Went to HD to pick up some sandpaper the other day to work on the
kitchen remodel and cab refinish I am doing. The Milwaukee rep was
there, and he told me that HD was going to start carrying a pretty
full line of Milwaukee at some stores, and Hilti at others.

He showed asked me if I had seen the new little Milwaukee 12v Li drill/
driver. I immediately chuckled, thinking of the little Fisher/Price
see through drill I bought my nephew when he was 5.

He was adamant. These are real tools, he proclaimed. In my head, I
was still seeing the red plastic drill bit rotating as powered by two
double a batteries.

He plucked the MW 12v off the shelf. It was small. It had only 100
lbs of torque. (Again with the Fisher/Price image...) He let me try
it and I was pleasantly surprised at the power. It will honestly
drive a 3" screw into soft wood without a pilot. He claimed it was
sold as being capable of driving 130 or so without a charge, but his
own personal experience put it at about 80+. Impressive. It was
something like $159, so I figured for someone it might be a good deal.

Seeing I wasn't buying, he asked if I had ever tried the Ridgid 12V Li
drill. I didn't even know they made one, and didn't care. Another
demo. Same driving capacity claimed, but with 120 lbs of torque, and
an LED headlight on it. It felt exactly like the MW in my hand.
Nice, but I am not a tool collector. Even at $129, I didn't bite.

But... they have a promo on now. For $129, you get TWO drills, two
batteries, the charger and a softside case. I bit. I often set up
two drill when working to do a line of repetition like one drill to
drill holes, one to drive.

Here's the skinny:

You get two batteries that charge one at a time in 30 minutes. There
is no memory; they discharge each time they charge.

This has a nice, heavy duty chuck on it that doesn't require hex ended
bits and drivers to work. All your bits will work as normal.

The drills AND batteries are covered in the lifetime warranty. If one
drill goes down and hits the warranty slow roll, you still have the
other to work with.

I am working on a kitchen refurb, one in which I am completely
refinishing the cabinets inside and out. When I do this, I remove all
hardware from doors, drawers and stiles, fill the holes, and dry fit
all the components. Then I drill new holes as needed, fit the
component hardware and component to my liking, and remove them once
more.

Here's what I have so far.

The little drill has a bunch of power. Not my Makita cordless hammer
drill power, but it's 1/3 the size. I was really surprised at how
much power those little batteries will transmit to the motor.

In 30 year old hard white oak, I drilled 238 holes 1/8" (diameter) X
5/8" deep, drove about 175 #6 screws, and changed bits about 45
times. I keep the same drill (testing the actual use and battery
time) and started with a full, fresh charge. All the the holes were
drilled, screws driven, etc. on just one charge.

The battery was recharged in 25 minutes.

I thought the LED light was a silly joke. It is until you get the bit
about 2" out of the chuck, and then it actually shines on the tip of
the drill bit and material. This was really handy inside the base
units when pulling the drawer hardware.

The batteries are in the handle, so it makes the drill a bit chunky in
the hand, but not uncomfortable.

The trigger has a really short throw, so it is a bit twitchy compared
to my bigger drills. It does speed increases and decreases accurately
though, with no jumping around in speed.

I like the fact it uses all my bits. Even in the small bits, the
chucks held tightly. On larger bits (I had to drill out a couple of
screws completely using a 3/8" bit) it held it easily as well.

The compact size it really, really, easy to get used to. It slipped
into the corners, around braces, and into my tool bags without any
problems. This is nice.

The housing has rubber bumpers around the case at strategic drop
points. This is a good idea as all the tools take a tumble now and
then, but the guys that design them never seem to take that into
consideration.

All in all, I think HD has a winner with this one. It actually seems
to do what it says it will, and more. And two for one, too. What a
pleasant surprise from the HD guys. I will be reattaching all doors,
hardware and drawer slides and hardware in the next few days. Rest
assured I will scream like a mashed cat if anything goes wrong.

Robert

wrote in message
All in all, I think HD has a winner with this one. It actually seems
to do what it says it will, and more. And two for one, too. What a
pleasant surprise from the HD guys. I will be reattaching all doors,
hardware and drawer slides and hardware in the next few days.

A few months back, I bough a package set of DeWalt 18v cordless tools.
Originally, I was going to buy Milwaukee since I was already a satisfied
Milwaukee owner with a corded and cordless drill. It turns out now that the
entire line was sold and is being manufactured overseas. That made me go
with the DeWalt brand. If I can support mostly local production and get when
I need, then that's the way I like to go.

And, I'm really happy with the tools I got. They're powerful and work well.
I considered going to one of the higher voltage packages in the DeWalt line,
but the tools would have been just too heavy for my purposes.

Upscale,

Are the Dewalts made in the USA? I have an 18 volt Dewalt drill and saw that
I bought about 8 years ago I just bought my second set of batteries last
year and they have proved to be real workhorses in our home repair business.

Robert,

Nice score on the Milwaukee tools. I'll check them out today.

cm
"Upscale" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
All in all, I think HD has a winner with this one. It actually seems
to do what it says it will, and more. And two for one, too. What a
pleasant surprise from the HD guys. I will be reattaching all doors,
hardware and drawer slides and hardware in the next few days.

