Thread: XU1 powertools

In another life I was forthed to uthe an XthU1 orbital thander on a thtaircathe. It thanded vewy little but woth very good at vibrating. Thook me teef out it did.

Unless you're going to use it once and discard, don't bother; you'll be thankful later.

Hi Hoover

I owned a few XU1 tools and they seemed ok - well they did until I got better ones! with some tools like drills and grinders you may not notice much of a difference when used on light duties. Other tools you will notice great difference.

I replaced my XU1 jigsaw with a Bosch 800 (Green) and it is simply worlds apart from the XU1. In my opinion a jigsaw is about low vibration, good blade alignment and smooth and balanced feel for ease of use and accuracy. Cheap ones rarely provide this. You can now buy a Bosch 700 (slightly smaller) for about $89 from Bunnings because they have removed the laser guide (which I think was a bit of a wank anyway).

The other change I made was to replace my cheap skill circular saw with a 185mm Makita for about $140. Much more expensive but a bargain when you use it and realise how light and smooth it is. An absolute pleasure to cut with.

Of course these are cheap in comparison to many jigsaws and circular saws that I have no experience with so I can't comment on how they compare. Sometimes you do get what you pay for.

The thing I really love about ultra cheap tools is that if you have a job that is really going to ruin your tool then they are disposable. I had to plane the high spots off a sheet floor with nails and there was no way that the good plane was coming out for that one. Bought a something brand plane for $20, used it, destroyed it and threw it away. The good plane never got touched.

Danny

They're also handy for loaner tools i.e. when people want to borrow a tool and you don't want to give them a good one.

A bloke borrowed my cheap grinder - can't remember the brand but it was a only a cheapie. He blew it up and offered to replace it.

I said he may not be able to find that brand, but that a Makita would suffice.

Originally Posted by scottbr

They're also handy for loaner tools i.e. when people want to borrow a tool and you don't want to give them a good one.

A bloke borrowed my cheap grinder - can't remember the brand but it was a only a cheapie. He blew it up and offered to replace it.

I said he may not be able to find that brand, but that a Makita would suffice.

Haha!! That's fantastic. There are certain tools that I don't even tell people I bought for fear of the infamous borrowed tool wrecker!

u know what is funny, my last name is xu lol. cheap brand it is.

Did he end up giving you a Makita? Ozito make XU1 right?

Got a Makita.

I've offered to lend him some more tools.

Might offer to lend him my car, too.

Originally Posted by Hoover

Did he end up giving you a Makita? Ozito make XU1 right?

Ozito make the xu1 range as a cheaper option to their top of the range tools ahh the Ozito

I have the XU1 compound saw - it works surprisingly well. Well it did the last time I used it which was at least a year ago.

I've got their corded hammer drill and used dad's before it for a few years - both have done everything I've thrown at them so far - brick, 3mm steel, and decent hardwoods. I've also used their angle grinder and had no issues with it. For the price I think they are not a bad buy, through I think I'd pay a little extra for circ saws etc just for the safety factor a better build would add.

Like someone said, handy when you just want it for a once off job, but I've given my 5 month old drill an utter hammering around the house and garage without any complaints so far.

I haven't seen the compund saws at my local Bunnings before

their kind of odd looking

"XU1 Compound Mitre Saw" | Trade Me

I'd rather Ozito over a Ryobi, although depends on what it is.

I have the hammer drill and it is still going after about 7 years. Best 15 bucks I ever spent.
The heat gun is good also and mine has lasted many years. I know a bloke that is happy with the electric plane. The plane and hammer drill look like strait coppies of makita.Can't comment on the rest of the range but at the price how can you go wrong. As has been said they are throwaways but some keep on going whatever you do to them. I would also rate them above the Ozito parent. They are the plesent surprise in cheep power tools.
Regards
John

While the majority of my power tools are Makitas, I've a couple of UX1 power tools, a heatgun and a 100mm angle grinder. Both have performed flawlessly and I've used them a lot. I did check out other XU1 tools, a small cordless drill and a jigsaw. The drill's chuck had noticable (to the eye) run out and the jigsaw was flimsily made so I gave them both a miss.

Yeah, one of the big problems with cheap jigsaws is blade alignment. If the machine can't keep the blade perfectly straight during the lateral pressure applied when cutting curves then you will end up with a nice unwanted mitre on your cut. Sometimes there is just no substitute for quality.

Simpler tools like drills are very different. I was talking to my sparky a few years ago who was drilling 10mm holes with a 500mm long auger bit angled up through my cypress posts with a cordless. We got chatting about the drill and he told me he has tried everything. Makita, AEG, DeWalt.... and he swears by the 18v Ryobi cordless. He firmly believed that the Ryobi outperformed everything else he had tried and because they are cheap he doesn't mind replacing it when it eventually fails. Needless to say my next drill was the Ryobi and I've been very happy with it.