Which Tool Brand is Best for Carpentry in 2024

[@marinkop5934]

One of my children started his apprenticeship last year, bought him the DeWalt, 18 volt and 54 Volt range with a Paslode nail gun, 90% of carpenters working in his company have Milwaukee. He loves the yellow team. And tools dont get mixed up as he is the only person with Dewalt.

[@michaelmcloughlinjr.2447]

I'm an apprentice of over 2 yrs so I'm at the stage where my tool collection is expanding. My boss uses dewalt and paslode and they are both good. However when I was first buying tools every video I saw was recommending makita so I bought the 18v platform and am happy with it, very reliable tools. I will also buy the paslode because my boss had a battery framer and they are just to heavy for everyday use!! Great video Dave👍

[@DaveDoesCarpentry]

One thing I’ve noticed, is that I see a lot of old 18v makita tools on site. They definitely stand the test of time and you’ve got yourself some good tools! Thankyou!

[@anthonyturner5319]

@@DaveDoesCarpentryyeap sadly also slow and boring to use. I’ll hopefully never convince myself to buy another 18v Makita or 18v x2 as they’re gutless as. 40v way better .

[@davidha8148]

We use the battery framers daily nonstop. You just get stronger brother

[@andytee1471]

Well done and good luck with your Makita range. I'm 50 and have always favoured Makita, in my opinion they're the best all-rounder for range, power, durability, and cost. I've got the 18v range, I'd like to extend to more power but Makita 18v have done me well. Sometimes after purchasing a dud tool (happens with electricals) it's easy to be put off due to one bad experience.

[@derekwray5370]

Makita and Milwaukee all the way 👍

[@mikesnyder7961]

Man you sound like me. I’m a glazier in Canada and do a lot of aluminum framing. I mostly only need impacts, drills, grinders, and occasionally sawzalls and circ saws to board up old smashed windows. I have cordless tools from Ridgid (AED where you live), Makita 18v, Milwaukee, and started buying Kobalt here because they are cheap, and no one steals those from my job site. I also just bought a Ryobi impact for like $50, just because it was dirt cheap. This tool addiction is getting ridiculous haha…

[@danwiggin1213]

I'm a pro woodworker and side contractor. I'm mostly cordless and use mostly Makita. I build all the bedroom sets at Joe's Furniture, Newport, Maine.

[@TokyoDreamer99]

So over the years of working i own quite a bit of DeWalt tools. My occilating Multi tool fell off a 14 foot ladder with a 8amp battery connected to it. Still working! My drills fall off from time to time all still working. My boss owns Makita. 2 years in all the overmolding on his drills peel off. His tools lack power. But win in precision.

[@DaveDoesCarpentry]

DeWalt tools are definitely built tough. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve dropped tools and they haven’t broke. The only DeWalt tool I’ve broken from a drop is the DeWalt framing nailer

[@Sorensenator86]

I am a general contractor and do a lot of my own carpentry. I just replaced my cordless Dewalt drill with hammer function after 12 years because the chuck was slipping but still works. I have dropped Dewalt impacts off roofs 7-8 meters tall and they don't break. They are simply the most durable and most reliable tools I have ever owned and their 5AH batteries charge last forever and now they are up to 8 or 9 AH or whatever the fuck they're on. I have 6AH flex batteries that I bought over 8 years ago still going strong. I still use the basic Dewalt cordless skillsaw that isn't even brushless and it work's like a charm. Dewalt all the way.

[@paulknights1764]

For me personally it’s makita.. they have the best range of tools and they are affordable. Dust extraction wise though , it’s festool all the way , I have the new cordless midi , a superb bit of kit . Nail guns , I’d recommend Milwaukee for finishing work . 👍🏼

[@DaveDoesCarpentry]

I’ve been asked this question a lot so I’ve made this video to help anyone out who is looking at buying tools! This is a bit more of a laid back casual video to start the year, but I am already working on some exciting projects and can’t wait to get into 2024!

