On a Tight Budget? Consider Corded Tools.

[Bert_]

I have a cordless drill and 1/4 impact at home. I have zero desire for anything else cordless. I like the 1/4 impact for screws and would have a hard time giving it up. I would be ok with just a corded drill though.

I've got a lot of cordless stuff in the service truck but honestly even some of that feels unnecessary.

 

[Bert_]

BTW, anyone use a corded work light or flashlight for anything in the last 20 or 25 years?

Yesterday. I've always called it a trouble light and I use mine often enough that it usually stays plugged in.

 

[zendriver]

If I couldn't afford cordless power tools, I'd get a second job.

Something to be said about grab-and-go power tools not having to **** with a cord. I do have plenty of corded as well.

 

[dnschmidt]

I watch Rural Renovators channel on YouTube and Kyle and his helper Greg build entire structures (and I mean BIG structures) almost exclusively with cordless tools. The only exception I've seen is that he has some monster air nailers that need a compressor which obviously he needs to plug in. If you can build what he refers to as a Barndaminium exclusively with cordless I think that answers all questions.

 

[Bert_]

If I couldn't afford cordless power tools, I'd get a second job.

Something to be said about grab-and-go power tools not having to **** with a cord. I do have plenty of corded as well.

Why is a cord so bad? I get way more frustrated when a battery goes dead.
I could run out and buy them all if I felt the need. Wouldn't be any financial hardship. I just don't feel any need to.

 

[Ton ton]

Some of the industrial grade corded drills are more expensive than cordless @ the industrial supply house unfortunately.

 

[metaldad]

went with 1 color for cordless, dumped all the other colors.
gas blower died.
went and bought a red cordless blower
have a bunch of batteries.
yesterday went thru 13 batteries, gathering leaves.
i now have a gas one on order.
not a fan of cordless.
its a 'necessary' evil.
i definitely have way more corded tools than cordless.
and 12/3 cords aren't an issue.
i must have 1500' in the shed

 

[KnurledNut]

Yes sir. When we were without power for 8 days my milwaukee tools were invaluable. My flood lights, power supplies for charging phones, m18 chainsaw for cutting downed trees, and all the other tools. Could charge batteries when we ran the generator.

Storm went through and knocked out power, internet and telephone town-wide. Several trees down, including one that fell on a friends house and damaged his metal roof and siding. I removed the tree and did the repair before another round of heavy rain and storms arrived. Cordless FTW.

 

[Greeny]

BTW, anyone use a corded work light or flashlight for anything in the last 20 or 25 years?

Funny, I just dusted off an old trouble light and stuck it in an insulated cooler with 5 gallons of honey that needed warmed up before bottling. Haven't used that thing in 5 years or more.

 

[Half-fast eddie]

With all due respect, you’re comparing a bottom of the line 3/8” corded drill with their top of the line 20V 1/2” cordless drill with batteries.

True. However ... on the last item … you really need batteries with cordless tools.
Seriously … most “new” buyers are going to be on a budget. The corded drill will suit them nicely. People who can afford a corded drill are going to buy the best they can.

 

[whateg01]

...
yesterday went thru 13 batteries, gathering leaves.
...

I wouldn't buy battery powered everything, just the things that make sense to do so.

 

[dchawk81]

If I couldn't afford cordless power tools, I'd get a second job.

Something to be said about grab-and-go power tools not having to **** with a cord. I do have plenty of corded as well.

Agreed. Not unheard of for me to have several power tools laying around on the truck and valve cover and whatnot when working. If they were all corded it would be....a hassle. Same goes for pneumatics. I have them as well as corded tools but prefer to not have those cables and hoses.

My work lights are also magnetic and run on batteries so I can put them pretty much anywhere.

