[bigdave.....]

i am thinking of investing in some route setting power tools. i am aware that impact drivers are the way to go but dont want to spend 300 squid on a makita 18V that weights as much a medium sized dog.

[tomtom]

i am thinking of investing in some route setting power tools. i am aware that impact drivers are the way to go but dont want to spend 300 squid on a makita 18V that weights as much a medium sized dog.

Do you live in Cornwall? 

(sorry bigdave - couldnt resist..)

[bigdave.....]

nope do they sell medium sized dogs for 300 quid that come with a storage case and battery input down there?

[nik at work]

I was using a Makita Li-Ion 18V Impact Driver last week, it didn't seem that heavy and was nice and compact. Are dogs generally very small and light round your way?

[Carnage]

I use one of these:



Weights just under a kilo. Not quite as powerful as some of the others so you do need to give some holds the occassional tighten with a T-bar (or not bother as most people use spin protection these days). Had mine for 2 years now and still going strong. Plus is becuase it isn't as powerful as some of the beasts out there, your much less likely to blow the t-nuts.

[Jim]

I've got the 10.8 li bosch impact driver and its brilliant. bought it as a set with the 10.8 screwdriver.
best power tool I've ever bought (except maybe my stihl)

[boulderingbacon]

festool are by far the best power tools you can by but they are very expensive. i have the little bosch drill which is good, a makita li  which is ok, a hitatchi li slightly better but by far the best is my festool drill.

[Jim]

fook me, your not wrong, been drooling over the 14.4V one
http://www.festool.co.uk/Products/Pages/Product-Competence.aspx?foc=ol_akkubohrschrauber_c_li_7623
think I will definately buy one when I move house

[SA Chris]

Have you got no more room for tools in the current house?

[Jim]

not really but £500 will be a lot easier to find

[mrconners]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm Festool.
When I worked on site they were just making a bit of an impact on the market and the stuff I did use was top notch, for joinery and site work they are worth the spend but for route setting they are silly expensive. The Li-ion makita impact driver stuff is coming down in price and is light and exceptionally well balanced and I believe the hitachi stuff is ok as well. Have a look on screwfix and see whats on offer. The Li-ion batteries are expensive to buy as seperates but they charge really fast and last for ages so I would go down this road rather than the old Ni-cd stuff which is cheap but heavy, degrades quickly and the charge does not last as long.
Stick with Makita or the have a look at Hitachi, good idea would maybe go to B&Q (Argh) and have a go on the demo stuff.

 

[Wipey Why]

We do work for Hilti and I was oogling at some of their gear the other day when inspecting one of their show rooms. Maybe I should see if I get a discount 

[leepip]

I have pretty much used all brands of power tools (inc hilti and festool) and agree festool are are the dogs but also hideously expensive.  I use panasonic gear and while not quite on par with festool for build quality reckon there top dog on battery technology, I use a 14.4v 3.3amp li-ion battery driver and impact driver (silver and black ones)and cant fault them super light with shed loads of torque.   

[mrjonathanr]

Black and Decker Firestorm does me.

[grumpycrumpy]

I tend to use Hitachi these days .... Very light , and the re-charge time is pretty damned quick ...... Festool are great , but if I had the money I'd definitely go for Hilti .....

[creek]

I invested in aforementioned Makita 18v Li-Ion, and ask myself- how did I manage before? Seems light enough, compact and most holds don't need a tightening by hand