I’ve been using cordless tools for a long time, now. In fact, there was a time when I was using almost exclusively cordless tools and most people on a job site were still running extension cords everywhere.

Well, even now, extension cords still run all over a commercial job site, but there are a lot more battery chargers plugged into the ends of them.

My old friend Pete was more of a hammer-drives-the-screw kinda guy. While he did have an appreciation for cordless drills, he didn’t think they could drill holes very well. “This is a hole shooter,” he said. “It says so right on the side of it.” He was holding up a corded drill that looked like it had been used to drive fence posts. It was, of course, a Milwaukee Hole Shooter that weighed about 8 pounds.

“I guess that’s why you’ve got Popeye’s forearms.”

“No. I got arms like this from driving nails.”

“I always thought there was another reason.”

Anyway, Pete’s trusty drill could drill holes just fine, if not very quickly. I’m not sure what the original speed was, but by the time I had to use it, it was down to about 125 rpm. But it did teach me the fine skill of sharpening drill bits. And there was no possibility of overheating the bit trying to drill through steel.

“You know, I have a 14.4 volt drill from Sears that’s faster than this thing.”

“You need to push too hard on that to get it to drill holes. And you can’t fit half-inch bits in it. Just try to use a 2-inch hole saw in that piece of plastic. It’ll melt in your hand.”

He liked to argue the finer points of a tool’s deficit by specifically mentioning things we were not going to be doing with it. We’d be just as likely to try to chuck a shovel in it.

“We’re only using a quarter inch bit, and this thing weighs as much as a Pinto.”

“That’s raw power.”

I’ve spent many hours of my life engaged in go-nowhere arguments. I’m sure you have encountered the type. Some people will not shift their opinion in the slightest, especially if you try to convince them. I think everyone has a bit of reluctance to change their opinion just in response to what someone is telling them. But Pete was more like a rock than a tree. No amount of wind was going to move him.

Several years later, though, he wanted me to come help fix a fence. I showed up with my regular tools but he said he already had everything set up. Of course, he had a cordless drill and cordless circular saw and immediately started telling me how great they were, especially the saw. “I can cut a sheet of plywood into 10 strips with this and still be able to cut off some 2x4s.”

“Is that like cutting through the soup can and still be able to slice a tomato?”

“What are you, some kind of clown?”

“Where’s your worm-drive saw? Where’s your Hole Shooter maul?”

“This kit came with three batteries, so we can always keep one charged.”

After a few hours, we were done. He said, “You should get one of these. It saves a lot of effort.”

I had nothing to say.