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BUILDING CONNECTION Spring 2019
CUTTING CORDS
L
ike most ‘normal’ blokes, I have
a tool fetish. I really appreciate
the quality makes and I still have
some I bought as a young tradesman
– a pair of German multi-grips, an
Irwin hammer and trowels that still
‘talk’ to me. I like to ‘cuddle’ these and
remember learning lots using them. But
cordless technology is one of highlights
of the past 20 years.
The first cordless electric drill was
made by Black and Decker
in 1961. I thought the first
battery powered tools were
heavy and clumsy. However, when
I had to cut old hardwood roof
trusses to build an attic in the
’90s I stumbled on a cordless Dewalt
reciprocating saw. It was stunning! Not
only did it save time as I sweated and
swore and tortured my body, it allowed
me to get closer to where I needed to
cut than a handsaw.
Since then, I have watched the
industry use battery powered tools
more and more. Initially, I was
frustrated with the manufacturers
using different sized batteries so you
couldn’t use the same ones on all the
tools they made. But there have been
so many improvements over the past
10 years. Plus battery technology
has improved significantly
and power saws
are bigger and
have long run time. And there are now
mowers, compound mitre saws, lights
and jackhammers.
Now I have over 40 different tools
among my team. I love my 54v cordless
compound mitre saw with tungsten
aluminium and timber blade. And
Dewalt’s latest reciprocating saw has a
delicious range of blades which can be
easily reversed. I love good tools!
SELECTION CRITERIA
Here are the tips I use when choosing
the right cordless platform. Yep I did
check these with my 20 colleagues at
Tyrrells. They are all ex-builders and are
on over 6,000 building sites every year.
CORDLESS TOOLS ARE SAFER
Probably the best feature of cordless
-HUU\ 7\UUHOO FKDWV DERXW WKH EHQH¿WV RI FRUGOHVV
First cordless electric
drill was made by Black
and Decker in 1961.
CPD ACADEMY -
JERRY TYRRELL