[zulux]

For us US folks, Amazon.jp will send you the unobtanium Makita tools you know you want.... like the Makita battery-operated microwave.

Shout out to TTI for keeping Ryobi cheap, cheerful, and a good value. Not my cup of tea, but their stuff is reasonably fine for the price.

[IdiotSavage]

Do they have the Makita coffee maker?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xOEIpbxM4w

[zulux]

Yes, but those are sold in the US market officially. JP has more interesting colors if that's imortant to you.

https://makitatools.com/products/details/DCM501Z

[hyperbovine]

The Makita US product line seems ludicrously big to me. I don’t really get what this article is throwing down when it comes to Makita.

[zdragnar]

My (not battery) Makita chainsaw is fantastic, and I have definitely put it through its paces.

[wojciii]

I have Makita products .. a lawnmower and a bush clearing tool ..somewhat expensive, but the quality is superb.

[Blackthorn]

If Makita would finally just make a right angle die grinder I would be so happy. It's like the one thing they're missing.

[happytoexplain]

I had no idea I was missing out on anything - their product line is big even in the US. Our battery tools are 100% Makita (except the lawnmower - I forget what made me decide on EGO, but I've been happy with it).

Anyway, I'm glad to see an article claiming that Makita has still resisted enshittification.

[deadbabe]

What’s a good one to start with

[fatbird]

Honestly, Ryobi is fine for just about anything a non-professional will need. Buy it, use it until it breaks (if it does), and then consider whether a more expensive one will be necessary.

I started with Ryobi and burned out a drill using it to hog out a 3" mortise with a 2.5" forstner bit (far beyond any reasonable use case for a drill), and upgraded to DeWalt. All of my other Ryobi pieces (circular saw, reciprocating, jigsaw, lights, non-orbital sander) work great, and I've never said to my tool "You'd be able to do this if you were a DeWalt, ya piece of shit!"

The more important thing to do once you start on one brand, and have a bunch of their batteries, is simply wait until the big sales come. All the brands have ridiculous, stock-dumping deals to move volume at least once or twice a year, and that's when it almost becomes buy-one-get-one-free.

Where I avoid the Ryobi brand is in consumables: bits, blades, and such. That's where the cheapness is most obvious. Bits wear more quickly, blades go dull faster. Milwaukee and DeWalt stuff lasts longer, but this is where you go for specialty names like Diablo that are even better. My Ryobi circular saw with Diablo blade is a tank.

[sitkack]

You can get adapters to use great batteries in low quality tools.

[evolve2k]

If you can afford to pay that bit more for quality product, from the article plus a few comments here; seems that people really like Makita.

- hasn’t enshitifed

- makes quality tools that last

- much more repairable (saving you even more in the long term)

- single company, not a conglomerate, no weird vc influence.

For most tools you won’t need upgrades, just build out your collection as you go.

[WillAdams]

Interestingly, Makita, like Festool, and to a lesser extent Mafell got its start by _repairing_ stuff, only expanding into tool manufacture long after the company was established --- some folks argue that this experience of repairing other tools/motors/transformers allowed them to learn how _not_ to build a tool. These three are pretty much the only independent power tool companies left, and the tools I've bought of them have been excellent quality.

- Makita 9.6V drill which I've had 4 of (first I stupidly sold in an estate sale, second my son claimed, third I gifted to my daughter, current is an NOS from eBay which I'm planning on keeping/using for forever) --- my son later bought into the newer Makita 18V line and uses them extensively for his backstage theater work, as well as a stick vacuum w/ a cyclone which he uses to clean his apartment. (Finally broke down and bought some Dremel battery powered tools (apparently they use the same 12V batteries as Bosch tools) --- debating on expanding on that....)

- Festool CT Midi vacuum --- purchased in a noise-induced migraine-fueled rage, this is quiet and works perfectly as dust collection for my CNC machines

- Mafell FM 1000 WS --- a quick change spindle/milling motor, the engineering on this brings a smile to my face whenever I use it

Buy once, cry once --- the quality will remain long after the sting of the initial high price is forgotten.

For hand tools, consider Bridge City Tool Works and Blue Spruce Tools, or Mitutoyo, or Starrett, or buying vintage.

[MrSkelter]

Bridge City Toolworks have been made in China for a long time now. China makes some fantastic stuff but Bridge City built a name on being American.

Woodpecker are a better choice. Expensive but high quality.

Mafell and Festool get a ton of hate from people angry at the prices but they are totally worth it if you know. Feel and precision matter. Balance matters. “Design is how it works” applies here. You can’t tell how a tool is to use off a spec sheet, and numbers for things like torque are very easy to manipulate (what’s the load!)

Good power tools are a joy. They change what you think is possible.

[everybodyknows]

> Festool CT ... vacuum

I use one of these for household floors: quiet, powerful, rolls easily.

[orwin]

In his workshop, my father only use Festool (plus whatever he use for metalwork), but everytime he have to work outside, crawl somewhere or drill a concrete slab on a rooftop, it's Makita everytime. His makita tools have been dinked, have fallen 10+ meters, have weathered both storm and heatwaves, and some of them still run fine after 20 years.

[ddellacosta]

Strong agreement with this! I managed somehow to jam a drill bit in my Makita cordless drill a few years back. It was just enough of a pain that I didn't feel comfortable trying to fix it myself, so I requested a repair through Makita. I remember calling them and getting it all set up via a real customer service person who seemed pretty obviously based in the U.S. (ironically). His name was Mark and he was great and made it all super smooth for me.

I got the drill back a little while later entirely repaired, the bent drill bit included in the return package, and I was charged absolutely nothing for any of it because I guess I was still under warranty and I didn't realize it. It was a fantastic customer service interaction and absolutely increased my loyalty to the company.

...and that's leaving aside the quality of their tools. In my experience they are incredibly rugged--among other things, for a week-long landscaping project I used that same drill with a gigantic bit to dig holes in frozen dirt, and it powered through it without issues. Great tools and a solid company.

[bushwart]

I second this, and buy into the 40V line if you need to power garden tools.