# Milwaukee 12v or Makita 12v



## mpmaint (Sep 16, 2010)

I just killed a my milwaukee12v driver and I was about to pick up another today at the depot untill i saw the Makita. Which is better? 
Im not interested in Dewalts, Festools,Bosch or Rigids. 
Thanks


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## Rustbucket (May 22, 2009)

I have a 12V Milwaukee drill, and a 10.8V Makita drill. Not a whole lot of difference, but I honestly prefer the Milwaukee in that size. Power is about the same, but the Milwaukee feels better built to me. If you already have a battery, or two, for the Milwaukee, I would just buy another. What went wrong with it?


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## Mike- (Aug 20, 2011)

Rustbucket said:


> I have a 12V Milwaukee drill, and a 10.8V Makita drill. Not a whole lot of difference, but I honestly prefer the Milwaukee in that size. Power is about the same, but the Milwaukee feels better built to me. If you already have a battery, or two, for the Milwaukee, I would just buy another. What went wrong with it?


Makita has almost zero tools on the 12 volt platform. Milwaukee has a ton of tools, lots of options. I owned a Milwaukee a few years back and burned up the motor on it. I pushed it a little hard. Power is about the same. I would give Milwakee another shot


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## Mikekow80 (Feb 25, 2011)

How old is it? Isn't Milwaukee's warranty like 5 years? I know I've taken a couple things in for repair and never been charged a cent. Don't even think the M12 line is 5 years old yet, so they hopefully won't even question it.


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## mpmaint (Sep 16, 2010)

Mikekow80 said:


> How old is it? Isn't Milwaukee's warranty like 5 years? I know I've taken a couple things in for repair and never been charged a cent. Don't even think the M12 line is 5 years old yet, so they hopefully won't even question it.


Its beat, and beaten badly. I have to say, it held up pretty good. For the price of a new one, its worth spending a couple hundred and get new batts and another charger and new driver. 

Thanks for your feedback:thumbsup:


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## mpmaint (Sep 16, 2010)

Mike- said:


> Makita has almost zero tools on the 12 volt platform. Milwaukee has a ton of tools, lots of options. I owned a Milwaukee a few years back and burned up the motor on it. I pushed it a little hard. Power is about the same. I would give Milwakee another shot


I got a few other M12 tools so I might as well stick with it. All my 18v tools are Makitas and I love those compared to Milwaukee. 

The Depot has the M12 drill, impact driver and a free occilating tool for $199. I'll pick one up in the AM

Thanks for your feedback:thumbsup:


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

Sorry gotta go with the Bosch, even though you aren't interested.


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## JWilliams (Nov 11, 2008)

buy a task force from lowes.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

JWilliams said:


> buy a task force from lowes.


That was pretty funny! Don't forget MasterForce from Menards. They are made by Bosch...well they at least bought them.


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## Mike- (Aug 20, 2011)

From a durability and reliability standpoint... Bosch. Milwaukee has some dent 12 volt tools though


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## alboston (Feb 22, 2007)

I know you said you didn't want one but I would go 12v Dewalt. I use my impact and driver on a daily basis.


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## Dirtywhiteboy (Oct 15, 2010)

mpmaint said:


> I just killed a my milwaukee12v driver and I was about to pick up another today at the depot untill i saw the Makita. Which is better?
> Im not interested in Dewalts, Festools,Bosch or Rigids.
> Thanks


I bought the Ridgid JobMax multitool-12 volt driver combo and it works great:jester: and for 129$ 2 tools 2 batteries and a charger:blink:
Milwaukee and Ridgid are owned by the same:blink:


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## MilwaukeeMike (Feb 15, 2011)

*The Bolt's Better*

Hands down, M12. Forgetting my bias toward the "white lightning", the M12 battery life's better, wayyy more tools in the line & you have the option of an XC battery.
I have 1/2 dozen M12 tools and have run a few "12v Olympics" w/ a buddy & his Bosch(s) & M12 smoked them. (Hackzall, 3/8" D/D, Impact D, O-Tool)

While on the subject of 12v tool lines, why do Makita, Bosch, DeWalt, Hitachi & etc all say 10.8v (in small letters) and _*12v MAX*_ while M12 is just M12 ? I know what nominal voltage means but I also notice that M12 batteries are bigger than the competition could they be "true" 12-volt batteries ? :thumbup1:


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## MilwaukeeMike (Feb 15, 2011)

Dirtywhiteboy said:


> I bought the Ridgid JobMax multitool-12 volt driver combo and it works great


Have you tried them _other_ tool heads w/ the 12v JobMax ?