A few months back, I bough a package set of DeWalt 18v cordless tools.
Originally, I was going to buy Milwaukee since I was already a satisfied
Milwaukee owner with a corded and cordless drill. It turns out now that
the
entire line was sold and is being manufactured overseas. That made me go
with the DeWalt brand. If I can support mostly local production and get
when
I need, then that's the way I like to go.

And, I'm really happy with the tools I got. They're powerful and work
well.
I considered going to one of the higher voltage packages in the DeWalt
line,
but the tools would have been just too heavy for my purposes.

wrote

The compact size it really, really, easy to get used to. It slipped
into the corners, around braces, and into my tool bags without any
problems. This is nice.

I never thought I'd say this, but, on that same "compact" note:

And should anyone find a need for a bit smaller, lithium ion powered "screw
driver", for use when installing cabinet hardware, etc, (and the occasional
small drilling job when mounting hardware) be sure to check out, of all
things:

gasp the 3.6v Skil iXO!

Amazingly long lasting little thing ... and under $40.

I was looking for something _real_ small, that I could put in an apron
pocket/tool belt, when installing drawer slides, door knobs and pulls,
contemplated buying two because of their size/price and the need to have one
always charged, but thus far have not been able to run that cheap little
critter's lithium ion battery down during a normal day's use.

Not in the same league with your larger Ryobi "compact", but neither are its
requirements.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

cm" wrote

Are the Dewalts made in the USA? I have an 18 volt Dewalt drill and saw
that I bought about 8 years ago I just bought my second set of batteries
last year and they have proved to be real workhorses in our home repair
business.

The DeWalt 18v drill is the most ubiquitous cordless tool on any
construction site I've been on in the last 7 or 8 years.

Robert,
Nice score on the Milwaukee tools. I'll check them out today.

May be wrong, but I would have sworn Robert ended up with the Ryobi 12v iL?


--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

"Swingman" wrote in message
...
cm" wrote

Are the Dewalts made in the USA? I have an 18 volt Dewalt drill and saw
that I bought about 8 years ago I just bought my second set of batteries
last year and they have proved to be real workhorses in our home repair
business.

The DeWalt 18v drill is the most ubiquitous cordless tool on any
construction site I've been on in the last 7 or 8 years.

Robert,
Nice score on the Milwaukee tools. I'll check them out today.

May be wrong, but I would have sworn Robert ended up with the Ryobi 12v
iL?


Humm I thought he ended up with the Ridgid. I'll go back and reread.

"Swingman" wrote in message
...
wrote

The compact size it really, really, easy to get used to. It slipped
into the corners, around braces, and into my tool bags without any
problems. This is nice.

I never thought I'd say this, but, on that same "compact" note:

And should anyone find a need for a bit smaller, lithium ion powered
"screw driver", for use when installing cabinet hardware, etc, (and the
occasional small drilling job when mounting hardware) be sure to check
out, of all things:

gasp the 3.6v Skil iXO!

Amazingly long lasting little thing ... and under $40.

I was looking for something _real_ small, that I could put in an apron
pocket/tool belt, when installing drawer slides, door knobs and pulls,
contemplated buying two because of their size/price and the need to have
one always charged, but thus far have not been able to run that cheap
little critter's lithium ion battery down during a normal day's use.

Not in the same league with your larger Ryobi "compact", but neither are
its requirements.

That is exactly the kind of tool that every electronic technician has on his
bench or in his tool kit. Verrrry handy!

On Nov 18, 8:08*am, "Swingman" wrote:

May be wrong, but I would have sworn Robert ended up with the Ryobi 12v iL?

Nope. Ridgid, the Home Depot "house" brand.

Robert

2 Ridgif 12 volt drills with lifetime warranty for $129.00?

That is a deal, thanks for posting Robert.

I'm confused however, the Milwaukee rep sold you on the Ridgid drill???
Perhaps Milwaukee is making the drill for Ridgid now.



wrote in message
...
Went to HD to pick up some sandpaper the other day to work on the
kitchen remodel and cab refinish I am doing. The Milwaukee rep was
there, and he told me that HD was going to start carrying a pretty
full line of Milwaukee at some stores, and Hilti at others.

He showed asked me if I had seen the new little Milwaukee 12v Li drill/
driver. I immediately chuckled, thinking of the little Fisher/Price
see through drill I bought my nephew when he was 5.

He was adamant. These are real tools, he proclaimed. In my head, I
was still seeing the red plastic drill bit rotating as powered by two
double a batteries.

He plucked the MW 12v off the shelf. It was small. It had only 100
lbs of torque. (Again with the Fisher/Price image...) He let me try
it and I was pleasantly surprised at the power. It will honestly
drive a 3" screw into soft wood without a pilot. He claimed it was
sold as being capable of driving 130 or so without a charge, but his
own personal experience put it at about 80+. Impressive. It was
something like $159, so I figured for someone it might be a good deal.

Seeing I wasn't buying, he asked if I had ever tried the Ridgid 12V Li
drill. I didn't even know they made one, and didn't care. Another
demo. Same driving capacity claimed, but with 120 lbs of torque, and
an LED headlight on it. It felt exactly like the MW in my hand.
Nice, but I am not a tool collector. Even at $129, I didn't bite.

