Which SDS?

I got a Wickes SDS for £112 last year and have been very happy with it. The roto-stop has been very usefull, I wouldn't get another SDS without it. Arthur

I'd been considering the same thing myself. Three's the cheapie 'Ferm' at £30 notes - already beenmentioned - and also the £70 JCBE-RHD820 from Argos -

Not sure what it's like though.

Peter.

Only if he buys from Screwfix.

Sensible thing would be to buy the Bosch *with* rotostop from Argos for £95.

Looks like I'm on a hiding to nothing on this one. Rotostop it is then

(even if you never use it!)

dg

Tried that some time ago, the adhesive still managed to stuff the belt on the sander pretty quickly.

Seems like there's only one easy solution to get rid of leftover tile adhesive. Show SWMBO how to use the appropriate tools......

PoP

You don't need any power tool if it comes to it. But I use my power chisel on many occasions for what I consider normal DIY. Of course, if all you're doing is putting up some shelves any decent SDS drill is probably an extravagance.

I've had one for years, and it's been great. An ideal combination of power against weight.

Thought you only bought B&Q stuff? And how can you possibly have tried all of them?

What's the DIY equivalent of bar room lawyers?

You can get dressing sticks from places like Axminster tools which will unclog a belt a few times.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Thanks for that - I hadn't been aware of that.

I got a dressing stick for my grindstone a long time ago. I don't use it very often, but when I do I'm always concerned about the grindstone shattering as you poke this device into the spinning wheel.

Seems to do a good job though.

PoP

And when it works spews dust all over the place.

Ordinary tile adhesive is not water proof. Apply water with a drop or two of washing up liquid leave to soften for a few minutes, scrape off, easy and no dust.

Don't sound like half as much actual fun though! ;O)

Besides, dust is SWMBO's dept. (she just loves to be the boss, so I just keep telling her she is!) ;O)

Take Care, Gnube {too thick for linux}

Up until recently, I'd have not particularly agreed or disagreed, but I sure would have wavered some about that. However another in this group had some trouble with a biscuit jointer I think it was, then I had trouble with one of their routers (two if you count the replacement the supplier tried me with) I felt they had a manufacturing or design fault, certainly a feature I felt was wholly out of place; the supplier made like they didn't quite believe me, as I'm not what you'd call experienced. So, at their suggestion, I called DeWalt, spoke to their tech bloke (excellent) and related my concern with the way the thing was, they sounded fairly sympathetic, and said they'd get back to me later that day, they didn't; and it was over 2 weeks before they did, but when they did, they agreed it was a design / manufacturing flaw / unacceptable, thanks very much for the heads up, and news that they were taking remedial action, and quite possibly considering a recall if a retro mod was not possible!

Assuming the service I got was typical, then I suspect it's perhaps not quite as overpriced as it first looks as, eventually, it was pretty impressive, but I am not confident my experience was all that typical, as I have also had some rather mixed experiences when calling them regarding a couple of other earlier issues, where I needed clarification on a few points.

Obviously I can't find it in me to have full confidence with the brand now, as by it's nature the fault suggests a totally lacking QC regime. However I have still to find a suitable replacement which I like as well as the machine I had to return, it really did suit me that well apart from the fault!

I may well return to the Bosch camp yet. Buying Ferm stuff here and there to fill in gaps until I am certain of how I feel about it all. Makita looks quite good stuff too. I'm really not happy that I read in here about Bosch making similar models with slightly differing numbers (Pre/Suf-fixes), and that some of those variants are built down to a price for certain retailers, it makes it rather too hard to know exactly where you stand, and that does not inspire too much confidence for me.

Take Care, Gnube {too thick for linux}

This is odd (to me at least), I've not had the pleasure of a blue one yet, but I have two green ones and both are continuing to do pretty much all I ask of them every time! Must be good luck I guess, as you're not the first I've seen recount it.

Take Care, Gnube {too thick for linux}

Well if we're talking "solicitor" type, then a talking budgie? ;O)

But a Minah bird if it's supposedly a barrister! (louder, dresses in black, goes on saying the same old thing forever, in the vain hope it sounds more impressive the 93rd time around, and probably knows more oaths!)

Take Care, Gnube {too thick for linux}

Thanks to all the posts, narrowed to the three 2kg contenders:

Makita, Dewalt and Bosch. Sadly couldn't make the show this weekend hoping to pick up a deal. I live quite close to Kempton but unfortunately called out overseas for the duration of the show.

Screwfix it is then and the Makita won partly on votes here, but at 25% more power than the Bosch and £20 cheaper leaving money for the bits, the choice has been made. Decided against the sub £100 ones as the stop will come in handy over the life of the tool.

Long list of jobs now including chasing, drilling lintel, drilling concrete fence posts, stripping tiles from kitchen etc, will report back on how I get on with the Makita.

Thanks again

Colin