On 13 Sep 2017 14:08:30 GMT, David wrote:

snip

Anything requiring serious grunt, such as sawing, SDS drilling and the
like is much better using mains.

snip

Daughter bought a Lidl 18V Li-Ion drill, jigsaw and circular saw and
I'd have to say they are all pretty good.

The one that surprised me was the circular saw and I've borrowed it
quite a few times now and for cutting some fairly serious wood (like
decking).

We were using the jigsaw yesterday and it's as 'capable as any mains
powered saw I've used.

Because she got the 3 devices at the same time and so also got 3
chargers and batteries, it's rare that you would run out of battery on
the grounds you wouldn't typically (in many d-i-y roles) be using all
3 tools at the same time.

I used the circular saw to slice up an old shed into manageable lumps
(retaining most of the long lengths of good batten) and whilst it was
only (mostly) going though matchwood, I think we did it all on just
one battery.

We were working in a back ally so mains wasn't an easy option.

But then I've got a couple and seen a good few more new looking
battery tools that weren't worth a light.

Horses for courses etc. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

p.s. I have an old cheap / market 12V Nicad powered drill that was
'big'. It only had a smallish motor that span fast though a reasonable
gearbox but it felt pretty unstoppable in use (and abuse). When the
batteries died I stripped one and ran a 3m HD 12V cable out the back
and with a pair of crocodile clips and so can run it from any 12V
source / battery.

So, whilst not *as* portable as it once was, it can still be used away
from mains and for a pretty long time. ;-)