DIY Tool Questions
 

Heya. I've resisted buying a cordless drill* for a long time. Santa let me down, so I'm gonna give one to myself. During that long time, no drill, things have changed a bit (rimshot). There are different tools out there now, different features, and I have done a LOT of reading, but, they're all shills. Now youse guys, you're shills too, but you're *my* shills. I kid, I kid. Seriously. I'd like some advice, the firster handed the betterer.

Here are some of the things I've noticed. Please comment.

Brand?

Lithium-ion batteries versus Nickel-cadmium.

LED lights for illuminating the work area.

18volt vs 12volt vs 9.8 volt vs 28 volt (I kid you not).

Variable speed versus single or multiple fixed speeds

Different chuck designs, one handed, keyless, etc.

variable clutch, including drill setting.

* Here's another area of ignorance -- what kind of tool at all?

Drill

Driver/drill

Impact driver (these look very cool)

Screwdriver (powered, cordless)

Combo Kit

******

Ok, that's a good start. We'll worry about price later, I can justify buying quality.... once.... or at least infrequently. I will shop local so, that's a constraint on price for me. I look forward to your input!

Cordless drills ROCK!
Higher voltage means more torque-spinning strength to overcome resistance. 18V or nothing.
Variable speed a must.
Keyless chuck
Forget cordless screwdrivers - I've owned a couple and they were all worthless.
Dewalt or Makita would be my brand of choice.

i just got a DeWalt lithium, lighted, hammer awesome fuckign hand drill that i love.

only thing is that you have to buy special drill bits to fit the chuck.

http://www.blackanddecker.com//Produ...DCF885C2_1.jpg

it's small, powerful, and has a belt hanger thingy.

The most important thing IMHO is the shelf life of the batteries. If they sit on the shelf for a month and a half before you need them, you want them to still have a full charge. Nothing worse than having it die. After ten seconds of use.

I wish I could tell you what batteries you need.

Yeah, quality is deceptive. Every brand has certain trade offs and you decide what matters more to you. Dewalt are very reasonably priced for the features and work OK but the batteries DIe quickly and they fall apart rather quickly. The finish isn't all that great.

Makita tend to be a little more money, fewer bells and whistles and lighter weight/duty but last forever. I still have a makita drill from 1979. It's perfectly fine. I just killed the bearings on a Makita router from 1974.

Milwaukee is the industry standard for tradesmen and take an enormous amount of abuse and they tend to be a little pricier. Also Lowes and Home depot carry lighter duty versions of popular tools so be sure you are comparing apples to apples. (Note the amps on the motors)

Hitachi have some good stuff especially if you are into Transformers and Japanese cartoons. There stuff looks like it was designed for 8 year old boys. Some of their stuff is really crap. I tend to avoid Hitachi, myself.

Porter Cable makes some very good tools, I love my Panasonic stuff, Rigid also has some good tools.

You can really tell a lot by the feel of the tools and go into a tool repair shop and find out what they service the most frequently and don't buy that brand. joking, it may be that there are more of that brand in use but you can always ask them what think is well made. Finally, consider how much you are going to use it and for what.

But seriously, no cordless drill at all? WTF? The good news is you can get an impact driver!

yeah, ambient drain is a feature of NiMh, it seems to be a trade off for the memory problems that plagued NiCads. A NiCad didn't lose its charge on the shelf but would "remember" that it got recharged after only using 30% of its life and so would shorten its useful life to match.

NiMh will keep its full life regardless of the charging program.

I have two batteries and a quick charger. That seems to solve most issues. Used it building the deck a few years ago and the spare battery came in real handy.

Oh Yeah! I forgot about that 2nd battery and quick charger are essential.

My experience is that I use mine for about 20 or 30 seconds, and the battery is dead, so I throw it in the charger and grab the extra battery pack and use that for about 20 or 30 seconds until it dies. Then I get my corded drill and extension cord and do the entire job. I finish charging both battery packs before I put them away, and then two months later I repeat on the next project.

If I'm planning ahead, I charge both packs the night before. But that rarely happens.

I like the idea of cordless drills, but they haven't always worked out in practice for me.

