[Closed] New multi tool - brushless?

At the other end of the scale there's a mains powered one in Lidl today for £20.
At least, I thought there was. It's in the leaflet, but not on the website. Wondering if they've had supply issues and not got them.

Brushless will last longer on a battery, but that's about the only advantage. Unless you're a pro trying to maximise downtime (or a tool geek), I wouldn't bother.

Mate who is a pro-plumber has had 2 Milwaukee battery tools fail within a year. One drill couldn't be tightened to hold a drill bit within 3 months of buying and the replacement has now got a wonky trigger and the battery on some other tool holds about 3 nano seconds charge. He wasn't impressed and plans to return and exchange for something else. He may have been unlucky but...

I think Milwaukee have been a bit slow with brushless. As you say Makita brushless is much cheaper and its pretty much the norm now. It might feel a bit late but I would consider switching systems. Probably not for the multitool but once you head too far down one path it is tricky to change. I reckon you could sell the Milwaukee, buy Makita and still come out ahead. Any future tool purchase will be way cheaper.

I wouldn't lose sleep over brushless to be honest, especially not on a diy tool.

Brushless will last longer on a battery, but that’s about the only advantage.

I'd be more concerned with how easy blade change and noisy it is. I've gone the other way from Makita to Milwaukee and much prefer my new multitool. It's quieter, smoother and tool less blade change.

I've gone with Makita, because

1. I already have a compatible charger for work
2. The range is huge...Notably I wanted the handheld vacuum (which I got for Christmas) which has turned out to be great for around the stove, campervan and small cleanups, and I can see myself getting one of their 36v lawnmowers at some point in the future...and their track saw.

All my other tools are mains powered but I expect they'll be replaced by battery versions gradually.

I also got their absolute beast of an impact wrench for vehicle use as I'm fed up of trying to use breaker bars in a confined space when you are only working with axle stands. Now I'm prepared, hopefully nothing will go wrong for ages 🙂

Brushless will last longer on a battery,

You'll get sick of the noise long before a battery runs out. With that big a price difference I wouldn't pay the premium for brushless unless you have to do a lot of work away from the mains - like up a mountain rather than in the garden. Multi tools are great but you don't do sustained work with them so battery life and charging aren't a limitation

I’d be more concerned with how easy blade change and noisy it is. I’ve gone the other way from Makita to Milwaukee and much prefer my new multitool. It’s quieter, smoother and tool less blade change

Interesting. I was getting all ready to chop in the Milwaukee, but the tools themselves are actually pretty good - just the pricing is a bit off. All the tradesmen I've seen lately use Dewalt. As others have said, choosing a brand is quite a commitment!

Is brushless that much better than traditional motors?

Its an innovation that came at the wrong time really - when batteries were expensive,  low capacity and took a long time to charge any improvement in efficiency would have been a godsend.

Brushless tools are more efficient but for most tools it doesnt matter - stuff that uses a sustained load - circular saws, angle grinders yield a benefit but for most tools its irrelevant apart from sometimes making the form factor a bit more compact.

The motors have made some tools a possibility that would have been laughable until recently. I bought a brushless powered wheelbarrow recently. Astounded by how much pulling power the motor has - dragging 50-80kilo loads up muddly hillsides -  and how long a single 18v battery can power it for.

Choosing a brand isn't that much of a commitment when you can buy an adapter for £15 to make one brand of batteries fit another brand of tools.

I had a Milwaukee 18v combi drill, the only bit that didn't break was the batteries. Went back to DeWalt, far more durable stuff in my (and a couple of trade mates') experience.
The brushless DeWalt multi tool is a good one, but would be better balanced if I had smaller batteries.

Multitools can win or lose on noise, vibration and ease of tool/ blade change

Multi tools are great but you don’t do sustained work with them

unless your having to regrout a whole bathroom, but then mine is mains powered so no battery issues. not a job i want to repeat, if someone asks again i think i'll give them a price that'll scare then off.

Not much help with a multitool over here, however i'm a mechanic of 15 years. 4 years ago i changed each and every single power tool and air tool from Snap on to Milwaukee. Not one regret, no issues at all so far with any of them, and still on original batteries and chargers. Have full confidence in the brand. Theyre really great!

All my other tools are mains powered but I expect they’ll be replaced by battery versions gradually.

