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Forum topic by Rob_s | posted 06-07-2018 10:24 AM | 3203 views | 0 times favorited | 32 replies | ![]() |
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06-07-2018 10:24 AM |
When I started out buying all new cordlespower tools (my old stuffs had all started to break down) I settled on Milwaukee as my brand. What I didn’t realize at the time is that (a) Milwaukee is one of the more expensive of the mainstream brands, (b) rarely goes on sale, and© isn’t the most woodworker-centric of brands. I’ve since accumulated an 18v circular saw, hammerdrill, and a 12v drill and driver. The specific cordless items that I’d like to pick up that Milwaukee doesn’t make (yet) are a trim router, random orbit sander, and something else that escapes me at the moment. Milwaukee may someday, or soon, release these items but I don’t like to have them now and even if they do I’m pretty confident they will be more expensive. I have no doubt that Milwaukee is “better” but I’m just a hobbies that is lucky to get a couple hours a week in the shop. I’m considering trying to sell my current Milwaukee stuff and it looks to me like I could replace tool for tool, plus pick up a cordless recip saw, for about $550 in Ridgid tools. Am I nuts? Is there any sort of market for used cordless power tools wherein I could recoup at least some of the $550 replacement cost? I’m guessing I’d be in the hole to start with the initial changeover but doing so would allow me to buy future tools for less and also give me access to new tools that Milwaukee doesn’t currently make. In the past I’ve had multiple battery systems, and while I know I could just go buy the Ridgid tools I want that Milwaukee doesn’t make, I don’t want to go back to having more than one brand/system (yes, I know I already have two systems in the 18 and 12w volt). -- www.facebook.com/therealbnrlabs |
32 replies so far
#1 posted 06-07-2018 11:21 AM |
I’ll skip the question about your sanity, but that’s exactly what I’m doing….moving from Milwaukee to Rigid. As a hobbyist, I’m not sure I need the extra expense of Milwaukee and the Rigid LSA really has some value (unless they screw it up). -- Our village hasn't lost it's idiot, he was elected to congress. |
#2 posted 06-07-2018 11:33 AM |
You’ll get killed on resale. If it were me I’d swallow hard, accept that I over-bought, keep the Milwaukees, and keep an eye out for what you really want. Those Milwaukee tools will get used, just maybe not at your hobby. -- - Crud. Go tell your mother that I need a Band-aid. |
#3 posted 06-07-2018 11:36 AM |
Personally I think I’d keep what you have, at least the 12volt stuff and go check out porter cable. -- Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might |
#4 posted 06-07-2018 12:11 PM |
The only real benefit to moving to the Ridgid tools would be their Lifetime Service Agreement(LSA). I’ve used it many times for batteries and received close to $800 worth of replacement batteries for free. Unless i’m buying something that I rarely use on Craigslist, I try to buy Ridgid. I don’t like paying for a tool more than once. Even my son who’s a plumber buys Ridgid and his tools take a beating. -- there's a solution to every problem.......you just have to be willing to find it. |
#5 posted 06-07-2018 12:32 PM |
Oh, there is no question as to my in-sanity. The logical thing here would appear to be to just keep the tools I have and start buying Ridgid for the new tools I want that Milwaukee doesn’t make. But the two-battery-system issue is a kind of a deal-breaker for me.
I have a separate shop from the house, and I’ve considered putting the current Milwaukee stuff in the garage for household chores and buying all the Ridgid stuff for the shop. It’s not terribly convenient to go out to the shop to get a drill to hang something on the wall. No matter what I decide I’m at least getting a second set of 12v driver/drill to keep in the garage for household chores. My original plan was to get the new brushless Milwaukee 12v tools and move the non-brushless to the garage.