What brand? How old are the batteries? They get like that when they've reached the end of their life.

well, you've got me there. The brand is Sears Craftsman. But the batteries are only around 3-4 years old.

Welllllll. If it's a Craftsman do they still have that awesome lifetime guarantee? Then bring them back. 3-4 years is not that old but it depends on the number of charging cycles they've had and if they are NiCads it could be a memory issue.

If you otherwise like the drill go to www.BatteryBarn.com and look up replacement batts. I've been very happy with the after market panasonic replacements. The only thing is you need to be sure that you order the correct kind of batts for your charger. You can't charge NIMh in a NiCad charger and vice versa. But your drill won't care. Get the greatest Milliamp hour rating they have.

Last I knew, that awesome guarantee only applied to hand tools like wrenches and such. And they do make good hand tools.

glatt is correct - the warranty is on hand tools ONLY. Nothing electrical or ???
You see all their tools are now made in China ... mumble grumble mumble

I will cast my vote for the Black and Decker 18v cordless drill. I have found that I don't really need an impact driver so I skipped that. I got two batteries, a charger, a set of drill bits, screwdriver bits (I use these all the time) and a carryin case (do NOT use) for one low price. Battery life is acceptable for nearly any project I take on. Big ones like fences and decks will require battery changes (make sure you have topped off the spare battery) but small projects will be completed with plenty of torque to spare. I haven't GOT any complaints about this drill. I replaced a Makita 9.6 volt drill with the B&D three years ago, The Makita batteries had reached the end of their life. They didn't have the longevity to do most tasks and one barely turned the chuck at all. It didn't have much torque at begin with and as time went on, less and less. I wanted more power (har!) and got it. I wasn't sorry. Eighteen volts will see you through any household project except BUILDING the house! More is a waste, IMO.

Pam

yeah, I bought a set of wrenches a few years ago and the chrome peeled off the handles right away.

Yep. that's the drill that nearly broke my arm. It is a torque-y SOB

All I can say is I have a DeWalt and it has forever been the favorite of all my tools. Although I'm about a 3 out of 10 on the handy scale, this thing ensures that I can build out goofy projects and crappy fixes, without too much hassle. I think it came as a kit 8 years ago, with two batteries included.

I love the carrying case mine came in. Same for my circular saw, jigsaw, palm sander ...
All tools MUST have cases.

I know a lot of tools who ARE cases...headcases, that is. [/Foghorn]

They have chargers that drain the battery all the way before it recharges, now.

All tools MUST have cases.

I see that you have never tryed to load a Tool box on a truck with all those fancy cases , they are a WASTE of space .

Not for the homeowner who primarily uses them at home.
I can see your point though, I guess.
To me its still safer, for the tools to have them in protective cases.

I have a Makita 18volt Li-ion Hammer Drill. This is awesome, was about $300 and came with the spare battery and 1 hour charger.

I've learned the hard way not to buy cheap bits though, those things will make you cry.

I also have a cheap GM cordless that I let the kids use and I use as a power screwdriver because I hate having wankers cramp from using a screwdriver all day.

I pack all my power tools in suitcases or the original case (if it came in one), but jigsaw, sander etc are all in small suitcases with their relative attachments and accessories.

Off topic, I store our fold up BBQ in a large suitcase too. Contains the grease, keeps the effing bees and bugs away.

*cough*homeowner*cough* :thumb:

Nothing specific, but a general rule I have learned is don't skimp by buying cheap tools. Pay once, use many times, worth it.

I bought a drill a while back, but because I only expect to use it a couple of times a year I got a cord drill, precisely because of the issue with batteries draining while in storage, and needing to charge them before beginning the job. If you'll be using it every couple of weeks, a cordless - with the second battery - is definitely worth it.

:lol: You're awesome, Ducks, but how do you know what wanker's cramp is like? :D

I picked up a Dewalt drill with a sawzall on sale a couple years ago. Really good and really handy. I burned out a lower voltage Makita building the house but that drill had countless hours on it after it replaced a Porter Cable which still sorta worked after falling 1 1/2 stories to a concrete floor. The Makita had excellent balance and the Porter Cable felt pretty clumsy. The Dewalt feels like a good balance of power and comfort.

