Cordless tools!!!!
 

Oh man what a waste of time. I have a few small-ish projects in the back yard ans away from power outlets. The materials are mostly 2X's and plywood so wrestling the full sized corded Craftsman circular wasn't appealing to me.

I have a Ryobi cordless drill that works well so I figured I'd get a Ryobi saw (6 1/2 inch) so I could use the same batteries. Get home charge the battery and set to work. Four cuts, 4! later the saw stops. I check the battery and the charger says it's full. Try again and the saw won't run under load. Screw it. I return it and get a refund.

I go online and check some more so I go out and get a DeWalt. Believe it or not the same friggin' thing! A few cuts and it stops. Back to the store, full refund, drag out the Craftsman. sigh

I'm thinking they all probably use the same provider for the batteries.

Any success stories for cordless saws?

I find it easier to drag my generator out to the front yard when fixing my fence (at least once a year, usually 3 times in 2 years, past 20 years) than it is to deal wtih cordless tools. Even things lke a simple drill/power screw driver - never charged when you needed, never last long enough, etc.

Cordless tools!!!!
 

I have a nice 19 volt cordless drill. The batteries are shot after two years. Replacement batteries are almost as much as an entire replacement drill and batteries. Rebuilding the batteries can be more than on-line replacement batteries from the manufacturer. It is frustrating to just have a disposable tool.

My plug in drill is 35 years old and works fine.

I have replaced nearly all of my pneumatic and electric tools with Milwaukee M18's. That includes impacts, drills, drill drivers, garden trimmer, hedge trimmer, sawzall, . . . . everything. The key is the battery and having a great charger. When I am out in the field I use an inverter with a single station charger. Still have some corded stuff, cut off saw, drill press, shaper to take care of the more precise stuff, but M18 and never look back.

The old Milwakee 18V started smoking and had to be replaced. Weighed a ton also.
The old B&D 18V batteries won't hold juice for long. junk.

The new B&D 20V lithium is very lightweight, has an LED, and lasted all day with light use and hours longer than I expected. Nice.

I just bought one of those Ryobi 40V weed whackers on sale, before I priced a second battery. Holy s&@&:/“!!!

It does an ok job but I still think I’m gonna try to fix my 2 stroke one more time.

I wonder if they put more quality into Milwaukee than Ryobi.

In 2005, Atlas Copco sold Milwaukee Electric Tool (and Atlas Copco Electric Tools) to Techtronic Industries (TTI) of Hong Kong.


In addition to Milwaukee, TTI's brands currently include Ryobi, AEG, and Homelite. One World Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of TTI, also manufactures RIDGID

Tried to find who owns Dewalt;

The Hardware & Home Improvement Group, including the Kwikset, Weiser, Baldwin, National Hardware, Stanley, FANAL, Pfister and EZSET brands, was acquired by Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. on December 17, 2012.[7]
Acquisitions[edit]
1937: Stanley Works entered the UK market with the acquisition of J.A. Chapman of Sheffield, England.[8]
1946: Stanley Works acquired North Brothers Manufacturing Company.[9]
1963: Stanley started operations in Australia as Stanley-Titan when it bought a 50% share of Titan, a subsidiary of BHP.[10]
1966: Stanley Works acquired Vidmar Cabinets.[11]
1970: Stanley-Titan acquired Turner Tools based in Melbourne, Australia.[12]
1980: Stanley Works acquired Mac Tools.[8][13]
1984: Stanley Works purchased Proto from Ingersoll Rand and it becomes Stanley Proto.[14]
1986: Stanley Works acquired Bostitch from Textron.[15]
1990: Stanley Works acquired Goldblatt[8][13] and ZAG Industries.[13]
1990: Acquired Sidchrome Tool Co., headquartered in Melbourne, Australia; closed plant in 1996 and started to move all tool manufacturing to Taiwan, whilist sourcing various items from Proto in the USA (marked as Proto on items) due to short supply of left over Australian made tools being sold out until all manufacturing was up to speed in Taiwan.
1992: Stanley Works purchased the Chatsworth, California-based Monarch Mirror Door Co. Inc., an American manufacturer of sliding and folding mirror-doors.
2000: Stanley Works acquired Blick of Swindon, England,[8][13] a UK integrator of security solutions, communication, and time-management solutions, and CST Berger.[8][13]
2002: In October, Stanley Works acquired Best Access Systems of Indianapolis, Indiana, for $310 million. The acquisition also prompted the creation of a new Access Controls Group for Stanley. Further additions to this new working group included Blick.
2004: In January, Stanley announced plans to acquire Frisco Bay Industries Ltd., a Canadian provider of security integration services, for $45.3 million. In December, the acquisition of ISR Solutions, Inc., headquartered in Washington, D.C., was announced. ISR Solutions provides the U.S. federal government and commercial customers with access security system services.
2005: In January, the acquisition of Security Group, Inc. was announced. Security Group was composed of two primary operating companies: Sargent & Greenleaf, Inc., a manufacturer of locks; and Safemasters, a North American provider of security installation, maintenance and repair services. An additional acquisition of Precision Hardware was made in 2005.
2006: Stanley furthered its corporate assets in the security market by acquiring HSM Electronic Protection Systems after it had been spun off from Honeywell in compliance with pre-emptive Securities and Exchange Commission antitrust rulings. In the meantime, the company obtained security contracts as the primary contractor to secure three NASA spaceflight centers.[16] Stanley Works also acquired Facom'.[8][13]
2007: Late in the year, Stanley acquired OSI Security of Chula Vista, California, a provider of battery-operated wireless lock technology and supplies to government, education, and healthcare industries.
2008: Stanley acquired Beach Toolbox Industries, headquartered in Smith Falls, Ontario, Canada, then closed the plant.
2008: In June, Stanley announced the acquisition of Sonitrol, which provides security systems that use audio listening devices as the primary means of intrusion detection. Stanley also acquired Xmark Corporation, which provides radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions in healthcare environments. As of 2008, many of the Stanley Security Services divisions were being integrated under the HSM brand.
2009: On November 2, Stanley announced a merger with Black & Decker and DeWalt tools.[17] The merger was completed on March 12, 2010.[18]
2010: In July, the company announced the acquisition of CRC-Evans Pipeline International.[19] CRC-Evans provides total project support for pipeline construction contractors with automatic welding and other pipeline construction specific equipment and personnel.
2011: On September 9, the acquisition of Niscayah was complete.
2012: On January 1, the acquisition of Lista North America, headquartered in Holliston, Massachusetts, was completed.[20]
2012: On June 1, the acquisition of Powers Fasteners, headquartered in Brewster, New York, was completed.[21]
2012: On June 5, the acquisition of AeroScout, Inc., headquartered in Redwood City, California, was completed.[22]
2016: Stanley Black & Decker announced in October that it acquired the Irwin, Lenox, and Hilmor tool brands for $1.95 billion from Newell Brands.[23]
2017: On January 5, news reports indicated that it would acquire the Craftsman brand from KCD, LLC (A Sears Holdings subsidiary).[24] Subsequent reports by Bloomberg indicated that the company would pay $525 million initially, an additional $250 million after three years, as well as annual payments on new Craftsman sales for 15 years.[25]