 

[dchawk81]

went with 1 color for cordless, dumped all the other colors.
gas blower died.
went and bought a red cordless blower
have a bunch of batteries.
yesterday went thru 13 batteries, gathering leaves.
i now have a gas one on order.
not a fan of cordless.
its a 'necessary' evil.
i definitely have way more corded tools than cordless.
and 12/3 cords aren't an issue.
i must have 1500' in the shed

13 batteries to gather leaves is not something I'd do. Lol. That's why I have the gas zero turn with a bagger. Glorified vacuum in the fall.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

I still use a lot of corded fabrication tools, and admittedly I was a late adopter to battery powered tools, but the current breed of cordless tools and batteries is excellent. It's nice being able to grab some tools and batteries and throw them in a bag and take them with you to a place where you don't have power, or running power is inefficient.

My favorite habit of owning cordless tools is every time I hit the road I grab an impact and an inflator and throw them in the truck. My impact has changed a stupid number of tires on the side of the road which is a huge time saver.

 

[PoorUB]

I consider time working at home as premium time, I have so little of it, anything that helps is worth it. I hate the thought of dragging out cords and a compressor and than putting it all away.

Really, a time thing? I run mostly corded and after a day of working on the house it doesn't take 5 minutes to wrap the cords nicely.

 

[johninct]

BTW, anyone use a corded work light or flashlight for anything in the last 20 or 25 years?

I use my Snap-On florescent one for big jobs. I leave it on all day.

 

[PoorUB]

I have a cordless drill and a cordless drover, everything else is corded. Three routers, six other drills of various sizes, two circular saws, miter saw, hotdog air compressor, jig saw, multi tool, sawzall, and more.

One big reason I go corded is I might use a tool a lot for a period of time, then not so much for a few years so the batteries might just sit. Also I like different branded tools for different features, a tool in one brand might work better than a similar tool in another brand. If I went corded I know I would have 3 or 4 differnt batteries. I really don't want to deal with an assortment of brands of batteries.

 

[PoorUB]

BTW, anyone use a corded work light or flashlight for anything in the last 20 or 25 years?

Yep, I have an LED light on a cord reel in the shop. I have a rechargable LED, but that damned thing is always dead when I need it!

 

[Renegade1LI]

Really, a time thing? I run mostly corded and after a day of working on the house it doesn't take 5 minutes to wrap the cords nicely.

Between work and taking care of a few properties time matters. My van is set up to work out of, open the doors and go. I keep batteries on chargers ready, no need to drag out a compressor. No cords to unroll, power to look for, even have an inverter in the truck for charging. Y I consider my time off as premium time and need to maximize efficiency.
If your retired or have more free time that's great, but I've set up my business to walk the line between production and perfection. Time is the only thing you can't get back, I really try to make good use of it.

 

[PoorUB]

Between work and taking care of a few properties time matters. My van is set up to work out of, open the doors and go. I keep batteries on chargers ready, no need to drag out a compressor. No cords to unroll, power to look for, even have an inverter in the truck for charging. Y I consider my time off as premium time and need to maximize efficiency.
If your retired or have more free time that's great, but I've set up my business to walk the line between production and perfection. Time is the only thing you can't get back, I really try to make good use of it.

You are not in a homeowner situation either. If I were a contractor and using my tools daily then everything within reason would be cordless, but for the weekend warrior corded is fine.

 

[lardy1]

Excellent case to be made for both but I'll stay out. I smell bait (again).

 

[Half-fast eddie]

I have a cordless drill and a cordless drover,

That must be one of those vintage North Dakota tools i have never seen …
:}

 

[Boogerman]

Why is a cord so bad? I get way more frustrated when a battery goes dead.
I could run out and buy them all if I felt the need. Wouldn't be any financial hardship. I just don't feel any need to.

Homeowner or one man shop; no problem. Commercial job, cords problematic. Everything GFI. Intact grounds on all cords. No insulation damage. Otherwise, subject OSHA fines. Workers continuously bypass GFCI, cut off grounds, damage cords. Old days, buy good cords, subs steal them; leave **** cords instead. Now workers and subs steal/trade weak batteries.

