Milwaukee Tools

the Amazon heat gun isn't really all that great either. but i've been using it lots more than i expected for stuff at work, and co-workers are consistently borrowing it as well, meaning that the cost of the official version is justifiable. in some ways, it's similar to grinders. most situations, a corded grinder functionally works better. but cutting/sanding something out 'in the back 40' far away from electrical connections, or in area's that dragging electric or air lines could pose extra risks, makes cordless grinders well worth the cost. same with the cordless heat gun. in the shop environment, it's a crappy tool. but for one-off items, especially in the dead of winter to heat up frozen locks far away from the main shop, it's worth it.



i know dewalt's 1/2" impact officially and consistently has always ranked higher than the competitive milwaukee offering as well. dewalt overall isn't a horrible brand, and there's even plenty of adapters to use milwaukee batteries on dewalt tools, though i believe all the adapters drop tool battery monitoring. i'm somewhat curious if the forge battery is going to have any difference in the performance of the heat gun, and if your experience with the dewalt heat gun has anything to do with dewalt's head start in pouch cell tech. milwaukee was really late to that game comparatively.

but the state of tools for the last 10 years or so, milwaukee has really led the pack on tool-count-per-battery-type of all the brands, which makes it really hard to even consider a brand with a lesser ratio, even for a few tools, and even with adapters. and even with the 18v design somewhat hobbling milwaukee in their move forward to now require 2 or more batteries to do the same jobs in stationary-replacement tools that other brands are doing with singular but higher voltage packs...

not to mention, that dewalt is entirely focused on a singular 20v line(and their much larger multi-volt line for larger stationary-replacement cordless tools), where milwaukee and others like bosch have dual 18 and 12v lines in drastically different form factors. i know dewalt had a 12v line, but the batteries were comparably massive, and made the tools rare to see outside store shelves because the size was close enough to just grab the 20v version instead.

that's most likely to change again later-- in terms of history, dewalt dominated the late 90's through early 2000's, and makita dominated the 80-90's era. it's really an interesting thing to follow.

makita dominated the market mostly on having quality drills in a good form factor that no one else really had at the time.

dewalt took over the market with the far more powerful(at the time) 18v nimh tech.

now, all the brands for the most part, are roughly equal in terms of battery and tool capabilities, even typical 'lesser' brands like harbor freight, or walmart's in-house tools, and the measure of a 'good system' has changed that everyone tends to prioritize ease of access to the brands offerings, and tool options for their purpose within the battery ecosystem. there's still plenty of "chevy vs. ford" brand snobbery, but i'm starting to see a lot more specifics emerge. someone might use harbor freight power tools, but only because everything within the line meets their needs-- once their needs expand past, most times they either start delving into a secondary brand, or abandon the first brand to fully dive into the new brand. but no one is buying any brand because it has universally more powerful tools than another brand like the market was before in the 70's-2000's.

 

Dewalt, like it or not, actually has the largest (16%) market share in tools.

Some brand tools are made better than others. Battery deals are easy to get and I have way too many chargers for all of them. So for me, I’ll get the better performing tool when I see it on sale.

I haven’t found the battery type matter for the heat gun on the Dewalt. I think it’s just the heating element, and the blower motor CFM. The stacked lithium really only works for motors that take advantage of less voltage sag on the DC output.

If it’s a tool that I wouldn’t use a lot, then I often harbor freight it. Especially for shop tools, like a metal bandsaw. Icon is pretty cool too.

I definitely think Milwaukee dominates the 12v tool range. That said, Dewalt is not singularly focused on 20v. They do 60v and some industrial stuff. They aren’t afraid to make a corded 12 inch miter saws, or battery 12 inch miter saws, compactors, or stuff like the dch966z2k demo hammer.

All the brands imo bring something to the table, I think some people just build their personality around tool brand loyalty. Which I think is weird…and I personally think Milwaukee owners are the biggest online cultist. In my opinion.

 

The best heat gun I've owned is the Wagner Furno series.

 

+1 - I have one of these & it rocks. I don't use a heat gun that much, so plug-in works fine. That's a tool that needs a lot of power, so doesn't make all the sense to get battery-powered anyway unless you gotta be totally portable. I'll take a propane torch if I need to travel with it.

 

where did you get the market share number? not questioning it, just want to look at other brands from the same source.

a lot of my opinion on tools mostly has to do with being on the job-- i'm always curious as far as what other crews are running, and walking through the stores-- a rough idea of what sells the best tends to relate to what products are stocked the most.

while it's absolutely regional, milwaukee always is used by the most trades that i've seen, and takes the most real estate in stores. while i'm invested to the point of no return into milwaukee, i still really like talking to anyone i see running other brands about their experience. for instance, ryobi gets a lot of heat for their color choice, and sticking with their older battery style, but i've never met anyone that actually bought into the system that has anything bad to say about them, and tool-options-wise, they're very comparable to milwaukee...

 

Cryobi just doesn't cut it. Their tools are underpowered & notably substandard to Milwaukee.

They are owned by the same company though - TTI. They make Milwaukee, HD Ridgid and Ryobi and they all have their own target markets - of course with some overlap.

I've used Cryobi on jobsites. It might as well be pink. It's fine for a homeowner, but has no place at work - considering all the other available options.

I've used Ridgid & Milwaukee extensively for years. Have much more Milwaukee than Ridgid - it's a cut above, but you can totally take Ridgid to work everyday & get it done.

Milwaukee is killing it on variety & that's what keeps me in the ecosystem. Really dig the M12 FUEL stuff too - best small form factor drills & impacts on the market IMO. The low wear on my M18 stuff is proof. And yeah, there's a good reason you see so much red on jobsites.

 

There’s some bigger market research reports but you have to subscribe to those. These still point out the same thing.

https://www.traqline.com/newsroom/blog/power-tools-market-trends-infographic/

https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gear/a28359/megabrands-tools-graphic/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1168117/power-driven-hand-tools-global-suppliers-market-share/

https://www.traqline.com/newsroom/blog/power-tools-market-share-infographic/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dewalt/comments/xlni5w/sbd_mostly_dewalt_i_presume_has_the_largest/

 

I heard the same thing about the red heat gun. I almost got one till a friend told me they don’t heat up as fast and they’re underpowered. That’s understandable for a cordless heat source. I wound up buying a Porter cable for 99 bucks at the local lumberyard when I needed one fast. I’ve used it dozens of times since and it is flawless with fast heat up to this day.
Here’s where the cordless shines is mobile used like trailer wire splicing with heat shrink or sticker removal in a parking lot or thawing a door lock out in a field. In a shop or garage near outlets, corded all day

 

I just got this one

 

Now that I've added a Tundra to my vehicle family, I've been considering that coffin sized rolling box.

 

Im bummed that I havent gotten the 550ft-lb M12 1/2 impact yet
Got the protective boot almost a month ago

 

I got mine a couple weeks ago.

Zips lug nuts off like nothing. I need to try it on something more challenging though.

 

who did you order from? Ive had my pre-order in with Acme Tools since the beginning of September.

Try it on the CV Axle nut. My 250ft-lb was able to do it with the help of a penetrant. It didnt sound like it was struggling though

 

I highly recommend checking the dimensions I. The area you plan to store it before buying if you can.

I had one for all of 2 hours. I was excited to finally be able to fit all my m18 stuff in one packout. bought it, got it back to the truck(takes up 2/3's the Tacoma 6' bed), took it to the work van, and realized that it takes up 3/4's of the space I had allotted for 2 guys worth of tools, which means using it would cut into material storage areas, meaning more trips to the job...

It got returned right after that. I don't like the fabric bags, but they take up a fraction of the space.