Kit advice: router, jigsaw, circular saw

[seansverige]

Need to acquire router, jigsaw and circular saw for a project; last time I did any woodwork had the use of work kit. No idea where to look to assess relative merits of what's out there so thought I'd ask for some recommendations.

Apologies in advance if these are string length type questions...
Any particular brands to look for (or conversely, avoid)?
Are there 'professional' & 'consumer / hobby' ranges (have transformer so 110v no probs)? Don't mind spending a bit more for something that'll last.
Is the battery powered stuff any good? Used to cables, so not sure I'd want to trade off any performance for convenience.

On a slightly more obscure note - anyone know anything about laser wood printing / engraving?...

thanks in advance

[allegro]

Makita.

[seansverige]

Cheers. Funnily enough, almost mentioned Makita in OP...

[rsv gone!]

Makita 3612CX router (or something ..... )

Hitachi tools are excellent, too. Their professional range of Li Ion 18v drills are fantastic.

Or Blue Bosch - I have a GSP 190 circular saw - only £100 or so.

[LFB531]

I'm a Makita fan too but went for a big Skilsaw mains circular last time, what a bit of kit. Reckon that will outlast me!

[-Pete-]

Trend are best for routers (or maybe DeWalt?), for circular saws & jigsaws I think most quality brands are ok. 230V mains is usually cheapest and you don't need to lug a transformer around, but if you must have cordless don't go for NiMH or NiCad unless you'll be using them every day.

Makita Li-Ion are best value for money for cordless (or Hitachi, Panasonic), Axminster Power Tool Centres have just introduced their own brand which uses Makita-compatible Li-Ion batteries, worth considering.

Have a look at D&M Tools in Twickenham (shop or online) and Screwfix too.

[Simpo Two]

A good place to start is a wander in the 'Men's Toys' department at B&Q, because they have a vast range you can fondle, I mean see how they fit your hands.

[m4ckg]

Festool make the best tools bar none but very expensive ! If you want a quality built router the Makita is the one to go for, as far as cordless, I've had nothing but trouble with the Makita Lith ion batteries. Had the replaced once under warranty and both failed within a week of another again outside the warranty period.

As far as Dewalt are concerned I'd steer clear, Bosch have some nice new kit out at the minute as well

[Plotloss]

Festool
Blue Bosch and Makita
Everyone else

In that order.

[singlecoil]

How much are you looking to spend?

If it's lots, then Festool

If you want to keep the initial investment down, then the Erbauer range from Screwfix is very acceptable. I wouldn't advise going any lower than that.

[Terisis]

Other quality brands to consider are Fein, Metabo, Mafell and Panasonic. One thing to bear in mind with Festool is that they don't like other manufacturers producing accessories for their tools so any extras you need will have to be from Festool and will be reassuringly expensive. Festool also make sure all of their retailers charge the same prices so you are unlikely to get a good deal unless it's clearance stock.

[oniznorb]

Erbauer from Screwfix are a good buy at the lower end of the market, but if you want precision ( especally necessary with a router ) you will need to look elsewhere.

seansverige said:

On a slightly more obscure note - anyone know anything about laser wood printing / engraving?...

I have been looking into these, but more for cutting than printing. haven't bought one yet, but looked at a few options at the NEC a few months ago. Depends on the size you need, but for a 400x600 printing/cutting area prices range from £3000 to £10000. HPC laser in Halifax are at the cheaper end of the range, but seem to tick all the boxes for my needs. They were also very helpful at the show and have a showroom where they can demonstrate their machines

[Skyedriver]

singlecoil said:

How much are you looking to spend?

If you want to keep the initial investment down, then the Erbauer range from Screwfix is very acceptable. I wouldn't advise going any lower than that.

Agree, if its one job then erbaurer is ok, I use a lot of Wickes own make tools and they seem pretty durable although prices have risen over the last few years

Fancying an impact driver myself, really want a cordless one, but then the battery seems to make them so big they might not get into tight corners for suspension stuff etc, oh and they ar expensive for a home user

[seansverige]

Thank you one and all - lots of useful stuff here: evidently my old boss knew his onions it was Makita & blue Bosch I remember using. Festool new to me, but given the amount of use it's likely to get, one of the former two is probably more than adequate / sensible. Not fussed about cordless and it seems there are still drawbacks - especially as my kit will probably see frenetic but intermittent use.

Thanks also for the retailer tips, am pretty good at where to get camera / laptop / dvds, but would struggle after the obvious (B&Q) for tools. The power of advertising - NOT: despite being bombarded by ads (on ITV4?), Screwfix wouldn't have occurred to me.

Only looking to have a few panels laser etched at the moment, but kit's cheaper than I would've guessed; will contact HPC for a recommendation as to where to get it done (can also ask them how best to format drawings whilst I'm at it). Although I'm planning minimal decoration, the panels will be quite large - at least one will be bigger than 600x400 and a couple right on that threshold.

re: 'Men's Toys' - I see Clas Ohlsson have opened a few branches in the UK; back in Sweden it's known as old man's daycare...

:rubs hands: Right. Looks like I have a few things to research whilst watching HIGABMNFY tonight...

[YoungOne]

If you find something you like in b&q always have a look in screwfix before buying as it is always cheaper.
I've had a cheap ryobi 1/2" router for years that I got on offer from b&q and it's still going strong.
Also with all saws, routers etc its usually the quality of the blade, cutters etc that make the biggest difference.