Battery operated tools

[jteneyck]

Are you suggesting that all of the engineers at the various tool companies can't do their job and design an effective sanding dust bag that comes with the sander. Because I have never purchased a sander that didn't have one in the box. In other words, according to you, they are selling sub standard safety equipment. And that to catch all the dust that is generated, one must have it hooked up to either a Dust Separator or a shop vac. Do they or do they not meat OSHA standards.  One must protect their lungs from every particle of dust, but because of the noise levels of separators or a shop vac, it is okay to destroy your hearing. I have a hearing disability from the Navy. And it happens over time. The body is perfectly capable of handling small dust participles, but hearing damage never gets better. Have you ever been outside on a dusty day and you are still alive. 

If you smoke, please have the decency not to respond to a little dust. If you wear hearing protection 100? of the time Okay, but be honest. If you offend one time you are a, I will leave it blank. 

Companies who make dust separators want you to think that you have have to capture up all the fine dust. Companies like Rockler will be more that happy to sell you all the hoses and attachments so you can drag a hose behind you when you sand. The first step in the game is to make you afraid of it. And then if we get it all, we don't have to clean up. It is all taken care off. 

It is easy to write ( I ALWAYS ) But my question is how do you get it all when finishing the sanding project by hand ?

But to each his own

Tom

Define "effective" Tom.  If you think onboard sanding dust bags capture fine dust, the kind that will cause health problems, you haven't been paying attention, nor looked up after a little sanding to see all the fine dust floating around in your shop.  Engineers can only do so much.  Even sanders hooked up by hose to a dust extractor with a HEPA filter, which no onboard dust bag has, will still throw out some fine dust.  But the level is much, much lower.  Particle counters have proven it over and over again.  

Thinking wood dust is harmless is fantasy land.  Fortunately, you (and probably me) are old enough that we won't die from lung cancer caused by exposure to wood dust.  Not everyone will be so lucky.  

John

[fredhargis]

Sorry, Tom. I didn't realize other opinions weren't allowed.  I'll stay away.

[stav]

I'm actually going the other way. I bought into battery stuff heavily in the 90's but as my life ramped up and work work took more of my time from my hobbies, I started getting disillusioned with battery tools. Most manufactures would keep a battery platform just long enough for the batteries to start dying out and then the replacements were more expensive than a new tool set and they often didn't fit anyway because connectors were different or whatever. Plus if you don't use them often the batteries die out and then you have to charge them up again when you do need them, wasting what little time I had to use them. I started switching back to corded stuff. There is so much of it on the used market, you can what you need pretty cheaply and the plugs don't change. I do still like my Milwaukee 12v drill driver combo though. Hopefully Milwaukee keeps this battery platform for a while. I did recently buy a new set for $80 rather than just get new batteries for more than that. Different needs for different people.

[tablesawtom]

Sorry, Tom. I didn't realize other opinions weren't allowed.  I'll stay away.

I am sorry if I came off that way. I stand corrected in a couple areas. Stav has made a very good point as to why not to get to heavy into battery tools. And yes I have had to throw away several tools because of not getting replacement batteries. And yes manufacturers have a habit of coming out with new stuff where the batteries won't interchange. I get that. But they have also made great strides since I bought my first battery drill 30 years ago.

I measured my shop area and it is 30 by 50 and I am out of room. And the availability of outlets don't serve the center of the room although I do have a couple of cord reals in the center.  The problem is needing drop cords and then you have trip hazards. I can live with a little dust but I hate trip hazards, and having a dust extractor or shop vac. is just a trip hazard waiting to happen. And power cords and vac hoses just add to the problem for me. I can afford to live with what little dust that escapes from a sander. But at 79 I can't afford a fall. I have also had several times that the cord on either a sander or router has gotten hung up on something and when it is a router it is not fun.

My worst dust maker is my table saw and I have a saw stop with a 1 1/2 HP dust collector connected to it and have their overhead dust collection system. That system hasn't gotten it all either

 Again The 3 grits of sand paper I most often use are 100, 120 and 150. and the least used is the 100 grit. And I do take offence when one writes that they do serious sanding because they have a corded 6" ROS. that is hooked to a hose. Which means that because I only have a 5 " ROS not hooked to a vac I do not do serious sanding.  

