Except, if you go back far enough (to the HAMB era ?), Black and Decker was a premium brand, making premium drills, etc, and even commercial valve grinding equipment. Porter Cable was independently owned, I think well into the 80s, and, again was at that time a premium brand known for their routers and belt sanders. They fell on hard times, and were bought by Stanley or whatever predecessor that eventually became today’s Stanley Black and Decker, (SBD), and was slotted above Black and Decker after Black and Decker fell from grace and became a bottom feeder brand. PC tools are sort of being phased out, by all appearances, being replaced by the more recently acquired Craftsman brand for homeowner use. The Dewalt brand was selected to be the leading SBD brand for consumer tools, probably in the 90s. Originally they were an independent brand known for quality radial arm saws. That brand is slotted above B&D, the mostly defunct PC brand, and the more recently acquired Craftsman brand, as best described as a “pro -Sumer” grade brand by some, much like the Hong Kong based TTI owned Milwaukee brand. SBD also makes the Mac and Proto lines aimed at professional mechanics. Ryan’s other site, Garage Journal, is probably the appropriate place for these tool discussions.
Yeah, Black and Decker used to be one of the best made. I have an old B&D drill from the late 70’s early 80’s time frame that still runs fine even though the bearings are shot so bad the chuck wobbles. Still works good for wire brushing though. I see no reason to have to go to another site to talk about what we finds works best to work on this old stuff. Us shade tree guys don’t always have the funds for fully loaded shops and have to make do with what we have.
In my experience, it's a lot easier to keep air tools running for a long time than battery-powered tools. Don't get me wrong, I have a Lithium Ion Dewalt drill. I use it, I like it, but relying on batteries can sometimes require the use of power or air tools when the batteries are dead and you forgot to charge them (because I don't use them that often). In the shop I just don't bother with cordless since I'm close to the air hose and power, I'd rather not be chasing around batteries. I use my cordless stuff in the house or in the yard (acreage) where it's the better option. If I get more cordless tools, I'll get Milwaukee or Dewalt. Reason being that there are numerous dealers near me that handle Milwaukee and Dewalt. Ryobi is near-junk and Kobalt has few dealers around. There are Dewalt and Milwaukee parts centers if I need parts as well. I got what was supposed to be a good LED rechargeable trouble light. It is supposed to have 2+ hour life. It doesn't last 30, and I've had it less than a year. It has been in my heated garage and treated very well for its entire life.
I prefer cordless tools over pneumatic tools because my air compressor is so damned noisy! I can't justify a new "quiet" compressor for my limited needs, but IF I had one, I'd switch my allegiance. The main issue is having fully charged back-up batteries at the ready. For those of you who use rechargeables.... PLEASE be safe with the chargers! Monitor them, place them on a non-flammable surface and don't leave them unattended while charging! None of us want to see more posts concerning shop fires! Carry on and Good Luck!
Yeah, I've helped my colleagues with fire investigations where power tool batteries were the culprit. Not a good situation.
Like you, I have been disappointed with the durability of some tools, thats why I took the time to recommend the Kobalt. I would say from my experience that seldom do the tools themselves give a problem, its usually the battery. Thats why I like the Kobalt....they give a 3 year free replacement which is better than many/all others. Some of the batteries I have are past 3 years and still work fine....plus they are a lot cheaper to buy than most other brands. Definitely cheaper than Milwaukee,DeWalt,and Craftsman. The point is that for what you can get Kobalts basic tools for, its not worth getting them repaired. Not so with many other makes. These are good quality tools. The batteries are first rate as well. I keep the charger(s) mounted to the side of a metal cabinet where they are out of the way. If you buy the more expensive tools, you don't get any benefit that the Kobalt doesn't give you a lot cheaper. I'm sure the DeWalt you have cost more than a Kobalt and the batteriy cost more too. Next time you need a battery for it, you can buy a Kobalt on sale with a battery and a charger for about what the DeWalt battery costs. Thats why I quit using DeWalt.All I can say is that before you decide against one, give one a try. I think you will find that you like it. As for the fire hazard, well thats always a consideration.......but basically anything you have that plugged in is in effect a possible fire hazard. Just put the charger where you remember to turn it off as you leave the shop for the night if that worries you.
My company exclusively uses DeWalt 20V cordless tools. We have over $15,000 in DeWalt 20V tools between our production/fabrication team, and my field crew. We abuse them, they get used in rain, dropped from high elevations, etc, and they keep going. Impact Drivers, Drill Drivers, Hammer Drills, Sawzalls, Grinders, you name it. Because they've been such good tools at work, I use them at home as well. I don't even remember the last time I cranked up my air compressor at home. There are a few Milwaukee tools that I'd like to buy for home use, but I can live without them. I have a Craftsman 19.2V Drill and 1/2" Impact I got for Xmas many years ago (like 15 yrs ago) and the batteries died within a year, so a few years ago I bought an adapter on Amazon that uses the DeWalt 20V batteries on the Craftsman tools, pretty cool to give the tools a new lease on life. I recently bought a little Kobalt 3/8" cordless rechargeable ratchet, and it doesnt have a lot of torque or speed, but man that battery holds a charge! Like, months. I last charged it up before deer season (Oct 22), hadnt used it since around that time, picked it out of my tool bag last weekend, and it still had plenty of battery life. After a recent break-in at work, where we lost over $7000 in tools from our trucks, we considered switching over to Milwaukee branded tools because of their reputation and some nice tools that DeWalt doesn't currently offer, but we opted to stick with DeWalt so we didnt have a mix of brands/batteries. I purchase the majority of the tools for our company, and have a spreadsheet that tracks the cost, and lifespan during the tools lifetime. The guts of the DeWalt tools seem to be pretty good and last a long time. The tool death for us is dropping them off one of our aerial trucks. Chargers seem to last forever, and the batteries have a few years in them at minimum. I think the battery life depends mostly on how you charge them.
I researched this before, because I had heard several different opinions, and I wanted to make sure my team gets the most out of our batteries. For DeWalt, they recommend removing the battery from the tool as soon as you feel a loss in power. Do not run the battery all the way out until the tool stops and do not tape the trigger on the tool to run the battery out. Leave the battery to cool for an hour or two before putting it on the charger. The DeWalt chargers have a safe mode so it doesn't hurt to leave them on the charger for extended periods of time. Personally at home, I'm not good at keeping up with DeWalts recommendations for charging. I have a bunch of the small 2ah and 5ah batteries and tend to run them out of juice, then throw them on the charger immediately. Several of my personal batteries are 5+ yrs old.
Battery power tools are my choice over air for a few reasons, they're quieter, way more torque, no cord or hose to deal with, cleaner to use (no air exhaust to blow shit everywhere)and they are QUIETER. Bought a Milwaukee 12 volt right angle 1/4" die grinder a little over a year ago , love it! So much easier to use because of the torque it has over air die grinders, and it is QUIETER. Uses less electricity and is more efficient than air compressor powered tools. Just bought their straight 1/4" die grinder, don't use the air stuff any more. Have a Milwaukee 1/2' impact, 1/4 " hex drive impact, drill and sawzall 18m volt. Noisey ass air compressor is just used for filling tires, blowing off parts and running an air over hydraulic jack. Nice to hear the radio again. With the press to see battery capacity button I'm know when it needs to be charged and just switch with the fully charged battery on the charger , no more listening to the noisey ass compressor drown out the radio to build up pressure again. Battery powered tools also go everywhere , take less room /weight to transport when you go racing(no heavy noisey ass air compressor) . A generator is way quieter than a air compressor in the pits. Keny
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