Tools you wish you'd bought sooner...

[skwdenyer]

JimbobVFR said:

skwdenyer said:

I don’t have one at home in Wharfedale & a trip over to Harrogate would be nice. If you can hold onto it until after the cycling (looks like we’re going to be locked in next weekend!) then would be glad to take it off your hands.

More than happy to do that. It's even got a couple of accessories, a new circular blade, a slightly manky but usable straight blade, a knackered blade I used as a scraper and a sanding head. Plus a spare Allen bolt for tools, an Allen key and a little plastic box to keep the blades and stuff in. I may or may not keep the bag it came in.

Thank you. Have just sent you a DM.

[JimbobVFR]

Cool. I've just replied.

[dazwalsh]

Nice bits of kit the erbauer multi tools, i have the cordless version. noisy as f but effective especially with new blades.

[Watchman]

Another birthday came around again at the beginning of Sept, so when asked what I wanted, I could only think to ask for an impact driver - one that uses the same 18v batteries as my drill.

Pros: Having a drill and a driver all ready and set up with the correct drill bit and driver bit to hand is dead useful

Cons: although it undoubtedly provides monstrous torque when called upon, I think limiting the torque for screwdriving is easier with the drill torque limiting settings. The impact driver is limited by the trigger only which is not terribly granular.

Perhaps I'm missing something? Haven't used it much yet, to be honest

[guindilias]

I found that out when putting a new bolt on my Mum's fence - it drove it in so hard it nicely countersunk the bolt metal into the wood!
Just needs a bit of practice, you learn to take your finer off the trigger JUST before you think you need to!

[BaldOldMan]

Mine (DeWalt) has 3 torque settings - but as above, you fairly quickly learn the trigger control

[dickymint]

My Makita has 4 settings. Here's similar with 5 ..............

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P77Zi3rm880

[JimbobVFR]

The lowest setting on my DeWalt is fine for just about anything. It'll just drive until a certain look limit had been reached, pause and then add some gentle impacts. With practice it's 100% controllable.

[Nimby]

Hardly glamorous but a proper, long handle wallpaper scraper with razor-sharp blade. So much better than a paint scraper.

[V8 WUU]

Just ordered one of these to add to my collection....

https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Milwaukee-M12B...

From the youtube vids it looks fantastic, much better than hand or air riveter's.



Bought 2 of these a few weeks ago, and again brilliant, much easier than getting mains out or messing around with gas.

https://www.powertoolsgb.co.uk/cgi-bin/ecom.cgi?Co...

[dxg]

Drywall bits with the cup. Not the ones with the fixed cup, but the ones with the cup that wiggles a little bit on the shaft so it can lock against the board while the screw turns in a little bit further.

night and day!!

Basically, these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Laser-3694-Drywall-Bit-Se...

rather than these:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/ph2-drywall-screwdriver...

[Jambo85]

dxg said:

Drywall bits with the cup. Not the ones with the fixed cup, but the ones with the cup that wiggles a little bit on the shaft so it can lock against the board while the screw turns in a little bit further.

night and day!!

Basically, these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Laser-3694-Drywall-Bit-Se...

rather than these:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/ph2-drywall-screwdriver...

Didn't know either option existed, thanks!

[untakenname]

Tripped the breaker just now and used a magnetic usb rechargeable inspection light to find out which one was the kitchen as it's unlit, it's such a useful and versatile tool.



Paid £15 for it a while back and it's one of my most used tools now the days have got shorter, just checked amazon and a pair now costs just £11 which is very good vfm considering it includes a 18650 battery.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07P4D2VZG

The magnetic base is really powerful, I lost mine for a couple of months over summer not realising I had left it attached on the underside of the car, only found out when it went for it's MOT.

[Bill]

untakenname said:

The magnetic base is really powerful, I lost mine for a couple of months over summer not realising I had left it attached on the underside of the car, only found out when it went for it's MOT.

[Laurel Green]

Bill said:

untakenname said:

The magnetic base is really powerful, I lost mine for a couple of months over summer not realising I had left it attached on the underside of the car, only found out when it went for it's MOT.

Am imagining inspector clouseau in the inspection pit.

[CAPP0]

untakenname said:

magnetic usb rechargeable inspection light

Amazon said:

Added to basket

[Dave.]

Santa-in-law got me a cheap impact driver for Christmas, £20 ish duratool one from CPC.

I wanted something in between my old bosch electric screwdriver {which turns screws slower than doing it by hand) and my kielder 1/2" impact gun.

Only used it a couple of times, it's more powerful than I imagined, and a lot louder too, unfortunately.

[kev1974]

untakenname said:

Tripped the breaker just now and used a magnetic usb rechargeable inspection light to find out which one was the kitchen as it's unlit, it's such a useful and versatile tool.



Paid £15 for it a while back and it's one of my most used tools now the days have got shorter, just checked amazon and a pair now costs just £11 which is very good vfm considering it includes a 18650 battery.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07P4D2VZG

The magnetic base is really powerful, I lost mine for a couple of months over summer not realising I had left it attached on the underside of the car, only found out when it went for it's MOT.

Have exactly that one, agree it's great. Came in handy for fixing the wiring on a boiler just the other day, due to being able to stick it exactly where I needed it on the boiler framework.

[Accelebrate]

kev1974 said:

untakenname said:

Tripped the breaker just now and used a magnetic usb rechargeable inspection light to find out which one was the kitchen as it's unlit, it's such a useful and versatile tool.



Paid £15 for it a while back and it's one of my most used tools now the days have got shorter, just checked amazon and a pair now costs just £11 which is very good vfm considering it includes a 18650 battery.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07P4D2VZG

The magnetic base is really powerful, I lost mine for a couple of months over summer not realising I had left it attached on the underside of the car, only found out when it went for it's MOT.

Have exactly that one, agree it's great. Came in handy for fixing the wiring on a boiler just the other day, due to being able to stick it exactly where I needed it on the boiler framework.

I also have one - agreed on it being very useful.

Being PH I should probably mention how I went one step further and fitted a couple of battery-backup emergency down-lighters to illuminate a path to the consumer unit in my garage when the garage lighting circuit is without power.

[skwdenyer]

In the spirit of the thread title, my latest acquisitions that I *really* should have bought sooner:

Makita table saw & stand:



Yes I do have a Makita plunge track saw, but the hassle factor is still strong there. The table saw just makes things like building cupboards a fantastically quick and easy activity.

Olive remover:



I was hugely suspicious that this could really beat a pair of pliers. But a bemused relative picked this off of my wish list & by golly it makes the job so much less frustrating

Stud removers:



We all know that vice grips are the solution to all known problems, don’t we? Owning an old Land Rover V8 inevitably brings with it a fair smattering of stuck studs (who thought fine thread steel studs in blind holes on an aluminium alloy engine was a good plan?) but these babies really do the job. Should have bought some 20 years ago!