After three years, I'm about to be a home owner again. When we sold our last house, I gave away just about everything including my tools. I don't regret that the majority of my tools went to a young person who was going through automotive school. I had sets of craftsman tools from when they were still made in the USA and had a lifetime guarantee.

I'll need portable power tools and my last ones were Ryobi at maybe 12 volts (I forget). My first set came in a portable box with wheels and had drill, circular saw, table saw, etc. And before I forget, I might as well have a give back to celebrate as escrow closes in January. We're buying a home that was way larger than what we were looking for and priced out of our target. Then it dropped $60k since we last saw it. Our agent guided us to offer a price another $50k below and they bit after a counter at $40k low. So we're buying it at $100k less than when we first came across the house driving by. The karma is just a hunnerd dollahs but it has to be zelle or paypal. I've come full circle, my first house was a VA loan with no down payment and no closing costs and this last house is also a VA loan with no down payment and no closing costs. To indicate you're in for the give away, just have either zelle or paypal in your post which is how you'll take the give back. Drawing for the give back will happen after I decide which brand to get. I don't need contractor grade quality and price. But I do want it to last long and offer a wide variety of tools using the same batteries. My first needs will be a drill, an impact driver drill, and a sander. What brands can people recommend for my needs without the nosebleed prices? Also, what are the voltages up to now?

Thanks in advance!

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Karma Update: of the two sole entries for the karma which is $100, RogueJSK won. I was set to do an Excel randomizer macro but with only two entries, I used a high tech nano-coated nickel coin toss. I do appreciate everyone's recommendations.

I've narrowed it down to Milwaukee, Ryobi, or Rigid. I'm going to make up my mind inside of two days as Home Depot has a 40% sale on tool combos that ends in two days.

ETA: Just placed the order for Milwaukee M18 Fuel combo pack of basic stuff plus a 7 1/4" circular saw. Now I just need to get a leather tool belt. rut roh.


Merry Christmas to everyone!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Rey HRH,

Buy once, cry once. Milwaukee 18 volt. Huge assortment of tools, a variety of combo packs, easy availability. There is a reason for all that. It works, and keeps on working.
In my opinion one should buy the very best drill they offer and save your money on the more basic versions of the other tools.

Although Milwaukee can’t be beat for professional use, I would look at Ryobi for homeowners. Ryobi has just about anything imaginable in their power tool line. That said, I went with Ridgid for the lifetime warranty if registered within 90 days of purchase. All 3 are made by the same parent company.

Don’t forget that Lowe’s and Home Depot offer 10% discount for Veterans.

I’d try to avoid tools that come with just a 1 or 2 amp-hour capacity battery. That’s weak and worthless. That seems to be the thing with the on sale cheap prices that are often advertised.

I’d get the higher capacity batteries.

Best wishes to you and congratulations for the new house.

Black Friday sale prices are in a few days, I'd be perusing now and get ready to pounce as soon as the better prices kick in.
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This message has been edited. Last edited by: OKCGene,

I have several tools in the Lowe’s Kobalt line and they’re pretty good and the 10% Veterans discount is a great thing.

Home owner stuff my 18v Ryobis have been great. I stripped out the auto chuck on my drill after like 8 or 9 years but that has been my only issue and I have a lot of the tools.

My 12v stuff is Milwaukee.

Are you going to need / want Garden Tools (Lawn Mower, Blower, etc.) also ?

I love Milwaukee stuff. Just got a brand new 1/2" Milwaukee cordless impact wrench in fact. Love this thing.

The Milwaukee non-fuel kits can be had for reasonable costs. I’d go with that.

I just went with a simple DeWalt kit that I used PayPal to pay for via HD online I believe. Has worked well for me, for the price! Congrats and good luck!

I like the Ryobi stuff as it's all either 18v or 40v (for the larger yard stuff).

You can scrounge at yard sales and other marketplace sites for the older blue tools for cheap extra units as they will work with the newer batteries.
That and Home Depot runs "Ryobi Days" every year where you buy 2 batteries and get a tool (from a selection) for free. It's a nice way to build/replace batteries and add to the tool list.

Home Depot has a couple of 18 volt combo sets on sale for $199 that should do well for you. They don't include a sander but I think they run about $49 for the battery orbital sander.

I recommend Milwaukee or Dewalt. Milwaukee 12v or 18v will serve you well, the chargers will support either battery. Go with the brushless line, it's called Fuel. You will know which tools you'll want in 12 or 18 depending on your needs. Since you are going to be a homeowner, buy once, cry once. Dewalt has 12v and 20v, the 20v has some really nice torque to it. I don't think you can go wrong with either but pick one and stick with it so you don't have to have multiple chargers due to different batteries.

Home Depot frequently has sales of combo packs where you save quite a bit. And to top it off, sometimes when you buy those combo packs, you get something free such as a battery or a smaller tool.

quote:

Originally posted by TomV:
Are you going to need / want Garden Tools (Lawn Mower, Blower, etc.) also ?

Not sure about Dewalt but Milwaukee has lawn/garden tools which use their M18 battery system.

Milwuakee and Makita

For corded tools I use dewalt. For battery i use Milwaukee 12 and 18v.
Milwaukee packs serious power into it 12v line. I would say the impact driver is pretty close to the 18v model. The 18v are more "professional" tools. And cost acoordingly. Its up to you how you will use them.

Go with the fuel variants, they have significamtly more power.

Start with the Milwaukee M12 Fuel combo and expand from there.

The 18v Ryobi tools have yet to let me down, and they seem to lead the pack in tool development. They have way more variety than the other makers. For home owner use I think they are positioned the best in the market.

I do make sure to buy brushless version of some of the higher torque type tools, such as saws and grinder.

The two areas I can think of where Ryobi does lag behind is in the input wrenches torque capability and the design of the ratchet. In the case of the impact wrench it doesn’t have the same power as the nicer brands, but it never had trouble pulling the lug nuts off any of my vehicles.

For the ratchet it just seems a non-ideal design due to the form factor of the battery so I haven’t bought the tool.

I do have a 12v Makita impact driver and drill combo because it’s so much smaller and handier. They make a ratchet for their 12v system so I’ll pick that one up instead, someday.

I have an m18 drill and impact driver combo I got on sale. No complaints and has worked well. But then I found out Milwaukee is prc owned now. At least my understanding. As such, if I had to buy something today, it would probably be makita.

Congratulations on the house!

12 volt Milwaukee, M12
and
20 volt DeWalt

I prefer the DeWalt 20 volt line over the 18 volt Milwaukee.
But the M12, 12 volt Milwaukee line has some speciality tools which DeWalt doesn't offer.

M12 Examples;

2" PVC cutter
Rivet Tool
Angle Grinder
Copper Tubing Cutter
16ga Nibbler
Soldering Iron
Caulk Gun
Dremil
Right angle 1/4 hex drive impact
Compact Band Saw (DeWalt offers one now, but the M12 has been out for a few years)

Impacts, hammerdrills, circular saw, jig saw, 1/2" impact, sawzall, handzall, sliding mitre saw, pancake compressor, weed wacker, sanders, router, cut-off tool, grinder, planner, oscillating, pex expansion, etc all comes from the DeWalt 20 volt line.

For any heavy duty corded tools, I prefer Milwaukee and PP.