Useless Conversation

[ghost]

Sometimes I lay awake at night, dreaming of a time when I can own a tool for every job. I would have one of those pegboards with little shapes drawn on them so I knew just where to hang everything, and drawers that have that nifty soft close feature everyone is raving about. I would also put in fuscia shag carpeting and disco lights that pulse to the music. When I had to work on a project, I could put in my 8-track of Tragedy by the Bee Gees and really get some work done. Then, having every tool for the correct application, I would use my hot glue gun to bedazzle whatever project I happened to be working on with attractive matching gewgaws that would definitely add what the kids call bling.

Anyway, I only own one power tool, so it's got to do multiple duties. Actually, I guess I own two now, if you count the Montgomery Ward vintage 80s circular saw, but I'm pretty sure I'll end up just using it as an unwieldy and ineffective hand saw, as it probably cost $3 and was meant to last eight to ten days before catching fire.

Getting tools for every job can be expensive, for sure.  Still, trying to hire some of that shit out is worse.  When I did the wood floors in our old house it was going to cost an absurd amount in labor, so I just bought a table saw and a few other tools and saved myself a ton of cash.  Then when you do future stuff you don't have that tool output to worry about so it gets even cheaper.

Edit:  And this doesn't even factor in the bullshit of trying to get someone to actually show up and do contracted jobs.  It is almost impossible to get people to show up and do things around the house in a quality fashion.   

[Merusk]

I'm a heretic and hate cordless items.  The only cordless stuff I own are the 14v drill/ flashlight/ sawzall/ small rip saw pack my dad bought me from Harbor Freight.  I've always noticed the difference in power between my cordless drill and the corded ones and hated it.   I see their usefulness in places but if I have the option, it's going to have a cord.

For putting things together with screws, a cordless drill is a godsend (if only because you won't find a decent corded drill with a clutch on it). I rarely if ever will use a cordless drill for any serious drilling, but to drill small holes quickly or putting screws into something the cordless is definitely the way to go.  Other than that and the occasional use I have found for a cordless sawzall (usually when I am up in a manlift where cords become both a hassle and a possible safety issue) I will always use a corded tool first.

If I ever find a need to have a hammer drill, I will just bite the bullet and buy a decent rotary hammer. Even if the bits cost 20 bucks a piece, using a rotary hammer versus a hammer drill is so much better.

I just use a screwdriver.  If I have a lot of screws I throw a chuck and a head in the drill and get to work.  Now the caveat to this is the only stuff I'm working on is household electronics or big home projects.  I'm also practiced at only pulling the trigger 'just enough' to get torque without stripping my screw head or driver bit if it's difficult.  However, they're home projects so time isn't usually a factor and this method does take more time than just slapping it in a clutched drive and using the right setting.  If it were a matter of time with a large number to drive I might entertain the idea of buying One of these  See, it has a cord.

However, thinking about it on the elliptical this morning, I decided that if I were a professional I'd see the appeal of cordless.  You don't have to spend a half hour or more having someone wind up cords every day to clean up before you leave.  You also avoid things like the idiot framer's apprentice I saw once.  He was yanking hard on a cord to get some slack and didn't look at what had snagged it; the ladder base his boss was up 6' on.

Getting tools for every job can be expensive, for sure.  Still, trying to hire some of that shit out is worse.  When I did the wood floors in our old house it was going to cost an absurd amount in labor, so I just bought a table saw and a few other tools and saved myself a ton of cash.  Then when you do future stuff you don't have that tool output to worry about so it gets even cheaper.

Cue incoming snark about "it's only cheaper if you don't value your time."   

[Sky]

Cheaper is all relative as to whether you have any money whatsoever.

[ghost]

Cheaper is all relative as to whether you have any money whatsoever.

Very true.  Hey, at least you have a shop vac, right?

[Sky]

Two!

[rattran]

Madness, 2 shop vacs and no way to generate enough sawdust to employ them!

[Yegolev]

Try to strike a balance by labeling tools more generically.  I often use a thin pointy tool for screws, scraping surfaces and also for splitting things.  I have a small collection of thin pointy tools for these tasks.  I only have one thin hand-powered cutter and since it's a good one I am fine with this.  I have two powered rotating cutters and sometimes I don't know which one to use!  I also have determined that I have way too many tools to hit things with; some of these also work great on turning nuts.

[ghost]

I have way too many tools to hit things with; some of these also work great on turning nuts.

