this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2024
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diy

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Finally, a comm for that one user who hand-makes longbows. This ones for you, comrade.

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here is some free and unsolicited advice. agree/disagree?

situations you will want a cordless drill:

  • you are working where there is not guaranteed convenient electricity available
  • you need to be extremely mobile and a cord would be hazardous or very inconvenient
  • wet environments? idk

examples: rough construction, outdoors, drywall racing

benefits of a corded drill:

  • no batteries to charge
  • no batteries that can be stolen
  • no batteries you can lose or break
  • no need to plan around charging batteries
  • no batteries which allow the manufacturer to twist your arm into buying a new device when the old one works just fine; less susceptible to planned obsolescence
  • no batteries to weigh the tool down: lighter and more comfortable to use the tool and better balance
  • tool is smaller and easier to use in cramped situations
  • don't need a case, charger, extra batteries or other junk
  • one less thing to go wrong; more repairable if it does
  • more powerful

you are in a comm called "DIY" = you are probably always working near a power outlet and not going very far. consider a corded drill instead of mindlessly going cordless.

Make sure you get a decent extension cord. I used heatshink tubing to add an extra 6ft to my cord, that makes it long enough for many applications. Sometimes I tie on an extra one.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago (1 children)

If your drill is powerful enough and the bit gets stuck, your corded drill being more powerful means you run the risk of injuring your wrist and or wrapping the cable around your arm very tightly.

That's the only downside but I have seen it happen. Not in a home setting though and i presume the home depot brand won't break your wrist

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago (2 children)

that's crazy. the bit got stuck? then the user just kept squeezing the trigger harder until finally it moved strongly and unexpectedly? or do you mean maybe the trigger got stuck? My drill only goes when you depress the trigger. But I could see use cases for a drill with an "on" switch. That would have to be carefully deployed. To be honest I'd be nervous about something like that.

I think you need to respect tools and use them safely; any tool can hurt you if you use it wrong. Like hurting your wrist by using too much torque sounds like not holding the device properly. Couldn't that also hurt you with a cordless unit? If that big battery is swinging around uncontrolled, couldn't it get you? I don't see how the cord creates the problem. If it's too powerful, turn down the torque. My drill has a torque adjustment collar and I prefer that to something that gets stronger as you squeeze it harder.

I remember how I got the claw end of my own hammer in my face. I was trying to sink 3" spikes in an awkward, enclosed space. Standing on a ladder set up in the snow if I recall. I tried to get it done without being up in the small space but couldn't aim properly or get enough swing or something. Whatever the reason I had to get up in the tight space myself. I swung the hammer hard enough to sink the spike, in which case the force would have been transferred into the nail. but I missed the nail so it hit the soft wood and bounced off right into my face. Lucky I didn't take out my own eyeball. Got it in the forehead and had to go around with a mark of shame for a day or two. Since it was winter it wasn't too visible but I felt it! That's not the hammer's fault and I wouldn't tell people to avoid hammers with claws because of it. But I do keep my safety goggles more readily at hand these days.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

When a bit gets stuck there's a delay between when it's cranking the shit out of your wrist and when your body reacts to try and prevent injury. You can hurt yourself quite a bit with a powerful drill this way.

But this is really more about using a cheap drill without features like a clutch than corded vs. not.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

I suppose it's relevant that they were drilling into steel when i say the bit got stuck and they were already on full blast