But... they have a promo on now. For $129, you get TWO drills, two
batteries, the charger and a softside case. I bit. I often set up
two drill when working to do a line of repetition like one drill to
drill holes, one to drive.

Here's the skinny:

You get two batteries that charge one at a time in 30 minutes. There
is no memory; they discharge each time they charge.

This has a nice, heavy duty chuck on it that doesn't require hex ended
bits and drivers to work. All your bits will work as normal.

The drills AND batteries are covered in the lifetime warranty. If one
drill goes down and hits the warranty slow roll, you still have the
other to work with.

I am working on a kitchen refurb, one in which I am completely
refinishing the cabinets inside and out. When I do this, I remove all
hardware from doors, drawers and stiles, fill the holes, and dry fit
all the components. Then I drill new holes as needed, fit the
component hardware and component to my liking, and remove them once
more.

Here's what I have so far.

The little drill has a bunch of power. Not my Makita cordless hammer
drill power, but it's 1/3 the size. I was really surprised at how
much power those little batteries will transmit to the motor.

In 30 year old hard white oak, I drilled 238 holes 1/8" (diameter) X
5/8" deep, drove about 175 #6 screws, and changed bits about 45
times. I keep the same drill (testing the actual use and battery
time) and started with a full, fresh charge. All the the holes were
drilled, screws driven, etc. on just one charge.

The battery was recharged in 25 minutes.

I thought the LED light was a silly joke. It is until you get the bit
about 2" out of the chuck, and then it actually shines on the tip of
the drill bit and material. This was really handy inside the base
units when pulling the drawer hardware.

The batteries are in the handle, so it makes the drill a bit chunky in
the hand, but not uncomfortable.

The trigger has a really short throw, so it is a bit twitchy compared
to my bigger drills. It does speed increases and decreases accurately
though, with no jumping around in speed.

I like the fact it uses all my bits. Even in the small bits, the
chucks held tightly. On larger bits (I had to drill out a couple of
screws completely using a 3/8" bit) it held it easily as well.

The compact size it really, really, easy to get used to. It slipped
into the corners, around braces, and into my tool bags without any
problems. This is nice.

The housing has rubber bumpers around the case at strategic drop
points. This is a good idea as all the tools take a tumble now and
then, but the guys that design them never seem to take that into
consideration.

All in all, I think HD has a winner with this one. It actually seems
to do what it says it will, and more. And two for one, too. What a
pleasant surprise from the HD guys. I will be reattaching all doors,
hardware and drawer slides and hardware in the next few days. Rest
assured I will scream like a mashed cat if anything goes wrong.

Robert

On Nov 18, 8:25*am, "Leon" wrote:
2 Ridgif 12 volt drills with lifetime warranty for $129.00?

That is a deal, thanks for posting Robert.

I'm confused however, the Milwaukee rep sold you on the Ridgid drill???
Perhaps Milwaukee is making the drill for Ridgid now.

The rep for TSTI (or TSI) that was the holding company told me they
are both his products, along with Ryobi USA and a couple of others,
including a paint brush company.

He moved me over to Ridgid as he could see there was no sale on the
Milwaukee products, most of which are now made overseas. That shift
started well before their sale to the holding company.

But being a good sales rep, he sold me what he had in his line, making
sure I didn't go to another brand he didn't represent. As a sidebar,
the feel of the Ridgid and the Milwaukee are eerily similar.

Robert

wrote:
....
Milwaukee products, most of which are now made overseas. That shift
started well before their sale to the holding company.
....
W/ Milwaukee, don't believe there really was much "shift"; they began
building overseas w/ the introduction of new products. They still
afaik, have all the same US production facilities they ever had.

I've two of the 18V hammer drills; one has a Eastern Europe tag, the
other (actually the newer of the two), US.

--

On Nov 18, 2:05*am, "Upscale" wrote:

That made me go
with the DeWalt brand. If I can support mostly local production and get when
I need, then that's the way I like to go.

DeWalt is a mixed bag or origin, one of the original "mutt" tools.
Many of them are plainly marked with China or Taiwan as their place of
origin. And remember, to be stamped "made in USA", they only need a
certain amount of parts and labor with USA as their origin to be
stamped as such.

My planer box said right on the box "assembled in Mexico from parts
made in Taiwan, Mexico, Indonesia and other countries".

On the box.

I took apart my prized DW 18v drill when it quit working to see if
there was something obviously wrong with it I could fix.

The case was made in Mexico, as was cast into the actual case. The
motor was an old Johnson motor, although I understand that today they
use a Taiwanese motor. No markings on the drive train or trigger, so
no idea where they were made.

Cutting open the battery, they were Panasonic industrial made in
China.

I don't think DW or other major brand makes an honest "made in USA"
tool.

Robert

wrote in message
...
On Nov 18, 8:25 am, "Leon" wrote:
2 Ridgif 12 volt drills with lifetime warranty for $129.00?

That is a deal, thanks for posting Robert.

I'm confused however, the Milwaukee rep sold you on the Ridgid drill???
Perhaps Milwaukee is making the drill for Ridgid now.