[@anthonycvitkovic9866]

I’ve used makita, ridgid, dewalt, and Milwaukee and I will say dewalt has been the most solid and where I’ve been the happiest with! I like the fact that the tools range from cheap(not as powerful) to more expensive(more powerful) but easy to upgrade and all the batteries work with the each tool! Also not afraid to drop my tools lol. I’ll say Milwaukee has been my least favourite(don’t get me wrong they’re great tools) there’s just something about the feeling of the tools. They just feel cheap to me in my hands

[@baseballdude8491]

Hikoki for the win

[@joemsmith]

I mainly use deWalt, but I have a few different sets of other brands ((Rigid) -an impact drill driver, hammer drill set, handheld router, drywall cutout tool, radio, corded table saw, Sds hammer drill 0:08 (Bosch) -rotary laser level, buschammer brute jackhammer, 12” corded mitre saw, laser measurer, angle grinder, (DeWalt) I have made quite a collection. Including but not limited to: 7-1/4” 60v circular saw 6-1/2” 20v circular saw x2 Impact drill Cordless hammer drill Jigsaw corded and cordless 60v chainsaw Cordless leaf blower Whippersnipper Oscillator Angle grinder I’ll stop now, but I find the deWalt setup best for myself and my company. I can send a guy or two out with a small set of tools and still have enough batteries to beep myself going

[@TomRichardson-g9t]

Hikoki rear handle 36v is the best circ I've ever used 👌

[@robdiv5848]

100% agree its a beast

[@TBird89]

You need to make some merch on your favourite sayings. I’ve got too many tools… it’s sitting in my shed… I bought a combo kit…I’m replacing my tools … my recent purchase has been… I’m lucky …

[@justjames1348]

Milwaukee is more for electricians, plumbers and those specialised trades. Makita and dewalt are for chippies. High voltage for more power. Milwaukee has the best range. Bosch is interesting. They are a massive company. Bigger than the others but they specialise in industrial area

[@Pat672]

Makita 40v with a couple Makita 18v and Paslode nail guns and or hiKoki nail guns. great video Dave

[@DaveDoesCarpentry]

That’ll be a pretty neat set up 👌🏾 Thankyou!

[@bartbug1]

Agree.

[@pengellycarpentry1376]

Dewalt for me love the flexvolt used to be makita but dewalt now

[@patbird9694]

Your girlfriend a keeper letting you dump your tools in the spare room. Blocking her shoes😂 Good video mate. I agree with you about the Milwaukee tools . I myself find Milwaukee tools not very ergonomic. Can you do video on Makita vs Dewalt cordless biscuit joiner. I already have an Makita cordless one . But what to know if the dewalt brushless one is better. I don’t want to jump into new system yet. Thanks

[@rn1985]

Sparky for 15 years doing house bashin and have only used hitachi/hikoki. Quality and feel is so much better than overrated milwaukee tools

[@garykilvington9417]

I’m a kitchen fitter/joiner in the uk my my nails guns are Milwaukee 1st and 2nd fix and every other tool I own is festool from vacuum to mitre saw to the new table saw cheers

[@Seqhael]

Makita all the way, started on 18v now use 40v. Drill/impact driver/palm router, small things are fine with 18v but the reciprocating saw, sds etc just lack the power. I go 40v for all those but also run corded for the power hungry tools too. Nothing is worse than when you need to use an SDS or rip a lot of timber, or cut a lot with the recip saw and just constantly churning through batteries. I still believe a good corded setup is required alongside the battery gear Other than a multi tool that an apprentice was abusing, I’ve yet to have a Makita tool fail on me in 8 years and I still run most of my original kit, as well as the batteries if you can believe it

[@alessiomarin1218]

I have heard that Milwaukee’s 8.0Ah and 12.0Ah batteries have had issues where, after a few months, they charge up to 2 bars only but the charger says they’re fully charged. I can’t really speak to the platform much, though, because I have literally only used one of their impact drivers and one of their circular saws with 5.0Ah and 6.0Ah batteries.

[@DaveDoesCarpentry]

That’s a massive problem if true! I’m curious and want to look into this! One thing i haven’t seen a lot of testing on, is the lifespan of each brands battery.

[@amegam4705]

Personally absolutely love Dewalt, especially their 54v range. Rip and Circ saws are strong as and the 54v grinder is (in my opinion) the best on the market.

[@RikoRey92]

I'm a DeWalt guy, but eventually I will switch to festool

[@bartbug1]

Nice video, but as soon as I see 'Red' I feel sick lol ( it must be a Plumber thing, sorry Plumbers). I'm a Makita fan. As for nail guns, I'm sticking with Paslode...it does piss me off about the gas thought. Hikoki are the bomb though, not seen too many of the DeWalt framers to form a subjective opinion. I've not taken the time to understand DeWalt battery tools...seems like I'd be reading the novel of 'War and Peace' to understand how their system works lol. Great videos mate, love the content.

