Got a lot of tools ! Estimations? - Page 2

Originally Posted by sledge

Dewalt has also gone big box man.. and sad to say their stuff is NOT what it used to be.

I used to be a Craftsman man.. but their quality went to dog-shat too. Bosch has been the best stuff as of late. I have a 12V drill that I bought used for $50 bucks with 2 batteries. I've used it myself for over 4 years, the other day I was working on a mixing valve in a rehab.. the cartridge came flying out because it wasn't seated properly and WHOOSH water at full pressure shot into the tub- my drill was in the tub.. it got soaked. I shook it off, let it sit in the utility room with the furnace for about 30 minutes and went back to driving 3" screws!

It's a toughie. It used to be that you could believe in a certain brand name because that particular company stood for quality & durability. There are still some around but you have to expect to pay a high end price. ie: You might be able to buy a fairly decent 3/8" corded drill for around 100.00 $. On the other hand you could buy an industrial quality one that you use on the job every day for the next 20 years but it would cost a lot more.

For me: It's all about how i intend to use it. Downtime on the job site because of failed equipment costs me as much as 300.00$/day. There are certain key tools that i just cannot be without so they have to be the finest quality.

Other things are negotiable. They don't have to be ultra high end because i only use them occasionally.

It all depends on how you use them.