Katsu

[Lonsdale73]

I know a few of you have Katsu trimmers and can't fault them, anyone have any experience of their drills, which look a lot like the Makita ones?

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

Just get an used bosch/makita... they go for like 5-20 used on ebay...
I have the katsu trimmer, well it was good for the £27 I paid for it, I wouldn't have paid more for it.
That being said..When I will get time I will list that katsu trimmer for sale and buy an actual makita...
Not worth it in my opinion if you plan to use it more than once...

 

[Mark A]

Just get an used bosch/makita... they go for like 5-20 used on ebay...
I have the katsu trimmer, well it was good for the £27 I paid for it, I wouldn't have paid more for it.
That being said..When I will get time I will list that katsu trimmer for sale and buy an actual makita...
Not worth it in my opinion if you plan to use it more than once...

What's wrong with your Katsu?

 

[novocaine]

that is interest David, for me the katsu is spot on and an equal to the makita in almost every sense, so much so that the Makita went back, I didn't need the case which was the only plus it had over the cheaper option.
sorry to muddy the waters Mark, no idea on the drill front, be interesting at the price of them to see how they do though. I also have to say that they look more like an aldi workzone to me than a makita.

 

[Lonsdale73]

that is interest David, for me the katsu is spot on and an equal to the makita in almost every sense, so much so that the Makita went back, I didn't need the case which was the only plus it had over the cheaper option.
sorry to muddy the waters Mark, no idea on the drill front, be interesting at the price of them to see how they do though. I also have to say that they look more like an aldi workzone to me than a makita.

Different chargers

 

[novocaine]

guess it's the shade of blue and the sticker. (oh and maybe the plastic chuck), no dowt they are modelled on the makita but you know how it is.

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

that is interest David, for me the katsu is spot on and an equal to the makita in almost every sense, so much so that the Makita went back, I didn't need the case which was the only plus it had over the cheaper option.
sorry to muddy the waters Mark, no idea on the drill front, be interesting at the price of them to see how they do though. I also have to say that they look more like an aldi workzone to me than a makita.

Different chargers

Oh I thought about way different drill based on my first google result for -Katsu drill..

That's a drill you will use all day everyday, I thought you wanted sds drill- dunno why..

Never in a million years I would pay 40 pounds for such junk, if about 120 buys you a 10.8v makita Impact+Drill set+ a couple of batteries+case.
Waste of time/money/effort/nerves..

What's the nm power rating of that katsu drill? Can't find anywhere... if you can't find something usually its hidden for a reason

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

Just get an used bosch/makita... they go for like 5-20 used on ebay...
I have the katsu trimmer, well it was good for the £27 I paid for it, I wouldn't have paid more for it.
That being said..When I will get time I will list that katsu trimmer for sale and buy an actual makita...
Not worth it in my opinion if you plan to use it more than once...

What's wrong with your Katsu?

Nothing really.. It's just a very very rough tool..Surely for £27 You can't get anything better, but if you got the funds and use it frequently it's a no brainer to actually get a tool you LIKE using and enjoy..

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

https://www.aimtools.co.uk/collections/ ... ill-driver

Is this the drill you want to buy? Please be specific...
£23.99 - I will shut up in that case...a single 10.8v makita battery costs more than that
Would actually love to try one out and see what the chinese can make for £24

 

[Droogs]

from earlier research I did as far as I can find out Katsu are named after the founder of Matsuura Machinery Japan - Katsu Matsuura and they manufacture high end CNC machinery and wholesale machinery/tools for many companies including Makita. The Katsu brand is an attempt by them to enter the market as opposed to just providing production facilities for other companies.

 

[Lonsdale73]

https://www.aimtools.co.uk/collections/drills-drivers/products/102378-12v-lithium-ion-cordless-drill-driver

Is this the drill you want to buy? Please be specific...
£23.99 - I will shut up in that case...a single 10.8v makita battery costs more than that
Would actually love to try one out and see what the chinese can make for £24

Yes, that would be the one and - as you rightly observe - available for less than the cost of a single Makita battery.

Like droogs says below, I'd read elsewhere that Katsu manufacture for Makita, hence why their trim routers are so much alike in appearance, handling, performance and hey accept the same accessories. Given the striking similarities between the Katsu drill and the Makita 10.8v I did wonder if comparisons would stack up as favourably as they do with the trimmers but guess no-one owns one to be able to advise. For the sake of <£30 it wouldn't be a huge loss to be the guinea pig.

If the funds were available, no-brainer for me would be a Festool CXS/TXS which I do find an absolute joy to use however there are times when having a second unit would be useful but I cannot justify that level of outlay for the occasional pilot hole in what is merely a hobby.

I'm familiar with the Makita CLX twin kit however I cannot find one priced as low as £120; did find one listing for £70 but that was out of stock with a note they did not know when or even if more stock would become available. Not seen any for anything like £5 and the ones priced around £25 are generally body only. Factor in a battery or two plus a charger and price is coming very close to the twin pack.

