THanks and yeah, the 12 volt Milwaukee I got says it will drive something like 130 3-inch screws on one charge. I am finding this tool to be much more gentle on screws, but like anything, it will blow the heads to hell if your not careful. I know my 18V drill delivers up to 500 pounds of torque, which is great for drilling and even does a pretty good job as a hammer drill, but running screws it does not do as well do to the weight. That is also why I have thought about the lighter battery packs. Think I'll wait until one of those goes on sale. I did get the kit that had the 6-inch or so circular saw and it is pretty limited. THe hammer drill is pretty good and the recip saw is ok. THe only reason I really wanted the recip-saw is for tree trimming. However the rate I'm going, there won't be any trees to trim, but those saws are great for demolition work. :) Thanks for the thoughts. Seems 18 volts is what most folks want to buy in any rate. On Apr 5, 2009, at 5:56 PM, Dale Leavens wrote:
> You get more power with bigger batteries, I suppose that is obvious. > The question really is how much power is needed. Lithium ion > batteries can be made quite a bit smaller per capacity and lighter > too which allows more power for a given weight so we now see up to > 36 volt tools. Other changes though have also meant that for some > applications less power is needed. I am thinking of impact drills > and drivers for example. The question then becomes just how much > power does one need and how much capacity. So far I haven't seen a 7 > and a quarter inch battery powered circular saw. 36 volts might be > enough but the size of battery to give one say half a day of > construction site capacity, enough to keep a man working hard all > day swapping out at lunch for example may well be the challenge. > There are 6 inch saws. On the other hand, a 36 volt impact driver > would bust off most fasteners and the added weight would be redundant. > > Nothing wrong with NiCad batteries so long as they are retaining a > charge. I did however purchase replacement Lithium batteries for my > 16.4 volt Panasonic drill when the original NiCad batteries finally > failed. they have done very well although I think beginning to fade > now too. This drill is easily all I need, I do have an electric > impact drill and did not go for a batter one just because the price > is much cheaper and I don't drill a lot of cement. Similarly I am > not sure I would buy a battery jig saw only because the batteries > wouldn't get the use they should have for the occasional use I make > of the saw. > > Probably a big 24 or 36 volt reciprocal saw would be worth while but > again I don't use mine now enough and you can buy a pretty darn good > corded model for about a hundred bucks. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Scott Howell > To: [email protected] > Sent: Sunday, April 05, 2009 4:19 PM > Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Lithyum Ion battery tools > > Hey all, got a question. I know this might seem a silly question, but > amuse me please. Is there any real significant difference between a 18 > volt and 24 volt tool? I suspect there is, but how significant is the > difference. I recently got a Milwaukee impact driver that is 12 volts > and honestly it is quite strong and can really drive some screws. I > guess this little fella really is called an impact driver do to > something in the way it drives a screw, but whatever it does, it does > it well and I like the small size. I assume as you get into larger > battery packs you get more run time and so forth. HOwever, the > difference in 18 volt verses 24 volt may not make a difference if you > are talking about performance in relation to cost. SO, that is why I > wanted to ask. I figure there is a big difference in Nicad and the > Lithyum Ion do to the battery pack itself, but perhaps those old > nicads are still worth hanging on to at this rate. :) > > Thanks, > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
