4 Makita Tools You Can Buy For Under $100

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

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 some 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.

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.

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.