Saws;

Mak 185, gets used very often for hand held stuff, is light and Aldi sell suitable blades a couple of times a year.

Mak 230 mounted in a Triton work table on casters, 30 years old, gets used for ripping.

Mak 304 sliding compound mitre saw, 25 years old, gets mounted on a Dewalt folding stand (the best designed) and used for really accurate cuts either heavy or light timber.

German AEG jigsaw, 30 years old, gets used for jigsaw stuff on metal, timber and fibreglass.

AEG 18v recipro saw gets used all the time with various blades, old bi-metal blades can be used to cut tree roots in the ground without feeling guilty, can cut in really tight spots with practice.

Aldi handsaws, cost jack and are great for odd stuff.

Stihl 039 and a 017. These get used for big posts and beams. Not so much the 039 anymore now I have the 017. These are like the circular saws in that you'll use the smaller one way more than the big.

Sanders:

German AEG 9" WPZ 1000 sander polisher, now dead sadly and parts NA. Sanded and polished about 2000 surfboards / windsurfers. Switches could be rebuilt, plenty of grunt, would buy another tomorrow. Got used for sanding tables, etc, as well.

Ryobi cheap 9" sander polisher, replacement for the AEG. Gutless, but gets used sometimes for sanding curves and flats on timber.

Mak 1/3 sheet orbital doesn't get used much coz I can get a perfect finish with disc sanders, no issues with mine holding the sheets.

Mak 125 angle grinder, I love this thing for sanding timber now that velcro pads are readily available and cheap. Aldi sell packets of various grit discs sometimes. Not for the inexperienced, I use mine one handed and can get a perfect finish. Very fast material removal. Would have been great back in my surfboard era.

Ryobi belt sander.......... only gets used for sanding the edges of timber floors. Works ok and collects dust pretty well when hooked up to an Ozito vac (that has temp overload switch).

Drills:

Grandfather's Skil 240 2 speed drill.......... heaps of grunt, metal body, used sometimes.

Mak 240 hand held..... used sometimes, 30+ years old, first drill with variable speed, reverse and a keyless chuck.

Metabo 240v 2 speed long thing, used to get used for everything, 25 years old, has a clutch, plenty of grunt.

Various other 240's.

AEG brushless 18V drill and driver, AEG sub-compact drill and driver. All get a lot of use these days. No issues at all really.


The key to the longevity of all the 240v stuff is to inspect the brushes from time to time!

cheers, DL