I set up spiderbox on job site to provide GFCI multiple outlet source. Multiple if large building with separate work areas. My work, have heavy 12 ga cords. Find subs use cords a lot still to put power to their work area, especially work lights; but most individual workers use own cordless small tools. Supplement with corded as needed, and lots battery chargers plugged spider boxes.

Professionals not as frustrated dead batteries; have 3 to 5 per tool and keep on chargers all times on job. Part time shop or homeowner, have to develop routine or batteries always dead.

 

[Renegade1LI]

Homeowner or one man shop; no problem. Commercial job, cords problematic. Everything GFI. Intact grounds on all cords. No insulation damage. Otherwise, subject OSHA fines. Workers continuously bypass GFCI, cut off grounds, damage cords. Old days, buy good cords, subs steal them; leave **** cords instead. Now workers and subs steal/trade weak batteries.

I set up spiderbox on job site to provide GFCI multiple outlet source. Multiple if large building with separate work areas. My work, have heavy 12 ga cords. Find subs use cords a lot still to put power to their work area, especially work lights; but most individual workers use own cordless small tools. Supplement with corded as needed, and lots battery chargers plugged spider boxes.

Professionals not as frustrated dead batteries; have 3 to 5 per tool and keep on chargers all times on job. Part time shop or homeowner, have to develop routine or batteries always dead.

I have made up my own temp panels & use all gfci breakers, has really cut down the gfi/safety problems. I really perfer the breakers as it cuts out human forgetfullness.

 

[Garcky]

Homeowner or one man shop; no problem. Commercial job, cords problematic. Everything GFI. Intact grounds on all cords. No insulation damage. Otherwise, subject OSHA fines. Workers continuously bypass GFCI, cut off grounds, damage cords. Old days, buy good cords, subs steal them; leave **** cords instead. Now workers and subs steal/trade weak batteries.

I set up spiderbox on job site to provide GFCI multiple outlet source. Multiple if large building with separate work areas. My work, have heavy 12 ga cords. Find subs use cords a lot still to put power to their work area, especially work lights; but most individual workers use own cordless small tools. Supplement with corded as needed, and lots battery chargers plugged spider boxes.

Professionals not as frustrated dead batteries; have 3 to 5 per tool and keep on chargers all times on job. Part time shop or homeowner, have to develop routine or batteries always dead.

Good points. Guys at home often don't use a particular tool often. When they pick it up, the battery's dead, because they just put it down last time they used it. I know I've done that myself.

 

[subroc]

Anyone ever swept a bench top with a cord or for that matter an air line and knocked the work material onto the floor and damaged it or maybe a box of fasteners or screws scattered in every direction when being swept off a bench by a cord and onto the floor?

 

[PoorUB]

Anyone ever swept a bench top with a cord or for that matter an air line and knocked the work material onto the floor and damaged it or maybe a box of fasteners or screws scattered in every direction when being swept off a bench by a cord and onto the floor?

I learn fast! One 100ft, 12 gauge cord I have I bought 40 years ago and it would still pass OSHA, it is still in great shape. I take care of my tools. Don't set your screws where the get knocked over! I don't plug in corded tools or air hoses right over my work bench. I will plug them in off to the side. I have three cord reels in my shop to handle the smaller stuff.

 

[Boogerman]

I have made up my own temp panels & use all gfci breakers, has really cut down the gfi/safety problems. I really perfer the breakers as it cuts out human forgetfullness.

Same approach here. Heavy RV cord direct wire GFCI breaker in panel to feed spider box multiple outlets, with in use exterior covers so legal if exposed to weather. That way, all electrical on job site is GFCI. Only problem that; one trip shuts off whole system. Have also spider box with all GFCI receptacles; that way only shut off the cord that trips it; not rest of job.

Now, spider box readily available commercial item, pay $600 and have UL certified power on site. Hard for inspector argue that.

 

[Garcky]

Anyone ever swept a bench top with a cord or for that matter an air line and knocked the work material onto the floor and damaged it or maybe a box of fasteners or screws scattered in every direction when being swept off a bench by a cord and onto the floor?

