From Mechanix Illustrated May 1952  (And I used to work for Mosler Safe, in Hamilton, Ohio, from 1970 - 1976 . . . where - among other things - I drilled into safes to test them).

I resisted cordless for years, until someone gave me a B&D cordless screwdriver that I put on the bench at my motorcycle shop fpr 6 weeks or so. Then one day I had a set of carbs off a Honda CB750 to overhaul. This is a bank of forur carbs with innumerable screws to remove. I did a couple, then grabbed that B&D and went to town! I still have it and another like it, but seldom use them. I have had several cordless drills in the past years, but batteries don't last, and never seem to be charged when you need them, so I use an eggbeater mostly when possible.

Hehe..at least he has a cordless safe.

I was in the basement of an old bank doing some work once. The manager showed me a tiny little mark on the vault. It was a circle about 1/2 inch wide and perhaps 1/32 of an inch deep. Some fool had broken into the bank and spent 3 hours trying to drill the lock. The vault door was made from 14 inch thick armor plate steel.....

I have a couple of cordless drills. I use them. They are never dependable though. Even though I get the best batteries, and rebuild the packs myself, they are still just batteries. Unreliable when the chips are on the table.

  I keep several ac drills and keep extension cords of many different lengths and wire sizes.
I am happy I learned to handle cords before batteries became popular. 

Know whats weird?
Everyone rolls up cords just a bit different.
If its my cord and I have rolled it up 100 times,  I can unroll and use it and put it back just fine. No sweat at all. 
  But wire has a memory.
So if I try to use your cord, that you use all the time,  there will be nothing but misery.
And vise versa.
    yours Scott 

Ron all I'll say is RELSOM becomes oatmeal when it's attacked with impact carbide sharpened correctly and a medium speed hammerdrill such as an AEG.

Mosler DOD approved file cabinets and Post Office safes bought one of my pickup trucks back in the 70s

I got dragged, kicking and screaming, into cordless drills back in '86.  I use them all the time.  When I worked building theater sets, I learned very quickly to have at least one extra battery.  I usually have two extra.  That solves the problem of batteries getting drained -- put the drained battery in the charger, slap in the fresh battery and get back to work.  I have a big half inch that takes three hours to fill.  I hate the fill time.  The rest of my cordless drivers fill in an hour, less if you use one of the quick fill chargers. 

That said, I still have my egg beaters, and braces that go back to the 1830s and 1840s, and I use them.  I have a selection of center bits, quill bits, nose augur bits and spoon bits for the old ones, which I also use.  I recently bought a used Bosch 3/8 corded drill for those times I have to drill a bunch of holes in hard or green wood, and for the heavy work, my old Thor 1/2 inch hole hog never fails.

I used to do HVAC installation in new construction homes. Cordless was essential. There was always an extra battery in a charger for each person. If you use a tool a lot or if you have multiple tools that use the same battery, they're handy. The batteries are quite costly if they have to be replaced or rebuilt.

I still use my yankees to the max. I have several with different bits laying around.  Lets see if some youngsters might chime in here????

So you an old school cordless screwdriver.

Quote from: m_fumich on January 09, 2012, 10:45:20 AM
So you an old school cordless screwdriver.

u got the "old" right!!!

What I see now in the building trades are the new-ish small impact drivers.  I use cordless drills a lot, but it's always good to have a corded back-up.

I used cordless a lot when I was working in building maintenance.  Loved em. Since I have retired I have none left and will not buy another. Having no heated shop to store them in and using them only once in a while they just are not practical. Besides corded ones are $ 5.00 each at the auctions unless its Makita then its $10.00. For the difference in price I can get boxes of toys (I mean tools) at most auctions.

I finally broke down last year and got a bunch of Craftsman 19.2 C-3 cordless tools.I had 3 years of Christmas sears gift cards to use up.I usually get 3 cards every year.I can't complain about them.They do their job.They are pretty handy to take in the woods to build a tree stand.I have a 3/8 drill , a small impact driver , AM/FM radio,4 different lights,a power plane,chemical sprayer, and a tire inflater.

I love my Milwaukee cordless tools but hate the batteries, no matter how I use or store them they go bad after 3 years.

My two favorite cordless drills-

Miller's Falls #77A
   
Miller's Falls No77A  Drill by Noel C. Hankamer, on Flickr
Forsberg Mfg Co Hand Drill model W-790 with a Whale logo. This looks a lot like the Millers Falls Model 77 but with a heavier frame. It has a 3 jaw chuck, a chef's hat top handle with space for bits (none included) and a solid wheel with no remnants of the label present. An excellent example of a less common tool maker from the early-mid 20th Century.

Forsberg Whale Drill by Noel C. Hankamer, on Flickr