Today TFW labs has been doing a field test comparing three cordless drills in lab conditions.
The test is fairly simple, new slightly damp timber, sawn treated planks onto 100mm fencing posts to make a small deck, fixed using 65mm self coutersinking wood screws.
Each drill was ghiven an overnight charge and screws were driven until coutersunk flush.
Makita 8444D
Number of screws : 0
Verdict : a surprising result for this, the most expensive tool in todays round up. Investigation showed both of the NiMh battery packs have failed in storage with leaking cells
Challenge CDI16144
Number of screws : 43
Verdict : dissapointing, now half price, I paid full price on Saturday.
Black&Decker KC1251C
Number of screws : 57 (ran out of screws)
Verdict : surprisingly excellent results as this drill is at least fifteen years old and has laid on a shelf in the garage without being charged for years.
What this does show is the developments in battery technology have not been as great as they could have been.
I fact I wonder if the focus has shifted from making a good durable product that performs well to making a barely usable product, that will fail just out of warranty and making it as cheaply as possible.
[QUOTE=MrTFWitt;452760]
I fact I wonder if the focus has shifted from making a good durable product that performs well to making a barely usable product, that will fail just out of warranty and making it as cheaply as possible.[/QUOTE]
Kerching! And the penny drops. If your economy is built on consumers, and you make durable products that last for years, it all goes horribly wrong 'cos we all stop consuming. Make something that lasts 12 months however, and Bingo! Pass the champers :tiphat:
If they had spent the research budget on making better battery technology though instead of just cheaper I would have managed to build my new shed by now.
welcome to the disposable age… why spend £500 on a quality washing machine that’ll last a few years, when you can pick up a new £100 one every year and have them last just as long.
As a further update, the antique Black & Decker did sterling service building an entire shed and making it halfway through building a playhouse before going flat.
We brought the same bar feed for our machines four times over a period of as many years, each time it looks about the same but when we lift the lid there is less in it. Not just a little bit but a bloody lot, one modernisation took away nearly half the pneumatics, another replaced the sterdy control box with a plastic moulded one.
Was it cheaper each time, nope, of course not. Prices go up, every base material is more than last year, it costs more to employ a person every year but people won’t pay more so they find ways of making the same things for less money… just the way it is.
