Tools you wish you'd bought sooner...

[Mars]

I bought the big one for one job then man maths'd a justification for the smaller one

[soupdragon1]

I went for the Titan brand pressure washer at Screwfix. 2700w and 155bar is £219.

I'm very pleasantly surprised. My favourite tool is the 'hoover' style attachment, for patios. You just use it like a hoover and my word, just on eco mode at 60% power it lifts ground in dirt in a couple of passes.

I've been cleaning with one hand in my pocket and due to the power, it almost floats against its own weight, so its like moving a feather duster around.

Each paver cleaned in about 2 or 3 seconds



This was incredibly dirty in around my sheds, again, dirt lifted clean off. I didn't clean it last year, so about 2 years worth of grime. No chemicals (although there is a reservoir to add some) just cold water.



Puts my previous Karcher to shame, although that was a weedy K2. This thing could put your eye out on full power, pencil mode. Great value power for £219

[M11rph]

A decent patio cleaner is a great accessory.

They give a more even finish, don't splatter filth all up your walls (which is very hard to remove) and get the job done in about a quarter of the time.

Bonus points. Turned upside down they do a decent job of cleaning salt/grime off the underside of your car.
[Obviously for this thread you should be buying a separate "undercarriage cleaner"].

[mikeiow]

soupdragon1 said:

I went for the Titan brand pressure washer at Screwfix. 2700w and 155bar is £219.

I'm very pleasantly surprised. My favourite tool is the 'hoover' style attachment, for patios. You just use it like a hoover and my word, just on eco mode at 60% power it lifts ground in dirt in a couple of passes.

I've been cleaning with one hand in my pocket and due to the power, it almost floats against its own weight, so its like moving a feather duster around.

Each paver cleaned in about 2 or 3 seconds

This was incredibly dirty in around my sheds, again, dirt lifted clean off. I didn't clean it last year, so about 2 years worth of grime. No chemicals (although there is a reservoir to add some) just cold water.

Puts my previous Karcher to shame, although that was a weedy K2. This thing could put your eye out on full power, pencil mode. Great value power for £219

Looks decent!
We bought a cheap Titan last Black Friday....only used a couple of times, works well....but sadly I can't find that attachment sold separately anywhere though

[Billy_Rosewood]

Any good deals going on the battery powered pressure washers?

Have been eyeing up the Ryobi 42bar, but was out of stock when they had the Jan sale on. I have a 110bar Karcher, but the battery powered one seems much more convenient for smaller jobs like car washing!

https://uk.ryobitools.eu/garden-tools/garden-clean...

[skeeterm5]

After years of trying to cut straight lines over any distance I finally bought a plunge/track saw. I have to say it is a brilliant bit of kit. Have been cutting 9mm and 12mm ply and the cuts are clean and neat.

I did think about a table saw but thought this is far more portable and useful.

Why have I struggled for so long??

The hardest bit is working out where to put the wood to cut it without cutting my bench!

[MajorMantra]

skeeterm5 said:

The hardest bit is working out where to put the wood to cut it without cutting my bench!

I wondered about this. Do people typically use a sacrificial piece of timber/styrofoam under the workpiece?

[Sporky]

I have a Bora Centipede. You can put bits of cheap timber (2x4 I think) on it and just cut into them a bit.

[ndg]

MajorMantra said:

I wondered about this. Do people typically use a sacrificial piece of timber/styrofoam under the workpiece?

Yes, I have a few lengths of 2x4 that I drop under the sheet before cutting, set the depth of cut to 3mm deeper than required and away you go.

[MajorMantra]

Sporky said:

I have a Bora Centipede. You can put bits of cheap timber (2x4 I think) on it and just cut into them a bit.

Another very useful thing I now obviously need.

[Sporky]

You probably need the full size one and a smaller one. Just saying.

[AlmostUseful]

I have the same saw, first thing I did with it was build a table for my mitre saw.