Well, I had a boyfriend for a lot of years who used to take...... look I just know OK :p:

I've had a DeWalt going on 13 years now. Two batteries, one is always in the charger, never had a noticeable problem with battery life. I think we may have snapped a few bits over the years, it's hard to remember. But overall it gets the job(s) done very well.

I spent a lot of time reading your comments, THANK YOU!

After much consideration, I chose the Milwaukee brand. I went with the cordless versions and the 12 volt versions instead of the 18 volt versions.

Here's what my harem looks like at this time.

Attachment 44468

TOP ROW:

hammer drill, palm nailer, impact driver

BOTTOM ROW:

hackzall and right angle drill.

I also have four batteries and two chargers. A couple of the tools came as kits which meant that I got an extra battery and a charger and a case. The cases are a bust for me but I make good use of the second charger (it lives at Twil's place) and I practically always have a battery with a sufficient charge at hand.

The suggestion by footfootfoot that Milwaukee was the tradesman's choice was validated by my own observations. I saw a lot of DeWalts too. I compared the two directly for my first tool which was the impact driver and Milwaukee won the battle and by extension the war.

Dude, you were right, impact drivers are the fucking shiznit.

I watched, then experienced this tool just make a four inch deck screw just *melt* into the lumber. brtbrtbrtbrtbrtbrtbrt! Done. Like a magic trick. It's my new favorite tool, this 1/4" hex impact driver. I can't remember what the project du jour was when I opened this thread, but I can tell you if it needed threaded fasteners, it got done. It has a light, because my eyes aren't sixteen years old anymore (side note, DeWalt has a much better lighting system, three leds in a ring plus diffusers so there are no shadows. Milwaukee has ONE led directly under the drill bit, so, you're guaranteed to be working in shadow at the point where the tool touches the workpiece. Srsly? Come on. The hammer drill is a little better with a diffuser on the light, but just a little.) That minor annoyance is overshadowed by the balance, power, light weight/maneuverability, battery level indicator, chuck system, reputation, etc. I went with the Milwaukee, and I haven't looked back.

The next tool I got was the Hackzall. Wow, what a demolition monster. I already had a good selection of blades, but I found I could get a pruning blade as well, it looks like the blade on a bow saw. That made my life much easier as I could one hand branches the size of my forearm (while hanging on with my other hand, eh?). It has a variable speed trigger, the blade can be inserted teeth up or teeth down. It uses the same batteries, has the same small size/adequate power as my impact driver. It's kind of ugly, like a hammer head shark, it's not obvious where the bite is, but once you use it, you'll be looking for things to cut.

I got the hammer drill next because I did have lots of drill bits already and lots of bits aren't available in a 1/4" hex shaft for my impact driver. It's sweet, with the same balance and features of the rest of the line. I haven't had cause to utilize the hammering function yet, but it's there if I need it. Meanwhile, its drill function is completely acceptable. It is an adequate driver as well, on low speed and easing the trigger.

Next came the palm nailer. This is a pretty specialized too, let's face it, the hammer has had an extremely long development and refinement period. How much more can it be improved? Well, let me tell ya. For confined spaces, like between floor joists where there isn't room to get a hammer up to takeoff speed, this is *the* tool to have. I actually got it for a different one handed awkward application. It's a cool tool, and of course it works on other not constrained space applications too.

Then came the baby of the family, the right angle drill. Like any other right angle drill, but cordless and smaller size AND WEIGHT, optimal characteristics for overhead work. I drilled lots of 3/4" holes in my joists for the recent bathroom debacle. This tool made that possible.

Whenever someone would come into the pawn shop with a reciprocating saw, I would say "remember when we had to move our arms back and forth to saw stuff?" It always got a small chuckle.

Oh yes and a brand not mentioned in this thread is Hilti and that's because only pros use them and they cost huge dollars. They have neat stuff like powder-actuated tools. Where you fire the fastener into something, as if it was a bullet.

They are bullets, I've seen the damn things go into soft concrete, hit a rock, and come back out next to the shield. Good job for a very skinny dude. :eek:

I don't have any fastening jobs that call for powder actuated fasteners or anchors. They look "hold my beer and watch this" cool though.

