Help me choose a corded 3/8" drill

[dwasifar]

3 hours ago, rrmccabe said:

What's a cord?

 

Sorry to sound ignorant but what is the love for corded drills?  I can see if you were at a bench doing repetitive drilling 8 hours on end but I have not plugged in my Bosch corded drill in 10 years.  Cost?

 

20 years ago I had a place for corded stuff because the cordless technology had not evolved to where it has today.

 

So school me. What are your needs that make this better?

 

Power, longevity, vendor lock-in, and bang for buck.

 

Power: Pretty much self-explanatory.  Yes, cordless has come a long way, but you're still gonna get more torque from a motor plugged into the wall.

 

Longevity: Batteries have a limited life.  Eventually any battery wears out, and when it does, you either have to buy a new battery or a new tool.  Since the battery is approximately 60% of the cost of manufacturing the tool, it's going to be a tough decision whether to buy an expensive new battery for a used tool, or buy a new tool and throw out the old one which is perfectly good except for needing a battery.  And that's if the batteries are still made; if they're not, then the choice has been made for you.  It might be different if all tools took the same battery, but every maker has their own standard, and they keep changing them even within the same brand. And that takes us to:

 

Vendor lock-in: If I buy a DeWalt cordless drill, then when I go to buy another cordless tool, buying any brand other than DeWalt immediately tasks me with keeping track of two different sets of chargers and batteries.  Or three.  Or four, or however many brands are in my toolbox.  Corded tools don't have that problem; wall sockets are the same wherever you go.

 

Bang for buck: Given how much of the cost of making a tool goes into the battery, it's inevitable that you're going to pay more for the same performance, or pay the same for lower performance, in a cordless tool.

 

This is not to say I'm against cordless tools.  I'm not.  I have a DeWalt cordless drill (pictured below) and impact set and three batteries, and I like it.  I use it a lot.  Used it today, in fact.  Before that I had a Makita.  But it really rankled to get rid of that Makita when the batteries wouldn't hold a charge anymore and I found out it would cost more than a new drill to buy a couple of replacements.  So when a cord is not a hindrance, I use a corded tool, and I save the battery tools for the other jobs.

 

[rrmccabe]

1 hour ago, dwasifar said:

 

Power, longevity, vendor lock-in, and bang for buck.

 

Power: Pretty much self-explanatory.  Yes, cordless has come a long way, but you're still gonna get more torque from a motor plugged into the wall.

 

Longevity: Batteries have a limited life.  Eventually any battery wears out, and when it does, you either have to buy a new battery or a new tool.  Since the battery is approximately 60% of the cost of manufacturing the tool, it's going to be a tough decision whether to buy an expensive new battery for a used tool, or buy a new tool and throw out the old one which is perfectly good except for needing a battery.  And that's if the batteries are still made; if they're not, then the choice has been made for you.  It might be different if all tools took the same battery, but every maker has their own standard, and they keep changing them even within the same brand. And that takes us to:

 

Vendor lock-in: If I buy a DeWalt cordless drill, then when I go to buy another cordless tool, buying any brand other than DeWalt immediately tasks me with keeping track of two different sets of chargers and batteries.  Or three.  Or four, or however many brands are in my toolbox.  Corded tools don't have that problem; wall sockets are the same wherever you go.

 

Bang for buck: Given how much of the cost of making a tool goes into the battery, it's inevitable that you're going to pay more for the same performance, or pay the same for lower performance, in a cordless tool.

 

This is not to say I'm against cordless tools.  I'm not.  I have a DeWalt cordless drill (pictured below) and impact set and three batteries, and I like it.  I use it a lot.  Used it today, in fact.  Before that I had a Makita.  But it really rankled to get rid of that Makita when the batteries wouldn't hold a charge anymore and I found out it would cost more than a new drill to buy a couple of replacements.  So when a cord is not a hindrance, I use a corded tool, and I save the battery tools for the other jobs.

 

I guess I was just shocked by the corded interest is all.  Only because 95% of the time cordless is more than adequate.

 

And regarding your comment about the battery wearing out. At one time I had a couple Dewalt impacts, 3 drills and a few flashlights just because it was more attractive to buy a nice kit with two batteries than pay $230 for no tools and two batteries

 

So not arguing about the any performance increase but for most things its just not needed. But no doubt the long term value is better on corded tools and will last a long time. But I just hate cords.

 

Vendor lock-in is a huge deal but I have finally got over that. Only took 20 years of therapy though.

 

[dwasifar]

26 minutes ago, rrmccabe said:

 

I guess I was just shocked by the corded interest is all.  Only because 95% of the time cordless is more than adequate.