The rep for TSTI (or TSI) that was the holding company told me they
are both his products, along with Ryobi USA and a couple of others,
including a paint brush company.

He moved me over to Ridgid as he could see there was no sale on the
Milwaukee products, most of which are now made overseas. That shift
started well before their sale to the holding company.

But being a good sales rep, he sold me what he had in his line, making
sure I didn't go to another brand he didn't represent. As a sidebar,
the feel of the Ridgid and the Milwaukee are eerily similar.

Robert

Thanks Robert, I steered my BIL towards Ridgid shortly after the hurricane.
He is an occasional user and I really pushed the life time warranty on the
battery as being something he would probably appreciate.

"Leon" wrote

"Swingman" wrote in message

cm" wrote

Are the Dewalts made in the USA? I have an 18 volt Dewalt drill and saw
that I bought about 8 years ago I just bought my second set of
batteries last year and they have proved to be real workhorses in our
home repair business.

The DeWalt 18v drill is the most ubiquitous cordless tool on any
construction site I've been on in the last 7 or 8 years.

Robert,
Nice score on the Milwaukee tools. I'll check them out today.

May be wrong, but I would have sworn Robert ended up with the Ryobi 12v
iL?


Humm I thought he ended up with the Ridgid. I'll go back and reread.

Ridgid, Ryobi, Milwaukee, what's the difference?

.... apparently

Looking back, Robert apparently never even mentioned "Ryobi", but alas, when
I think of HD and cheap, that brand immediately pops to mind.

Actually, and judging from what I see on construction sites, a lot of Ridgid
tools, though not the Ridgid of yore, still seem to be pretty damn good,
despite their now *******ized origin.

Witness my Ridgid planer, still trucking along after five or six years of
use.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

Swingman wrote:
....
... a lot of Ridgid tools, though not the Ridgid of yore, still seem to be pretty damn good,
despite their now *******ized origin.

Witness my Ridgid planer, still trucking along after five or six years of
use.
....

Those Ridgid tools _are_ the "Ridgid of yore" for them--Ridgid never
made those prior to the licensing of the name.

The traditional Ridgid domain of pipe wrenches, threaders, etc., etc.,
are unchanged afaik.

--

And remember, to be stamped "made in USA", they only need a
certain amount of parts and labor with USA as their origin to be
stamped as such.

I don't think DW or other major brand makes an honest "made in USA"
tool.

Robert


Of course not.
The way you know your cordless drill isn't made entirely in the USA is
that it's doesn't cost $600.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

wrote in message
...
But... they have a promo on now. For $129, you get TWO drills, two
batteries, the charger and a softside case. I bit. I often set up
two drill when working to do a line of repetition like one drill to
drill holes, one to drive.

I got the Milwaukee, $103 at Amazon. Two batteries, one drill, but otherwise
sounds about the same, lights, fast charger, case and all. HD wasn't
offering the promo back then. I don't feel a loss for having to swap the
driver for a drill bit. The change is quick and easy. More to the point,
though, the 500 RPM driver is a bit slow for drilling. I prefer a normal
corded drill for making lots of holes. (If it's not lots of holes, I guess
it doesn't matter so much how often you swap or don't swap the bits, or how
slow it spins.) It's a great little driver that can also make a few holes.

As to who they are, Milwaukee is a US headquarted company, owned by the
European conglomerate that also owns Ryobi and a few others. Ridgid doesn't
say much on their website about where and who they are.

"MikeWhy" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
...
But... they have a promo on now. For $129, you get TWO drills, two
batteries, the charger and a softside case. I bit. I often set up
two drill when working to do a line of repetition like one drill to
drill holes, one to drive.

I got the Milwaukee, $103 at Amazon. Two batteries, one drill, but
otherwise sounds about the same, lights, fast charger, case and all. HD
wasn't offering the promo back then. I don't feel a loss for having to
swap the driver for a drill bit. The change is quick and easy. More to the
point, though, the 500 RPM driver is a bit slow for drilling. I prefer a
normal corded drill for making lots of holes. (If it's not lots of holes,
I guess it doesn't matter so much how often you swap or don't swap the
bits, or how slow it spins.) It's a great little driver that can also make
a few holes.

As to who they are, Milwaukee is a US headquarted company, owned by the
European conglomerate that also owns Ryobi and a few others. Ridgid
doesn't say much on their website about where and who they are.

Ridgid (the tools) are owned by the same conglomerate as Ryobi. The Ridgid
is on sale at HD for $99(one drill). The 2 drill was a special buy for a
limited time only. The Ridgid is better ,IMO, because you aren't saddled
into using only the Quik-Change bits like the Milwaukee. The specs on both
are very close and the Ridgid has a Lifetime warrenty on everything.

Dave

On Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:08:08 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

You get two batteries that charge one at a time in 30 minutes. There
is no memory; they discharge each time they charge.

'Memory' never really existed anyway - except for specific satellite
applications that had a very precisely controlled charge-discharge
regime and a specific battery chemistry. That's not to say an
occasional deep discharge is bad, but it's not good if individual
cells get reverse polarised. I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to
ever intentionally discharge a battery nor buy a charger that did the
same.