While searching, I have found an 18v drill + impact driver deal at B&Q (£100 for the set, bit less for me as I have a voucher). It's the Stanley Fatmax brand, looking very similar to the Dewalt models, who I believe are now part of the Stanley group along with Black & Decker. I remember when B&D where the be all etc in DIY and Stanley are long synonymous with quality handtools but don't know anything about their powertool reputation / reliability.

 

[Trakehner]

Same drill but without the Katsu logo is sold by many sellers on the local version of Gumtree in Bulgaria and I know from someone that bought it, that it is so crap that it didn`t do even 1h of moderate load. A palm router has an armature with a thread and the collet and nut attach directly, its a simple device in reality. A drill like this one has one component that needs to be very well engineered - the planetary gearbox. My friend`s tool got a dead motor but I really doubt its planetary reductor to be able to stand even 20% of what a makita can. I have seen a copy of the Bosch GBH2-26 sold under the Katsu brand too and Bosch produce the GBH2-26 in Germany only. Besides, it is not Katsu that have developed the Makita drill but Makita, they hold patents (biggest problem in todays world as you literally give the Chinese the plans) and even if they contract Katsu to assemble these for them, strict NDAs and non-compete agreements will be well in place before even the first schematic to have been showed to the Katsu factory. The Katsu engineers may understand the schematics or reverse engineer a tool but how would they know the grade and tempering of the steel/alloy used in the gearbox for example? They can`t. Also, they probably come with cheap batteries, BYD or the likes, where afaik both Bosch and Makita use Samsung cells (many Chinese batteries are indeed better but they`re not as safe and a lithium oxidising process may cause severe burns). I don`t know why batteries are so expensive, th 10.8V have 3 x 3.6V cells inside with the best (Sanyo/Panasonic) costing about 1/6 of a battery. The rest is usually just a resistor and a plastic housing.

 

[MikeJhn]

Its a little bit more complicated to charge multiple LiIo batteries in the same casing, the balancing circuit has to either be in the battery case or in the charger, you can't just put them in series and charge them from either end.

Mike

 

[Alexfn]

I built a 6.5m by 4.5m greenhouse using the katsu router. It got used in sessions lasting easy 6 hours non stop. Previously i had only used it for small jobs. My feeling is that was a torture test and if it was poorly made that would have been the end of it..
Also i don't think its a rough tool at all.. Ive done some really good precision work with it and along with pretty much everyone else on here would highly recommend it.

The only issue i have with it is the slightly short cable but i will get around to replacing that eventually

 

[Bodgers]

Same drill but without the Katsu logo is sold by many sellers on the local version of Gumtree in Bulgaria and I know from someone that bought it, that it is so rubbish that it didn`t do even 1h of moderate load. A palm router has an armature with a thread and the collet and nut attach directly, its a simple device in reality. A drill like this one has one component that needs to be very well engineered - the planetary gearbox. My friend`s tool got a dead motor but I really doubt its planetary reductor to be able to stand even 20% of what a makita can. I have seen a copy of the Bosch GBH2-26 sold under the Katsu brand too and Bosch produce the GBH2-26 in Germany only. Besides, it is not Katsu that have developed the Makita drill but Makita, they hold patents (biggest problem in todays world as you literally give the Chinese the plans) and even if they contract Katsu to assemble these for them, strict NDAs and non-compete agreements will be well in place before even the first schematic to have been showed to the Katsu factory. The Katsu engineers may understand the schematics or reverse engineer a tool but how would they know the grade and tempering of the steel/alloy used in the gearbox for example? They can`t. Also, they probably come with cheap batteries, BYD or the likes, where afaik both Bosch and Makita use Samsung cells (many Chinese batteries are indeed better but they`re not as safe and a lithium oxidising process may cause severe burns). I don`t know why batteries are so expensive, th 10.8V have 3 x 3.6V cells inside with the best (Sanyo/Panasonic) costing about 1/6 of a battery. The rest is usually just a resistor and a plastic housing.

You make almost the reverse claim to someone on here earlier about the Katsu router - they said Built/designed by Katsu for Makita. Even suggesting that Katsu were selling the router before offering it to Makita...

I think you are more likely correct as it is more typical for the R&D and design to be done by the branded manufacturer (Makita) and then built by the Chinese to order with Makita QA supervision.

In which case I think the Katsu router is basically done using the tooling and manufacturing they do for Makita but potentially to different standards.

They probably never made this Makita drill so it is just some kind of knock off. It doesn't look as close to the original as the router does.

You see this a lot with Chinese smart phones. Companies that do a lot of manufacturing for the big names, knock out similar stuff under their own brand, but it isn't done to the same standard, and often with budget components.


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[jimbob Alexander]

Can I use a marital battery on a katsina power tool

 

[Jameshow]

Can I use a marital battery on a katsina power tool

What's a martial battery I want one.. how much do I need to pay £500, £1000, £10'000

 

[Noel]

Can I use a marital battery on a katsina power tool

Hi and welcome to the forum.
Assuming you mean "Can I use a Makita battery on a Katsu power tool" the answer is yes.

 

[graham88]

What's a martial battery I want one.. how much do I need to pay £500, £1000, £10'000

A marital battery is what happens when you buy a new toy, and SWMBO reads the bank statement.

 

[AES]

And James (above) wants to know where to get a M A R T I A L battery!