Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

We are trying to start a team and determining what tools and equipment we'll need. We're trying to decide whether corded or cordless(or even air powered) tools are better and what the best brands are. We'll most likely have both(we're thinking maybe mostly corded, with smaller cordless for pit and smaller jobs), but for primary use, do you prefer corded or cordless? What brands do you use/prefer? Why? Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

I almost always prefer cordless over corded (and air for the same reason), because even if you have plugs available, dealing with the wires all the time is a pain, and can be dangerous if the floor becomes a massive tripping hazard. Really the only tool I regularly use that isn't a benchtop machine is a drill, but I really do wish that my circular saw and scroll saw were cordless. Sanders and grinders are fine corded because of the frequency with which I use them, and I have a corded drill for really tough jobs though. Some tools are almost always air powered (like nail guns unless you buy Pasload), and that just is what it is.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

All our drills are cordless. We use DeWalt because we got them during a Black Friday sale.

Our jig saw and circular saw are corded because most are.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

Definitely cordless, if your aiming for tools which are safe and convenient for students to use cordless drills and impact drivers are best. Cordless drills are less powerful( which is good), lighter, smaller and easier to use.

If there is something that you need a corded drill for it should probably be done in a drill press.

In regards to cordless cutting tools, there isn’t a great deal of difference between corded jigsaws, circular saws and recip saws, so corded or cordless is probably alright.

I would probably stay away from air tools, unless you already have access to compressed air. Compressed Air rivet guns can be great, if you’ve got access to air.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

You want cordless for most things, maybe not high power items like saws because they eat batteries very fast and you want to stay productive.

1678 uses Ryobi everything so they share batteries, you want lots of batteries. We managed to get a bunch of Ryobi stuff on online auctions so we saved a lot of money that way.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

We use corded simply because that's what we have. We are still using drills original to the the team. We would love to go cordless to make many things easier, and if were able to find cheap cordless sets, we would jump on that immediately.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

For our shop, we purchased all cordless Milwaukee M18 tools for drills and impacts. For us, it allowed us to standardize on one battery which made things very easy. I have lots of experience with Milwaukee tools and they have shown themselves to be high quality with very few issues, and they have been great when any problem arrived.

As a side note, I was in you exact position at the beginning of this season. Here is a link to a Google Sheet with all the tools we purchased, with links, prices, etc.

https://goo.gl/qYTa66

Also, feel free to PM me, I would be more than happy to talk to you about my experience starting our shop and any questions you have.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

Ryobi has been pretty good for us. It's a great value, especially when on sale, like right now. I've also been successful in warrantying a few batteries right at Home Depot. My favorite drill though is the black and white compact Makita. It has a really nice chuck on it, but we did manage to cook one a couple years ago, and had to replace it.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

That's what we use for drills.

We also use a hilti wireless circular saw.

Everything else is wired.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

Thank you. We are just getting started, and would appreciate being able to reach out to teams who have already done this as we start building our team.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

I personally prefer corded tools, but for the team, we went cordless for most of our hand-held tools, because we often need to use them away from the shop (and that will get worse this year as we may lose the space where we ran most of our corded power tools.). If you do cordless, pick one brand & voltage, and buy/use it consistently. We were not satisfied with Ryobi (does not stand up to student [ab]use), but we get good performance from our DeWalt 20V tools.

If you go cordless, assign a "tool battery czar", just as you probably have a "robot battery czar". They may or may not be the same person, but the job is nearly as critical.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

Garnet Squadron is almost all Bosch (tends to happen when you're sponsored...), and their tools have worked great for us. We do have one older corded drill, which is a great thing to have for long drilling sessions and as a safety margin.

A few teams use air-powered tools, especially riveters, but your air capacity in the pit areas (8'x8' to 10'x10') at competitions will be limited by your compressor.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

We generally bring a 5 gallon compressor to competitions which is way more then enough. Inspectors don't like it but our pit neighbors do.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

The one thing I dislike thoroughly about the DeWalt 20V line is that it is NOT 20 volts, its the EXACT same cells as all the other 18V lines but they advertise it at the nominal voltage and not the cell voltage that every other manufacturer uses.