Discharging any battery before charging is normally a waste of time
and energy particularly when chargers exist that can control very
precisely the charge curve to ensure extremely short charge times
without overcharging and overheating together with conditioning of
cells to avoid whisker growth.

In the case of lithium-ion batteries now coming into the portable tool
market a full discharge kills them years before their time - lots of
top ups before the discharge gets too much is the way to go.

I routinely run my five year old Bosch drill Nicad's to the point at
which they become incapable of drilling or screwing at a reasonable
speed. Then fit the other battery. I struggle to discharge a fresh
battery before the discharged one is ready for service. In case they
ever go faulty the cost of new ones is so high I'll either re-cell
them with some modern cell, or given the hug falls in the price of new
tools, buy a new drill.


--

Dave wrote:
"MikeWhy" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
...
But... they have a promo on now. For $129, you get TWO drills,
two
batteries, the charger and a softside case. I bit. I often set
up
two drill when working to do a line of repetition like one drill
to
drill holes, one to drive.

I got the Milwaukee, $103 at Amazon. Two batteries, one drill, but
otherwise sounds about the same, lights, fast charger, case and
all.
HD wasn't offering the promo back then. I don't feel a loss for
having to swap the driver for a drill bit. The change is quick and
easy. More to the point, though, the 500 RPM driver is a bit slow
for drilling. I prefer a normal corded drill for making lots of
holes. (If it's not lots of holes, I guess it doesn't matter so
much
how often you swap or don't swap the bits, or how slow it spins.)
It's a great little driver that can also make a few holes.

As to who they are, Milwaukee is a US headquarted company, owned by
the European conglomerate that also owns Ryobi and a few others.
Ridgid doesn't say much on their website about where and who they
are.

Ridgid (the tools) are owned by the same conglomerate as Ryobi. The
Ridgid is on sale at HD for $99(one drill). The 2 drill was a
special buy for a limited time only. The Ridgid is better ,IMO,
because you aren't saddled into using only the Quik-Change bits
like
the Milwaukee. The specs on both are very close and the Ridgid has
a
Lifetime warrenty on everything.

I don't see the hex chuck as being all that much of a disadvantage
anymore. One can buy regular chucks with hex shanks that snap right
in (get the deWalt or the Milwaukee, not the Makita that Home Despot
sells--the Makita's shaft has a shoulder on it that's a bit short for
most hex chucks and needs some grinding before it will lock in on some
drills and drivers and isn't all that great a chuck to begin with).

That said, I'd go with an impact driver over a drill for screws.
Reasons? That Milwaukee drill gives you up to 500 rpm and 100
inch-pounds of torque. The equivalent impact driver in the Milwaukee
range is a hair smaller, a hair heavier, gives you up to 2000 RPM and
850 inch-pounds and doesn't fight you. You do pay about 70 bucks more
for the impact driver though.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

"J. Clarke" wrote in message
inch-pounds of torque. The equivalent impact driver in the Milwaukee
range is a hair smaller, a hair heavier, gives you up to 2000 RPM and
850 inch-pounds and doesn't fight you. You do pay about 70 bucks more
for the impact driver though.

Only problem with impact drivers is that they're loud. Frequently, I find
myself putting something together in my living room in the middle of the
night. Don't think the neighbours would appreciate that too much.

"Upscale" wrote in message
...

"J. Clarke" wrote in message
inch-pounds of torque. The equivalent impact driver in the Milwaukee
range is a hair smaller, a hair heavier, gives you up to 2000 RPM and
850 inch-pounds and doesn't fight you. You do pay about 70 bucks more
for the impact driver though.

Only problem with impact drivers is that they're loud. Frequently, I find
myself putting something together in my living room in the middle of the
night. Don't think the neighbours would appreciate that too much.


Agreed, I have both a Makita drill and impact driver. Each has it's own set
of pluses. The impact is a brute but like most impacts, is noisy and tends
to be too aggressive for some screws. With the exception of the Panasonic
and perhaps a few others the impacts cannot be preset to a particular torque
setting.

"Leon" wrote in message
Agreed, I have both a Makita drill and impact driver. Each has it's own
set
of pluses. The impact is a brute but like most impacts, is noisy and
tends
to be too aggressive for some screws. With the exception of the Panasonic
and perhaps a few others the impacts cannot be preset to a particular
torque
setting.

g The noise problem makes me think of when I'm getting things ready for a
morning trip somewhere. I use a compressor top up the pressure on my
wheelchair tires, but I can't (won't) use it for my late night preparations.
I had to go out and buy myself a decent manual pump

"Upscale" wrote

g The noise problem makes me think of when I'm getting things ready for
a
morning trip somewhere. I use a compressor top up the pressure on my
wheelchair tires, but I can't (won't) use it for my late night
preparations.
I had to go out and buy myself a decent manual pump


LOL

I remember years ago, bringing a old fashioned manual tire pump out to pump
up a couple car tires that were underinflated. The people who were visiting
went nuts. They had never seen a human operated tire pump before. They acted
like it was civil war technology and I had an operational antique. I grew
up on the farm where everything from tractor tires to anything else on
wheels were pumped up by hand. I guess that isn't so common anymore.
feeling old and hurtin' a little

Lee Michaels wrote:
....
up on the farm where everything from tractor tires to anything else on
wheels were pumped up by hand. I guess that isn't so common anymore.
feeling old and hurtin' a little
....

