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The_Whisper

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Gday

Looking at buying a 9 piece power tool kit on Ebay from the States, and just wondering a few things.

Ive heard certain cord tools dont work here very well? I am looking at buying a cordless pack, so they all run on batteries.

Does anyone know if there will be any problem here? Anyone had any success, from what it looks i could save a fortune doing it this way.

Cheers.
 
Batteries can also be a problem. They still have to plug into the wall to charge and iirc Australia and America use different voltages and this is why there can be problems
 
Thought thread was about Port Adelaide supporters.

Maybe they've improved them in recent years, but it used to be that cordless power tools were a bit wimpy. My old housemate had a cordless drill which was fine for putting screws in MDF, but useless if you had to (say) drill a hole in a concrete wall.
 
I purchased a 9 piece Makita kit on eBay about a month ago. It is definitely a crap load cheaper than buying it in a store. I was going to get one from a US seller, but opted to go for an Australian seller which was pretty damn cheap anyway (compared to most of the other Australian sellers). Think they are called Frontline Trading.

The only difference that you will have with the US kit is the charger. They run off 120v, rather than 240. Depending on the seller, some of them will include the transformer in the kit (you plug the transformer into the power point, then you plug your charger into the transformer).

Also depending on the price, you might get charged an import tax. I can't remember what the limit is before you pay the tax (either $1000 or $1500, although I'm happy for someone to correct me), so if you do end up needing to pay the tax, it might just be worthwhile getting the kit from an Australian seller. Frontline is an actual store in Victoria, so you can claim your tools on tax, whereas I don't think that you can if you buy it from overseas.
 

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Seppo stuff is 110volt/60 hertz, we use 240 volt/50 hertz so you will need a step down transformer for your charger = expensive for just some battery stuff.

Warranties will be void coming from another country. Big disadvantage as no tool is fallible.

All in all at the end of the day its not worth the small saving.

Best find a good local dealer and talk to them to get a good deal with extras, warranties and back-up.

Ps, what brand are you looking at as their is a lot of rubbish on ebay.
 
Caesar said:
Thought thread was about Port Adelaide supporters.

Maybe they've improved them in recent years, but it used to be that cordless power tools were a bit wimpy. My old housemate had a cordless drill which was fine for putting screws in MDF, but useless if you had to (say) drill a hole in a concrete wall.
Click to expand...

Huh? Hammer drills are used for concrete. There is no chance you'd use a rattler or screw gun on concrete. Be there for hours...
 
Which is my point, battery drills aren't hammer drills, which is what most people actually need a drill for. May as well spend the money and get a decent one that does both.

Pissy battery drills are the biggest waste of money ever imo, unless you're actually a tradie who is putting in a hundred screws a day.
 
Caesar said:
Which is my point, battery drills aren't hammer drills, which is what most people actually need a drill for. May as well spend the money and get a decent one that does both.

Pissy battery drills are the biggest waste of money ever imo, unless you're actually a tradie who is putting in a hundred screws a day.
Click to expand...

Why would most people need hammer drills? Tradies really would be the only people who actually would bother to buy a hammer drill. They are such a specific type of drill that everyday people are much much better off getting a cordless drill. Rattler or just a screw in is fine.

Not sure of your experience but corded drills are literally antiques and not as powerful as the top of the line cordless drills...
 
Team Mo' said:
Why would most people need hammer drills?
Click to expand...
Drilling into hard surfaces? My drill has a hammer function, which I use almost every time I use it because I invariably am using it for stuff like hanging racks in the garage which involves drilling into cinderblocks.

I can't remember the last time I used the drill that I didn't use the hammer function. Its not like I do a lot of cabinetmaking. If I'm putting screws into something I usually just use a normal screwdriver.

Team Mo' said:
Not sure of your experience but corded drills are literally antiques and not as powerful as the top of the line cordless drills...
Click to expand...
Like I said, I bought mine a few years ago but at the time all the cordless ones were pretty underpowered and you couldn't get a cordless with a hammer function.
 
Bazzar said:
Seppo stuff is 110volt/60 hertz, we use 240 volt/50 hertz so you will need a step down transformer for your charger = expensive for just some battery stuff.

Warranties will be void coming from another country. Big disadvantage as no tool is fallible.

All in all at the end of the day its not worth the small saving.

Best find a good local dealer and talk to them to get a good deal with extras, warranties and back-up.

Ps, what brand are you looking at as their is a lot of rubbish on ebay.
Click to expand...

That's exactly why I buy local, you get a valid warranty.

Bunnings :thumbsu:
 

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You can buy the local battery chargers for your cordless tools. Plug adaptors aren't aloowed on many worksites. If you are going to buy OS, get a quality kit made by Hitachi, Hilti, Makita, Dewalt or Milwaukee.
 
