r/DIYUK • u/JustGhostin • 22h ago

Cheers Dad!

Post image

Brought my first house earlier this year and needless to say my dad is exited to show me the ropes. He trained as carpenter and also worked as a window fitter in his 20’s before changing careers.

Blessed to have his knowledge and help.

369 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

57 comments sorted by

82

u/LazarusOwenhart 22h ago

That's a good Dad and a good set of starter tools.. Pro tip, That circular saw is a perfectly serviceable piece of equipment BUT, the blade it's supplied with his hot steaming garbage. All those home game brands use cheap, nasty blades and you'll find you get better results changing to a decent blade.

You will also benefit from getting a standard chuck with an SDS adaptor for that drill. SDS is fine, but having a standard chuck is good for options.

15

u/JustGhostin 22h ago

What kind of blades should I pick up?

43

u/LazarusOwenhart 22h ago

Personally I use Freud or Saxton. The more teeth, the cleaner, but slower, the cut. If you're hogging down plywood get fewer teeth, if you're doing laminate you want a nice fine tooth. Having a selection of blades is never a bad thing. Don't be afraid to go to your local tool dealer (A real one not b&q) and have a conversation. Cutting with a circ saw is an art, go to hard and you'll burn the piece, too slow and you make crap cuts. A decent blade will help your confidence because it won't trap you in the cycle that a lot of beginners get into where they assume a bad cut is 'their' fault when actually it's just a bad blade.

13

u/JustGhostin 22h ago

Cool, that’s really good advice. thank you. Also can I ask about the standard chuck to SDS adapter, is that to use regular drill bits in the SDS?

13

u/LazarusOwenhart 22h ago

So that drill has an SDS chuck. It's a chuck that lets you click drill bits in and out. Very good in dusty, grimy environments, and most masonry bits are SDS. For wood however, the drill bit shanks will be cylindrical and therefore incompatible with SDS. Pop on Amazon and search "SDS chuck adaptor" and you'll find normal 3 jaw drill chucks that can snap into your SDS. Makes that hammer drill even more useful than it already is.

6

u/Open-Mathematician93 19h ago

This guy tools.

1

u/JustGhostin 21h ago

Got it, thanks

15

u/LazarusOwenhart 21h ago

No problem, happy DIY-ing. In 5 years when you're neck deep in fitting your first kitchen and trying to explain to your significant other why £1000 for a Festool track saw is perfectly reasonable don't say we didn't warn you. XD

2

u/5everAl1 10h ago

Personally I wouldn't bother with the chuck. SDS will be too powerful and heavy for a lot of jobs.

Get a drill driver like this.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-edd18-li-2-18v-li-ion-ext-brushless-cordless-drill-driver-bare/925FV?gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAvbm7BhC5ARIsAFjwNHujgc8218yG8M-qSwGqotltxjH5QpuV-vfFcXWlOL10O83G8Yl3aQwaAsJ6EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

2

u/JustGhostin 9h ago

I’ve already got a combi drill and impact

1

u/AreEUHappyNow 8h ago

Just use those for wood then, the SDS is a bit overkill for that kind of work.

1

u/paulyp79 33m ago

Agreed, I have had one of these in my box for a few years now and I only use it when I have a bigger sized holesaw to use

3

u/Unlucky_Mammoth_2947 3h ago

I second Freud, good reliable nice cuts and don’t break the bank

11

u/iDemonix 22h ago

Trend or Freud are decent, DeWalt make some good ones.

Don't throw the blade out this saw comes with, if you're doing stuff like framework or making a shed etc, they're handy and save you wearing out a nicer blade. The one it ships with will probably be something like a 24T (24 tooth) blade. If you're doing something like cutting down internal doors/counters etc, things that are visible, you want something more like 48-60T.

2

u/macrowe777 7h ago

Generally speaking I'd say most of erbaurs "free" bits and blades are pretty shoddy. I'm more a Makita guy for the colour scheme but found DeWalt bits pretty reliable. I do have a lot of Erbaur bits and blades though, they're often more readily available at Screwfix and cheaper - which makes sense for one off jobs.

