Welding Tips and Tricks

OK, I know this will be a chevy, ford and blond, brunett subject but please humor me. Dewalt V.S. milwalkee shop tools. Grinders, chop saws drills ect. I have done some resurch and as far as price goes these are the too brands that stand out to me as options (sorry cant spend a fortune on mataubo). I have had both tools before and have been satisfyed but that was for home chores and odd jobs. I am looking to start a light fabracation shop and want some real world non bias advice from people who use these tools every day. I must say I am all ready leaning slightly to the milwalkee side just based on the warnty 5 years v.s 3 from dewalt.

You should also look at rigid from home depot, if it is the same than in Canada they are guaranty for life and about the same price then Milwaukee. Hope this help. Hammer.

I use both Milwaukee and Dewalt grinders and drills on a daily basis, plus a slew of others, so heres how I feel about them.....

Milwaukee grinders...I have two 8" angle grinders and they are my go to tools when any materials needs to be erased. Nothing stops them. I looked at Dewalt angle grinders and they just didn't have the same "feel" about them as Milwaukee. They looked and sounded cheap to me. Of course that's not saying that they wouldn't do the job, I just prefered the Milwaukee.

Porta-Band saws....I've had both and they seemed pretty comparable, the Dewalt a little less on price and tool weight, but the Milwaukee comes with a nice carrying case. Both worked great for whatever I needed them for.

Cordless drills....I switched from 9v Makita to an 18v Dewalt and have never looked back. I heard a lot of complaints from people that owned Milwaukee cordless drills, usually about the batteries never holding a charge or emptying out really early. The've all switched to Dewalts and I haven't heard them complain about them yet. The Dewalt is kind of heavy, so it takes a little getting used to if you've used lighter drills before. The latest drill trend among stagehands is the Makita 18v impact drill. It's a beautifully balanced drill and puts screws in in a flash. It's a little more expensive than the Dewalt, but the Dewalts are easier to find in the stores. More people on jobsites I work on have Dewalt, so it's easier to swap batteries among us, too.

Hammer drills.....Milwaukee without a doubt. My Dewalt hammer drill fell apart after about 20 times of using it. The Milwaukee keeps on going and going and going...........Ditto for the Milwaukee Rotary percussion drill, a far better drill for comparably priced tools.


Hope that helps!
Steve

I agree mosty with everything Steve said above. I say "mostly" because I haven't used all of these tools, so can't speak to everything he said, but since my experience agrees with his on the tools I have used, I expect he's accurate on the rest.

Now, My two cents. The 4 1/2" angle grinder is the most frequently used power tool for a small fab service. I used to lean a lot harder toward the Milwaukee, but since they reworked it to be lighter, the two are on more equal footing. I've noticed the DeWalt gearbox will get extremely hot during extended use. While I've never had a failure at the gearbox, I just don't trust it when it gets that hot. I've seen a 9" DeWalt fail at the gearbox, and a new 9" depressed-center disc went flying randomly around the shop.

Since Home Depot does not guarantee power tools in the U.S., I think I'd lean toward the Milwaukee here, especially for the usage level of a pro versus a hobbyist.

(anoother) Steve

I have both in my arsenal of tools and they have both performed well. I have two 9 inch Dewalt grinders (15amp) and four 4 1/2 inch Milwaukee grinders (10amp). A Milwaukee 1/4 inch cordless impact. I also have the Milwaukee 6180-20 14" chop saw and the Milwaukee 6236N Portable band saw and all have worked flawlessly and they are all about 2 1/2 years old. My personal preference is obviously Milwaukee. They are both equally dependable in my opinion, It comes down to cost and warranty. And that is where I think Milwaukee excels.

Last I knew, Rigid is Ryobi. I have some Ryobi and they are better now than 15 years ago. Milwaukee is not as good as the old stuff, but it's still good. All Dewalt I see is going strong. I don't have any Dewalt tools, so that's just an observation. Not cheap, I've looked.

I'm a Makita man. Made in the Carolinas and every tool lasts a long time. POC to get parts and service if you need it. CPO Makita sells awesome reman tools for a good price. I'm a Makita man.

All right! That was exactly the information I was looking for. Thank you to all who replied. Very useful info. I have herd about the Milwaukees having trouble with the battery as well but don't really use cordless that much any way even with good batterys they just don't last long enough to complete a job. Going red!

