Anybody use cordless saws on the job?

We roofed a house this week for a guy who owns a tool supply store. He normally does his own roofing, but just helped us out quite a bit.

He sells primarily Milwaukee tools and suggested we use his "fuel" cordless set for the job. I was blown away. The saw and sawzall were impressive. He even had a battery powered blower, but it was a bit weak.

He just might sell a toolset this summer because of this job. I'll have to decide if we are too rough on tools to allow those sweet things on the job.

I try not to buy any american(chinese) tools anymore but i must say the cordless tools for drilling and cutting, are a must have. All of these island run in generators and are extremely unreliable. Sometimes we cant get fuel for days.

From what i understand, black and decker produces the majority of the brands that appear to be "competing" with eachother. I know that before the big box stores, disposable tools were of much higher quality and lasted much longer. I know for sure that every brand of anything in america has a big box model and a smart people model. I learned that here because we have on average almost a 100% tax on goods imported from the usa. It pays for us to spend the extra couple hundred to buy from small shops.

Wether its a drill or a tv or whatever, check the serial numbers. The item at the big box store has something similar in the serial numbers. Then check the serial numbers of the item in a small shop whos a couple hundred more, you will see a difference. Something happens to manufacturers when they are approached with "how much for a hundred containers full?"

The tallest midget for me lately has been the Milwaukee fuel brushless series by far. I always opt for the larger batteries. The makita brushless is a great impact driver and i love how they charge in 15 minutes. But i have to say, when it comes to cordless saws, milwaukee is our preference these days. I like how the blade is on the opposite side. Makes a perfect saw for cutting wood shingles.

The advent of cordless impact drivers changed the game for me. I simply cannot use a drill for a screw ever again! They work great for mechanic work as well. Its good to see at least a couple positives come out of this whole disposable society thing. Yeah they dont last but theyre cheap enough to throw away and buy new. We usually get about a year out of a modern cordless tool.

I still remember my first dewalt set back in 98 lasted me over 10 yrs!

Vickie, even if that drill was the cheapest corded drill available (Black and Decker back then), it would still have more power than the best cordless available today. Women!, they give us men all our power and they don't even know it.

25 years ago my husband wanted a Cordless Makita drill so I bought him a power drill and a 100 foot extension cord. He was not amused. Women!

Have 18v Dewalt ni-cad. Use the sawzall occasionally, but rarely use the circular saw. It draws down the battery really fast. Mostly use the drill and impact driver. Burned out numerous drill motors and clutches. With any serious cutting, fire up the generator.

Back in the day in Phoenix we used chainsaws regularly on new construction - residential, reminding me of the time a plumber had to make his penetrations in the waferboard roof deck for his vent stacks... ...got out the sledgehammer and went after it, breaking through the deck. Pretty soon he had run his pipes through!

wywoody . . We use the cordless circular mostly for filling in vent holes, decking repair and opening up the ridge for venting. If the ridgvent is on a larger home, then I'll string the power cord. We aren't a massive production roofing company, so it works for us. The less cordes and hoses on the roof surface, the better, IMHO.

Andy Said: Been using a DeWalt 18v NiCad 5 pc kit for a few years now. Batteries need replaced once in a while, but works well for daily use.

It's that need for daily use (and keeping it consistently charged) that kills cordless tools for me. Letting the batteries drain down with nonuse is murder for the batteries.

Been using a DeWalt 18v NiCad 5 pc kit for a few years now. Batteries need replaced once in a while, but works well for daily use.

In 90's I bought what was then state-of-the-art Makita 9.6 volt cordless saw and drill. The saw was fine for cutting 1x2's and vent holes, too weak to cut 2 inch thick lumber. But the blade was an odd size and cost more than much larger and better blades.

I got 5 piece cordless set as a gift that is junk. The set is Kawasaki(?!) brand. The sawzall can cut straight, but stalls if you try to cut a curve. The circular saw is worthless. About the only thing I use is the flashlight.

I finally got a cordless Hitachi drill that will actually drill through a piece of tile, if you're patient enough.

I haven't used a cordless saw since about 2000. It was so crappy that I figured they still wouldn't put up w/ jobsite use. Apparently the fuel series has a much longer expected lifetime without having the brushes.

The name "fuel" is slightly misleading.

Quite often. Dewalt circular, and tiger. PS, don't use a finger to stop or interfere with the circular saw. It loses every time. :laugh:

I have had a cordless Milwaukee sawzall and regular saw for years. Just this year I got the cordless shopvac.

They work great and save a lot of time.