1

u/paulyp79 10m ago

Saxton have a set of 3 blades on amazon for less than £30 but you may need to use a bore adaptor, I've been using them for the past year or so and very happy with them

1

u/EyeAlternative1664 5h ago

I have a cheap green Bosch one, would that too benefit from a better blade?

1

u/LazarusOwenhart 5h ago

Probably. At the end of the day a circ saw is a motor, a plate and a handle. It's hard to fuck those 3 things up, even if they get value engineered down to nothing. The blade however, you can make those SUPER cheap and they'll be crap. A decent blade can make all the difference. I'm a Makita guy, and the blades they supply are OK, nothing that'll blow your mind but they're fine. I don't replace them with Makita when they wear out, I use Freud or Saxton. If you find your saw is 'fighting' you, try a better blade, and remember those blades are interchangeable for a reason, not just to replace them when they wear out but to use the right blade for the right job.

2

u/EyeAlternative1664 5h ago

Thanks for the reply! I’ll hunt out some appropriate blades. 

12

u/iDemonix 22h ago

Nice! Great starter kit, although treat yourself to an extra battery if you only have one, it's very annoying having to swap between tools constantly or running out when you're in the middle of something. If you're going to be using the sander a lot, I usually have a smaller (like 2.0ah) battery as if you're sanding loads of door frames or similar etc it can get a bit tiring with a heavy battery.

5

u/JustGhostin 22h ago

The SDS comes with a battery + a charger. I also already have a combi + impact set with 2 x 2amp batteries

4

u/iDemonix 22h ago

You're all set, best of luck DIYing :)

6

u/ChrisRx718 20h ago

Let us know how the multi-tool thing is, I've been watching the price for ages and it's just stuck at £70 pretty consistently. I already have a bunch of Erbauer stuff and it's lasted really well. I have 2x 2ah batteries and to be honest it's just fine for casual DIY. If one runs low the other can go on charge. Never felt the need to add a heavier, bulkier larger capacity battery yet, just keep 2 on rotation.

2

u/JustGhostin 20h ago

I used my dads when I was fitting a laminate floor, it was really helpful when cutting away the architrave to get the planks underneath so I didn’t have to put thresholds at every door and the floor can just run continuously throughout the house.

First job for this is going to be getting rid of some grim looking grout in the shower so I can regrout fresh

2

u/jamesterror 19h ago

Recently bought a cordless multitool (Dewalt). Cracking bit of kit, used it for plunge cuts on plasterboard and cutting floor boards in the loft

1

u/MostlyAUsername 16h ago

I have this multi tool and have thrown it at all manner of awkward cutting tasks, it’s never let me down. After the first few uses you’ll curse yourself for not getting one sooner :)

1

u/Square_Wonder_9284 3h ago

As per other people’s replies, the Erbauer multitool is really good. I borrowed my friends for literally about 2 years and it was spot on. I’m sure you can get better (Festool for example) but for the price point, the Erbauer is amazing value and performance.

8

u/boomerberg 22h ago

Big fan of the EXT 18V range. Really good tools IMO. He’s chosen well!

3

u/JustGhostin 22h ago

They’re the tools he uses at home, he’s got a few ryobi bits as well but mostly uses erbauer. He swears by it for the price

2

u/cactusplants 21h ago

They are great, I always sing praise, but recently I've had 4 5ah batteries die just outside of warranty. £150 quid of batteries down the drain.

Il probably get to swapping out the cells once I get a spot welder for batteries.

2

u/Dry_Variety4137 10h ago

Just be careful with cell balancing before you stick the pack together. You Don't want to start overcharging one of the 18650's.

You probably already know this, others might have just learn something new that will save their house from going up in flames.

1

u/Djuthal 10h ago

Could you elaborate on this, please? What do you mean with 'cell balancing'?