Nope. All of my benches have had outlet boxes mounted on the front of the bench, just under the overhanging benchtop. No cords on the top of the bench at all. There are also outlets at the back of the bench. Mostly they are used for chargers for what cordless tools I have. I don't have shop air, but every shop I've worked in has had air connections at one end or the other of the work surface.

 

[Half-fast eddie]

Anyone ever swept a bench top with a cord

No. I keep my cords on the floor. That way they stop the table saw and vacuum from rolling.

 

[rdenney]

BTW, anyone use a corded work light or flashlight for anything in the last 20 or 25 years?

I do. All the time.

I have a set of cordless tools that use 19V batteries. I've had to replace the charger twice because of power surges, and I've bought four additional batteries to supplement the two that came in the kit. I've never used the cordless circular saw--the corded Makita just laughs at it. The cordless tools often run at a slower speed with more gear reduction to get more torque at the sharp end, so cordless circular saws seem to usually be the work-gear type, rather than the classic direct-drive Skilsaw (and I have a Skil, a Hitachi, a Makita, and a couple of cheapies at the bottom of some pile in the garage). They often use a smaller blade for the same reason.

But there is one class of cordless tool that I've never seen in a corded version, and that's the impact driver. Impact wrenches that use air in all cases I've seen use sockets for driving bolts, and corded impact wrenches are usually analogs of pneumatic 1/2" impact wrenches. But the 1/4" hex-drive impact driver is aimed at screw, and there's nothing like it for loosening stuck philips screws or driving self-drilling/tapping screws.

And I do like that cordless drills often go slow using torque-multiplying gear reduction, which is useful for drilling hard metals. Corded drills usually spin too fast for hard metals, or with too little power if the trigger stop is screwed in to slow it down.

And I have to say I'm coming around to the battery-powered chain saws. The battery goes down in about 30 minutes, which enforces a quitting time

Rick "does have to stop from time to time and untangle all the cords" Denney

 

[PoorUB]

Another thing, at least in my situation, most of my smaller tools are over 30 years old and still in good shape. My one circular saw is 40 years old. All were bought when nicad batteries were in use, if anyone one remembers they were terrible. I have not felt the need to replace any of them so I still drag cords. I have bought a few new tools in the last few years but as most are used in the shop or house and power is abundant I stay with corded.

I also worked construction when everyone was still running cords so I am used to it.

If I were a contractor using tools every day, then, no question, cordless.

And I do like that cordless drills often go slow using torque-multiplying gear reduction, which is useful for drilling hard metals. Corded drills usually spin too fast for hard metals, or with too little power if the trigger stop is screwed in to slow it down.

Then you bought the wrong corded drill! I have corded drills that run 450 RPM on high speed, I also have one that is two speed and low works great for drill in steel.

Years ago people bought the cheap homeowner B&D drills that ran 2,000 RPM and no power, don't buy that stuff!

 

[zendriver]

Why is a cord so bad? I get way more frustrated when a battery goes dead.
I could run out and buy them all if I felt the need. Wouldn't be any financial hardship. I just don't feel any need to.

Not bad, just a waste of time and something else to get in the way. I do use corded tools on occasion.

If you don't like cordless tools, use corded ones.

My money response was because of the "on a tight budget?" line

 

[f121]

Battery’s just so much easier to work with, no cords to catch stuff and trip over, extension leads to find, cords to cut. Just get the tool out, slot in a battery, use it.

Pick your favourite colour from red, yellow, teal, buy into a single battery line (or two, if you want compact tools too), have enough batteries that you’ve got charged ones ready to drop in, then buy bare tools when you need something.

I still buy corded where it makes sense to me to have a cord, for a big heavy tool that ***** a lot of power and doesn’t get moved much (mitre saw, table saw), or a portable tool that needs a lot of power (extractor, track saw, router, sander) then it’s corded all the way. Everything else, cordless.