Dirtywhiteboy said:


> Milwaukee and Ridgid are owned by the same:blink:


So's Ryobi...but who cares :thumbup1:


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

MilwaukeeMike said:


> Hands down, M12. Forgetting my bias toward the "white lightning", the M12 battery life's better, wayyy more tools in the line & you have the option of an XC battery.
> I have 1/2 dozen M12 tools and have run a few "12v Olympics" w/ a buddy & his Bosch(s) & M12 smoked them. (Hackzall, 3/8" D/D, Impact D, O-Tool)
> 
> While on the subject of 12v tool lines, why do Makita, Bosch, DeWalt, Hitachi & etc all say 10.8v (in small letters) and _*12v MAX*_ while M12 is just M12 ? I know what nominal voltage means but I also notice that M12 batteries are bigger than the competition could they be "true" 12-volt batteries ? :thumbup1:


Way more tools in the line than Bosch? Way more? What constitutes way more?


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## Mike- (Aug 20, 2011)

TNTSERVICES said:


> Way more tools in the line than Bosch? Way more? What constitutes way more?


Have you seen this

http://www.milwaukeetool.com/tools/cordless-tools/m12-cordless-system


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

Mike- said:


> Have you seen this
> 
> http://www.milwaukeetool.com/tools/cordless-tools/m12-cordless-system


But there are two different batteries, so they are not all the same line.

They also have two or three variations of the same tool.

I am not saying they don't have more, but not way more.


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## Mike- (Aug 20, 2011)

TNTSERVICES said:


> But there are two different batteries, so they are not all the same line.
> 
> They also have two or three variations of the same tool.
> 
> I am not saying they don't have more, but not way more.


Agreed. And for the most part, some very specified tools for a small niche in the market


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## The Coastal Craftsman (Jun 29, 2009)

MilwaukeeMike said:


> Hands down, M12. Forgetting my bias toward the "white lightning", the M12 battery life's better, wayyy more tools in the line & you have the option of an XC battery.
> I have 1/2 dozen M12 tools and have run a few "12v Olympics" w/ a buddy & his Bosch(s) & M12 smoked them. (Hackzall, 3/8" D/D, Impact D, O-Tool)
> 
> While on the subject of 12v tool lines, why do Makita, Bosch, DeWalt, Hitachi & etc all say 10.8v (in small letters) and _*12v MAX*_ while M12 is just M12 ? I know what nominal voltage means but I also notice that M12 batteries are bigger than the competition could they be "true" 12-volt batteries ? :thumbup1:


If they use 3.7v li-ion cells in their packs then they should work from multiples of that amount. So as an example makita LXT packs have 2 sets of 5 cells 10 cells in total. That means 5x 3.7 = 18.5v and they have two sets of cells in parallel to get 3000mah from 1500mah cells. 

So you only get 7.4v, 11.1, 14.8, 18.5, 22.2 ect ect tools. Lately some company round it off to the higher amount the cell can reach when they come of the charger.

So the m12 tools are more than likely what everyday people call 10.8v tools because they def ain't 14.4v tools


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## Mike- (Aug 20, 2011)

BCConstruction said:


> If they use 3.7v li-ion cells in their packs then they should work from multiples of that amount. So as an example makita LXT packs have 2 sets of 5 cells 10 cells in total. That means 5x 3.7 = 18.5v and they have two sets of cells in parallel to get 3000mah from 1500mah cells.
> 
> So the m12 are more than likely what everyday people call 10.8v tools.
> 
> ...


Wurd.


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## MilwaukeeMike (Feb 15, 2011)

TNTSERVICES said:


> Way more tools in the line than Bosch? Way more? What constitutes way more?


Just a rough estimate, but if one line offers 4-5 times the number of individual tools than another line, I call that "way more". :thumbsup:

I'd also say that Bosch's "12v Max" line has "way more" tools w/12 (14 if we count flashlights) than Makita's "12v Max" line w/ 5 or 6.

Not sure what you meant by "2 different batteries" (M12/M18?) but this link is for M12 only...

http://www.milwaukeetool.com/tools/c...ordless-system


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## MilwaukeeMike (Feb 15, 2011)

TNTSERVICES said:


> They also have two or three variations of the same tool.


