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.

 

[Killy Bing]

Had a guy using sds wood chisels for notching.

even i thought what the hell...

 

[Best]

I had no special tools when I first started helping out at plumbing work. All I can remember was a professional B&D ordinary hammer drill which used to burn up if used with a 3/4" bit & it constantly jammed.
All hole cutting in walls was done by hand & also cutting of concrete floors. I was good at it but sometimes it could take half a day to do what an electric hammer can do today in minutes.
All floorboards were cut by hand - tongues & cross cuts. It was the best way & still is, with the exception of a multi tool which is brilliant for a nice fine cut & you don't sweat doing it.

 

[Phil]

Had a guy using sds wood chisels for notching.

even i thought what the hell...

I don't understand those either, for notches anyway. By the time you've got everything set up you could have made two cuts and wacked out notch with hammer.

 

[Killy Bing]

Although along the lines of powertools and our reliance on them

who does pipe threading!

 

[Ermintrude]

Can't beat a ratchet!

 

[lame plumber]

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

why did you drill 2 holes for 1 flue?

 

[Ermintrude]

Left hit re bar 3 t18 ish bars in parallel!

 

[lame plumber]

there are times the old stiching method is best still

 

[Ermintrude]

U tried stitching. 450 ish thick concrete on second floor?

Stitching is loads faster. Normall pop a 10mm through center to outside then litter perimeter with 6mm and smash it out in seconds.

 

[lame plumber]

you want to try rubble walls with petersmarland brick outers. the bricks alone take around 30 to 50 mins to core safely. Putting the flue in for my own aga years back I hit a wall tie and ended up on the floor bleeding and unconscious as the drill clutch failed to work and it spun round and smacked me in the face. Never thought to sue screwfix, but a friend broke his fingers doing the same with a B&Q core drill, he got a hell of a sum off them several thousand, and BNQ now have disclaimers everywhere in using core drills.

 

[Mike Jackson]

I don't understand those either, for notches anyway. By the time you've got everything set up you could have made two cuts and wacked out notch with hammer.

Or you could cut the notch according to the regs and drill the bottom and cut two notches down to it. Not as quick as butchering the joist but a lot more professional.

 

[combo]

I've worked with a lot of tradesman, over a number of different trades and I reckon quality has taken 2nd place to getting the job done in shortest time......but who's to blame for that ??

 

[Roger Welton]

I've worked with a lot of tradesman, over a number of different trades and I reckon quality has taken 2nd place to getting the job done in shortest time......but who's to blame for that ??

Sadly very true!

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

you want to try rubble walls with petersmarland brick outers. the bricks alone take around 30 to 50 mins to core safely. Putting the flue in for my own aga years back I hit a wall tie and ended up on the floor bleeding and unconscious as the drill clutch failed to work and it spun round and smacked me in the face. Never thought to sue screwfix, but a friend broke his fingers doing the same with a B&Q core drill, he got a hell of a sum off them several thousand, and BNQ now have disclaimers everywhere in using core drills.

done that smashed my back teeth trough my tongue blood everywhere

 

[lame plumber]

done that smashed my back teeth trough my tongue blood everywhere

and you cant even curse properly with broken teeth and sore tongue from experience, plus you really scare the kids when you start tthhhhrying thoooo ssspeeek

 

[Phil]

To be fair on myself I snap off the cut out with grips, I avoid hitting joists for the sake of the ceilings downstairs but I can see how drilling two holes is better for the joist.

 

[Roger Welton]

To be fair on myself I snap off the cut out with grips, I avoid hitting joists for the sake of the ceilings downstairs but I can see how drilling two holes is better for the joist.

Round corners to hole less of a stress raiser on joist

 

[Best]

I was taught to just mark the top of the joists very accurately & cut on the lines dead plumb cuts but not too deep. Then use a wood chisel & hammer vertically to split the bit in the middle (that you have cut on each side) & then it will snap off with a little tap of hammer to the side unless it is a knotty bit which might need the handsaw through it in a lot of cuts.
Then just use a round rasp or a sharp wood saw to round the bottom of the notch out to allow the pipe to be below the bottom of floorboards.

 

[AWheating]

you could use plastic and thread it in the cable holes .............. sadly ive seen it done.