u/zeninthesmoke

I was demoing some pretty standard plywood shelves today and my subcompact recip saw (CR18DAQ4) just stopped working. I don't know much about tool engineering, so I don't know whether it's the brushes or not. I want(ed) to love this saw, but tbh sometimes it did seem a bit underpowered, although the tabless battery helped with that and I didn't hate it as much as other people seemed to.

I'm going to upgrade to a full-sized recip anyway, but is it worth trying to replace the brushes on this? And is that something that's pretty easy to do?

local HF had a 5 ah Hercules battery and charger for 69 bucks.

I asked an associate if the usual 3 year warranty was still good on it and he said he didn’t think so but wasn’t sure. I was in a hurry so I couldn’t stick around to find out from a manager.

Does anyone know if the warranty would still be good on this?

TL;DR - should a relative noob like me spring for all the safety features possible on a grinder?

I’ve run into a bunch of DIY situations where an angle grinder would have made a job faster and easier (cutting bolts, shortening metal beams, sharpening blades, cutting masonry, etc)

But to be honest, they kind of scare the shit out of me, all the things I hear can happen. so I was thinking of getting one with all the safety features possible — kickback protection, brake, soft start, etc.

Of course, this has put me into the highest cost bracket of grinders. Not an issue if they truly are safer/a better idea for a noob like me, but I wanted to know if these features are worth it (and if they actually work as advertised).

specifically looking at the brushless/cordless Dewalts, Metabo HPTs and Milwaukees.

In the market for a jig saw, kind of hesitant to go with a brushed model, but it seems like the brushless one isn’t really available anywhere.

Nonetheless I have a Lowe’s gift card and I’ve been super pleased with all other Metabo HPT products, brushed or otherwise.

Anyone actually seen or used the brushless jigsaw in the wild? I can’t find one anywhere, even though according to the HPT website it does indeed exist.

Finally bit the bullet on the Stealthsonic 12 gal and it is a beast. Blows my Ridgid out of the water.

But man, I hate the yellow 2.25" "contractor" hose it came with. Super inflexible, only one end is pivoting. I guess they say it's "uncrushable" but for me that just translates into non-bending and difficult to handle.

Anyone have a recommendation of either a Dewalt or aftermarket hose that they like?