Are us powertool junkies any quicker than the old boys?

[Phil]

Although not as bad as Billy I myself am a powertool maniac and have to have all my expensive toys around me to do every single job.

I was doing a bathroom for a semi retired joiner who manages quite happily with only the most basic joinery tools and we even joked about the fact that by the time I've got all my toys out he would have opened his toobag and had the job done by the time I've finished unloading my gagets.

I mean I was helping my dad put his new hardwood door on the other week and you couldn't hardly move for kit everywhere...... Fein, router, SDS, impact driver, 10.8 drill driver, combi dril, circular saw, electric plane and god knows what else!

 

[Ermintrude]

My te60 smashes through the wall faster than my granddads black n decker . I can snort through 18mm ply faster than any handsaw and slotted heads eeeeerr . Drive A 125mm number 6 faster than any old Yankee could.

 

[lame plumber]

there again the old boys were skilled

 

[zzzjim]

I have pondered this , getting lazy using power tools , but getting some exercise carrying them about !

 

[Phil]

I was trying to explain to my customer why an impact driver was better than a standard combi drill and to be honest I was struggling. I mean they are really noisy things and are they really any quicker...I suppose they are lighter and easier in your hand.

 

[Ermintrude]

They make and break contact lots so have a higher frictional contact.. Can't remember the physics but it's pretty much same as abs. Once you skidd your a goner, but pulse the friction and it's all good. Think it's to do with friction coefficients and acceleration

 

[Killy Bing]

I can happily work without the powertools bar a drill tbh

just the others speed up those tasks and gives me more time to do the other stuff.

also i suppose now as we can work faster with powertools, we get given a shorter amount if time.

i was recently told that 20 years ago the guy was given half a day just to knock out for a flue!
can't imagine being given anywhere near that amount of time nowdays

 

[ADM360]

i was recently told that 20 years ago the guy was given half a day just to knock out for a flue!
can't imagine being given anywhere near that amount of time nowdays

Yea I can, 3ft thick wet hamstone/cob wall!!

 

[Killy Bing]

Yea I can, 3ft thick wet hamstone/cob wall!!

Haha that i understand!
had to core through a 4ft kentish ragstone and flint wall
was there all day and had two ballsed bits!


But this was on double skinned brick!!

 

[AWheating]

I dont really use impacts much tbh and strangley ive got 4. cant see the point unless building timber studwork type stuff.

i think some tools can speed you up and make your work better, but then it takes the ingenuity out of some tasks.

 

[Ermintrude]

This wasn't a hard wall just it destroyed a few bits? Doing this by hand would have ruined my day!

 

[AWheating]

rather than starting another hole to the right hand side i would have just pulled out the plastic bag and used that hole

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

when i started it was not uncommon to hit balanced flue terminals out by hand,and houses in my area are typically 23 inch thick solid stone,you had to get the flues extended in most cases ,however we acquired the first kango great for the inside would eat it,but useless on the outside if up a ladder ,we have it much easier now

 

[Mike Jackson]

When I first started we didn't have SDS drills. Just mains powered hammer drills. If we had to put fixings into hard concrete out came the rawl drills because you would just melt the end of a hammer drill bit. Then along came SDS and we could get the job done a lot quicker and earn better money. Then everyone had an SDS drill and you didn't get the job if you charged the extra for hole drilling so we were no better off. Same happened with Kango hammers for knocking out balanced flue holes, core drills for circular holes etc.

When these tools first came along the early adopters could make more money and charge marginally less than their competitors. Once the majority have the tools you can no longer charge a premium for their use and it's a case of needing the tools to remain competitive.

There are times when the old methods are best though. When taking boards up, springing them and cutting with a hand saw is a lot neater than using a rip snorter and a lot quicker if it's only a few boards.

 

[Phil]

And safer. Nothing beats a mutimaster for taking floorboards up though.