So they are scamming you into thinking the battery has more voltage when it does not.

/RANT

As a side note, learn to FIX your tools. Most of them use 775's inside them anyway..... We are a resourceful bunch after all, might as well practice.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

Think a 775Pro would be an upgrade?

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

No a 775pro would not be an upgrade the Dewalt 18volt and "20volt", the stock Dewalt motors are way more powerful. The 775pro most likely wouldn't last long on 18 or 20 volts anyway.

The peak power of the Dewalt 18volt motor is around 1200watts

The peak power of the 775pro run @18volts would be around 780watts

A Banebots 775-18 would most likely be the best replacement, teams probably have quite a few anyway.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

It would depend on the tool, but I recently repaired a Ryobi I bought at auction(motor was shot) the 775Pro would have had the same output RPMs(might reach a similar wattage at the increased volts). Not sure how long it would deal with the voltage, I would assume the brushes would just wear out faster and would last okay as long as you weren't stalling it.

Would have to ask RC to be sure.

Is that 1200 watts in the DeWalt from testing or a number from DeWalt? I will trust the first, the second is likely false.(nothing against the DeWalt, I just don't trust tool marketing teams)

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

DeWalt has both an 18V and a 20V line of tools, which are not compatible with each other. My supposition is that 20V was created to be "different" than 18V more than "higher voltage". However they came up with the number, 3946 is happy with the results.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

While the "20 volts" part might not be correct, I've been a fan of using these small Dewalt drills for personal and robotics projects.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-20...71C2/204279858

While its not used as much, a right angle drill can be really useful especially during those "crisis" moments of a last second fix or redesign late in the year when most of the robot is assembled to get into some tight spots.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-20...740B/203316372

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

To echo what others have said, pick a brand (Ryobi/Bosch/DeWalt/Hilti/etc) and invest in their ~18V ecosystem, ie every cordless tool you buy should take the same batteries. Start with a drill and build your stock up from there.

In the event you have a tool that you'd rarely use, (eg we rarely use a circular saw) then it's OK to get a corded version. However, all other things (price/power/durability/etc) being equal, if you can get the same tool that takes the same 18V batteries as the rest of your tools, then purchase the cordless variety.

The thing you want to avoid is having multiple incompatible tools/batteries, it may seem trivial now but down the line it makes management and replacement sooo much easier.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

We use battery powered Dewalt drills, but since we only have like 3 batteries and 1 charger (that works, anyways) I make sure we always bring the old corded drill we have with us to events. It's saved us on a few occasions were the other drills were either dead or not strong enough for something.

We also use a corded Dremel tool, but that's mostly just because the battery powered versions don't seem to work as good.

In theory, battery powered is the way to go, but you have to make an investment in a decent number of spare batteries and chargers to make it practical.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

We use cordless drills (Dewalt) only, which is usually limited to some on robot modification. Otherwise we use full size machine tools.

We also have a battery powered band saw that we bring along for our competition pits.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

We switched from Ryobi to Makita LXT for cordless this past year. It has been a great upgrade and I'm happy we made the switch. The extended life batteries can last an entire competition without a recharge it seems so one less charger running in the pit.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

It's hard to beat the power of a corded drill when you are drilling a lot of holes or big holes. It is nice to have one around for those occasional needs.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

Yeah, no problem! I would be happy to help with anything about your rookie season, and that goes for any pre-rookie/rookie reading this. Just PM me.

Edit: Also, look in to a Right-angle drill. We purchased one and it has been fantastic for drilling in tight spaces on the robot.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

I will second this. Milwaukee M18 series is incredible with a ton of other tools available to build your arsenal. Plus, the Milwaukee Cabinets easily transport (I have seen a lot of these in other teams' pits) and are built with the M18 series in mind.

We do have other brands in our arsenal - but after using the M18 series, we are not looking anywhere else. In fact after using them, I have started to replace my old personal tools with this line from Milwaukee!