I have a few of the tools above, but corded. But I have a black and decker drill with battery. Anything I should be careful about?

Cheers!

1

u/AreEUHappyNow 8h ago edited 2h ago

This isn't relevant to your average battery tool owner, this is for people making DIY repairs or refurbishments to batteries by opening them up and replacing the 5/10 18650 cells that make up the battery.

Essentially you have five 3.2v 18650 cells in series that make the 18v the tools run on. Say the batteries you put in have voltages of 3.7, 4.0, 3.1, 3.5 and 4.2, when you connect them together the higher voltage cells will rapidly charge the lower voltage ones, which can cause them to become damaged, or even explode.

1

u/Bats_Everywhere 4h ago

So do you put the lower voltage ones first in the series to prevent this from happening?

2

u/AreEUHappyNow 2h ago

No, it makes no difference where you put them in the pack. You need to ensure that every single cell has been charged or discharged to precisely the same voltage, within a small margin.

1

u/boomerberg 12h ago

Damn! I must admit, I’ve got one battery that just gave up and not after loads of use either. I’d say probably a year or so of decent DIY use.

1

u/Zestyclosereality 4h ago

If it happens again in future it's always worth trying your luck with Screwfix/the manufacturer to see if they'll give you something if it's just outside the warranty.

4

u/VeryThicknLong 21h ago

Fuck me, you’ve got a very generous dad. I got a book on bees from my mum that I never even asked for 😂🤷🏻‍♂️

13

u/Specimen_E-351 21h ago

I bet you were buzzing when you got that.

1

u/VeryThicknLong 21h ago

😂… bit miffed to say the least. In all my years on this planet I’ve got used to never getting what I ask for 😂

3

u/Personal_Run_6350 22h ago

That’s an awesome Christmas gift! The tools aren’t half bad either 😉

1

u/indigomm 11h ago

An extra pair of pants is always useful in DIY :-)

3

u/Icy-Hand3121 22h ago

I bought the entire erbauer range about 5 years ago and it's performed brilliantly. Only ever had a combi drill burn out on me but I put it through some serious abuse.

Erbauer is good enough to use on sites, but has a shit enough image rep to put off tool thieves. The only gripe I have with erbauer is the SDS drill is slightly underpowered compared to it's competitors.

2

u/Internal-Fan-2434 21h ago

Erbaur was my first proper combi drill. Used it for years doing odds and sods. Had to change last year as we moved house, but the charger went missing for it, and I could not find a replacement.

2

u/imgettingantsy 18h ago

Really solid tools and will do you more than you’ll ever need as a DIYer. Dad knows what he’s doing 👌🏻

1

u/StunningAppeal1274 21h ago

That’s a good dad. Learn everything you can off him and let him help you 😀

1

u/PetrolSnorter 19h ago

You've got the finest fuckn Dad ever!

1

u/herman_munster_esq 10h ago

Also get more batteries, you will be surprised how quickly they can run out. A high amperage one for the SDS as the extra weight will help when drilling and demolishing stuff.

1

u/markycrummett 6h ago

Awesome. The Erbaurer range is surprisingly great. I’ve got the jigsaw, drill/screwdriver and hedge trimmer, all brilliant

1

u/SeveralPoopEmojis 5h ago

I'm a fan of Erbauer, the EXT batteries are also compatible with Evolution tools, sliding mitre saws etc.
Evolution EXT Cordless Tool Range

1

u/coooooolwhip 2h ago

I got a box of sweets! 😂

My dad taught me a lot though, so I can't complain. Has helped loads in life being able to do most stuff yourself. 

0

u/Popular-Apple8080 6h ago

Bought and brought are not the same thing!!!!!!! Bloody hell. Brought a house?????

-16

u/Hmgkt 21h ago

Is that a Cheers dad(!) or a cheers? dad. Or a Cheers, Dad?

15

u/JustGhostin 21h ago

Grow up mate