Cordless Power Tool Vacuum Cleaner Starter - Details

Using Non-Makita Power Tools

In principle there's nothing stopping you using the internals of this design with other brands of power tools. The microcontroller software and the other electronics would not need to change at all (except for the possibility of needing to tweak the current thresholds, although I doubt this will be required). The only things that would need to be redesigned are the 3D-printed components.

If you'd like to have a go at designing for another brand of power tool, do get in touch and I'll help in whatever way I can. I'll also add links for the STEP & STL files for your design to this page if you want me to.

Be careful to make sure that your design transfers all of the required battery connections to the tool, not just the positive and negative battery terminals. On the Makita tools, there's a third connection that allows the tool to monitor the temperature in the battery: without this there's a risk of the battery overheating. There may be similar requirements in other power tool brands.

A simpler (but much more bulky and less-attractive!) option would be to buy a couple of battery adaptors (e.g. an adaptor to use Bosch batteries on Makita power tools and one to use Makita batteries on Bosch power tools). You could then stack them all up in a long chain (assuming it all fits on your chosen tool). It would be ugly, but it would probably work. However, if you've got the 3D printer required to print the parts for the Makita version, why not have a go at designing and making parts for your own power tool brand?

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