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

Aside from my glowing report for the Milwaukee M18 Series - we do have three of these Dewalt corded drills and they are workhorses. In fact, I use these in my Metals/Welding classes (where 200+ students use them each year) and they haven't balked at any work we have thrown at them.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

Overall I lean torwards corded because they will work when you need them. Pits have power, so a non issue, other than a possible cord in the way as mentioned. A good cordless drill is almost a must though. You will use it a lot and having the different clutch settings is great. I would still have a good corded one though, I personally carry a 1/2" Milwaukee Magnum Hole Shooter with me during build season. Great for demanding jobs (think hole saws or step drills) and doesn't heat up or wear down batteries like a cordless does. I have a 18v 1/2" chuck DeWalt cordless I use otherwise. I use the battery DeWalt for most stuff but go right to the corded Milwaukee for heavy repeticious stuff.

They all have their place. Lastly, for any tools not often used I'd go corded unless it would take the same battery as one more commonly used on you team. It would be more dependable (and cheaper, no battery replacement) for something that may sit for months during off season and shorten battery life for a tool rarely used and then when needed not work due to bad batteries.

Team 237 has a 1/2" corded Sioux angle drill "Penguin" that gets a lot of use. Good for tight quarters and even carefully power taping. Just leave the tap on the loose side in the chuck so if it gets caught it spins and not snaps off. There is a feel to it you get after awhile.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

I have a Ryobi set at home, although we use Makitas in robotics and the woodshop. I have 2 regular drills and an impact drill.
I personally like the Ryobi better because it's a little faster to swap out batteries, the batteries are larger, it makes a really satisfying snapping noise when you put new batteries in. However, functionality wise both the Makitas and Ryobi are good.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

Yes, yes. At the house, I use essentially all corded tools, and handheld tools only when I'm drilling into walls and such. Fortunately, on the FRC team we haven't had to swiss cheese our robot since our rookie year, so we've been able to work well with cordless tools.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

When we started we had a bunch of cheap drills. By the end of the first year the batteries were dying and the chuck was wobbling. We love the new 20v DeWalt's as they are lighter than the older DeWalt's, have good battery power, run time, easy to use keyless chucks and don't wobble.

We also have a goose neck DeWalt. Its great for tight spaces or used as a nut runner.

We do have one corded drill which we only use when drilling a large hole with a hole saw. The cordless drills have enough power for all of our other needs. Even more power than our drill press.

Along the way we have instituted a drilling training program. With the better drills it has reduced the number of times the transmission is in the wrong gear, being used in reverse or creating chip dust. The training program improves safety and reduces our drill bit costs.

Dave

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

Buy a name brand tool that you will be able to buy replacement batteries for in years to come, otherwise when the battery wears down and you can't buy replacements, the tool becomes garbage -- well, at least you could take apart the drill and play with the gearbox and motor!

So Ryobi, Dewalt, Makita, Milwaukee, Ridgid, etc. (Careful about Ridgid though - they do advertise lifetime warranties and all, but they also seem to discontinue old product lines and introduce new ones fairly frequently).

The nice thing about some product lines like Ryobi and DeWalt is the selection of tools you can use with the same batteries and chargers.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

We have a mix of Milwaukee M18 and M12 tools. While the M18 tools are great, unless we are doing tons of drilling most of the time we prefer to use the smaller M12 tools which still have tons of power. Due to their lighter weight I've found that smaller students have an easier time drilling straight holes with M12 tools.

You can usually find sets of M12 tools on sale. I would definitely recommend getting a M12 Hacksawzall. It's one of our most used tools. We use it to cut polycarb, aluminium and wood for prototyping.

Re: Corded vs Cordless Power Tools
 

If you do get any corded tools, or anything that requires power that isn't against a wall, and you have the ceiling height for it, I highly recommend hanging a few extension cord reels. Like this (http://m.homedepot.com/p/30-ft-16-3-...-800/204379332). It is so much nicer to just have power above your head when you need it than to have to run an extension cord across your shop and have people constantly tripping on it. This is right up there with our CNC router for my favorite thing in our shop.