I have also looked at the ridged product line and just feel they need a little more time being a major too company before I spend my money with them. A life time warenty is a great idea but if the product fails and has to be sent in that leaves me with out tools. No tools no work.

i use milwauke for my portaband and drills but for my grinder i use a 6" metabo which is well worth the price and it;s the only make i haven';t killed in one day...lol i use it for cutoff and cleanup but for big grinding i use a 9' milwauke. pretty much it all boils down to how you want to spend and what you want out of it. you want it to last long enough to get you investment back out of it other wise your loosing money.... i don't know about you but i am a welder/fabricator to make money to take care of my family not to make money to replace tools that just don't last.... you get what you pay for..

Hi there,

I have to agree with ekfinn. I use metabo 4.5 inch grinders at work. They certainly get a hard time, and keep on going. We dont have to buy our own stuff but if you owned it and treated it accordingly I reckon they would never stop. Good tourque too, heaps better than Hitachi anyway.

Mick

Old style Porter Cable variable speed band saw w/ 10/14t for carbon and 24-28t for stainless bimetal blades only, the saw is very light and does not fall off of any place you set it. My Milwaukee must have roller bearings!
Metabo or Bosch variable 5" for general use. I find a 5" machine gives you more more bang for the buck with consumables. Variable speed lets you finish or grind any material/finish. 9' grinder- find an old Wildcat, it will run forever, handle any job and nobody will borrow it! Buy good discs and pads, they cut faster, load tools less give good results and have a longer life.
Bosch 1/2" variable speed battery drill 24 volt for holes up to 1/2" , mag drills with rotabroach bits up to 3" OD.
14"Chop saw - Tungsten Carbide blades cut more than friction blades per cost of blades, speed of cut, do not require any grinding of flash on material, keep their OD, run cool,will cut carbon, aluminum or stainless, cuts 4" X 4" square and can be resharpened. Outside of the cost for the saw, it's a no brainer.
Buying a few really good tools that have the ability to more tasks coupled with quality consumables is the most economical approach over the long haul.
With that said, you need to get what you like to use!

Nobody talks about Craftsman, dont dump on me here!! I have a craftsman 4 1/2 grinder I got almost 30 years ago, identacle to my bros dewalt same (except for color of plastic parts & safety tab on the power paddle) (actually I bought 2 from a sears surplus store, figuring they were not the 'best'. The silverfish have eaten about half of the box its in, but it still looks brand new.) I have milwaukee 1/2" drill & sawsall ryobi chop saw (30 years old cast aluminium table) makita batt drill motor, & various other brands & tools. (NO hARBOR fREIGHT tho)
Having said that, we should all watch this (youtube) video and consider what we really NEED!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYMiwgjY0Y0

Its in french(?) and about 12+ minutes long, but (I think) worth watching, , , corn

I'd bet that all the stuff that was made in that video will last twice as long than any of the crap that's sold today in Walmart or Kmart.

Re: Craftsman tools...The hand tools are still some of the best that you can buy. I have hundreds if not thousands of Craftsmen sockets, wrenches, taps and dies, hammers, chisels,blah, blah, blah,....... It's the power tool line that went to hell sometime in the mid eighties when they went to plastic parts and bodies. If you can find a Craftsman metal bodied power tool from the 50's or 60's, most likely it still works as good as the day it was bought.

The service at Sears has gone way downhill too. I bought a Craftsman power hand planer a couple of years ago and it worked great. It did exactly what I needed it for and then some. The only problem, over time, was that the blades got dull , which they will in any type of cutting tool over time and use. I went to Sears to buy some new blades, but they don't carry the replacement blades for their own brand of planer. The saleslady told me I could order them online and get them in about a week! The following is just about how the conversation ensued....

Steve..."But I need the %$#&^%*@#&^ tool now for a job!!!"

Saleslady..."We can't carry replacement parts for every tool we sell!"

Steve..."It's a PLANER for christsake!! The blades are a pretty important part of the tool."

Saleslady..."You'll have to order them online. It's the only way you can get them."


I walked out of the store , drove to Lowes and bought a set of Bosch blades that fit my Craftsman planer.

The shop is the production hub where incredible things get made and tools are the implements that we use to do what our hands cannot.


http://www.anglegrindershop.com