 

[reader2580]

One cordless tool that outshines any corded electric tool is a large impact wrench. I have a cordless Ingersoll-Rand 1" impact wrench that beats the pants off any impact wrench with a cord that I could find. It cost a bit over $1,100 this past summer, but it does the job I bought it for.

In this case, I needed portability. I have electricity available, but not a large air compressor. The electric corded versions don't even make half the foot pounds of the I-R cordless. Air compressors big enough to power a 1" impact are not cheap either. You won't use a cordless impact in a truck tire shop all day long, but a truck tire shop has a large air compressor for an air impact.

 

[housewolf]

One cordless tool that outshines any corded electric tool is a large impact wrench. I have a cordless Ingersoll-Rand 1" impact wrench that beats the pants off any impact wrench with a cord that I could find. It cost a bit over $1,100 this past summer, but it does the job I bought it for.

In this case, I needed portability. I have electricity available, but not a large air compressor. The electric corded versions don't even make half the foot pounds of the I-R cordless. Air compressors big enough to power a 1" impact are not cheap either. You won't use a cordless impact in a truck tire shop all day long, but a truck tire shop has a large air compressor for an air impact.

That’s an interesting twist on this topic.

I used to use a sawzall a lot at work. I’m not sure about what’s available today but I’ve never used a corded sawzall that could hold a candle to a cordless Milwaukee

 

[reader2580]

That’s an interesting twist on this topic.

I used to use a sawzall a lot at work. I’m not sure about what’s available today but I’ve never used a corded sawzall that could hold a candle to a cordless Milwaukee

I have a Dewalt corded drill I bought new when I moved into my first house in 2001. I think it only has a 3/8" chuck. Any 18 volt cordless drill has more torque than that drill. Heck, an M12 drill probably has more torque than that drill. Back in 2001 cordless tools still had pretty bad battery technology compare to what we have now.

I had an older LXT Makita reciprocating saw that didn't seem to have all that much power. It went through batteries in minutes. My corded Milwaukee Sawzall ran circles around that thing. The Makita died this summer and I got the brushless version as a replacement. Not used enough to compared to the corded version yet.

 

[Dakotadadv8]

DIYer definitely prefer corded tools for saws, never bought used and I tried to buy the best quality I can afford for my labor, part of the total cost of the project. As for seldom used tools, staring at the Porter Cable framing nailer on the shelf. Have used it for 3 major projects over the last 20 years and hoping it will work for projects scheduled in 2023.

 

[Bert_]

Homeowner or one man shop; no problem. Commercial job, cords problematic. Everything GFI. Intact grounds on all cords. No insulation damage. Otherwise, subject OSHA fines. Workers continuously bypass GFCI, cut off grounds, damage cords. Old days, buy good cords, subs steal them; leave **** cords instead. Now workers and subs steal/trade weak batteries.

I set up spiderbox on job site to provide GFCI multiple outlet source. Multiple if large building with separate work areas. My work, have heavy 12 ga cords. Find subs use cords a lot still to put power to their work area, especially work lights; but most individual workers use own cordless small tools. Supplement with corded as needed, and lots battery chargers plugged spider boxes.

Professionals not as frustrated dead batteries; have 3 to 5 per tool and keep on chargers all times on job. Part time shop or homeowner, have to develop routine or batteries always dead.

I have a lot of cordless stuff in my service trucks. Cordless is definitely more useful on some jobs but I still would be fine with some of them being corded, depends on the job. There are a couple cordless things I probably won't replace when they break.

I have fought this with a couple guys when drilling studs. They just grab the 18v drill instead of the corded angle drill. It's like the idea of getting out a cord is harder than actual doing it. I'm not buying the cordless hole hawg.

Nobody steals cords or batteries around here. If someone ends up with the wrong stuff they will usually return it.

 

[highland_hunter]

BTW, anyone use a corded work light or flashlight for anything in the last 20 or 25 years?

As a matter of fact just last week while swapping out a dead battery in my truck after work I pulled out my corded light to light up the engine bay.