Compared my old Ryobi drill to a Milwaukee Fuel on a kitchen cabinet job last week

I've been using that old blue Ryobi for like 6 years, thought it was fine. Then my buddy let me borrow his Milwaukee Fuel drill to put up some uppers in a 1990s kitchen in Austin. Night and day difference - the Milwaukee drove screws through oak cabinets without even slowing down, while my Ryobi struggled on the third one. Does anyone else feel like upgrading tools gives you a skill boost you didn't expect?

2 comments

2 Comments

david5627d ago

Is it crazy how much confidence a better tool gives you? I had the exact same thing happen with a sawzall. My old one would bind up and vibrate my arm off halfway through a cut, then I borrowed a friend's nicer Makita and it just sailed through a cast iron pipe like butter. It made me feel like I actually knew what I was doing, when really the tool was just doing all the work. That Ryobi might be fine for random stuff around the house, but when you hit real hardwood or something heavy, you feel every bit of the difference. I replaced my old drill right after that, and my only regret was waiting so long.

reese_nelson6d ago

Nah, I gotta disagree a little. A nicer tool helps for sure, but it's not gonna fix bad technique or make you suddenly not suck at cuts. I've seen people with top of the line stuff make a total mess because they just rushed it.