Its been used to cut the old floor boards in my bathroom by setting the depth to avoid the joists, I cut my kitchen worktops and end pieces with it, and a multitude of others jobs around the house - they’re great.

[EmBe]

MajorMantra said:

skeeterm5 said:

The hardest bit is working out where to put the wood to cut it without cutting my bench!

I wondered about this. Do people typically use a sacrificial piece of timber/styrofoam under the workpiece?

For large, thin sheets, I have a few larger pieces of sacrifical 18mm MDF that go under the sheet so they don't bow. for smaller pieces I use any cutoffs I have lying around and for trimming edges I just lay the piece along the edge of my bench.

I have the Axminster clamps that clamp the rail to my bench or the piece to be cut, which is great when things are unwieldy and you have a power cable and dust extraction to get caught up on things.

https://www.axminstertools.com/axminster-trade-cla...

[Sporky]

I have the Makita version of those clamps, but the Axminster look better - the Makitas screw tight which can be fiddly.

[markiii]

i bought a set similar clamps. main challenge with them is when the track is longer than the piece your working on

[Sporky]

They slide along the slot in the underside, no?

[tumble dryer]

Sporky said:

They slide along the slot in the underside, no?

Yep.

[OMITN]

MajorMantra said:

skeeterm5 said:

The hardest bit is working out where to put the wood to cut it without cutting my bench!

I wondered about this. Do people typically use a sacrificial piece of timber/styrofoam under the workpiece?

When I built storage units in the garage a few years ago, I made myself a frame of 2x4s that lay horizontally between my Black & Decker workmate at one end and a saw horse I knocked up at the other. It was capable of supporting full size (8x4) sheets, but took up a lot of the garage floor space. It has since become firewood!

I understand the Bora centipedes are good but not the most rigid structures.

I’m going to make an MFT style top to utilise the workmate and a sawhorse/trestle. Something like the one in this link: https://cdn.imagearchive.com/ukworkshop/data/attac... Then it can all go flat against the garage wall when not in use.

I don’t see much call for cutting full sheets again in my life (never say never!) so probably won’t need a big table again. If I do need to do long cuts, then supporting pieces on the floor will do.

[RacingPete]

Billy_Rosewood said:

Any good deals going on the battery powered pressure washers?

Have been eyeing up the Ryobi 42bar, but was out of stock when they had the Jan sale on. I have a 110bar Karcher, but the battery powered one seems much more convenient for smaller jobs like car washing!

https://uk.ryobitools.eu/garden-tools/garden-clean...

I have one of those ryobi pressure washers, really useful for the mountain bike when finished a trail to clean down (especially with the attachment that goes in an old drinks bottle, truly portable power wash).

It isn’t amazingly powerful though, wouldn’t be cleaning any patios, but for washing cars down etc it is decent enough. My first did break though, but ryobi customer services replaced with no issues (actually just needed to send off a copy of the sticky label plate).

[Billy_Rosewood]

RacingPete said:

Billy_Rosewood said:

Any good deals going on the battery powered pressure washers?

Have been eyeing up the Ryobi 42bar, but was out of stock when they had the Jan sale on. I have a 110bar Karcher, but the battery powered one seems much more convenient for smaller jobs like car washing!

https://uk.ryobitools.eu/garden-tools/garden-clean...

I have one of those ryobi pressure washers, really useful for the mountain bike when finished a trail to clean down (especially with the attachment that goes in an old drinks bottle, truly portable power wash).

It isn’t amazingly powerful though, wouldn’t be cleaning any patios, but for washing cars down etc it is decent enough. My first did break though, but ryobi customer services replaced with no issues (actually just needed to send off a copy of the sticky label plate).

Thanks, sounds ideal.. I only really want it as something to wash the car/bikes with and perhaps give the outdoor furniture a hose down. Something with a bit more power than a hose on its own but doesn't need to have the power to strip the lacquer off the wheels either