Yes.

They are.

 

ABSOLUTELY. Without a doubt, no question about it they are worth it.

 

I think so

 

Do they also sell right handed saws?

 

My collection rivals mikes and the answer is yes they are worth it. Great tools.

 

I just bought that milwaukee vacuum and haven't used it yet. What do you think of it?

 

Even though I own a lot of cordless tools, I just don't understand the fascination with them. I think if I was a one man show, they would see a lot more use. With running a crew, I find them generally to be more expensive, less powerful, and not a time saver whatsoever. The exceptions are the drill and impact. If there is a power source within 100 feet, and your gonna use the tool all day, what is the advantage?

 

Thats me too. I use my impact and drill all the time, so do the guys. Cordless sawzalls sometimes, almost never anything else. Especially the skill saws.

My dad loves the Fuels.

 

Yes. Huge improvement over the regular m18.

You also want the 4.0 batteries.

You can get a drill/impact combo with two 4.0 batts for $369, best value

 

Even though I own a lot of cordless tools, I just don't understand the fascination with them. I think if I was a one man show, they would see a lot more use. With running a crew, I find them generally to be more expensive, less powerful, and not a time saver whatsoever. The exceptions are the drill and impact. If there is a power source within 100 feet, and your gonna use the tool all day, what is the advantage?

We do primarily remodeling which is different than framing houses obviously. The main cordless tools we use are the drills and impacts and lights. Cordless recip gets used when we just have a couple cuts to make, faster than a corded. I want the fuel circular for when we just need to make a few cuts.

In Mike's case, I know he loves not having cords strung out across his deck to trip on. Seems with what you do, and this is just guessing, you're not using a circular to make 10 cuts, you're using it all day for weeks on a job. Same with other tools. You're framing a whole house, not modifying a section.

I use cordless if it's faster or won't result in cords running everywhere in a finished house. The fuel really does help with the trade off of cordless power vs corded power.

 

We do a good bit of remodeling as well as framing. The tripping over the cords argument is ridiculous. Run the cords out of the way and your golden. You say the cordless recip is faster for a few cuts? How so? You also state that your not running cords through the finished house during a remodel. Why would they need to be in the finished areas? If your using a sawzall or circular saw, isn't the saw dust a bigger issue in finished areas than the cords are?

 

We do a good bit of remodeling as well as framing. The tripping over the cords argument is ridiculous. Run the cords out of the way and your golden. You say the cordless recip is faster for a few cuts? How so? You also state that your not running cords through the finished house during a remodel. Why would they need to be in the finished areas? If your using a sawzall or circular saw, isn't the saw dust a bigger issue in finished areas than the cords are?

The cords was just for Mike on a deck. Not dragging a cord would be nice IMO. Recip faster as in if I have my Fuel kit inside as is, I can go out to the trailer and grab the saw and a blade, come back, put in a battery, and cut. I can always do that faster than getting the corded and an extension cord or relocating an extension cord to that area if I'm not using on there already. Plus when I'm done, I can set the saw and not have a cord in the way.

I meant finished house vs framing stage with no drywall, cabinets, etc. not through the finished part to the in finished. The house shrinks a bit in room when we have all our stuff out plus clients stuff as well. I almost never use a circular inside other than on an addition or something like that cause of the dust. But again, If I need to cut 2 boards for blocking and I'm not set up out side, it's faster to grab the cordless than locate an outlet.

We do plenty of small one day jobs on addendum's to the contract of sale after a home inspection. Use cordless more on those cause a lot of times it's just using that tool for a few cuts or whatever and cordless is faster/easier.

I use cordless when I can if I feel like I will be faster. It's too hard to go over all the scenarios of what we do though and how it's practical I guess.

 

The fuel line is the closest to corded power that I have ever used. For instance, the fuel sawzall is right on par with the corded model. Here is how my cordless tools save me time during remodels:

I have all my 18v milwaukee line and my m12 line in 3 dewalt tough system boxes. They come out of the trailer first thing. 15 or so much needed tools are within 15 feet of me at all times. Saves trips if anything. Also, on my current job we modified a large deck by building a roof over it and building a unique railing to go around it. All framing was cut with a fuel circular saw. We had 3 fuel impacts going building the railing. Fuel sawzall cut out all the old railing. We used an m18 grinder to cut the small amount I vinyl siding to go around porch. I feel cordless tools greatly increased efficiency on this job.

 

I absolutely love my new fuel circular saws. I can frame a whole deck with 2 batteries.