This doesn't sound like a good thing.   

[Yegolev]

 

[Salamok]

I'm a heretic and hate cordless items.  The only cordless stuff I own are the 14v drill/ flashlight/ sawzall/ small rip saw pack my dad bought me from Harbor Freight.  I've always noticed the difference in power between my cordless drill and the corded ones and hated it.   I see their usefulness in places but if I have the option, it's going to have a cord.

I agree 100%.  With a cord you never have to worry about it not working unless it is broken. 

Or unless someone uses a cheap ass 100' extension cord and fries your shit. 

Other than weight and the aforementioned crappy skill saw issue I have yet to run across a scenario where I thought to myself "sure wish I had the extra power a corded tool would give me" on the flip side when using corded tools I always think "can some one get this mother effin cord out of my way".  I'm not in any sort of trade where I use my tools daily but I do use them a ton.  Maybe always having a fresh battery or 3 on hand offsets some of the drawbacks.  I try and restrict the cords to workbench type tools (miter saw, tile saw, router).

[ghost]

I'm not in any sort of trade where I use my tools daily but I do use them a ton.  Maybe always having a fresh battery or 3 on hand offsets some of the drawbacks.  I try and restrict the cords to workbench type tools (miter saw, tile saw, router).

I think this makes a bit of a difference.  I use mine in short bursts of heavy activity with long periods of inactivity in between.  Inevitably the battery is dead (and sometimes completely fried) when I go in and try to use my stuff. 

[Yegolev]

The battery on the tool is always dead, but keeping one on the charger makes this better.

[ghost]

The battery on the tool is always dead, but keeping one on the charger makes this better.

Actually, if you leave it on the charger for extended periods of time it will fry your battery.  Try it for a few months and see what happens.  

Edit:  And really, you shouldn't even leave them on for much longer than a full charge. 

[Yegolev]

Not saying you're wrong, but I have left a battery on the DeWalt charger I am looking at right now for months at a stretch for literally years.  It works fine, although I would like the battery life to be a bit longer.  I agree this is likely a symptom of my mistreatment of the battery.  If I do end up getting one of the newer tech cordless things, I might be more prudent about it.

[ghost]

I would advise it, speaking from experience.  I've fried two myself.  Those batteries aren't cheap. You're almost better off paying for a new tool at that point.  And don't get me wrong.  I have lots of cordless stuff.  I just find it cumbersome at times.  Either it's not charged or the battery wears out when I'm up the fucking ladder in a contorted position.  Plus I'm a curmudgeon, which lends me toward corded stuff. 

[Merusk]

I think the word you were looking for was "luddite."

[ghost]

I think the word you were looking for was "luddite."

Don't bring those wide framed, automated looms into my town, bitch. 

[Salamok]

The dewalt xrp chargers have some battery maintenance features built in, supposed to be dine to leave charging all the time.  For 2 years now I have been continuously charging mine and they are fine.

[ghost]

The dewalt xrp chargers have some battery maintenance features built in, supposed to be dine to leave charging all the time.  For 2 years now I have been continuously charging mine and they are fine.

Hmm.  One of the one's I've fried was a Dewalt.  I need to check into that.  Maybe I can claim a warranty issue. 

[Polysorbate80]

Madness, 2 shop vacs and no way to generate enough sawdust to employ them!

This time of year I use mine mostly for cleaning out the fireplace, and he does have a wood stove 

[Abagadro]

For very specialized tools the big box hardware places (Home Depot, Lowes) have daily rentals for not a ton of money. I had to drill through some masonry and went at it with a regular 12v drill and after 45 minutes had gone about half an inch. Went and rented an impact drill and went through 6 inches of foundation in about 30 seconds.

[Nerf]

I just ordered a Hitachi DV18DL hammer drill right before reading all the tool shit in this thread.
Lifetime warranty on the tool, and either a 2 or 10 year warranty on the batteries.  18v, 3.0Ah, 570in/lb of torque.

I had originally ordered a DS18 (non-hammerdrill model) and starting kicking myself when I cracked open the manual - it's the same goddamned drill, but the hammer model has a 'hammer drill' setting as well.  1-22 on the clutch and drill mode are all hammerless.