Dang!!! That'd take some time for a 18.4-38 rear tractor tire for the
volume alone. (And 38" rims are getting to be on the small side these
days.)

I think a compressor was one of the first things Grandpa got when got
REA power (in '48) -- just too much time and compressed air too useful
for other things to not have.

Having a manual pump as reserve is useful and wise, however, in vehicle
or such.

--

"dpb" wrote

Lee Michaels wrote:
...
up on the farm where everything from tractor tires to anything else on
wheels were pumped up by hand. I guess that isn't so common anymore.
feeling old and hurtin' a little
...

Dang!!! That'd take some time for a 18.4-38 rear tractor tire for the
volume alone. (And 38" rims are getting to be on the small side these
days.)

I think a compressor was one of the first things Grandpa got when got REA
power (in '48) -- just too much time and compressed air too useful for
other things to not have.

Having a manual pump as reserve is useful and wise, however, in vehicle or
such.

The tractor tires were filled mostly with water to increase weight. We just
topped them off with air. What was really hard was pouring water into that
little hole....... Just kidding. We had a special attachment for the hose
for this purpose.

And most of our farm equipment was converted from the horse drawn era. Which
meant that the tires were steel. Although we did have a couple new fangled
trailers with air inflated tires. And the trucks were had rubber tires. But
they started with cranks too. I remember when the big modification on the
trucks were to update their 6 volt systems to 12 volt.

On Nov 19, 7:51 am, "Leon" wrote:

Agreed, I have both a Makita drill and impact driver. Each has it's own set
of pluses. The impact is a brute but like most impacts, is noisy and tends
to be too aggressive for some screws.

Right there with you 100% Leon. The screws (especially the finish
screws) I seem to get these days are so soft it is ridiculous. And
about half the time the phillips bits don't really seem to fit well at
all. Just a little too much drill, and the heads get damaged or
stripped. Unacceptable on finish hardware.

If you note above, I said I dry fit the cabinet components before
finishing. I actually go buy bulk blister packs of screws that are
the same size as the trim screws for the hinges. I use them, then
throw hem away. All the screws are made with the softest material
possible to save wear and tear on their equipment in China. They are
just plain crap.

They are the reason I don't use my larger drills to assemble the
cabs. And the reason I like this new little find (at least for now!)
is that my 14.4 is too much and too bulky for driving 5/8" #6 screws,
and my power screwdriver doesn't feel right when "driving" a screw.

With the exception of the Panasonic
and perhaps a few others the impacts cannot be preset to a particular torque
setting.

I think torque settings are good on the impact guns, but not so much
so on drills. I just turn mine to drill. When driving into
inconsistent materials, it is too much of a pain for me to fiddle with
the torque settings. I leave it on drill, and it's always where it
should be for me. I get used to the "feel" of the drill.

That's another reason for a smaller drill. My bigger drills have
always swamped these little screws, but I don't have the wrists to
drive 300+ screws a day anymore, I don't care what size they are. I
like the control of the smaller unit.

Robert

Lee Michaels wrote:
"dpb" wrote

Lee Michaels wrote:
...
up on the farm where everything from tractor tires to anything else on
wheels were pumped up by hand. I guess that isn't so common anymore.
feeling old and hurtin' a little
...

Dang!!! That'd take some time for a 18.4-38 rear tractor tire for the
volume alone. (And 38" rims are getting to be on the small side these
days.)

I think a compressor was one of the first things Grandpa got when got REA
power (in '48) -- just too much time and compressed air too useful for
other things to not have.

Having a manual pump as reserve is useful and wise, however, in vehicle or
such.

The tractor tires were filled mostly with water to increase weight. We just
topped them off with air. What was really hard was pouring water into that
little hole....... Just kidding. We had a special attachment for the hose
for this purpose.

And most of our farm equipment was converted from the horse drawn era. Which
meant that the tires were steel. Although we did have a couple new fangled
trailers with air inflated tires. And the trucks were had rubber tires. But
they started with cranks too. I remember when the big modification on the
trucks were to update their 6 volt systems to 12 volt.

Can't fill over about half -- we use CaCl solution, too. Still a lot of
volume for a hand pump...

I'm only old enough to remember the Farmall M's as the first tractors
were actively using--by then the old steel-wheel Twin City while it
still would run had been parked and the little Cat 22's that they used
through the 30s for all the row crop work had also been retired as they
had gone from the pull-type 3-row to the 4-row draw bar arrangement.
This was early 50s by then.

All the old horse/mule-drawn equipment was long gone by then, of course,
although there are still pieces sitting in the old equipment row. The
oldest thing we were using then was the '28 Chevy truck which was what I
learned to drive first. It was pretty kewl--still hate it that Dad let
it go while brother and I were off in college and didn't know he was
even thinking about it.

