See title. I have only very little tools so far, screwdriver with plenty of bits, hammer, drill. I’ve been thinking of buying more tools for general purpose home improvement. I like to work with wood, unsure what I will expand into later. Is a multitool a good fit for me?
If yes any recommendations what I want to look out for when buying one? If no any alternate recommendations?
There are a few situations in which a multitool comes in super handy, and in most of those situations it’s nearly the only thing that’ll save you time and/or effort. But as a general tool, your better off getting other things first.
My advice for your situation would be a jigsaw. My “power tool journey” from standard home improvement into beginner woodworker so far has been:
- Electric Drill
- Hammer drill (houses around here are concrete mostly)
- Jigsaw
- Handheld Circular Saw
- Multitool
- Random Orbital Sander
- Mitre Saw
- Job-site size table saw
- Trim Router
Multitools do a multitude of things ‘ok’ - typically they will not be as good as a specialised tool, but in a pinch, if they are all you have to hand they will do just fine. If you are working at home, or in a workshop, I would suggest investing in the tools you need to do the jobs in hand and add to that tool kit as you need to.
I would suggest investing in the tools you need to do the jobs in hand and add to that tool kit as you need to
The problem with that advice is OP will regularly get half way through a job and then find he hasn’t got the tool he needs - so the job will be half finished while waiting until he can acquire the tool, which will often take days.
I have a very small rented flat and an extremely tight budget. So maybe having something that does things ‘ok’ is appropriate for the situation? 🤔🤔
Ultimately, you know more about your situation than anyone else on here. Multitools can be a boon if you do not have access to any other tools, but they invariably are not as good as specialised tools - they are very much the jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none in the tool world… I would still, if you are on a very strict budget, suggest you get some decent pliers, a decent set of screwdrivers, a hammer etc, rather than sink ~£100 into a good and usable multitool (if you buy a cheap, Chinese one, it may not last/hold up if you use it robustly).
They are never the best tool for any job, but they make up for that by being a “good enough” tool for a thousand jobs.
I consider mine indispensable. Instead of carting a toolbox around to every task, and walking back to the shed a hundred times over I forgot some tool or other, I can simply grab two tools I know I need and a multitool for the things I might need. Usually that’s good enough.
For example, a good pair of heavy duty scissors is the best way to cut a cable tie, but the pliers or knife blade on a multi tool will get it done. You never know when you might need to cut a cable tie.
A good multitool can turn a 45 minute job into a 30 minute job. And every now and then they’ll allow you to do a job that otherwise wouldn’t be possible (good luck cutting a cable tie if you don’t have any kind of blade at all for example - nearly impossible)
Most multitools are designed for camping. Forget those, you don’t need a wine bottle opener/toothpick/fire starter/whistle… I recommend the Gerber Center Drive. It has a proper screw driver, a proper pair of spring loaded pliers that work in both directions (you can force them open, not just closed), a tungsten carbine wire cutter*, a good knife, an excellent awl for poking things, a basic lever, etc.
(* careful with the wire cutter - tungsten carbine cuts thin wires like a hot knife though butter but it will shatter like glass with thick wire. Fortunately it is a replaceable cutting blade if that happens)
I wouldn’t settle for anything less than a Leatherman Signal or SuperTool if you intend to get any real use out of it.
In case you want to accumulate a toolbox, the rule of thumb is to buy the cheapest tools you can find that work. When one breaks, you know you use it enough to buy a quality one.
Is there a specific DIY project in your near future you think you would use it for? If not, I wouldn’t recommend getting one and just have it sitting there. It would just be money best spent anywhere else.
Also, by drill do you mean an impact driver, drill, or drill with the hammer drill function? For home DIY, I find that having an impact driver, with a good set of impact ready drill bits and a variety of screw tips to be more useful than just a drill.
English is not my native language and I struggle with the names for tools in my native too. So I think I have a drill and a drill with the hammer function (that’s the one for concrete walls right?)
I still need to wrestle an answer out of google about what an impact driver is but ATM I am quite happy with the drill options I have.
No specific project. I come from an abusive home and wasn’t taught about or set up with a tool starter kit or anything. I would just like to learn to be more handy. Do little things around the flat. I’ve recently added two large branches to the main room that frame a photo wall. Where my glaring lack of tools in general did not help.
Yes, you have a regular drill (also often called a hammer drill). You absolutely need one of those.
An “impact driver” is a specialised type of drill that works better for 99% of tasks, but it can’t do 1% of them at all.
A regular drill is a motor that spins.
A hammer drill is a motor that spins while “hammering” in and out. You need that to drill into materials like concrete.
An “impact” drill is a motor that spins, but there’s a special mechanism that “hammers” in a twisting motion instead of in and out.
Imagine a really stubborn screw - so tight that your regular drill wouldn’t be able to undo it. So tight if you had a massive drill, you’d risk breaking your arm trying to turn the screw. A cheap impact driver will quickly and turn a screw like that with no fuss and without applying any force at all to your arm/body.
Even with a screw that your regular drill can undo, the impact driver will do it easier and quicker and with less force on your arm.
Also, have you ever stripped a screw head with your drill? Impact drivers never do that. They are more gentle despite being faster and more powerful.
The only drawback is you can’t really drill holes with an impact driver. They just don’t work well for that. So it would have to be your second drill, not your only one… but it’d be the one you use the most.