[Shop-talk] Battery-operated tools

[John Miller]

 > I have a full set of corded tools; when I need to do some serious 
hole creation I dig out the old Milwaukee "Hole Shooter" and
> however much cord is needed.

The disposable stuff is still better corded; the Harbor Freight 'Chicago
Electric' angle grinder is still one of mankind's greater bargains, I've
bought close to a dozen over the past decade and a half, one or two have
died for various reasons, I've killed one or two accidentally or
intentionally, I've got about six in the drawer right now.

For $20 or so you can, when necessary (as I've done) sacrifice one to
some higher purpose (go to drawer and select one of your ten-year-old HF
grinders, wrench on tile blade, don thick rubber gloves, turn on hose,
instant hand-held wet-saw to cut vent hole in brickwork around barbecue.
  It finished the job before expiring. I made the sign of the cross
before committing the red-dust-encrusted hulk to the garbage can, it had
lived an honorable life and deserved a decent burial.)

And I wouldn't trust at this point any battery-fueled Cheap Chinese
brands without a five-year track record of battery life.  My expectation
of a Harbor Freight cordless - or even low-end store-brands, in which
alas I have to include Craftsman these days - would be a year or two.

John.