6 Makita Tools You Can Buy For Under $100

Building a complete tool collection is pricey, no matter what color-coordinated brand you decide to populate your garage with. But that doesn't mean every tool in your toolbox has to cost an arm and a leg. There are plenty of affordable products out there that you can get, even if you don't have the funds to drop on a brand-new table saw.

Makita is one of the best power tool brands out there, but that quality often comes at a price. Makita tools typically cost quite a bit more than most budget brands, like Ryobi or Bauer. Even so, the company still has several tools in its catalog that you can buy without breaking the bank. Some of these can expand the number of different projects that you can take on by quite a bit while still keeping your costs low. Others might not be necessities but still may come in handy for certain jobs and be handy to keep around. We should preface by stating that these prices do not include batteries or chargers. Purchasing those separately may add significantly to the tool's overall cost, but they are interchangeable with other Makita tools from the same battery line, so you won't have to buy a new one every time you get a new tool if you don't want to. With that in mind, here are six of the tools that Makita sells for less than $100.

A flashlight might not be high on your list of necessities, but every tool bag should have one. There are plenty of jobs that take place in dark, poorly illuminated areas where good visibility is essential. Maybe you need to fix a leaky pipe under your sink or crawl under your house to attach a dryer vent, or maybe you simply need to change the oil on your car. You could get by with a simple pen light, but having a good portable light is a major improvement.

The Makita Cordless LED Flashlight is powered by the company's 18V LXT Lithium-Ion battery system, so Makita tool collectors may already have a power source ready to go. It has a 160-lumen LED bulb that is attached to a 12-position pivoting head. This means that you can use the battery as a base to stand the flashlight upright and then position the beam toward whatever it is your working on, allowing you to keep both hands free. Makita claims that it's good for up to 13 hours of illumination with a 3.0Ah LXT battery and 23 hours with a 5.0Ah battery. The design is compact and has an aluminum head to increase its durability. It's still a bit pricey for a flashlight, but it's much more affordable than most Makita products.

Next up, we have the Makita 12V Max CXT Lithium-Ion Cordless Electric Portable Inflator. This is another one of those tools that you can go a long time without, but then once you have one, you find yourself using it all the time. You probably already know that they're good for topping up the air in your car tires when they get a little low, but they're great for a whole bunch of other stuff as well. You can use them to inflate sports balls, bicycle tires, pool floaties, air mattresses, and more.

The Makita inflator is a great tool to fill this role. It has a maximum PSI of 120, which should be plenty for most people, since the average car and truck tire only requires something between 28 and 36 PSI. It has a portable and ergonomic design, an auto-stop function that turns the pump off when you reach a pre-set PSI, and a 25 ½" hose that makes it easy to move the nozzle around without having to move the base station. The inflator is powered by Makita's 12V max CXT battery system.

You can use a hand wrench or a ratchet set to take apart and assemble all kinds of machinery, but nothing beats a torque wrench when it comes to speed and efficiency. A good impact wrench will allow you to break the lug nuts on a tire or open up an engine casing in no time flat.

One of the more affordable options in Makita's catalog is the 12V Max CXT Lithium-Ion Cordless 2/8" Square Drive Impact Wrench. This tool has 103 lb-ft max torque and 200 lb-ft of breakaway torque. To be clear, this is a far cry from being anywhere near as powerful as some of the company's more premium options. You might even struggle to break some of the nuts that you encounter in a standard automotive repair job. Even so, it's a decent starter tool for anyone who is tired of rotating all of their fasteners by hand. It has two variable speed settings. One goes 0-2,600 PRM and the other goes 0-3,200 RPM. It uses a ⅜" square drive that you can use to attach sockets. Its compact design also makes it handy for use in tight spaces.

Another good tool to have in any collection is a brad nailer. These are used to shoot thin, wire-like nails that sink the nailheads just beneath the surface of the wood. They're often used for attaching trim and molding to the walls and ceilings of houses. While they're great for this, that isn't the only purpose that they can serve. You can use brad nailers to put in flooring, hold together freshly glued surfaces, or to attach any non-structural pieces in a woodworking project.

Makita sells a few different varieties of brad nailer, but those looking for a sub-$100 option might want to check out the company's Pneumatic 18-Gauge 2" Brad Nailer. As the name suggests, this is an air-powered nail gun that can shoot 18-gauge nails that are between ⅝"-2" in length. This tool has a narrow nose for nailing items in narrow gaps, a built-in air duster that helps to keep your work surface free of dust and debris, a dial for easy depth adjustment, and an indicator that lets you know when it's time to reload.

To use the nailer, you will need an air compressor that can deliver 1.5 SCFM at 90 psi. Those have their own associated cost, but this is a solid addition if you already have one.

A handheld, cordless circular saw is an interesting little tool. The blades on these are small, so you probably shouldn't expect to be ripping 2x4s with them any time soon, but they're good for a lot of applications that require the cutting of thinner materials.

Makita's 3 ⅜" Cordless Circular Saw is a compact and lightweight tool that comes in at just 3.5 lbs. and has a tilting base that allows for beveled cuts. This gives the blade a cutting capacity that ranges from 1" at 90-degrees to ⅝" at 45-degrees. That isn't a ton of clearance, but it makes it just large enough to cut out sections of drywall to make repairs, to cut trim to fit the length of a wall, or even to cut sheets of plywood if you need to. This is a big part of the reason why, despite its small stature, user reviews rank this little tool as one of the best Makita circular saws out there.

Like the inflator and impact wrench, this tool operates on 12V Max CXT Lithium-Ion batteries. This powers a motor that delivers up to 1,500 RPM of cutting speed. It has an ergonomic handle, an attached blade wrench, and a battery protection circuit which protects the tool's motor in the event that it's overloaded, overheated, or discharging excess electricity.

There are few tools in a woodworkers shop that will get more use than a random orbital sander. The circular rotation of the sandpaper pads makes for smooth, even sanding that doesn't leave streak marks as easily as other power sanders.

The Makita 3 Amp 5" Corded Palm Grip Random Orbital Sander is the only non-battery-operated tool on our list. This isn't necessarily a negative, though. Sanding jobs often take hours to complete, and the even, long-lasting power flow of a corded tool is sometimes more convenient than the untethered nature of cordless ones. Its 3 Amp motor can produce oscillation speeds up to 12,000 OPM–the same speed as my DeWalt Sander, which has been a reliable part of my kit for years now.

The Makita sander also has a rubberized palm grip to help manage vibration and a built-in dust collection system. It uses a hook and loop system for attaching 5" sandpaper discs. All of this adds up to an affordable tool that can help smooth wood, metal, fiberglass, and several other materials very efficiently. So you'll almost certainly want this Makita tool for any DIY carpentry projects.