4mo ago

What's one brand whose products you can always trust?

(I'm trying to adjust my shopping habits for quality, long-lasting goods from reputable brands. This isn't some hailcorporate thing)

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DeWalt (aka default) tools. There's a reason every building contractor is carrying around DeWalt drills and saws - they hold up to daily jobsite use, you don't have to handle them like they're fragile, you can get them dirty and they keep working.
Don't buy Ryobi or Black&Decker unless you know it's something you're going to beat to hell for one job and then dispose of. And don't any buy high speed rotary tools from Harbor Freight.
- The second part of your comment is flat out wrong for most homeowners. Ryobi tools are fine for Henry Homeowner. And specialty tools from harbor freight are fine. Buy cheap and if you use it enough to break it, then buy quality.
  
  Also for more active hobbyists Harbor Freight can be improved to be good tools. Things like replacing a cheap drive belt with a better quality belt is all some of their tools need. Searching some tool blogs can tell you if a tool is fixable or just trash.
  
  Their bottom shelf store brand stuff is rough but gets the job done most the time. Their upgraded in house brands are actually pretty good.
- Would Makita be in the same category?
  
  Makita, Milwaukee, and DeWalt seem to all be comparable.
  
  If you can find Japanese Makita brand products (I.E., from Japan), they have actual quality.
  
  Makita Europe has factories in the UK and Germany, and their products are better quality generally than DeWalt.
  Pros use Makita or Bosch Professional
  DeWalt is a kinda "poser" brand on building sites lol
- What's wrong with Black+Decker? I've had many of their appliances and they never let me down.
  
  They have been a shit-tier tool for a long time after being dead solid for decades. I don’t know if they’ve moved up to “ok” recently, but I haven’t bought B&D in 15 years because they were crap.

314 comments