Power tool advice - DIY'ers in here please

I'm after some new power tools, and I've got my eye on the Ryobi One Plus system.

These are for domestic use, not trade, and don't need to be especially heavy duty, so DeWalt etc are out.

The "range" will probably consist of a medium-duty drill/driver, circular saw and perhaps jigsaw. I might add one or two others (tile saw, maybe reciprocating saw) later.

And what really appeals is a common battery, and Li-ion at that. That, and only getting a couple of batteries ad one charger for everything.

But ..... and here's the concern .... is battery power (18v Li-ion) enough to give adequate grunt for things like a hammer drill, and especially circular saw.

My last experience with (a relatively cheap 18v Nicad drill) was that it struggled with, for instance, masonry drilling, but then, it was a good number (probably 15 or 20) of years ago, so maybe things have improved?

Does anyone have any Ryobi One Plus gear, and if so, what do you think of it?

Li-Ion tools tend to have considerably more torque than Ni-Cad ones.

It has to do with the rate of power fall off, Li-Ion can deliver full power for longer before the voltage starts to drop causing loss of torque.

An example of this is my Ni-Cad 24v drill compared to my neighbors 18v Li-Ion drill.

I have used both and I get considerably better performance out of his than I do mine, this includes driving in some very large and very long screws.

Li-Ion tends to have a lot shorter charge time as well.

I would see no reason why Li-Ion would not deliver enough torque for use in a circular saw or jigsaw

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Also Li-Ion does not usually suffer from battery decay when left on charge for extended periods of time

I've got a bunch of One+ tools, a handful of batteries and a couple of chargers.

Got a medium hammer drill, torch, spotlight beam torch, caulking gun, jigsaw and a hand held vacuum. All are great tools. I do need some more like a more compact or even the short 90degree drill/driver and the circular saw.

The power is pretty good, I only have the Li-Ion packs, three small and one large. You get good use times out of them all and I haven't had a problem with a lack of power on the drill. However, if it is a really big diameter hole saw or a masonary bit, i'll just crack out the SDS drill I have instead. The Ryobi may well work, I just know for sure the SDS will rip through it in seconds.

edit further to what larkspeed said, you don't get a slow down as you are running out of power, it just stops working instantly.

I must admit the torch and hand-held vac are also on my hit list.

Thanks to both of you for the comments, and it's what I was hoping to hear. Now it's just a case of hunting down the right deals. ;)

And Funkstar, yeah, I can always revert to mains drills too, including the SDS, if need be. These are more about convenience and portability, and for most jobs, lighter weight (weaker wrists as I get older, y'know). But I'm hoping that the lighter tools will do most of what I need, most of the time, and be far easier to use at the same time.

I also have a bunch of Ryobi stuff and quite frankly, it's brilliant. Interesting you make the comment about DeWalt though, as I didn't find their stuff particularly higher quality - but then again maybe that's because I'm not in that trade. My dad is a professional carpenter and primarily has DeWalt stuff, so we end up using each others stuff when doing jobs often. Both appear to be of good quality to me :)

The drill I have I really rate, although I've not really had to use the hammer drill for masonry as I have a proper 230v heavy duty thing for that.
I also have the hand corner sander which has saved me so much time with the recent decorating. The vac is nice for a quick clean up, but don't expect a huge suction off it - it's more for picking up sawdust / crumbs and so on. It does eat the battery though.

Some of my battery's I own are getting on now though (even before the One+ marketing, they all used the same connection) and I should really look at buying a higher quality one. I've have a quick look inside one and to be honest, if I can source the cells, I can rebuild it myself.

Oh, and random money saving tip if you don't mind the hassle: Most of the companies actually have identical internals in their battery's. You can open them up and swap them about reasonably easy (the worse I've seen was a quick resolder to the main connection). Obviously for some of the top end fancy battery's that have things like a status indicator, you might not want to try, but the normal range ones it certainly stands true for. So if you see a double pack from another brand on offer and you're technically minded, making it fit another brand has been trivial in my experience :)

Treat yourself to an SDS, the difference between a 'hammer drill' and an SDS when going through masonry is like night and day. I still to this day get a bit of a grin when the SDS chews through a wall and I have to reign it in before it pulls me through.

The chisel bits also come in handy for all sorts too, ripping off tiles with an SDS is a real giggle.

For everything else, I have a 14.4v lithium battery driver and an older 18v batter nicad for side-by-side work but it rarely gets used unless I'm doing stud walls or floorboarding because nicad is a chew to keep charged.

never, ever get a battery hammer drill unless your spending a lot of dosh.