It does seem that the most important thing today in woodworking is, according supply catalogs, YouTube, and this forum, collecting all the chips and dust that comes off from very tool, and of course only the most expensive tools truly qualify. I am sorry to write this but one is ever going to get it all. All I want is to be able to switch tools back and forth whether it is a sander or router without getting all tangled up in power cords and vac hoses. It is working for me and I thought I would post about it in case I might influence someone else into thinking out side of the box.

I am sorry that I touched the sacred cow here. I won't bother anymore.

Tom

[jlanciani]

Sorry, Tom. I didn't realize other opinions weren't allowed.  I'll stay away.

That's how Tom rolls, not worth the bother of engaging...

[stav]

Tom, I'm with you on the dust.  I don't care about getting it all. I have never used dust collection on any of my tools, although I work in an open carport so I'm not in an enclosed space.  I also get the not wanting to trip on cords. Being that I am in a small space with a lot of tooling around, a trip for me could be bad. For someone in your age bracket, it could be quite bad. As I said before, different people have different needs. This isn't a one size fits all hobby or life.

[EricU]

I bought the dewalt brushless cordless sander a couple of years ago. It's okay. I'm not a big fan of sanders anyway, so my opinion isn't worth a lot. Milwaukee just came out with a new cordless sander that's reportedly much better, but it's much more expensive, $200. I might get it, by the time people have experience with it they might start having sales.

[MstrCarpenter]

Hey Tom, I'd just like to remind you (and everyone else that commented) that I agreed with your statements of multiple tools. It saves time and frequently consumables too. I also shared my opinion of cordless vs. coded tools just to help anyone still undecided on which would be better for them to form their own opinion. In this particular instance my opinion differed from yours. That's fine. That's why I like this forum. Knowledgeable, experienced, woodworkers sharing their thoughts and ideas to help others. As I understood it, you were basically conveying the same idea when you wrote; "Now this is just me personally and it has nothing to do with how you do it or what you think." I re-read the entire thread and every post (except one) offered experience or knowledge; and there were different opinions. Great! That's what's supposed to happen. What shouldn't happen is for anyone to feel sharing their opinion or asking a question here is not worth the effort. Tom, please continue to post. You have so much to offer, and it's appreciated.

Now, back to your original post; sorry, I have no suggestions for cordless sanders.
 You're running 12v Makita, Bosch, and Milwaulkee. I'm running 18v Milwaulkee, and DeWalt. I know there are aftermarket battery adapters for many brands. I'm only using one for new 20v DeWalt batteries in the older 18v tools, but it works as it should. About the only advice I could offer is to number the batteries on the bottom. This helps me most when a battery is low and I "borrow" one from another tool to finish a task and lose track of which ones need charging.

One more tip. Buy three (hopefully on sale) and one more with the extended warranty. 

[Brian in sunny FL]

I'm considering a Ryobi 18V brad nailer.

I'm addicted to the Ryobi stuff and have the brad nailer, still in the box though.  When they have the deal to buy two batteries and charger for $99 you can get a free tool, that's how I got mine.  The One+ HP tools are even better than the One+ and the 1/2" impact gun I have is a beast.

Then we can to onto my 40V yard tools and shop vac, like I said I'm addicted.  For what I do the stuff just works.  This is a brand I would never have touched years ago, even Harbor Freight is stepping up.

[tablesawtom]

I am sorry for the misunderstanding. I am on the Makita 18 volt system. I have 3 sanders, one for each 100 120 and 150 grit sanding discs. I was also fortunate to get 3 palm routers before Makita doubled the price. The one Bosch sander I have is a 12 volt sander. I thought their 18 volt sander was out of balance. It is small and light weight and I only use it for 180 grit and above. I tend to apply no downward pressure on the sanders and just allow the sanders weight to do the job. I still have my corded Bosch sanders, just don't use then as much if at all or they are available if someone asks to borrow one.