 

Mostly it was because I was tired of trying to find a cord and an air hose that no one is using. And it's just a lot easier to use your own tools sometimes.

 

Once you've used the m18 fuel for a while, not using the corded tools will make more since.

They are much different then the brushed cordless tools. Especially the sawzall. I don't even carry the corded sawzall on my truck anymore, not even on a demo.

 

Once you've used the m18 fuel for a while, not using the corded tools will make more since.

They are much different then the brushed cordless tools. Especially the sawzall. I don't even carry the cordless sawzall on my truck anymore, not even on a demo.

I was just down at the Hartville Hardware today. It is one of the biggest tool companies for hundreds of miles. I was picking up and playing with many of the latest cordless gadgets. They do look and feel powerful. Some are even heavier than their corded counterparts. The price tags were crazy also. That cordless fuel sawzall was over 300 bucks with one battery. They had the new Makita double battery circ saw. Crazy heavy thing that was.

 

I use cordless because I'm lazy and I got it like that.

 

Heavy isn't always bad I look at this way my truck is heavy my car is light. Truck might not run that fast but which is stouter.

 

Last year my mud mixer died so I mixed about 40 bags of thinset with my Fuel drill before finally buying a new one.

 

If helps that I have nine batteries.

 

I don't even own a cordless circular saw anymore, that's how often I used it.

However I wouldn't want to be caught without my cordless recip. While I still pull cords for demo it is a great tool for general use and is so nice while crawling around under a house or up in the rafters.

I won't comment on Milwaukee because I haven't used any of the newer 18v stuff. I jumped from Dewalt to Bosch several years ago and have been happy. I will say if the new Milwaukee tools are better than the current generation of Bosch tools they are a beast.

Working with cordless is all about the size of your battery stash.

I have 9 as well. :thumbsup:

 

To the OP:

I can't believe that I'm saying this but if I was doing nothing but drilling steel I'd think long and hard about becoming friends with the Hilti rep. Steel is hard on tools and having a nice warranty with onsite service would be very handy.

Of course it will do nothing that the Milwaukee, Bosch or whatever other quality brand can't do. But if you are having issues sometimes the warranty is the deal breaker or maker as the case may be. :thumbsup:

Also sounds like you would benefit from a cordless impact wrench. While an impact driver is capable of driving large screws/bolts the impact wrench will do it faster and with less effort.

 

My cordless roto hammer switch went out. I dropped it at a milwaukee shop and they mailed it back to me. It was on my doorstep in 5 days. They didn't even ask for a reciept. They said they could tell by the serial number that it wasn't over 5 years old. All milwaukee serial numbers have the date it was manufactured.

 

That's another reason I like Milwaukee, they warranty all their cordless tools for 5 years and the batteries for three.

 

I pull out my corded skillsaw every once and a while for heavy cutting days and I can say without a doubt there's nothing I hate more now than ripping down sheet goods with a corded saw.

THAT DAMN CORD FOLLOW ME EVERYWHERE!!

Love Milwaukee!!
_____________
Mike

 

If you do any remodeling or work on an older house,some old homes can barely provide enough power to a saw. New construction may not have power on site yet. Sure, they should have pulled it first, but if you show up and its not ready, do you go home? Or do you get started?

I havent tried the new milwaukee circ saw, but I do have the dewalt. It is nothing compared to my milwaukee corded sidewinder, but when I need less just a few cuts, time wise, its hard to beat.

 

If you do any remodeling or work on an older house,some old homes can barely provide enough power to a saw. New construction may not have power on site yet. Sure, they should have pulled it first, but if you show up and its not ready, do you go home? Or do you get started?

Not to be a smart @$$ but that is why I carry a generator.

 

Almost there. I really want the blade left with a 7.25" blade. I have the corded one Milwaukee makes of that.

 

One thing that I think isn't being considered is that speed of cut isn't always paramount. There are many cuts where a smaller more maneuverable saw is better suited and that's where cordless tends to fit in. I don't try and replace corded tools with cordless, they simply complement the arsenal.

For production demo the 15a orbital sawzall is great, but I still have a 4amp 25 year old Milwaukee that I use a lot for metal as it is smoother and easier to control. The cordless is somewhere in the middle.

 

I have the older Milwaukee lithium impact and drill driver and they run a long time with a lot action, it still surprises me. Best cordless I ever had. I do use corded tools for longer jobs just to save wear and tear on the batteries, they have a cycle life and will eventually not hold a charge well.