It's the only way to fasten to concrete or heavy metal. Drill and anchor is for wussies. :p:

I own a manual Hilti tool. You stick the charge in, then the bullet and hammer it "BANG" - shooting the footers for the basement was a lot of fun.


W0W - I just spent 10 minutes looking for an image of mine and couldn't find it on google. WTH?

Yeah, I've got one also. Not nearly as much fun as the larger caliber guns though. :D

I came across this old-time tool chest picture on the net. I think some here will appreciate it.

Beautiful! That beats a 5 gallon plastic bucket for carrying tools.

Some of those tools look pretty worn, and some look like they have never been used. Why would you need 4 mortising gauges? 2 is more convenient than one, but seems to me that if you have 4, you'll just get confused about which one has the correct measurement locked in, and your rover won't make it to Mars when you accidentally use the wrong one.

That's a very spendy item.
But where you plug in the extension cord ?

Actually, that would drive me nuts.
Everything has it's own place and there's a special place for everything.
I just put everything on the top of my bench, and then I know where everything is.

I do like the added touch of the Free Mason's square and compass.

Yeah. If I had a toolbox system, I'd want two or three toolboxes that were not packed so tightly so that you don't have to remove any upper tools to get to the lower tools. Much easier to spend 1 minute pulling out a few toolboxes than to carefully be extracting the tool you need and putting it back in its proper spot in this single box.

Look at that combination square. I use mine all the time. It's right on top here, but still, to use it, you have to unclip the two clips, pull it out, loosen and remove the optional 45 degree angle bracket that's on the ruler part, loosen the regular 90 degree angle bracket and slide the ruler into place and tighten it. Then when you are done with this one, you have to do all those steps in reverse. I just leave mine already set up, loose in my tool box. Grab it and use it. Actually, it's usually just sitting right on my bench.

Still, I'd love to have all those tools. I have 2/3 of them already, but more is always good.

I have a poster of that tool chest over my desk.

They give the dimensions of the box, which is cool, but I want to know how much it weighs. Can one man lift it?

Master carpenter and stone mason, not desk jockey.

Ha! Nice one Bruce. Gorgeous setup, but I'm not OCD enough for something like that.

Life was hard, my grandmother could do shit in her 60's that would put me, and most of us, to shame in our 30's. They did it because they had to, hoist that 100wt or make two trips with 50wt. Your choice, but either way you're moving that 100wt of spuds...


... in 3 ft of snow, uphill, both ways. :lol2:

Funny that the guy's name was Studley.

I was thinking he probably had to travel with it. He went to jobsites, not the other way around.

Wiki say wall hanger.

Awesome piece of history. I'm constantly amazed at the creativity from back then.
I'd kill to have one of those.

My first wife's grandfather, who lived in Newburyport, MA, was a fisherman, but he fucked up his arm in a fishing accident and had to quit. So instead he built the ubiquitous New England double ended dories, 18 to 20 foot long, and stout wood construction. Then when he'd finished six or eight(depending on the time of year), he'd tie them end to end and row them about 15 miles down the coast to Gloucester to sell. Rowing in the ocean with tides, weather, and always the wind, is bad enough with one boat.

These people were tough, and didn't suffer fools or crooked politicians lightly.

I showed that toolbox to Lil' Pete this morning, she sat fascinated for like 20 minutes describing aspects of it. That is right in her ocd wheelhouse.

Griff, she can download the wallpaper here. :haha:

Nice.

"Yeah, my arm's all fucked up and I can't fish any more so I'll just build a bunch of dories and ROW THEM WITH MY ONE GOOD ARM 15 MILES down to Gloucester."

They don't build them like that any more.

We could use a squirrel in the bikes thread.

Yeah, he's been to SF and saw that thread. I'm not sure what he can add, he had to google CVT. Funny, when he was a teenager he and his friend would talk for hours about an imaginary bike company and all the technology they had, the CVT (not named that) was one of the things they had invented among self-healing tires. All this has come to pass. That SN was a visionary.

My .02 I'll add to the bike thread.

That Studley chest is pornalicious, no doubt.

Yeah, I'd wreck that.