thrift stores and the ReStore (Habitat for Humanity store). My local one sells saw blades for $1 each. Knife makers, if you are paying attention, you can cut knife blanks from old saw blades. They are great metal. I bought a worm drive Skilsaw model 77 for $20. A buddy of mine got a table saw and jointer combo for $60.

Craig's List, local auction houses/liquidators, yard sales, flea markets, estate sales, etc. I got a Unisaw off of Gov Deals a while back and only paid $135 for it. I went to a business sale and the dude was retiring after 30 years. He had an American made tap and die set, used literally one time, let it go for $20. I've gotten more hand tools than I can count from sales like that. I bought a toolbox full of sockets for $20 (mostly old Craftsman and Proto) and flipped it to collectors on eBay for about $5 a socket on average.

[Dr Bepper No.1561730]

>>1561711
I see these ads sometimes for an auction company that does big estates and closing businesses. Sometimes the businesses are tons of office equipment and shit, but recently there was this rental company with lots of power equipment and cool stuff. Unfortunately I don’t have 3 weekends to spend at flea markets to save $100 on a compressor. Maybe if I had more time I could crawl them and flip stuff to make a few extra bucks, but selling on CL is a pain in the ass too.

My way is to grab the stuff before I absolutely need it. If you check the sales every week or so on a few items you have been wanting, it’s easy to get ~25% off most things. Sears is one of my favorites because you can get all these deals and freecash, I’m was on the fence about getting one of their nicer bench grinders for $100 and getting $101 cash back on it.

By being patient and watching the sales, I got my impact sockets ($180 MSRP) for $70 and my tap and die set ($220 MSRP) for $75. Those MSRP prices are kinda high but the items are typivally worth at least 2/3 of the value if you compare to lesser known brands from the same OE, so it’s nice getting good DIY quality tools for Harbor Freight prices.