Thoughts on Ozito tools?

[woodenwookie]

Hi all,

I'm sort of an intermediate amatuer woodworker and have been using a Black and Decker Matrix drill driver for a number of years. I recently purchased an Ozito Line Trimmer and Blower combo from Bunnings and then after purchasing that got the battery and charger pack with the 4.0mAh battery because the charger that comes with the kit was super slow. I really like this kit and it has done a stellar job of dismantling the weeds we've accumulated due to weather stopping us getting to them. 🤣😇

Due to my use of pocket holes in a number of projects and the fact that Little Woodie stole my Ozito Screwdriver I ended up getting the 18V Impact Driver Skin and I really like it.

My Matrix is getting a little long in the tooth and is still on the original batteries (over 6 years old now) but I've also built up quite a collection of heads for it and most get used often but I'm finding the drill to be a little under powered. So I'm thinking of getting the Brushless Hammer Drill skin to take the drilling load off. Is it a reasonable drill for the range it sits in? I'm finding that I needed to go to the hammer drill attachment in order to get cleaner pocket holes but they're still a bit manky and I noticed the Ozito one spins faster still so maybe that'll be cleaner still.

While I don't have much need for the hammer drill ability I find it has been needed to hang a couple of things in my workshop where one wall is concrete block.

I actually have a very real need to go cordless because currently I'm running a 25m extension lead to my workshop to get power into it (long story but my wife decided the sleepout was going to be her office which incidentally has just ended up being the junk room). I like the Ozito stuff and while the higher end brands would be nice frankly I can neither afford them nor can I use them to their fullest (in fact the drills from say Milwaukee and DeWalt actually kind of hurt my wrist which was damaged in a motorcycle crash a few years ago).

I know these questions get asked all the time and they are relative but I'd like to hear how others get on. So far for me the use has been positive but I just need a little reassurance that the investment will be worth it.

Thanks folks.

[countryshay19]

Hi being a total newbie I  like the price of this brand. I made my own mistake last week assuming my battery of my old ozito drill would fit my recip saw. It didn't. 

[ProjectPete]

That's a shame @countryshay19! Pretty sure Ryobi are the only brand to have never changed their battery terminal.

Makita, for example, made a slight change. New batteries are backward compatible but old batteries aren't forward compatible.

[Arcc]

I find Ozito good enough for small jobs here and there. Their price range is suitable for many people but I find that it is probably better to go the Ryobi range as they do have a better quality to them and are a little more long lasting. Ryobi are a lower middle range brand but are more than capable of getting all jobs done. Currently most of my tools are Ryobi but I aim to upgrade them to dewalt or makita as they run towards the end of their lifespans.

[MikeM84]

Hi All,

I would like to advise after using different brands from Bunnings on which I would recommend for types of work required.

Gardening tools:
- Stick with Petrol or go with the 36v or 18v Ryobi... I own a chainsaw, hedger, edge cutter, snipper, blower (all Ryobi 18V) and never skipped a beat.
- I have noticed I have paid more for the Ryobi tools, however I have had them for over 2 years and never had an issue at all (you get what you pay for)

Power tools:
- As a handyman, I use Milwaukee tool, however I do own literally all the Ryobi 18V tools as well, and use them all heavily, I was given a free Ozito power tool kit, and it lasted about 6 months of using it everyday.

My theory is:
if you going to use it every single day, go for AEG, Makita or Ryobi, however if you going to use it for small DYI here and there, then Ozito will do just fine.

enjoy all

[Jason]

Thanks for joining in the discussion @MikeM84. Great to see you make your first Workshop post. Looking forward to seeing loads more as it sounds like you have heaps of knowledge and experience that you can share with the community. Hopefully you can also share your projects and plans for around the house and garden.

Please let me know if you ever need a hand getting the most from the site, or have any feedback about how we can improve Workshop for you. 

Jason

[TedBear]

From my own experience, which differs from others mentioned here, Ozito just doesn't exist. I had 2 of them catch fire in my hands in one month, so fear is the reason for my negative bias. I recommend not going below Ryobi for general handyman level work. The advantages have already been listed by Noah.

[David64]

hi mate.

I use OZITO tools all the time and for the price you pay for them i think they are very good value.

[Jason]

Many thanks for joining in the conversation and sharing your experiences @David64. We look forward to reading more about your projects and plans. What kinds of projects have you been working on recently? 

Let me extend a very warm welcome to the community. We've got a great bunch of people here sharing advice and inspiration on the site every day, so we're sure you will fit right in. Please don't hesitate to post anytime you need a hand or have something to share. 