I agree w/ you that for the diagnostic tools there are 3-4 different borescopes, 3 slightly different laser temp guns, & a few different variations of clamp & fork meters but even removing those from the equation we're left w/ a pretty big gap in the # of tools offered by the M12 line as opposed to any competitor.


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## MilwaukeeMike (Feb 15, 2011)

Mike- said:


> Agreed. And for the most part, some very specified tools for a small niche in the market


mmmm, not so much. If by the "niche tools" you mean the Pro-Pex expander, copper cutter, grease gun, PVC shear, thermal imager or meters & etc then I agree w/ you that those are niche tools, not just niche but "highly specific" niche tools (_but them's tools nonetheless_ :whistling)

A palm nailer, ratchet, rotary tool, jigsaw, heated jacket, power port, camera, sub-scanner, plumb laser are _"niche-ish"_ because they cross over into different trades (and are pretty darn useful to have in U'r Veto when the situation calls for it)
:thumbsup:


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

MilwaukeeMike said:


> Just a rough estimate, but if one line offers 3-4 times the number of individual tools than another line, I call that "way more". :thumbsup:
> 
> I'd also say that Bosch's "12v Max" line has "way more" tools than Makita's "12v Max" line.
> 
> ...


The M12 and M12 high capacity. A lot of the tool reviews say that you need the high capacity batteries for tools like the palm nailer and ratchet to get any real use out of them. You can run them with the standard M12 battery, but in order to utilize the tool and get any run time you need the high cap.

As far as the tools go, after looking at some of them, they have about twice as many as others. I guess that could constitute way more. I can admit when I am wrong (hehehehe...shut up Angus!). Some are pretty cool, but others are items that are nice, but either a double of what we have or a niche tools. Not that it is a negative by any means, just fluff. Reviews on a lot of them are 50/50.

Would it be nice to have Bosch make some of these? Sure. But when I already have three corded jig saws, one corded scroll saw, and an 18v cordless jig saw, do I need a 12v as well?

But I will guarantee you what they sell the most of is the same as Bosch or Makita. And all preform with in a slim margin of each other out of the box.

And don't forget, Bosch was the first with 12v Lithium tools...that one's for you BC!


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## Mike- (Aug 20, 2011)

TNTSERVICES said:


> The M12 and M12 high capacity. A lot of the tool reviews say that you need the high capacity batteries for tools like the palm nailer and ratchet to get any real use out of them. You can run them with the standard M12 battery, but in order to utilize the tool and get any run time you need the high cap.
> 
> As far as the tools go, after looking at some of them, they have about twice as many as others. I guess that could constitute way more. I can admit when I am wrong (hehehehe...shut up Angus!). Some are pretty cool, but others are items that are nice, but either a double of what we have or a niche tools. Not that it is a negative by any means, just fluff. Reviews on a lot of them are 50/50.
> 
> ...


I am with you on the Bosch tools. I have a dewalt tile saw and a pls laser. Bosch just works for me. Most of the 12 volt tools that each company has, are the tools that sell the most. To many niche tools, that I will never use.


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## ohiohomedoctor (Dec 26, 2010)

I do not accept the premise of this thread. The reason its asked Milwaukee or Makita is because there are far superior brands which would squash both heads up. Something like whats the best car a geo metro or a station wagon, the answers simple the Bosch.


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## Dirtywhiteboy (Oct 15, 2010)

MilwaukeeMike said:


> Have you tried them _other_ tool heads w/ the 12v JobMax ?


Yes and all 3 of the ones I have work fine, the right angle will snap the head off a #8 screw if your not careful and the jigsaw is sweet:thumbsup:. The multi head works fine as soon as you toss out the Ridgid blades:laughing:


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## MilwaukeeMike (Feb 15, 2011)

*I Like Yer Style...*



Dirtywhiteboy said:


> ...right angle will snap the head off a #8 screw if your not careful and the jigsaw is sweet:thumbsup:. The multi head works fine as soon as you toss out the Ridgid blades:laughing:


Sweet...:thumbup: 
The R-Ang has good torque but I'm not thrilled `bout drilling w/ it. The jig IS bad-a$$, it's fast & accurate. The multi's good too, I kept them cheapo blades for DWall & dirty cuts.

...umm...yeah that's a ~Ryobi~ base,:whistling, I had the 12V JobMax but the battery life was killin me & some heads weren't performing the way God intended.