 

And regarding your comment about the battery wearing out. At one time I had a couple Dewalt impacts, 3 drills and a few flashlights just because it was more attractive to buy a nice kit with two batteries than pay $230 for no tools and two batteries

 

So not arguing about the any performance increase but for most things its just not needed. But no doubt the long term value is better on corded tools and will last a long time. But I just hate cords.

 

Vendor lock-in is a huge deal but I have finally got over that. Only took 20 years of therapy though.

 

 

If I had to pick the one biggest thing that keeps me on corded tools, it would have to be the planned obsolescence factor of having to constantly rebuy battery tools.  Your case is instructive.  You had multiples of the same tool because battery replacement was just not attractive compared to rebuying a nice new kit.  I understand that urge; I fight it.   I have corded tools that are 20, 25, 30 years old.  Nobody's gonna be able to keep a battery tool running that long.

 

It's a tradeoff, as everything is.  Cordless tools are freeing, in that you don't have cords getting in your way and extensions underfoot.  I certainly see the benefit.  If the technology were standardized and open instead of proprietary, I'd probably lean more toward cordless.  But it's not the only thing I choose to do the old-school way.  I drive a manual transmission, too, and I run Linux on my computers.   So maybe it's a personal psychology thing; or maybe it's that I tend to analyze things to death (as you probably already noticed), and the resulting analysis winds up having more weight in my decisions than gut preference does.

[Theultimatehic]

If i don't have the corded version, I definately don't have the cordless version.  That is pretty standard with most guys I know. Although most guys I know are in a shop as well. Few exceptions though. 

[JimboS1ice]

What's a cord?

 

Sorry to sound ignorant but what is the love for corded drills?  I can see if you were at a bench doing repetitive drilling 8 hours on end but I have not plugged in my Bosch corded drill in 10 years.  Cost?

 

20 years ago I had a place for corded stuff because the cordless technology had not evolved to where it has today.

 

So school me. What are your needs that make this better?

Nothing like the sound of a Good corded drill


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[dwasifar]

Took the new drill for a test drive today, using some ripped-out framing for a test piece.  Two tests:  Will it drive a 3" screw to countersink without hesitating, and how well does it do with boring large holes?

 

 

First test, 3" screw.  Pass.  Not only did it countersink, it kept going to 3/8" depth.  That's the little hole right next to the edge of the bit.  Backed out just as easily.

 

Second test, 1" spade bit.  Went through like nothing.  I drilled another and timed it: Under five seconds through a double stud.

 

Smooth and powerful, easier to handle than I expected at its weight.  Definitely a keeper.  Fist bump to @jeffmcmillan for suggesting I consider a 1/2" drill.

[JimboS1ice]

6 hours ago, dwasifar said:

Took the new drill for a test drive today, using some ripped-out framing for a test piece.  Two tests:  Will it drive a 3" screw to countersink without hesitating, and how well does it do with boring large holes?

 

 

First test, 3" screw.  Pass.  Not only did it countersink, it kept going to 3/8" depth.  That's the little hole right next to the edge of the bit.  Backed out just as easily.

 

Second test, 1" spade bit.  Went through like nothing.  I drilled another and timed it: Under five seconds through a double stud.

 

Smooth and powerful, easier to handle than I expected at its weight.  Definitely a keeper.  Fist bump to @jeffmcmillan for suggesting I consider a 1/2" drill.

You won't regret the 1/2" dude, keyless chucks such on corded drills

[CATERPILLAR]

8 hours ago, dwasifar said:

Took the new drill for a test drive today, using some ripped-out framing for a test piece.  Two tests:  Will it drive a 3" screw to countersink without hesitating, and how well does it do with boring large holes?

 

 

First test, 3" screw.  Pass.  Not only did it countersink, it kept going to 3/8" depth.  That's the little hole right next to the edge of the bit.  Backed out just as easily.

 

Second test, 1" spade bit.  Went through like nothing.  I drilled another and timed it: Under five seconds through a double stud.

 

Smooth and powerful, easier to handle than I expected at its weight.  Definitely a keeper.  Fist bump to @jeffmcmillan for suggesting I consider a 1/2" drill.

Very nice man glad u found a nice drill. Also nice u have a keyed chuck sure beat the keyless way less slipping

[BMack37]

Hitachi makes great tools

[DerekTheToolGuy]

I have a craftsman evolv corded drill and never use it and have had it for years bought it for like $20 new I use my Hilti cordless lithium powered drill and have the matching impact and same setup in makita for back ups so both are 1/2 drill . I never need corded but they are better with like wire brush wheel attachments or heavy drilling. I did see a corded hilti at my local pawn shop for $25 but don't need it.