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| This topic is available here on The Repair-Place forum | Do the pros really use cordless tools?
What's the best brand?
Where can I get them?
How long do the batteries last? | |
| YES!! I use cordless tools mostly for drilling and some cutting. Drilling is OK if you don't ned a lot of larger holes to drill, or if you are putting in lots of smaller screws (not the big 3" drywall screws into wood!). You don't need to get out an extension cord just grab the drill box and go! I do use corded drills to do the tougher work as well as getting into a real small space with a small right angle drill, but for general work cordless is the way to go!
As far as brands go there seem to be a lot out there now, such as Dewalt, Makita, Hilti, Ryobi, Craftsman, Ridgid etc. Try to go with the 18 volt as this gives the most power as well as longer lasting batteries. Although sometimes the size of the 18 volt is way to cumbersome so I alos have a couple of 12 volt drills too. I install a lot of cabinets so I set one drill with the driver and one with the drill bit so I don't have to switch back and forth all the time.
I would go to the big box stores like Home depot or Lowes or Sears to check on the prices / styles. They have a good supply of all the different brands so you can hold them and check them out too!
Batteries only last 1-2 years at best. After that your on borrowed time, so be prepared to replace them. What I find weird is the drill with two batteries, a flashlight, a rapid charger and a case costs like $150.00. To replace the two batteries costs $120.00! Once they got ya.... Nickle metel Hydride batteries are a little more expensive but don't have the memory like Nicad batteries do. The Nicad batteries need to be almost fully drained before charging or else they get a shorter life memory, but the NMH batteries can be charced any time with no memory effect.
Good Luck
TheGuru | | I AM A KITCHEN DESIGNER AND MY 2 INSTALLERS USE DEWALTS CORDLESS DRILLS. THEY EACH HAVE 2 DRILLS WITH 2 BATTERIES FOR EACH...NOW GRANTED THEY ARE DOING A LOT OF DRILLING, BUT THEY HAVE FOUND THAT THE CORDLESS IS REALLY THE WAY TO GO..GET TO HARD AREAS ETC...MY ONE INSTALLER ACTUALLY SOLD HIS CORDED DRILL TO MY HUSBAND BECAUSE HE SAID HE HASN'T USED IT FOR 3 YRS...... | I LOVE cordless power tools!!!
The other night, my two boys were fighting and arguing and slamming their bedrooms doors so badly, instead of yelling at them, which wouldn't have been heard anyway, I grabbed my jobmate (drill, screwdriver, power shears even) and went up and removed the boys bedroom doors. Not a word. they both stared at me with their mouths wide open, but it put an end to slamming the doors. Zoom zoom, gone. LOL |  Talk about great parenting... That's really creative! | I AM PROUD OF YOU....WE DID THAT TO OUR TEENAGE DAUGHTERS DOOR...SHE LOVED(PAST TENSE) TO SLAM THE DOOR ON US...NO MORE!!!!!  |
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