Thanks again,

Jason

[Noyade]

I love and only buy cheap tools, Ozito included  - and never had a problem. Seriously. 😁

Here's three I don't seem to be able to kill.

The small 5" angle grinder is an Aldi Taurus purchased 10 years ago. When it does die, there will be funeral and I will sob.

The big 9" angle grinder is from Repco and was purchased 20 years ago. I think it was called MVP? The logo rubbed off and the rat tail rubber cord cover perished so I replaced it with a small length of operating theatre suction tubing. The great thing about both grinders is they have variable speed control.

The drill is from 1998. From Go-Lo, a brand called Haydon. Still going strong......

The working family

[SalBay]

We moved house and I retired about two months ago, and have started woodworking and woodturning, as well as looking after the garden on our heritage property.

I've accumulated quite a few Ozito tools since then , they are extremely good value, and built to a quality level well above some of the cheaper tools out there.

I almost always buy kits of some sort as this is the best value option

I have only three corded tools , being
*** the variable speed sander/polisher, which i used with a diamond cup wheel to level the concrete floors of the shed.

*** a "Dremel tool" copy , kit , note all the dremel attachments fit it as it has the same threaded end, and the speed control works better than the standard Dremel.
*** a garden blower/vac I use this to suck up the leaves in autumn, the bag is a bit small, so I made my own bigger bag with some shade-cloth and some garden tie wire. Having to drag the cord around is a real pain, so I usually use the cordless blower to blow them into a corner first. The blower/vac doesn't have the same grunt as a petrol powered unit, and it is more cumbersome with the cord, I've since been given a petrol powered blower/vac with a leaky fuel line that I have fixed. But for someone on a small block (we are 2000sqm) the Ozito blower/vac would be fine.

And a whole lot of cordless tools, almost always bought as kits

*** The blower and edge trimmer combo, includes battery and fast charger (I've not used the weed trimmer, but it is cheaper than buying blower + battery + charger seperately, especially as the combo was on special. I use the blower daily to blow sawdust from my clothes and woodworking machinery hint: don't fit the nozzle to the blower, it works better without it. The blower has seen a lot of use blowing leaves too, after two years of heavy use, the bearings are sounding a little noisy.

*** the drill + impact drill + grinder + saw + battery + fast charger kit.  I use the drill and impact drill pretty much every day, so much faster using the impact drill as it has 6mm hex push-on bits, so I have hex drive screwdriver bits of all sizes and , drills 2,3,4,5mm , countersinks, sanding wheels, nylon bristle disks.

The grinder gets occasional use, it normally has a 1mm thick cut-off disk, when you need to cut off the odd screw etc. The saw is a bit underpowered, (hard to compete with 2400w on corded saws) but OK to lop off treated pine, or MDF. The drill gets heavy use, and is can operate a 75mm x 500mm auger to dig holes in the garden or stir up compost in the wheelbarrow, given the amount of abuse it gets, I'm surprised it is still going, I've treated it as a disposable tool.

*** the pole hedger with battery and slow charger and a seperate chainsaw attachment ,  The pole hedger is very awkward to handle as the on off button faces the wrong way to be able to hold the handle, nether-the-less, the cutting head is very good and performs as well as a $1500 Stihl petrol unit. The chainsaw has a miniscule bar, but when a massive oak tree branch fell down on the vacant block next door, I cut it all up on one fully charged 4AH battery, and some pieces were 8" diameter. 

*** The hedger with battery and slow charger, our property has hundreds of meters of hedgees, and while a gardener does all the tall ones, I do all the smaller waist height ones with the ozito unit, it is much quieter and less smelly than a petrol powered unit, and can do all three sides of 50m of hedge with a 4AH battery, by which time your arms are sore and needing a break. It doesn't cut the woody growth so well, so the gardener does a once yearly shaping of the low hedges, and I do the other 30-40 times/year trimmings.

*** A multi-tool , I needed this to get into a tight corner and cut a stub off a piece of hardwood in the shed (I had previously been hacking them off with multiple drill holes and then chiselling). Also used it to cut the bottom 6" off a termite eaten hardwood post on the shed (so I could slip a replacement section in). Also used it recently to cut the corners of an access panel in the bottom of some built in kitchen units.  It's the sort of the tool that gets infrequent usage, but when you need it, you really need it. Again not soemthiung you want to spend a lot of money. on.

So in summary, I'm really impressed with my Ozito tools, I could have spent 4 times as much money on "better" tools for no extra performance gain.