They are heavy. The battery won't last long enough to make it worthwhile either.

If you need a hammer drill, spend the extra and get a proper SDS hammer drill, and a cheap cordless drill for doing simple wood/screwing. If your putting things in to any kind of agregate blocks that are harder than brick most hammer drills don't cut it. But they add a lot of weight to the tool when your doing something finer.

(I've had I think its this one: http://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-350951/b...Fe1V4godr08AwA which I got for £60 on a homebase sale thing, its great!)

You can't go wrong with a decent bosh mains power drill, my oldman has had one for the last 10 years or so and it goes through masonary like a hot knife through butter :)

He tried it once or twice with a pathetic battery operated job amd never used it again any time after !

Thanks to everyone for their comments. To clarify the original question, though, this is specifically about battery tools, and at that, not just drills. I already have a collection of mains drills, including SDS+, but I'm looking at battery tools for portability. And at Ryobi because all of the One+ range use the same battery, meaning a couple of batteries will do me for all the tools, and that makes it much more likely that what I need will be charged when I need it.

In other words, the convenience, portability and relative economy of not buying a different battery and charger for every tool leads me to Ryobi provided they are good quality, and heavy-duty enough for medium use. Anything requiring real power will be done by existing mains tools, but I don't do anything requiring that very often these days.

Well lets put it this way, there is only once I've not used my Ryobi tools for a job and that was when a SDS was needed.

I've done everything from board the loft, fit new doors, locks, rebuilt a motorbike engine, changed pretty much the entire suspension area on a Ford KA, and dropped them down the stairs and from loft on numerous times. And they still don't miss a beat. There is no complaints in terms of quality from me, they've really taken a beating over the years. I can't think of a single job where they haven't been up to the task.

I have 2 drills (one hammer, although never used that feature), the hand sander and the vac. If you have any specific questions about any of them, ask away :)

I'm a toolaholic in all honesty. I'd dread to think of what the value of them all is. Would I buy another Ryobi? Without a doubt.

The drills are older than the current generation (They are not the bright green ones) by the way, so I can't vouch for the quality of their newer drills, but the older ones are solid.

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Originally Posted by Agent

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The drills are older than the current generation (They are not the bright green ones) by the way, so I can't vouch for the quality of their newer drills, but the older ones are solid.

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Well, if you wouldn't mind popping out, buying the current version, testing them for 6 months and reporting back by tomorrow, I'd be grateful.

:D

Seriously though, thanks for the feedback. It pretty much seals the decision I'd more or less made. Ta.

I like how the One+ tools are usually available as just the tool as well. Which is more than can be said for the other Ryobi systems, like the Tek4. There are a couple of kits you can get, but the only "naked" tools you can get are the USB charger and the torch. I would really like most of the range, but then I would end up with about 5 chargers. Pointless.

Their new 12v range looks interesting too.

i have started what will no dount become a collection of bosch blue 10.8v Li kit, impact driver and impact drill driver thats coming in handy already!

had a printer to bits in about 2 mins instead of 20 and got the blackout blind repaired in the nipper room in minutes :)


bloody powerful is an understatement.

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Originally Posted by TheAnimus

never, ever get a battery hammer drill unless your spending a lot of dosh.

They are heavy. The battery won't last long enough to make it worthwhile either.

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I would have to disagree wit that.

When I worked installing NTL cable I used a Bosch SDS Cordless Hammer Drill.

The battery charge was very fast and it would easily rip through real stone outer walls with a 1 meter long 13mm bit in it.

It was not that heavy I could very comfortably use it with one hand while standing on a ladder up the side of a house. (which I did on a regular basis)

Price wise it was not too bad, I paid 400 pound for it and considering the quality that was a bargain.

I used to use it all day long on both big and small drilling jobs and never had an issue with it.

Basically if you are going to be using it for every day drilling jobs with maybe a bit of hammer work then you can go cheaper, but if you think you will be doing a lot of heavy drilling it's worth investing in good tools.

oh and for the record SDS has nothing to do with the power of the drill it is simply the style of chuck fitted to that drill.

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Originally Posted by Larkspeed

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Originally Posted by TheAnimus

never, ever get a battery hammer drill unless your spending a lot of dosh.

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I would have to disagree wit that.

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Price wise it was not too bad, I paid 400 pound for it ...

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:o

Since when was £400 *not* a lot of dosh!? Sorry, but if you're spending £400 on a drill that *is* a lot of dosh. It may be a good deal, indeed it may well be worth £400, but it's still a lot of dosh. I'd have to think very hard before spending £400 on anything, let alone one power tool...!

I can recommend the bosch range - very happy with mine.