New Home - Which tools to get...

27col

I bought a Matika circular saw and a Matika power plane in 1977 when I built my house. The power plane has been used a few times, but the power saw was used a bit when I had to cut the floor panels and almost never used since. For most sawing jobs I prefer to use a Hardpoint handsaw. Most of my other tools have been fairly cheap but as they are not heavily used the quality did not come into it. I can honestly say that I have never had a power tool that "broke", they were only replaced to get something a bit more powerful or with some new useful fixture. Any professional tools I required for my work were usually better quality, but not always. I suggest that you do not ask people to buy you tools, but instead to give you the money or a gift voucher. Then buy tools as the requirement for them arises. That way you will accumulate a good range of tools for which you know that you have a use. The range of tools you have is more important than the quality. Few things are more inconvenient than not having the correct tool for the job. When that happens I go out and get the correct tool. That is how a good tool kit is built up.

artha

One thing I wouldn't be without is a cordless drill in addition to my corded hammer drill.It saves having to get an extension lead out for that little job out in the garden.

My other essential is a good quality Workmate(eg Black and Decker).

keith969

I've had a Bosch belt sander for about 20 years and it is still working fine despite plenty of use. It gets used far more than the circular saw, although I'd not be without the latter as it makes cutting sheet material a breeze.

andrew-b

I'd ask the Mrs G-to-be what she REALLY wants else she might quickly become the ex. Mrs G as these all sound like wedding presents for YOU! Seriously though we got married last autumn but having lived together for years we've got all the normal "toaster type" of wedding gifts..so instead in the invitations we wrote something carefully worded along the lines of "as we've got all the usual wedding gifts and don't want 15 toasters we'd be grateful for diy store vouchers or cheques made payable to Mr B to put towards spending on furnishings for our house". We had a keepsake box placed near the door of the reception for everyone to put their cards/vouchers/cheques. Though it was only a small family type of get together so pretty much everyone gave us a cheque and we got an argos gift card and overseas guests gave us cash. Only got the gift card left to spend now... we bought a bed and bed linen, washing line, garden furniture and hose reel which are much more joint presents than powertools which lets face it tend to be for the man of the house!

Plasterer

Dude, get your best man to buy you one of these lasers theyre about £1000 new, if he says no tell him hes tight and doesnt deserve to be your best man.... :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

graham17_2

Hey all,

Thanks again for all the helpful replies. They'll certainly be taken on board.

As for asking the mrs to be, yep, done that. She was more than happy to get some of these things (don't worry, was only going to put a couple of things on, rather than go mad).

The workmate from Black & Decker could certainly be good though. It would be handy to have something like that.

Thanks again all, your tips have certainly helped to clear things up.

Cheers,

Graham.

graham17_2

Haha, I'll let him know and tell him you think he's tight :P

Graham.

LandyAndy

B&D Workmate - Definitely. Incredibly useful thing.

Cordless Drill - Very useful, mine also doubles as a cordless screwdriver.

Sander - Invaluable when decorating if you have much filling to do on walls or ceilings.

3-in-1 Stepladder. Convenient and good for stairs etc.

graham17_2

Hey,

Thanks for the info. Will look into them.

Just a quick question on the B&D workmate. What one would you recommend? I've had a look through different places (argos, B&Q, amazon, etc.) at some of the different workmates. The 825 seems to overall get a good writeup, but a lot of people say these newer models are too flimsy - in particular, the vice jaws (the mechanism has a lot of plastic apparently). Just wondering if you had any thoughts on it? I don't want to spend a lot and then just end up with something that falls apart... But if it's going to be really worth it, I'm happy to spend the money. I can get the 825 for around £65 from amazon.

Thanks in advance,

Graham.

mickeypops

A tube of decent glue!