For my service anniversary gift at work I selected a set of 6 Milwaukee tools with 18 volt lithium batteries. The small, and light weight 6 1/2 inch saw works fine for me.

I use the Ryobi cordless all the time. Just added router and sander for convenience.

Binding or dull blade a possibility? Once the blade binds, it kicks off the overload. Sharp blade will cut 20+ studs.

I've had a $200 Old Milwaukee 18V cordless drill for years....love it, for most stuff. Also have a 58V Echo blower...use it a lot too. But when REAL work needs to be done...my tool will have a cord or a two-cycle gas thingy powering it....there is NO substitute ;).

edited...mebbe it's just Milwaukee...not crappy beer...LOL...

My guys beat our Milwaukee cordless tools to death. They hold up fine. I like Bosch because I like their ergonomics a little better. It shouldn't stop after just four cuts.

I love my Milwaukee 18V cordless tools, but have not used a saw.

Bought a Bosch Li-Ion 18v drill & driver combo and a 58V EGO blower almost 4 years ago. Continue to be astounded at how well they function. The Bosch set can go almost a full day of use on a single charge, the Ego blower is powerful and recharges in a short 15 minutes. Highly recommend this stuff. Far superior to the older cordless tools of the past.

I have a lot of DW 18V tools. They have been great for what they are. Battery management is key (heat, keep them charged, etc.).

But I don't build houses with them so 30 hard working minutes on a cordless works for me on the farm fixing fences, repairing barns, etc...I drag out the generator and corded tools if the job it too big.

Ryobi tools here. The original battery didn't last as long as expected.
The replacement battery has given me at least twice as long a life...and still going.
I wonder if the battery in the original purchase is as good as the replacement.

DeWalt 20V drills, drivers and circular saw. Everything works great. The saw has even been used to build an entire garage. However, you get about 6 cuts in before it drains the 2 ah battery it comes with. Upgrade to a 5 ah battery and you can make about 20 cuts. Thankfully the batteries quick charge in about 20 minutes but it's still rather annoying how quick they eat the juice.

That all being said, I prefer corded versions. If I wasn't given the DeWalt for free, I wouldn't use them. They are convenient but not enough to warrant paying the price for them (or god forbid, the replacement batteries).

I've been using Sears Craftsman C3 19.3 volt tools for 15 years now. I used to have problems as described in the OP. I upgraded from NiMH to LIon, then just went to large capacity LIon. Outside of major project, I basically charge them twice a year. I have 4 batteries, and can charge two as I use two. Works great for high-load projects (like driving lag screws).

I only use them for minor jobs where I get sick of plugging something in and running an extension cord. So they work well for me.

I was horrified when I saw battery powered angle grinders with cut off disks come out. Talk about a burglar's toolkit.

Two years ago I gifted myself the ryobi 18v combo - 1/2 inch drill, 6"circular saw, sawzall, flashlight.
Love the 1/2" drill (several years back my brother gifted me the 3/8 12v which is going strong and super handy around the house for light duty)
Sawzall is sloppy but okay for pruning trees and cutting PVC (I have my dad's old craftsman jigsaw for fine work)
Flashlight is... well, a flashlight.

Circular saw seems to burn through battery life.

Fortunately I have a 4 1/2" corded Makita... and a 7 1/2 inch worm drive Milwaukee that weighs about 20lbs :D

WE always have a big old Skillsaw or two at our job. The lil' cordless saw is the go to tool is they men has to climb up a ladder or small cut. Any thing larger, we get the big worm drive. Its not made or design for continuous use especially cutting thick stock.

Use a sharp blade. That helps a lot