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## MilwaukeeMike (Feb 15, 2011)

ohiohomedoctor said:


> I do not accept the premise of this thread. The reason its asked Milwaukee or Makita is because there are far superior brands which would squash both heads up. Something like whats the best car a geo metro or a station wagon, the answers simple the Bosch.


:no: mmmk...


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## Dirtywhiteboy (Oct 15, 2010)

MilwaukeeMike said:


> Sweet...:thumbup:
> The R-Ang has good torque but I'm not thrilled `bout drilling w/ it. The jig IS bad-a$$, it's fast & accurate. The multi's good too, I kept them cheapo blades for DWall & dirty cuts.
> 
> ...umm...yeah that's a ~Ryobi~ base,:whistling, I had the 12V JobMax but the battery life was killin me & some heads weren't performing the way God intended.


Wow you've kicked it up to 18volts sweet that could be on my catch it on sale list:blink: but for now I have the corded JobMax if I need more Power


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## Mike- (Aug 20, 2011)

ohiohomedoctor said:


> I do not accept the premise of this thread. The reason its asked Milwaukee or Makita is because there are far superior brands which would squash both heads up. Something like whats the best car a geo metro or a station wagon, the answers simple the Bosch.


Try the Bosch as well. 30 days u don't like it, return it. You will keep it.


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## MilwaukeeMike (Feb 15, 2011)

Dirtywhiteboy said:


> Wow you've kicked it up to 18volts sweet that could be on my catch it on sale list:blink: but for now I have the corded JobMax if I need more Power


:rockon:
Had the 3Amp Jobmax & loved it, it's got more power than every other "O-Saw" on the market (xept Fein) + the head system, it hurt but I had to ditch the cord. Looks better all orange though...


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## MilwaukeeMike (Feb 15, 2011)

Mak, Bosch Mil...upside down, it's all the same $h1t..


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## HighlanderNorth (Dec 18, 2011)

mpmaint said:


> I just killed a my milwaukee12v driver and I was about to pick up another today at the depot untill i saw the Makita. Which is better?
> Im not interested in Dewalts, Festools,Bosch or Rigids.
> Thanks



I have not compared the specs between Milwaukee and Makita for at least 3 years or so, but I can tell you that every time I did compare specs before that, the Milwaukee tool was always more powerful.

I dont know a whole lot of folks who own a lot of Makita tools, but I hear they are pretty good, but I've always thought that Milwaukee were the best.......


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

HighlanderNorth said:


> I have not compared the specs between Milwaukee and Makita for at least 3 years or so, but I can tell you that every time I did compare specs before that, the Milwaukee tool was always more powerful.
> 
> I dont know a whole lot of folks who own a lot of Makita tools, but I hear they are pretty good, but I've always thought that Milwaukee were the best.......


You've got it all wrong, Bosch is the best. :laughing::laughing::laughing:


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## The Coastal Craftsman (Jun 29, 2009)

TNTSERVICES said:


> You've got it all wrong, Bosch is the best. :laughing::laughing::laughing:


Well when you join club festool then you can say festool is the best :laughing:


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

BCConstruction said:


> Well when you join club festool then you can say festool is the best :laughing:


I knew I could provoke a response from you on that comment. :whistling

Hard to think your first child isn't the best. Cut me some slack! 

\Plus they are way over priced. :laughing::laughing:


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## Mike- (Aug 20, 2011)

TNTSERVICES said:


> I knew I could provoke a response from you on that comment. :whistling
> 
> Hard to think your first child isn't the best. Cut me some slack!
> 
> \Plus they are way over priced. :laughing::laughing:


Lol. And the saga continues. Why buy one when you can get 3. Lol


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## CO762 (Feb 22, 2010)

HighlanderNorth said:


> I have not compared the specs between Milwaukee and Makita for at least 3 years or so, but I can tell you that every time I did compare specs before that, the Milwaukee tool was always more powerful.


I had both the milw and mak 18lions and you were correct, so I sold the makita and kept the milwaukee. Another thing was the milw saw is more solidly built, so one fall off a saw horse and you won't have to get another saw like what would happen w/the makitas. I did like the smaller obstruction to viewing in the makita vs the milwaukee's drivers, but as with everything, it's a trade off. I think both are good, but the final decision was Milwaukees felt the best in my mitts.


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