If you're brand-orientated, which are your main few?

[Dan]

What are the couple of brands of tools you use mostly because you trust them, and why do you trust them?

 

[jeremy]

Wera for screwdrivers, and now spanners and 1/4" sockets. The hold on their tools is comfortable, and handy little design features, like nut holder (snigger!) on the open spanner. Sockets and spanners used to be Proxxon, still rate them for heavy duty dismantling! Knipex for cutters, crimps etc for design, comfort and length of life. Bosch blue for power tools, trust the design and 3 year warranty (apart from Sparky chaser; not used often so price was the deciding factor). Fluke test equipment because I trust them, and like the design.

 

[Dan]

How do you find the Bosch blue batteries?

 

[jeremy]

I open the box and there they are!! Boom! Boom! 10.8 for drill and mini recip, 18 for bigger drill and grinder, and 36 for even bigger drill, all hold charge and last , though they don't get used all day nonstop, they work fine for me.

 

[interlude]

Makita 18 volt for all my power tools. hand tools is mainly a mix of bahco/irazola (screwdrivers) and ck/knipex (cutters/pliers etc).

 

[overskilled]

Power Tools - 18V Milwaukee - I have an impact wrench, shifts anything no matter how tight (maxes out about 1460 Nmish). 203Nm Impact driver also. Both brushless and last well on generic 4Ah batteries. Both grey imports so no warranty, albeit not needed it. For light stuff I have an M12 combi drill, got it free from Howdens when I was flirting with doing a bit of Kitchen fitting (Brother was moving so I was going to get roped in anyway). Handy little thing, drives anything up to 5mm screws with ease.
Pliers / Molegrips - Irwin Visegrip
Screwdrivers - Wera Lasertip
Drill bits - Bosch / CK
Hacksaw - Bahco
Copper/Hide Hammers - Thor A and #2
Claw hammer - Stanley Fatmax mig welded, even better that I didn't pay for it
Stanley blades - Irwin bi metal or Swann Morton #10 or #11 scalpel blades in a retractable holder (try it, far sharper (next to no pressure needed) and more precise than a stanley for stripping cable and hence less chance of it sliding and digging into finger tips...)

 

[sparkdog]

Milwaukee and Dewalt I find quality and reliable.

 

[ryan1988]

Use WERA and Stanley Fatmax screwdrivers
Got some NWS and CK cutters and strippers
Use Makita drills but recently needed some backup drills.... got erbaurer from screwfix because a chippy mate of mine swears by his...... they have already paid for themselves and seem reasonable.... seeing how long they last though

Got my makita drill bits I've had for years which are still going strong.
Erbauer multi-tool

Stanley fatmax blades
Stanley fatmax hammers
Stanley fatmax and bahco hacksaw and saw

Use stanley fatmax storage.... want a VETO pro pack but can't justify the price.

There a few off the top of my head

 

[ETO]

Dewalt power tools. Pricey but they have never let me down. I don't spend loads on hand tools however as they tend to get lost a lot newlec tend to do me fine.

 

[hightower]

I've got the Erbauer range in my garage - started off with the combi drill and built it up. It is a budget brand but been more than impressed for the price you pay.

 

[Andy78]

Wiha - I use their screwdrivers as they are comfortable, decent long shafts, good quality tips that take a bit of abuse. I have a couple of standard sets and a slimfix set.
Knipex - I use their cutters, pliers, and pipe grips. Very good quality tools that stay sharp for years and never suffer from hinge wobble.
Bahco - The go to brand for adjustable spanners. Good smooth movement, nice tight grip, and don't suffer from age related slackness. I also have bahco croppers and hacksaw but they are much of a muchnes.

Milwaukee - Combi drill, SDS, circular saw, battery driver, led torch. Great quality gear that keeps on going with plenty of grunt. The batteries are also great and have no noticeable drop in performance 4 years down the line. My combi suffered a blown PCB after 4 years, outside it's 3 year warranty, but a local shop provided a new handle, trigger, PCB, battery connector, and brush ring, (basically everything apart from the motor, gearbox, and chuck) for £50 fitted.
They also have a new 9.0Ah battery out !!!! I'll be waiting until silly prices subside though.

 

[Rpa07]

9 amp/h? What happened to 6,7 and 8. I obviously don't read 'prof electrician' often enough!

 

[Andy78]

9 amp/h? What happened to 6,7 and 8. I obviously don't read 'prof electrician' often enough!

They do a 6Ah as well but not sure if it's available in the UK yet.

Milwaukee Steps it Up with New M18 6.0Ah and 9.Ah Battery Packs - http://toolguyd.com/milwaukee-m18-6ah-9ah-batteries/

£200 for the 9Ah at the minute, lol. My 5Ah packs last me ages as it is though.

 

[HandySparks]

Good smooth movement, nice tight grip, and don't suffer from age related slackness.

Doing better than me then.

Quite agree about Bahco for adjustables and knipex for cutters (also their plier wrenches are a top tool).

 

[amlu]

blue bosch, mostly.
my green heavy duty ryobi 18v cordless still works, lost its hammer mode after couple of years but rest still ok. may replace it with new brushless ryobi one day as my set of li-ion batteries still works no problems. .