More Than One?

[fm2176]

I find myself starting to buy duplicates of some things.  Some of it is out of convenience - it's annoying to have to keep up with a single utility knife, square, or tape measure - but when it comes to power tools it is often due to a desire to maximize production.  I don't usually undertake projects requiring extra hands, but when I do it's nice having spare drills and saws.  

 

I can imagine that many of you have more than one drill.  At the very least, you may have a corded and a cordless, but some of you probably have 10.8v and 18v brushed and/or brushless and subcompact/compact or full size.  There are probably more than a few of you who maintain duplicates of other tools, or who invest in multiple tools in a few platforms.

 

Please share your rationale behind owning more than one of any given power tool.  For me it's simply a lack of patience when I need a certain tool.  I don't want to walk across the room and wait for the hired help to finish what he's doing, I want to grab a spare and do what I need to do.  Nevermind that I may hire one or two helpers once a year at most.  🔨

[JMG]

Tool setup is a time sink and profit killer for any type of repetitive manufacture process. I have somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty routers in my kit to this day, a majority which were set up for specific cuts with only a couple of them left for random processes or dedicated to a specific router table. These generally being the more expensive routers of the group. Over time, it is simply more efficient to be able to pick up a tool that is set to a task, and not to have to spend five or ten minutes adjusting the cutter or wandering around looking for where you last dropped said cutter, instead of returning it to the proper location it was supposed to be stored in. When the time crunch hits as that absolute deadline looms, not having to stop and spend ten minutes you don't have fiddling with setup will ease frustration levels and pay for the cost of an extra tool in a relatively short time.

 

After a few years of running my own wood shop, I came to the conclusion that if I needed a tool, I should buy it and figure out how to pay for it after the fact. After one major purchase and loan from my credit union to do so, I ended up being able to to secure a signature loan at any time for up to ten thousand for a business purchase. Having access to funding is a tool in and of itself. Having the correct tooling on hand will save you time and maximize your profits, but it is a balancing act that takes time to work out and many mistakes can be made along the road.

 

Routers and cordless drills were probably the most duplicated tool in my kit over the years. Finish sanders were another, but more due to constantly wearing them out and rebuilding them than to what they were being used for. Tape measures also. The one tool that always seemed to be playing hide and seek, or wandering off because someone said, "Hey, that looks like mine.".

 

I am a firm believer in multiples of tools where they are not of a specialized type, but the tooling for their use may be.

[Tug]

I buy drills because I like them, I like the tech that's built in to them, I like what they can do for me. An sds with chipper function will chase a masonry wall out in minutes, but when I was an apprentice we didn't have such luxury, it was all by hand. So I'm not prepared to give up that luxury be it through theft or breakdown, so I keep several different sds drills on hand. 

 

Same goes for combi drills, good to have spares. Besides, they all bring their own thing to the table, no two are ever alike. 

 

Then there's the Ryobi kit that I keep, they're basically loaners. If they get lost or stolen I'm not too bothered. The high end kit is for me and me alone. If I drop and damage one of them, it's on me. 

[Cr8ondt]

Hummmm... Yep I have some multiples..... 4 drills, all cordless, 2 are never really used and only got em because they where dirt cheap, I mainly use my DCD791 and sometimes my 985 for hammer mode.   3 did have 4 impacts I only use my DCF887 and have a nib one as well, my wife sometimes uses a 12v Kobalt I found on clearance.  Also have 2 circular saw, one 6 1/2 cordless and a regular corded and both have there place. 

[D W]

I have 3 cordless drills. I had 2, and I was aiming to keep it that way but then I held a DCD796 in Bunnings and absolutely loved the feel of it. So now 3. Nearly 4 because I really want a DCD791 now, I figure it would be more balanced without the hammer function.

 

I think minimum 2 cordless drills, one compact and another larger (possible with hammer) is a good setup.

 

When drilling metal I use one drill with a small bit to start the hole and the other drill with the larger size bit to finish it. It saves changing bits around. If i'm not using the impact driver its great to have one drill for pilot holes and the other for driving.

 

So there's a couple of functional rationale examples, but I think it's kind of a collector's bug that I have, or a quest for the perfect drill.

 

[Jronman]

I have a couple duplicates of hand tools but for power tools at this point in time I am trying to maximize my function. Marc from the wood whisperer had a good example. He said something along the lines you own a cordless drill and are looking at buying a drill press and a jointer but only have money in the budget for one or the other. He then asks which do you get and he explains you get the jointer because it has more function that you don't already have. A drill press and cordless drill have similar function and wouldn't provide as much function that you don't already have. I may get duplicates of power tools in the future but hopefully to provide extra function that I wouldn't already have. For shear convenience only doesn't really appeal to me. 

[Biggie]

I do this all the time with grinders.  I usually only have two set ups with a combination of grinding, cut off, or wire wheel.  I know its borderline lazy but sometimes it's just more productive than actually swapping wheels.  I'll also do it with impact wrenches if I know I'm going to be assembly something with two different bolt sizes.  It's pretty simple to switch a socket the but you set the socket down and it rolls away or you put it in your pocket and then your still digging for it.  In the end it comes down to convenience and productivity.

[phffter]

cordless drills.......... operable............ 4

cordless drills.........inoperable........... 4

corded drills.....not including hammer ....... 7 (?)

recip saws.......................... 7 or 8

grinders............................... 9 or 10 or 12

i cant carry everything on the truck, and i cant break down every job before running out on the next one. if i need something  at that moment , ill buy it, rather than track it down wherever i dropped it

[BMack37]

I have a few drills. I have multiple work stations; one at work, one inside at home, the garage and mobile tool kits. I keep a drill inside on the workbench, one in the tool bag that stays in my car most of the time, then compact and larger drills in the garage.

 

I keep multiples of screwdrivers and a DMM at each work station and in each tool bag. I have two tool bags I mostly leave in my car, one for electronics repair and the other for damage assessments which is much smaller. There is a fair bit of crossover but I'm not going to move items between bags, especially when I might use both in the same day. 

[Conductor562]

I have multiple drills, impacts, circ saws, recip saws, and a few other things.

 

Rationale depends on the tool. For drills, impacts, and recipe saws, it's usually just to equip extra hands, though I do keep a set in the truck for easy mobility.

 

Routers are for different purposes and allow me to save time if I'm running different bits. 

 

I also have a real tool problem, so there's that too 😕