I was thinking the same, then I realised that I used pretty much everything attached to a vacuum, so given there's always a hose going to be attached, not much point in going cordless.

used pretty much everything attached to a vacuum, so given there’s always a hose going to be attached, not much point in going cordless.

my brother was on about this the other day when cutting me some mdf with his track saw, if the track saw was cordless he would have to turn on/off the vacuum instead of it coming on automaticly with the track saw(or whatever else is plugged into it)

I've a small 12v bosch multi tool.
Brushless and with 4ah battery easily lasts a couple of days. Having to use an allen key to change the blade is a little annoying. Although naked it only cost me 80€.

As said above, you tend not to be using them intensely all day long.

Went back to DeWalt,

The release on the dewalt took is nice.
However, my tool man says he sees more dewalt in for repair than makita or bosch. The bodies, for the most part, can't be taken apart without damaging the fixings meaning he has to order a new body.

I'm a plumber and use my multi tool regularly, I had a DeWalt 240v one which lasted 2 years, it took some fair abuse though...cutting up chipboard floors etc. Have since moved to a Fein 240v as their sole market was multi tools (have since bought out drills) and it is fantastic. Only downside is the Starlock Plus blade system which some may find limiting when buying replacement blades.

if the track saw was cordless he would have to turn on/off the vacuum instead of it coming on automaticly with the track saw

get with the program grandad. Dust extractors have Bluetooth now 🙂

... And they can be cordless, too

cutting me some mdf with his track saw, if the track saw was cordless he would have to turn on/off the vacuum instead of it coming on automaticly with the track saw(or whatever else is plugged into it)

True, in a workshop or job with power, but sometimes you don't have power. I've got a cordless tracky and a cordless vac 👍

I could never go back to corded stuff now. It's so good just picking a tool up and taking it wherever without having to think about plugging in.

Doing repetitive stuff with a vac attached though, yes, much better corded with auto vac.

What do folk think of this set, if I were to move away from Milwaukee? It's tempting as it comes with 3 2Ah batteries, which will be much lighter and less bulky than the 4Ah I currently have - and 3 x 2Ah seems just as useful as 2 x 4Ah. Price seems good, torque values slightly higher than the Milwaukee, both tools are nice and compact. I know Makita is the flavour of choice on STW, but all of the trade guys I've used recently have had the black and yellow.

Its s nice set but I'd be cautious as to whether it is ideal to expand from. I don't really see what is gains you from the Milwaukee. IME the drills and drivers are all much the same across the better brands. Where Makita really shines is the huge range at a reasonable cost. Grinders, routers, vacuums, rail saws, even chainsaws and coffee makers. If you are swapping to new system then have a look at what else is in the range that you might want, and also note that some tools really need the bigger batteries. I'm not say don't get the dewalt, I'd be happy with those, but do have a look at the whole range if you are switching brands.

I know Makita is the flavour of choice on STW, but all of the trade guys I’ve used recently have had the black and yellow.

Nothing wrong with Dewalt, but having used combi drills and impact drivers from Dewalt, Hitachi , Festool, Milwaukee and Makita, I prefer Makita.

The Dewalt would be fine but I wouldn't change battery platform for it.

I actually started out Hitachi and had about 5 tools, but when I took redundancy to set up on my own, I went Makita.
Brilliant tools and loads of them too.

get with the program grandad. Dust extractors have Bluetooth now 🙂

would mean replacing a perfectly good vacuum for him.

while we are on about extraction i wish you could get something decent that works for angle grinders when cutting tiles, the available ones would be ok for simple cuts, but when cuts get more tricky they just wouldn't work. i think the hose would always be an issue though.
when your 2/3 floors up going outside to cut isn't an option.

Nothing wrong with Dewalt,

dewalt can be a bit of a swine for including cheap, slow chargers in otherwise decent kits. Amongst the mountain or stats in that link I didn’t see a charge time but it did see a link for an optional fast charger. It’s such a balls they do it. I shelled out nearly £700 on one of their nailer kits and it came with a shite slow £10 charger. The fast charger is only £13

while we are on about extraction i wish you could get something decent that works for angle grinders when cutting tiles,

funnily enough I was looking at exactly this last night

https://dustarrest.com/collections/tool-shrouds

I picked up the new DeWalt brushless 18v multi tool at Christmas - early days yet, but it’s a nice bit of kit ‘in hand’, and has eaten through a variety of tasks including dismembering the old cold water tank in our loft so I could get it out. It’s the first multi tool I’ve had, so can’t make comparisons, but it feels well built.