cost of some DIY power tools why so expensive

[sainter]

the corded tool is always more powerful than the cordless one. often this is not a problem. sometimes it is.

I would agree on angle grinders, circular saws. But impact drivers, drills, rotary hammer drills, jigsaws have more power then you ever need. LXT motors have so much power, that chewing trough 1m of masonry with 25mm concrete drill is a breeze. Investing in a cordless system will always be a good idea. It's always more convenient not to drag a cord around your bench when your working at home, but possibility to  work off grid is very useful.

[slicendice]

The limiting factor in cordless tools is energy efficiency. You could squeeze out as much power out of a cordless tools as a corded one, but you'd lose the portability as the battery would have to be insanely big to have enough juice to keep going for a day with one charge.

Edit: This (energy efficiency) is also the reason for cordless tools being more expensive than corded ones (without counting in the battery factor)

[slicendice]

I would agree on angle grinders, circular saws.ossibility to  work off grid is very useful.

heheh, having a 5kW, 3-phase powered circular saw in your pocket is not that convenient. That tool is for a very different type of task. Yes sure that one has a lot of power, way more than a small powertool.

[slicendice]

Just to return back to the topic...some powertools are expensive because there is a lot of tech development involved in power efficiency, portability and power. Some tools cost a lot because the the brand is known to be very reliable and the price does not matter if you get a lot of bang for the buck. If a tool lasts essentially forever the price has to go up a lot or the manufacturer would have to declare bankruptcy in no time.

[sainter]

Two same looking tools may have completely different plastic (with fiber reinforcement, temperature resistant and so on), different bearing quality, motor quality and effectiveness. Every additional  step to prolong tool's life, adds cost.

In today's economy, good brand companies can't compete with china in cheap tool market. So they tend to make better and thus more expensive tools. If you would search amazon for a cordless drill (li-ion), you would find that cheap, non branded sets can be bought as little as 40-60 eur.

[mikeselectricstuff]

About corded/cordless argument. The price of both is the same (because it's basically the same tool) when you buy a cordless tool without batteries. So after first larger investment (charger+batteries) every other tool is cordless for free, ant there is no point of buying corded ones.

the corded tool is always more powerful than the cordless one. often this is not a problem. sometimes it is.

That would only be true if the corded one had something like a 5-speed gearbox, which I've never seen, or is specifically built for low-speed high torque, like  a diamond core drill. Mains motors have poor torque at low speeds - a good brushless cordless will piss all over a standard 2-speed corded drill for torque. For high speed low-torque applications like hammer drilling into brick, a corded drill may be  better.
 

[slicendice]

Mains motors have poor torque at low speeds - a good brushless cordless will piss all over a standard 2-speed corded drill for torque.

hahha, so funny, but very true.

For high speed low-torque applications like hammer drilling into brick, a corded drill may be  better.

Yes this is true for stuff where high mass and high impact is required. Some concrete is really tough to get through. A lightweight cordless or corded tool is just not good enough for these kinds of tasks.

[SeanB]

Beware of some power tool brands. Makita and Maktec are the same looking tool, made on the same factory and using similar looking parts. Aside from the screws though they are totally different, the one is cheaped out to the max, using inferior parts and things like bushes instead of bearings, smaller batteries with a packing piece and so on. Applies ot the corded and cordless tools, and they also make house branded tools as well, increasing the confusion.

However, buying quality tools is a good investment, as they tend to last longer, and power tools with a cord have a big advantage of being able to store for a year, pull out of the box ( with the appropriate corrosion protection on them) and plug in and use, so that is a plus. Cordless has convenience, no power cord to snag, you can use them up a ladder or in a roof, you can drive to the place to use them even if there is no power there and such for convenience. However when that battery goes dead you are stopped till it charges, and there you either do something that does not need power or have an impromptu lunch break.

The construction and trade use corded tools for the most part, mainly because I have yet to meed a SDS cordless that will drill a 75mm core through a 150mm masonry wall, or through 330mm of reinforced concrete with a single battery. OK the Bosch is 9kg with the drill bit, but a lot lighter than the older Bosch I used before, which is 25kg excluding anything, and which is quite capable of breaking bones, but it will drill a 110mm hole no problem provided you can hold it the time without you failing.

Driving screws into drywall the cordless is no issue, will do them all day, and charge up a bit over lunch for the afternoon, but if you are doing things like hanging lights, running cable or conduit then the corded one will win out.

Yes I have both, and they both have a place, but there is nothing to replace a generator and a corded power tool for high power output. I have yet to see a cordless inverter welder, though I love the inverter, as it is so much easier to carry up a ladder over a buzz box.

[slicendice]

You are talking about work where portability is not a factor any more. Drilling 150mm+ sized holes in walls, that is not a job for cordless power tools at all.

Where I live, for that kind of job, we start using devices that weighs 20KG+, requires water cooling for the drill bits, requires the operator to secure the drill to the wall/floor using bolts, whichever direction it's operated in and uses 400V 3-phase power with 16A+ current. Even the power cables to these devices are thicker than the chuck on a power tool. 

Edit: it's like comparing a toy electric motor to a 5.4L V12 Engine.

[SeanB]

No, 75mm diameter, and a 150mm thick masonry wall, or 300mm nominal reinforced concrete. I prefer to rent the drill to do that, as I can get a bloody big one and simply have to take up the torque, and let the drill mass do the work. Took around a half hour per hole, but was fine, though the first rental drill shat itself in short order. Drove back, got another, carried on. Funny thing was the 75mm bit was brand new, never used, been there for years. I could have used a 50mm, but those were not available for some reason. 75mm gave plenty of wriggle room for the 16mm 4 core armoured cable going through though. That size does not make sharp radius bends, unless you want to terminate every bend in a cast steel Pratley box, and those are bloody expensive in that size.

[ez24]

I bought the old makita 9.6v nicad tools years ago and batteries lasted over 10 years.  Being tempted by the newer tools I 'upgraded'.  The newer tools are heavier and no more powerful despite being 2 or more times the voltage and the batteries wear out after just a couple years.

A few days ago I unpacked my Makita 9.6 drill and two batteries and the charger.  One battery is good and I bought it in 1996 and was boxed up around 2009.  Since then I have gone through Dewalt 12v (4 batteries), Rigid 18v (4 batteries) and all batteries died.  Now I have Makita 18v lithium and will stay with this.

[KL27x]

^ I suspect some of these short-lived dying batteries are simply part of a business model. It is not hard to design li ion batteries to last a very long time. Simply by starting with a generous excess of discharge capability* and adhering to low voltage cutout and proper charging parameters, there is not much to go wrong... unless user forgets to charge a flat battery for several weeks. It is quite the engineering, actually, to make the battery die in X years like clockwork.

These cheap tools have their place, though. I never worked construction, but an expensive tool growing legs seems like it would ruin your entire day.

*to offset the increase in internal resistance that will occur over time.