The difference then to now is truly amazing -- now we're up to 12- or
16-row row crop w/ GPS and field monitors that actually place each seed
kernel a precise distance apart on planting or give moisture and
localized yield maps on the fly while harvesting...

--

wrote in message
...

If you note above, I said I dry fit the cabinet components before
finishing. I actually go buy bulk blister packs of screws that are
the same size as the trim screws for the hinges. I use them, then
throw hem away. All the screws are made with the softest material
possible to save wear and tear on their equipment in China. They are
just plain crap.


I thought those screws were made by KRAFT. ;~)


They are the reason I don't use my larger drills to assemble the
cabs. And the reason I like this new little find (at least for now!)
is that my 14.4 is too much and too bulky for driving 5/8" #6 screws,
and my power screwdriver doesn't feel right when "driving" a screw.

Uh huh, that is why I was real reluctant to finally go to a 12 volt after 3
or 4, 9.6 volt models.

I used to use, some 27 or so years ago, a tiny Skil 3 volt screw driver that
looked like a small drill. It were great 95% of the time.



With the exception of the Panasonic
and perhaps a few others the impacts cannot be preset to a particular
torque
setting.

I think torque settings are good on the impact guns, but not so much
so on drills. I just turn mine to drill. When driving into
inconsistent materials, it is too much of a pain for me to fiddle with
the torque settings. I leave it on drill, and it's always where it
should be for me. I get used to the "feel" of the drill.

That can be a PIA, the Makita has the typical torque ring behind the chuck
but also has a drill/driver switch behind the ring. Either push the spring
loaded switch over to go into preset clutch screw mode or push a release
button on the switch to go back to drill mode, or visa versa. Quick and
easy.



That's another reason for a smaller drill. My bigger drills have
always swamped these little screws, but I don't have the wrists to
drive 300+ screws a day anymore, I don't care what size they are. I
like the control of the smaller unit.


I've been saying that for years, strong or not why lug around all the
weight.

"Lee Michaels" wrote in message
...
The tractor tires were filled mostly with water to increase weight. We
just topped them off with air. What was really hard was pouring water
into that little hole....... Just kidding. We had a special attachment
for the hose for this purpose.

The old timers would also refill a tire with propane when they were low.
Having worked in tire stores in my early years we were always very cautious
to question a farmer about what he used to refil all of his tires when they
went low.

100 ft lbs of torque? That's more than my Harley. That would rip your arm
off. 100 inch pounds is more likely.

wrote in message
...
Went to HD to pick up some sandpaper the other day to work on the
kitchen remodel and cab refinish I am doing. The Milwaukee rep was
there, and he told me that HD was going to start carrying a pretty
full line of Milwaukee at some stores, and Hilti at others.

He showed asked me if I had seen the new little Milwaukee 12v Li drill/
driver. I immediately chuckled, thinking of the little Fisher/Price
see through drill I bought my nephew when he was 5.

He was adamant. These are real tools, he proclaimed. In my head, I
was still seeing the red plastic drill bit rotating as powered by two
double a batteries.

He plucked the MW 12v off the shelf. It was small. It had only 100
lbs of torque. (Again with the Fisher/Price image...) He let me try
it and I was pleasantly surprised at the power. It will honestly
drive a 3" screw into soft wood without a pilot. He claimed it was
sold as being capable of driving 130 or so without a charge, but his
own personal experience put it at about 80+. Impressive. It was
something like $159, so I figured for someone it might be a good deal.

Seeing I wasn't buying, he asked if I had ever tried the Ridgid 12V Li
drill. I didn't even know they made one, and didn't care. Another
demo. Same driving capacity claimed, but with 120 lbs of torque, and
an LED headlight on it. It felt exactly like the MW in my hand.
Nice, but I am not a tool collector. Even at $129, I didn't bite.

But... they have a promo on now. For $129, you get TWO drills, two
batteries, the charger and a softside case. I bit. I often set up
two drill when working to do a line of repetition like one drill to
drill holes, one to drive.

Here's the skinny:

You get two batteries that charge one at a time in 30 minutes. There
is no memory; they discharge each time they charge.

This has a nice, heavy duty chuck on it that doesn't require hex ended
bits and drivers to work. All your bits will work as normal.

The drills AND batteries are covered in the lifetime warranty. If one
drill goes down and hits the warranty slow roll, you still have the
other to work with.

I am working on a kitchen refurb, one in which I am completely
refinishing the cabinets inside and out. When I do this, I remove all
hardware from doors, drawers and stiles, fill the holes, and dry fit
all the components. Then I drill new holes as needed, fit the
component hardware and component to my liking, and remove them once
more.

Here's what I have so far.

The little drill has a bunch of power. Not my Makita cordless hammer
drill power, but it's 1/3 the size. I was really surprised at how
much power those little batteries will transmit to the motor.

In 30 year old hard white oak, I drilled 238 holes 1/8" (diameter) X
5/8" deep, drove about 175 #6 screws, and changed bits about 45
times. I keep the same drill (testing the actual use and battery
time) and started with a full, fresh charge. All the the holes were
drilled, screws driven, etc. on just one charge.

The battery was recharged in 25 minutes.

I thought the LED light was a silly joke. It is until you get the bit
about 2" out of the chuck, and then it actually shines on the tip of
the drill bit and material. This was really handy inside the base
units when pulling the drawer hardware.

