[grumpycrumpy]

Aye ....... Should have said that you have to drill a pilot hole first, you can do without but it takes practice ......... Or , alternatively, you can stand the screw head down on the the timber and tap the point with a hammer, the indentation you create stops the wood splitting from the counter sunk head ........ Same applies to using nails ..........

[Paul B]

Do people have opinions on Ryobi? Their name always cropped up with petrol powered drills but I've never heard mention of their power tools (I know a certain UKB'er who seemed quite proud of his electric lawnmower made by them).

The reason I ask is that their 18v range seems to use the same LI-ON batteries throughout the range which is a massive plus as we've completely run out of storage space.

[butters]

Typo?

Ideally want to spend much more than £50 if possible

Current king of the crop seems to be the makita 18V li-ion, which you can pick up for £150 with one battery (or ~£300+ with three, it's the battery that costs).
B&Q had a makita 18V li-ion drill for £99 last time I was in (last week) BUT be warned that the battery is a non-standard size so won't fit other makita kit if you do plan on building up an appropriately manly sized collection of cordless tools, also they are only 1.3amp/hr rather than the usual 3. However it's probably well made and a pretty good deal at the price for "hobbyist" use Of course if you just want something that will drill some holes in a few bits of wood and screw them together most of the random brand B&Q stuff will do the job, but don't expect longevity.

To drill into brickwork get a cheap as chips corded hammer drill (you can pick up shit SDS drills for £25 nowadays) and just run it into the ground. Brickwork capable cordless stuff is expensive. Unless you mean that lightweight blockwork stuff, in which case just use a butter knife...

What Nik said - had the Makita with the 1.3 amp/hr battery for a while now and it is a lovely piece of kit though if you are intending to use it a lot then get the second battery on the Screwfix deal or see what it is priced at with 1 x 3 amp/hour battery as it doesn't last long. It will do masonry stuff as well but then battery life really does suffer.

Might be worth a look at Screwfix's own kit as well - Erbauer I think it is. Not in the same league as the above but on the random occasions I have used their stuff it does seem to be fine for what it is.   

[Fultonius]

Do people have opinions on Ryobi? Their name always cropped up with petrol powered drills but I've never heard mention of their power tools (I know a certain UKB'er who seemed quite proud of his electric lawnmower made by them).

The reason I ask is that their 18v range seems to use the same LI-ON batteries throughout the range which is a massive plus as we've completely run out of storage space.

I've got a ryobi random-orbit sander and a ryobi jigsaw. So far the jigsaw has been good (but I've not used it much) but the sander is maybe less so. Not totally sure yet.

Basically, the velcro sanding head came loose. At first I thought the whole thing was knackered but I managed to take the head off and tighten the main screw. It's held on by just one little screw which seems a bit cheap and chearful.

In the end of the day, it may confirm my old belief of "buy cheap, buy twice". It was only £30.