Like Milwaukee, they don’t make all the tools/tool-types I want. -- www.facebook.com/therealbnrlabs |
#6 posted 06-07-2018 01:06 PM |
Milwaukee has been expanding their cordless lines, so may very well come out with the tools you want to add, just not in the near future. They’ve always targeted tradesmen (plumbers, electricians, etc.) more than woodworking, but have been expanding that direction recently as shown by the addition of the cordless table saw that will be out this year. Those announced additions don’t include a sander or router, however. The market for used cordless is generally not very good, from what I’ve seen. Half of new is the high side of pricing, with most selling for even less. Not sure why you would replace the M12 Milwaukee. Even if you replace the M18 with Ridgid, you are still going to have at least two systems no matter what (12V & 18V) Why spend the money to replace the M12 when the Ridgid tools that you want are all 18V? If you moved the current M12 to your garage for household and got M12 brushless for the shop, you’d keep the number of systems down and be able to share 12V batteries when needed. If you go all Ridgid in the shop, you are now juggling three systems instead of two (12V Ridgid, 18V Ridgid and M12) If you are going to juggle three systems, might as well just add the 18V Ridgid router and sander and have M18, M12 & 18V Ridgid as the three. My 2 cents and worth every bit of what you paid for the advice. Best of luck on your decision. -- https://www.jtplaneworks.com - In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is. |
#7 posted 06-07-2018 01:57 PM |
I got rid of my Ridgid 18V tools last year and went Bosch 12V. I never need the additional power of 18V tools in the shop or around the house, and every time I picked up a heavy 18V tool, or worked with it over my head, I felt those additional pounds. The brushless Bosch 12V (or Milwaukee, for that matter) are fantastic. |
#8 posted 06-07-2018 02:08 PM |
This interests me because it makes no sense to me but I’ve seen many people express this sentiment. Why is having more than one type of battery a deal breaker? I keep my tools and their chargers right next to each other. When I grab a tool, I also grab it’s battery. When I put the tool away, the battery goes back on it’s charger. If a battery dies while I’m using it, I swap it out with one on the charger. It makes absolutely no difference to me which charger it’s on. It takes less than a second to figure out which battery I need. I rarely grab two tools and only a single battery to run them. Maybe I’m the insane one for preferring a battery per tool that I’m using. -- Tony, SW Chicago Suburbs |
#9 posted 06-07-2018 02:24 PM |
I was in a similar boat when I started replacing my Dewalt 18V tools. I tested out some Makita tools but decided to have one brand and battery size. I packaged the Makita tools and sold them off and settled on the Dewalt 20V. Pick one brand and battery size for commonality, it sucks to grab a tool and have to search for the right voltage battery. The Ridgid LSA can be a benefit but what is the hassle worth, check out Tyler Tool, Acme Tool and Toolup for deals. You can usually get a 10% sale and free shipping with no tax. just my $0.02 |
#10 posted 06-07-2018 04:35 PM |
i think it’s one of those situations where you’re in one camp or the other, and if you’re not in the same camp then you’re never going to understand the other guy. what you just described above sounds like lunacy to me. ;) -- www.facebook.com/therealbnrlabs |
#11 posted 06-07-2018 04:36 PM |
I can recall many occasions where the 18v brushless did the job that the 12v non-brushless wouldn’t. Also, in my case anyway, given that the 12v are the non-brushless the size and weight diferences are almost nil. Especially if I put a wimpy battery on the 18v to match the wimpy 12v battery. -- www.facebook.com/therealbnrlabs |
#12 posted 06-07-2018 04:40 PM |
Decent point. I have gotten very used to having two drivers and two drills, and initially bought one set of 12v and one set of 18v because the price for the 12v was lower and I thought they’d be more compact and lighter (given that the 18v I bought are brushless and the 12v aren’t, that didn’t prove true). But, as you point out, if I keep all my 12v stuff Milwaukee and only change out the 18v stuff for Ridgid, it’s the same battery count either way. -- www.facebook.com/therealbnrlabs |
#13 posted 06-07-2018 04:55 PM |
You will save more $$ keeping your existing Milwaukees and adding the Ridgid tools you want. Here’s are my own examples, for both work, and home; For both around the house work, and in fact in our full time use every day scene shop I too chose Milwaukee, but in our case, the more hobby-centric (and much more affordable, and does go on super great sales) 12 volt system. Even in the shop, we find the 12 volt system is more than enough for 95% of what we do. (In the shop we also have ample power access so when more power is needed, plugging in is always an option.) So I adopted this same system for my home shop. The 12 volt tools can be amazing, the new brushless circular saw for instance is outstanding! That said, there are times that we need more powerful impact driver, and don’t even think of comparing Milwaukees 12v Sawzall or jig saw to the better 18/20v offerings. I am now into a very large project in my falling down garage. No easy power source (100 foot of power cord is the only option) So I now have the DeWalt 20v brushless kit for the big jobs, including drill impact driver, Circular saw and Sawzall. At work we added these as well as the amazing 20v Jigsaw. Having two systems has not been a burden in any way, and since we had a large established fleet of the 12v Milwaukee’s we didn’t lose any money swapping, but instead augmented. -- Without the wood, it's just working |
#14 posted 06-07-2018 05:15 PM |
I find it interesting that folks are so quick to jump on the multi-battery-system issue based solely on their own experience with no knowledge of the other person’s prior experience… I lived with two 18v systems already, and it sucked. and that was just having milwaukee drill and driver and a dewalt circular saw. I’d take the drill and the saw someplace on the property to work, one or the other would die, and I’d have to schlep back somewhere to get a different battery instead of just pulling it out of one tool and putting it into the other to finish up. Or, if I knew I’d be gone awhile, take one spare battery and be covered for either tool, when you’re on one system or have to take (or, more accurately, remember to take) two spares for two different brands. -- www.facebook.com/therealbnrlabs |
#15 posted 06-07-2018 06:46 PM |
I’ll add that for the rare task where I’ve needed more power than a 12V brushless tool could deliver, I can just pick up one of two corded drills I have. They have more power than a cordless tool will ever deliver. |
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