Actually ended up being cheaper thanks to Sears' completely incompetent customer service.  Paid $232 shipped for the DS18DL, DV18DL will be $220 or less, they still haven't sent a correct invoice.  Riveting tale of outstanding customer service below.
 http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00923019000P?prdNo=4&blockNo=4&blockType=  
Only coupon that works is 'SEARS5OFF50', bringing you to $226.48 before tax and shipping, no store pickup available.  If you sign up for their bullshit auto-renew scam thing ShipVantage you can get it overnighted for $4, and apparently they received so many complaints on not canceling when people asked that they are actually cancelling it now and not charging people $79 for a years subscription after they cancel to avoid chargebacks.

Edit:
Drill ratings by specs page:
Cordless - http://www.cordless-drill-reviews.com/18v-cordless-drill.html
Hammer - http://www.cordless-drill-reviews.com/hammer-drill.html

Hammer drill got knocked down a bit on the list due to the hammer rate being 21k BPM vs. 27k BPM, but it's still got more torque, battery life, and less weight than the others.  Plus, it's the only one I could find with a lifetime tool warranty, Makita is like 2 years.

[rattran]

So can we look forward to a thread about Nerf vs Sears soon?

[Oban]

Ah, that's no fair.

The thread that shall not be named containing things that I guess should never be spoken about again is no longer here.

[Ironwood]

Wut ?

[Oban]

[Chimpy]

The dewalt xrp chargers have some battery maintenance features built in, supposed to be dine to leave charging all the time.  For 2 years now I have been continuously charging mine and they are fine.

Actually, most brands have circuitry in their chargers that keeps the battery properly charged but won't make them cook. In some cases, the manufacturer actually recomends that you leave the battery on the charger when not in use.

Even the original 18v NiCad DeWalt chargers were like this.

[Yegolev]

One of my tool labels is "won't trip on it" and corded items fall in there.  I used a corded drill motor for installing my mini hot water tank under the sink, for example.  I had to obtain a "change torque direction 90 degrees" tool first, though.

Maybe we need a Tool Thread, but it might attract the wrong sort of tool.  I could be convinced to post about toilet and faucet repair, the awesomeness of PEX, lightbulb-changing tools, and assorted.

[Polysorbate80]

When my cordless drill died a few years back, i picked up a shitty little corded no-frills Black & Decker model for $30 as an "emergency replacement", thinking I'd just eat the cost and buy a real drill when I could get to a store that sold one.

I've been using that piece of shit for years now with no real complaints.  Don't mind the cord at all, in fact I rather prefer the corded stuff 90% of the time.  Sure, it sucks when there's no power available or convenient, but that's seldom a case for me.

[Cyrrex]

You people need to go get yourselves a Tools Are Awesome thread.

[ghost]

You people need to go get yourselves a Tools Are Awesome thread.

It's a welcome change from discussing the best format for recording dates.

[NowhereMan]

Says you.

In recent news my arms pretty much decided to rebel yesterday after doing a set of squats. I believe it's related to playing Octopush, which for some reason caused my arms to hurt (and leg cramps and other joys) and they decided to show me who was boss by turning really, really sore and refusing to grip things. I decided lifting a barbell over my head at that stage would be counter productive to becoming more healthy and went home but as someone who never really bothered with this exercise malarkey before it seems weird how your body can react to it. Am going to the gym friday and stretching a lot until then, will see if the situation improves, should be fine seeing as my arms were more or less back to normal an hour or so after getting home.

[Cyrrex]

In recent news my arms pretty much decided to rebel yesterday after doing a set of squats. I believe it's related to playing Octopush, which for some reason caused my arms to hurt (and leg cramps and other joys) and they decided to show me who was boss by turning really, really sore and refusing to grip things. I decided lifting a barbell over my head at that stage would be counter productive to becoming more healthy and went home but as someone who never really bothered with this exercise malarkey before it seems weird how your body can react to it. Am going to the gym friday and stretching a lot until then, will see if the situation improves, should be fine seeing as my arms were more or less back to normal an hour or so after getting home.

I take it you aren't doing ordinary back squats (which you should be...other forms are a waste of time, assuming you have access to a rack).  Or rather, if you are, you are very definitely doing something wrong - no way your arms should be getting any stress.  Are you doing the ones (forget what they're called) where you press the bar overhead and then squat?

[Ironwood]

You people need to go get yourselves a Tools Are Awesome thread.

It's a welcome change from discussing the best format for recording dates.

Hey, fuck you.  It's a legitimate gripe and this thread is 365 pages long :  You think of something new !!!

[ghost]

Hey, fuck you.  It's a legitimate gripe and this thread is 365 pages long :  You think of something new !!!