The batteries are in the handle, so it makes the drill a bit chunky in
the hand, but not uncomfortable.

The trigger has a really short throw, so it is a bit twitchy compared
to my bigger drills. It does speed increases and decreases accurately
though, with no jumping around in speed.

I like the fact it uses all my bits. Even in the small bits, the
chucks held tightly. On larger bits (I had to drill out a couple of
screws completely using a 3/8" bit) it held it easily as well.

The compact size it really, really, easy to get used to. It slipped
into the corners, around braces, and into my tool bags without any
problems. This is nice.

The housing has rubber bumpers around the case at strategic drop
points. This is a good idea as all the tools take a tumble now and
then, but the guys that design them never seem to take that into
consideration.

All in all, I think HD has a winner with this one. It actually seems
to do what it says it will, and more. And two for one, too. What a
pleasant surprise from the HD guys. I will be reattaching all doors,
hardware and drawer slides and hardware in the next few days. Rest
assured I will scream like a mashed cat if anything goes wrong.

Robert

"Leon" wrote

"Lee Michaels" wrote in message
...
The tractor tires were filled mostly with water to increase weight. We
just topped them off with air. What was really hard was pouring water
into that little hole....... Just kidding. We had a special attachment
for the hose for this purpose.

The old timers would also refill a tire with propane when they were low.
Having worked in tire stores in my early years we were always very
cautious to question a farmer about what he used to refil all of his tires
when they went low.

I trust that you followed the no smoking rules when working with those
tires.

"Lee Michaels" wrote in message
I remember years ago, bringing a old fashioned manual tire pump out to
pump
up a couple car tires that were underinflated.

Now *that* conjures up some memories. Some 35 years ago, I had a job
delivering flowers in a company supplied car. Naturally, all the cars in the
fleet were wrecks. Anyway, 3-4 times a week, I'd get a flat tire because all
the tires were bald. I'd get out my trusty tire pump, inflate the tire
enough so I could see where to insert a rubber plug doused in rubber cement
and then inflate the tire up to proper pressure. It must have looked
ridiculous to people passing by seeing some idiot at the side of the road
frantically pumping up one of his car tires.

"CW" wrote in message
m...
100 ft lbs of torque? That's more than my Harley.

Only in your wettest of dreams.

That would rip your arm
off. 100 inch pounds is more likely.

He left that ambiguous. Inch pounds would be spec for the Milwaukee.

"MikeWhy" wrote in message
...
"CW" wrote in message
m...
100 ft lbs of torque? That's more than my Harley.

Only in your wettest of dreams.

Oh. "More than". I initially read it as "more like".

"Lee Michaels" wrote in message
...

"Leon" wrote

"Lee Michaels" wrote in message
...
The tractor tires were filled mostly with water to increase weight. We
just topped them off with air. What was really hard was pouring water
into that little hole....... Just kidding. We had a special attachment
for the hose for this purpose.

The old timers would also refill a tire with propane when they were low.
Having worked in tire stores in my early years we were always very
cautious to question a farmer about what he used to refil all of his
tires when they went low.

I trust that you followed the no smoking rules when working with those
tires.

Not being a smoker, not a problem, either way we tried to let the gas out
out side.

"CW" wrote in message
m...
100 ft lbs of torque? That's more than my Harley. That would rip your arm
off. 100 inch pounds is more likely.


100 ft lbs of torque on am impact is nothing to handle. Most tire stores
use 1/2" drive impacts that are capable of 175-150 ft lbs of torque. Your
Harley has a torque that is constant as opposed to that of an impact.

Lee Michaels wrote:
I grew
up on the farm where everything from tractor tires to anything else on
wheels were pumped up by hand. I guess that isn't so common anymore.
feeling old and hurtin' a little


We still sell at least 10-15 pumps a week at the bicycle shop.

Of course, CO2 has taken over for on-road or on-trail flat fixes... G

"Leon" wrote in
:


"Lee Michaels" wrote in message
...

"Leon" wrote
The old timers would also refill a tire with propane when they were
low. Having worked in tire stores in my early years we were always
very cautious to question a farmer about what he used to refil all
of his tires when they went low.

I trust that you followed the no smoking rules when working with
those tires.

Not being a smoker, not a problem, either way we tried to let the gas
out out side.




There's still signs in modern shops today reminding workers not to smoke
when working on tires. It seems some of the fix-a-flat stuff uses
flammable material (probably butante) to inflate the tire.

Puckdropper
--
If you're quiet, your teeth never touch your ankles.

To email me directly, send a message to puckdropper (at) fastmail.fm

On Nov 19, 11:47*am, "CW" wrote:

100 ft lbs of torque? That's more than my Harley. That would rip your arm
off. 100 inch pounds is more likely.

You should find the nitwit that posted 100 FT LBS of torque and flame
his ass to kingdom come.

Or read more closely.

Personally, I would assume that one would immediately go to inch
pounds when considering a an 8" long, 45 oz. 12v drill.

Sillier still, to compare that tiny drill to your Harley. Maybe that
should have been your tip off before posting.

Robert