[@jerrylondon2388]

Generally stick with deWalt 20v for my daily tools. Occasional tools, I will buy other brands that will take a deWalt battery adapter. Generally Ryobi or Makita 18v. Sometimes deWalt doesn't make an affordable version for a one-time job, but again, battery compatibility makes the decision easy. I bought a Ryobi fan/cooler without battery on sale I use every summer, nothing comparable in DeWalt but works with an adapter. Now, seeing no name tools that are deWalt or Milwaukee battery compatible another alternative to for Occasional use tools. Plus the tons of 18v used tools people are dumping for 20v instead of buying an adapter. Just pick your battery brand and stick with it.

[@adi_0022]

Since you have said that you’d like to test every cordless battery powered nail guns, try Senco and Prebena. Soon you will have to try makita

[@TBird89]

Makita corded were the best. Cordless are rubbish under powered and batteries didn’t last that’s why they went to 40v which was bs. Most drills and hammer lack joules in power compared to others. Best tools are their mitre saw range and prices are great stater tools. Milwaukee handyman tools at tradie prices. Shit house bearings on all tools. Weak motors but their 12v range kills it. Well priced. Best tools 12 inch mitre saw and fark they have heaps of tools for every industry. Bosch have the best motors and batteries take a beating before they heat up. Single batteries only. More tools coming. Fell asleep at the wheel compared to other major players. Best tools all cordless saws and grinders and hammer drills and dominate the accessories market. Diablo etc Dewalt lead the cordless charge 10+ years ago due to clever market chics everywhere in the utes and on TV …but can’t figure out what they want their tools to do. Shit blades and lack range but gotta remember Stanley Black & Decker own them, Americans cream their pants over Dewalt. So money for development now must be tight. Best tools impact drivers and new batteries seem to handle the work loads. Hitachi Hikoki were just as good a Makita in the 90s and early 2000s and completely shit the bed regarding tool development in the cordless game. Would change a design on something but nothing was improved so same shit different stickers as they say. Lost the opportunity to develop accessories etc. Best tool cordless framer they’ve done something to their package compared to Milwaukee and others. Unfortunately marketing money not available for them to compete anymore Paslode not matter what people say about cost of gas is bs. Nobody offers gas and nails all over Australia. Nails are made with Aussie steel and have the best range for all applications. If you can’t afford the gas then change trades or don’t get another leg tatt every 4 months and you won’t see the difference. Nobody complained about cost of gas and nails until prices went north of $75. Remember the money is not in the tool… it’s in the consumables gas , batteries nails etc. other tool manufacturers try to bash your ears about no gas but Paslode have outsmarted everyone. Other cordless nailers have the same shared technology which was developed by Senco in 2007 and they shit the bed and now it just comes down to marketing money. It’s either red or yellow or green it’s your choice or orange. My 2 cents worth

[@DaveDoesCarpentry]

This was a good read! Thanks for sharing! A good call about the paslodes, the only thing that j can see contending with them is Milwaukee and Hikoki if they can slightly reduce the weight of their guns. The bump fire mode those guns have, make them quick enough to use with wall framing, whereas Paslode never had the speed for that. For now we’ll stick to running the air hoses but I am interested to see which brand with bring out the next generation of framing nailers

[@TBird89]

@@DaveDoesCarpentry I understand the bump mode but Workcover never liked the idea of that mode when they hit our shores in the 90s. Remember that Paslode has the IM 90 ( this gun also takes clipped nails and Paslode don’t want you to know that ) which was to have bump fire that’s why it went to fuel injection amongst other things. Because of Paslode offering a cordless nailer there were discussions to ban the guns completely ( Senco dominated the market and made the most noise to ban the gun ) so that didn’t help the issue of offering bump mode. The yanks love bump fire mode mainly for the plywood. Yes it’s also makes a difference in wall framing in Merica because of the 5 inch studs -3 nails per stick, but we love prefab frame erection so makes no difference. If you calculate your cost for let’s say high pressure compressor and 2 guns have at least 2 leads what would that cost just as a set up. Then calculate every day time to roll everything out and pack up every arvo versus the cost of gas. It’s not even close to being concern about a small consumable item. No different now from bringing your lunch to work vs ordering Uber eats for your lunch every day.

[@JoeIkm]

lets be honest, when makita 40v has released every tool like their 18v range no brand can compare

[@DaveDoesCarpentry]

100%! not sure how long we’ll be waiting for that tho. By then another brand might have brought out a new range of battery tools that can compete with makitas 40v

[@belindaciccone4328]

I have a dewalt tool belt and a dewalt tough system 2.0 tool box

[@3Cliffhanger]

I love my metabo hpt for carpentry

[@aaronkerwin3703]

Gotta wait for the new hikoki framer it supposed to be smaller

[@DaveDoesCarpentry]

I haven’t heard about this yet. Do you know when it’s expected to come out?

