Any woodworkers?

I have 4 of the 6ah Makita batteries now haha

 

18V and 20V Dewalt. One of the best things not to have a cord in your way is the Dewalt 20V brushless orbital sander. I use a 2AH battery just to keep it light. The second one is charged before the first one runs out.

 

No love for Bosch? F*ckin Luddites...

 

My experience with battery powered tools comes from years of working on aircraft. Countless hours of pulling large panels from every nook and cranny contorting to weird pretzel shapes to fit into strange places only to have a battery let me down. Now I have to crawl out of the cavity I crawled into to grab a replacement battery. All of this unnecessary movement has left a sour taste in my mouth when it comes to battery powered tools. With that said, due to budget constraints, we purchased the most budget friendly Dewalt drills/drivers that we could get our hands on in bulk with extra batteries. The tools are used and abused along with the batteries. Charged to drain back to charged, it really takes its toll on the tools.

I'm not knocking battery powered tools, do not get me wrong. I love the convenience. As of right now my hand tools consist of a Makita drill/driver, Dewalt drill, Bosch skil-saw, Dewalt oscillating saw, Ridgid circ saw, Ridgid Router (palm & 2 hp fixed base), Bosch palm sander, and a Dewalt hammer drill. Price as of right now if I were to replace the Dewalt drill with a similar battery powered Drill. I'm going to attempt to do a direct comparison but as we all know, sometimes that's not as straight forward as it can be. Home depot is selling in my area a 10 Amp corded 1/2 chuck pistol grip for 120$. A similar 20-Volt Max L-Ion Drill/Driver with 2 batteries 1.5Ah charger and bag for 180$. Batteries seem to be priced widely from 2.0Ah to 9.0Ah. Trying to stay within the 20-Volt Max line of batteries starting from 80$ and up. It seems like the 4-6Ah is the norm so we have 2 20v Max XR premium pack @ 5Ah for 167$ or a set of '1 ea 6Ah - 1 ea 4Ah - 1 ea 2Ah' for 149$. So many options and battery configurations that just trying to put together this example by trying to piece together what a majority of people would purchase that I cant pick one example. So what I would buy would be the 5Ah batteries for 167$, tack that with the 180$ puts me around 347$ for convenience. If I was running up and down ladders or bouncing around on a jobsite all day, it would be completely worth it to not drag around an extension chord but for the difference of about 230$, I could buy more supplies or tools or junk for my little garage shop. In my garage shop or for projects around the home, having a wall plug within 8 ft or an extension chord at my feet, its a quick transition between tools. To me, it's not worth it yet, big emphasis on 'yet'. I will transition to battery power when the cost of batteries comes down and the viability of batteries goes up. I'm what some people refer to as a late buy in. With the advancements being made in battery technology over the last few years from old Elon Musky, I have high hopes for the future.

If/when I transition to working for myself running my own business making custom furniture, and time = money, then battery powered will be my go-to source for handheld power tools save the power hungry tools like routing or sanding. To recap, I am not knocking battery powered tools because I want them, but right now they aren't in the budget.

-J

 

I mean hell, the new Tesla’s have a range of 300+ miles and the batteries are now considered lifetime items and allegedly last 200k+ miles. The battery technology has definitely come a long way in the past 5 years

 

I love my Bosch drill. A bit underpowered now that it’s around 7 years old or so but it’s still going with all the original 18v batteries. Never had a problem. I use mine for cabinet installs mostly so the batteries don’t get too much of a strain but they do get around 6 hours every day of use(3 hours on Fridays)

I also like it because it comes in a box. I can’t stand tools without a proper case or ones that comes in a bag. How do they expect me to throw it into the truck and not break something without a box?

 

I built my whole shop with the 18V Makita 6 1/2" circular saw , only time I used a corded circular saw on that building was when I needed my 10" and 16" beam saws

 

My next platform will probably be the new Makita 40V Max cordless tools

 

I must be getting old...I got Rigid table saw today on sale, , saw blade and some wrenches, for less than the normal regular price of saw. And was happy about it

 

So I'm starting a few things and doing all my mortis and tenon joints by hand. Malot and chisel. I love the timber frame pergola. It's my next project.

 

I love my M12 & M18 tools. Milwaukee is certainly on the expensive end but if the budget allows you won’t be disappointed. The brushless fuel line is a really solid platform.

 

Score! A local couple in Facebook posted "scrap lumber free". Check out this load of cypress that didn't cost me a dime!

 

Nice score brother!

 

I've never realized how awesome it it to "score" free wood. Since I started milling my own boards and now aquired a planner now its on!
I drive down the road looking (even in the ditch) for wood, boards, plywood or sheeting. This world gives a ton if you look in the right spots!!

 

Wood working at it’s finest!

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/operators-need-long-socks-and-crocks.693020/#post-24489127

 

Little slow around here....
Almost ready for a light stain and a million coats of poly!

 

Small toy box I made from some scrap oak plywood I had laying around. Accents are Wenge.