Thread: Is Ozito the new GMC

Macca,

I had to replace my two 15 year old cordless Makitas recently. (It's always handy having two of them.)

I bought two of the blue Ryobi 18V ones from Bunnings - they're often on special. Can't remember what they cost.

They're good - bearing in mind I'm just a DIY guy. My only criticism is that the batteries don't hold a charge for long. But you get two batteries with them. So with a total of two chargers and four batteries, I'm always okay.

Scott

I also bought one of the Ryobi 18volt cordless drill too a few weeks ago and so far has performed quite well. Definitely better than the other 2 Ryobi cordless drills I have which are 14 volt. They just don't cut it with me. I can't comment on the ozito drills but I have a couple or so Ozito tools and they seem to be okay. Ozito offer a 3 year replacement warranty with their products so guess that has to be taken into account, not many tools come with that kind of a warranty.

I have a few Ozito tools and I am quite happy with them. For the money I think they are pretty good value.

I bought one of their cordless screwdrivers and after using it once I gave it to my 2yo boy who is now 4.5yo. It is still going. In this case it has proven to be a great toy but has no place in my garage.

I don't have any of the aforementioned brand name cordless tools. I have a small B&D that I use for lighter jobs and I find it OK.

I did have to buy a new 240V drill when building a fence a couple of months ago.
1050 Chinese watts. Plenty of grunt and so far so good - only $99. Only drawbacks are weight and a keyed chuck.

GGot a free 710Watt Rokwell 240V drill with a shed I purchased from Stratco. It is compact, fairly light and a joy to use. Keyless chuck!

Macca,

I was like you for a while and bought GMC or similar because they were cheap and had a replacement warrant. I bought a Ozito cordless a few years ago, the batteries lasted a couple of months. I had the whole thing replaced but the batteries on the replacement lasted about the same time. I threw it in the bin and bought a metarbo. well worth the money. i also bought a cheaper B&D for @ $90 at the big green shed which has proven to be very good value.

Thanks for your thoughts. I may give Ozito a miss.

Macca

It's horse for courses when it comes to Ozito. If you depend on them to make a living your fooling yourself with false ecconomy. But for occasional use they work fine as an entry level tool.

I sometimes manage to stick two bits of metal together with lots of dribbles of arc welding and occasionally turn out a usefull table for my wife or stitch together something for the neigbours so Ozito stuff is OK for me. I have a lot of tools made by them:
Rechargable drill - well it woked good enough to put all the saddle clamps for the conduit into my shed and while it doesn't hold a charge for long it does work.
1/4inch router which will be retired as my main router and relegated to doing small trimming jobs as soon as Santa arrives with a 1/2' name brand one.
2 angle grinders (1x cutting wheel and 1x grinding wheel because I'm too lazy to keep changing blades). I buy the same amount of discs as the cost of the grinder and when i run out of discs i weigh up whether it is worthwhile keeping the grinder. They usually last about 2 years with occasional use.
a Hammer dill with enough torque to break your wrist. Can't fault it except it could be too powerfull for my needs and the chuck occasionally sticks when changing bits.
Orbital sander. It makes sawdust - meh it works.
Circular saw. - Will be replaced with a name brand one when i can afford it and just use the Ozito one to do rough cuts of bulk timber or cutting lengths of zincalume.

I treat everyone of these tools as an introduction to whatever i am trying to achieve and while they still work as intended they don't perfom as well as professional model machines will and i don't expect them to do so.

But these I do and they do a professional job quietly, safely and with little fuss.
Bosch Jigsaw
BOC Inverter arc welder
Metabo 14" Metal cut off saw
BOC Self darkening welding mask - I would give up my right arm before I threw any of these away.

Quality tools are expensive to buy but cheap to use as they just do what they are supposed to do without any fuss and keep doing so for a long time.

Nothing I bought from Ozito was over $100.00.

2 angle grinders (1x cutting wheel and 1x grinding wheel because I'm too lazy to keep changing blades). I buy the same amount of discs as the cost of the grinder and when i run out of discs i weigh up whether it is worthwhile keeping the grinder. They usually last about 2 years with occasional use.

I do more steel work than woodwork and I bought a cheap grinder to supplement my decent one (and so I didn't have to keep changing blades). I bought it becasue it cost the same as a couple of beers - $15 on special. Lasted for 3 years.

You need to answer, how old am I and how long am I intending to be around for. A drill is one of those tools you will use until you drop. I would buy a good quality one now. I purchased my power tools some 30 years ago and they are still going as good as the day I bought them.
If you buy an Ozito and it lasts 3 years and you last for 30 years then this means you buy 10 electric drills over your lifetime.

If you only plan I being around for 3 years then it may be worth it. The kids will also thank you for not spending their inheritance money.

Yep, valid point.

I'm just a hobbyist, but do a fair bit of stuff. I've tended to buy Makita in the past because it has always been a good mid range brand. I had a Makita grinder that coincidently died on Sunday after 20 years of good service. I went out and bought another Makita (but still have a Chinese as well).

My Makita circular saw is on its last legs - seems slower and gives of that burning smell. I've had it for about 20 years, too. I'll replace it with another mid range (but I've got a cheapie, too).

One thing I have found the cheaper stuff really handy for is as loan tools. When people want to borrow something, it's good to have a cheapie you don't care that much about to lend them.

Originally Posted by scottbr

Yep, valid point.

I'm just a hobbyist, but do a fair bit of stuff. I've tended to buy Makita in the past because it has always been a good mid range brand. I had a Makita grinder that coincidently died on Sunday after 20 years of good service. I went out and bought another Makita (but still have a Chinese as well).

My Makita circular saw is on its last legs - seems slower and gives of that burning smell. I've had it for about 20 years, too. I'll replace it with another mid range (but I've got a cheapie, too).

One thing I have found the cheaper stuff really handy for is as loan tools. When people want to borrow something, it's good to have a cheapie you don't care that much about to lend them.

G'Day Scottbr,
I see you live in Sydney; may I encourage you a lot of the older "made in japan" or "made in usa" or "made in england" power tools were good quality well made machinery and it could be worth your while to get a quote to repair them rather than purchase some of the junk thats coming out of even the brand named factories in China.
I personally both for business and private repairs have used De Rossi Industrail at Lidcombe for 25 years; the owner George is a top bloke and I'm happy for you to use my name as the person who recommended you.
Anyway, that's my two bobs worth, I hope it helps.
Cheers, Crowie.

Thanks Crowie.

I'm in the inner west, so Lidcombe isn't that far out.

I might take that dead grinder and dying saw out and see if it's worth fixing them.

Scott

5 kids and none of them have the slightest interest in wood or metal work. Well except when dear old Dad gets the "Hey Dad, can you knock up a new table top for my old kitchen table - or Dad can you build me a craft/sewing table" and my wife with her "The new chairs look out of place with the old table, dear, yes i know I was the one who bought them but they don't fit in with the rest of the decor so can you make me a new table top in a satin finish" so leaving them my tools when I shuffle off won't be an issue.

I probably have another 10 or 15 good years left in me so buying the top range might be worthwhile but I had better hurry up and make my mind up soon.

I just stumbled on this thread and could not stop grinning. Replace 5 kids with 3 and for everything else I am your long lost twin brother, Mike. I recently lost face with my daughter: I was stirring her up for coming to visit every week with a new pair of shoes and she coolly pointed out that I have more machines than she has shoes... They will all be bequeated to the local WW club. The tools, I mean, not the shoes...