[@mtasubwaymartasubway]

I don't like corded tools anymore, I love cordless tools and that is all will be on my shelf

[@josephfarrar2983]

I’m surprised you don’t like Milwaukee. I was using dewalt and honestly as I swap to Milwaukee I’m getting better results. Also was using the power detect dew-alt and the Milwaukee fuel circular saw is much more powerful.

[@josephfarrar2983]

Also, for cordless nail gun the tech works much better with the Milwaukee gun than the dewalt.

[@MrJumper68]

I dont like milwaukee I have it at work

[@josephfarrar2983]

@@MrJumper68 fuel or what and what do y’all use it for?

[@josephfarrar2983]

@@MrJumper68 also, what batteries cause if your using the standard batteries Milwaukee has way less power they did a test with a bunch of different batteries and a drill test and the 5.0 took 4.18 seconds to drill the 6.0 high output took 2.62 seconds the forge 6.0 took 2.02 seconds and the forge 12.0 took 1.08

[@sherminator7108]

Festool makes the best saws hands down

[@Thebattler86]

Mafell

[@belindaciccone4328]

Good job mate

[@Mike-i2f6r]

Good video but dude you need to organize your tools instead of having them in a heap on the floor !

[@randomguy6556]

I'm not sure if Canadian tools will translate well to the American battery chargers made for the usa?

[@ROGUEMANDER]

What's yall's preference with Metabo HPT and Makita tools related to rough or fine carpentry jobs?

[@belindaciccone4328]

Hi Dave I am in year 9 this year I’m just wondering if I can do work experience next year with you

[@DaveDoesCarpentry]

Definitely send me a message next year when you’re looking at doing it!

[@belindaciccone4328]

@@DaveDoesCarpentry cheers mate I will get back to you next year

[@alexwest4629]

DeWalt FelxVolt Circ is 100% the best one out, but their impact isn't the best. HiKoki 36v impact actually punches...

[@jacobgrzys5191]

Personally i find dewalt is the best for what i do, im apprentice carpenter (cut on site framing) from sydney over the last 4 years ive found the dewalts saws shit all over everything else on the market, milwuakee has better drills id say but just for the reason of the circ saw me and my crew all run dewalt

[@patbird9694]

Bunnings want their basket back 😂

[@dylandickeson2929]

Aeg?

[@DaveDoesCarpentry]

Yeah I missed AEG here. When I made this I had never tried an AEG tool before or seen them on site

[@dylandickeson2929]

@DaveDoesCarpentry big fan of your channel just found it last month. I've been in construction for 15 yrs building plumbing and operating building servos for the last 4 yrs currently building in seaford,. But feel inspired to get into framing or start an apprenticeship at 35 in carpentry want to work with wood. Thanks mate keep up the good work

[@Petephoenix]

Anyone have experience with Metabo (18v)?

[@DaveDoesCarpentry]

I’m curious on Metabo aswell. I’ve never seen anyone use their tools

[@dme6991]

Hilti all the way

[@AARON-69]

Makita the toyota of power tools. Above average over all tools but u no what u get.

[@Thebattler86]

More like the Volkswagen of powrtools

[@jordanc3233]

How good are Bunnings baskets? 🤣

[@MichaelKuipers-t2b]

Your no t even paying that much for Gass.... it comes with the box of nails battery nail guns are trash heavy, battery nail guns shoot into lvl framing better but paroles battery last longer, pasload cheaper to fix, not bulky, not heavy and also just the better nail gun

[@timemasterhms]

Do the tools really matter? In some cases yes, but mostly get what you can afford or borrow until you can get the ones you want.

[@stewatparkpark2933]

Got a Milwaukee tool ad at half way point of video .

[@Andrew-xd9fg]

Makita 40v max range has more tools than Dewalt 54v range, and Dewalt 54v has been out way longer than 40v max too. Also if one is already on Dewalt and just 18v and wanted to buy a 54v tool they are still required to buy a new battery too. You’re just talking a bunch of nonsense in this lame video.

[@andytee1471]

Hi, I think you can use a 54v battery on an 18v tool, but not an 18v battery on a tool which requires a 54v battery?... mind you I've not looked into this though!? Let me know what you find? Cheers.