Caesar said:
Drilling into hard surfaces? My drill has a hammer function, which I use almost every time I use it because I invariably am using it for stuff like hanging racks in the garage which involves drilling into cinderblocks.

I can't remember the last time I used the drill that I didn't use the hammer function. Its not like I do a lot of cabinetmaking. If I'm putting screws into something I usually just use a normal screwdriver.


Like I said, I bought mine a few years ago but at the time all the cordless ones were pretty underpowered and you couldn't get a cordless with a hammer function.
Click to expand...


^^^This^^^

You use a hammer drill (with a cord) to drill into bricks/concrete, etc.
You use a cordless drill basically to replace a screwdriver (that's not meant to sound like being lazy - you wouldn't want to do things like installing decking or roof sheeting with a screwdriver).
 
Bouvet_Island said:
^^^This^^^

You use a hammer drill (with a cord) to drill into bricks/concrete, etc.
You use a cordless drill basically to replace a screwdriver (that's not meant to sound like being lazy - you wouldn't want to do things like installing decking or roof sheeting with a screwdriver).
Click to expand...

Or some children's toys! Side story: Got my son a big plastic cubby house from TRU last Christmas. Took a good couple of hours to put it together and that was WITH a drill to put the screws in (a surprising amount and there was no pre-punched holes so I had to pierce the plastic!). Would have taken a good 10 hours and probably a week for my hand to recover if I used a screwdriver. :p
 
Bouvet_Island said:
^^^This^^^

You use a hammer drill (with a cord) to drill into bricks/concrete, etc.
You use a cordless drill basically to replace a screwdriver (that's not meant to sound like being lazy - you wouldn't want to do things like installing decking or roof sheeting with a screwdriver).
Click to expand...

You obviously have never used a half decant cordless then.
 

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jorel6669 said:
Or some children's toys! Side story: Got my son a big plastic cubby house from TRU last Christmas. Took a good couple of hours to put it together and that was WITH a drill to put the screws in (a surprising amount and there was no pre-punched holes so I had to pierce the plastic!). Would have taken a good 10 hours and probably a week for my hand to recover if I used a screwdriver. :p
Click to expand...

Tool Story 1.5

Stars Rok the Power Drill overcoming all obstacles from no respect in the tool word (Even Black and Decker drills look down you) and trying to overcome the potential shelf-life threatning living hell due to the tradesman's devil, the know-it-all but actually know nothing red shirt handymen leading false hope to all cheap drills and office-workers for too long.... Heres the story of Rok the power tool, from red shirt handyman soldier to the larger then life 'look-at-me-now, I'm peircing through plastic for 3 hours and getting short story awards...Patent me'.


Lets be real, your son cant hear us now...You bought your kid a chinese cubby house from a not-so-convicing seller via eBay. As is, the big days approaching and its that time of year your going to start hearing... that tag 'man of the house' even though you secretly hate the thought of even touching tools I give you respect for being able to learn enough chinese in 3 hours to slap together the 'big plastic cubby house'.

But carn ay, if your 'peircing holes in plasic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' Then maybe you shouldnt of tried to copy your old man when back in the day they would take 2 seconds glance over the instructions (oh and this is back when there were no 'Bunnings Wharehouse - D.I.Y Saturdays'... Giving jack-of-no trades a place to share with people who respect the red shirt, a regime in how to build and fund the Great Australian Deathpit! )... take another sip of his brew and build this from start to scratch taking pride in his work... Anyway, I'm not getting to the point, point is... a D.I.Y 'power drill' bought $30 at EOFYS is not deserving of the short-film worthy side story you have shared. A drill is the true man's best friend, it needs to be something you love and flaunt like your EAZY-E braggin to every man and dog how his tool is the best.

Point is.... Man up, you dont needa be googling chinese language converters and decrypting instructions for a potential family threatning failure. Go get a real drill, find some wood and go crazy!

Serious note Spike Lee won't give this the time of day, I was thinking of a Boyz-N-tha-Hood style plot but Ice Cube decked out with stubbies, an old school dermy permed mullet doin drive-by demos flashin his 18volt like it aint no joke...Don't blame office workers for un-safe work done around homes, blame the self described 'chippy, plumber..oh my dads a sparky' super-red shirt handymen, giving false hope to drills and the brain-washed..
 
Not sure if you fellas are familiar with the Einhell range of power tools. They are relatively new to Australia but have been making power tools in Germany for the past 50 years. They are quite good value for money and are suited towards your DIY'er but can definitely last long enough for a tradie also.

For info on products and stockists of Einhell, check out www.einhell.com.au
 

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