Hello, I am a woman and love building furniture (only 45 mins a day when I am lucky because I have a full time job in a completely different field). I absolutely love the original post and all the ones that followed it. I honestly prefer to spend more and recycle/reuse when I am tired of. This gives me: better outcome quality during use, avoid to frequently throw things in the landfill when broken and get some money back when "ebay/craiglist time" comes. We did the same things for kids gears and every time we got 70-80% back.
However, I would like to add a very specific question and add few other comments/suggestions.
QUESTION: I am frustrated with cordless drills. I am in the process of building my multifunction workbench with tons of 3/4' holes and my 2 Hitachi cordless are really fussy after less than 2 years. Batteries cost a lot and I am not sure they last enough for my taste. When I purchased them, I got 2 because time is limited and I got cheap and cordless/light weight to switch between drill and screw fast and effective). I do a lot of Kreg holes too (in Baltic birch), and these drain batteries. I went to the local HD and for corded drills there was only one light weight: the Ryobi which is notorious to be not top notch quality. To go back to my question: what is the good powerful drill that a very small hand can handle? I know I can go to Festool and be happy but I spend money in Festool for other things and I cannot justify more for just 1 drill. So please let me know Brand and model. Thanks
Other comments:
a) Woman life in woodworking is not really easy. I get "the look" and the verbal attitude when I go in some shops such as plywood supplier, tool suppliers, ect. I hoped when I started this hobby to work with local businesses but after several attempts I ended up buying most of my tools/hardware/etc on-line on specialized website. It took me a lot to find good sources but I finally got them. The last time I went to the wonderful WXXXX shop the attitude was so bad and I decided to say what I though to the guy....and to give up on their products all together. I went there to buy $1000 worth of Festool product...would you believe what they missed? Very sad because I love the shop, the products and the guy I worked with at the very beginning.
b) Let's talk about other things that help me as a woman with not really a lot of physical power (not all of us are made equal though) : i) use screws that help your life!!! There are tons of good self-drilling option and quality screws in general that might cost a little more per screw but they do not break or span or get you upset! My hardware is not packaged: I buy per piece, this means that I buy as much as I need. Now, also HD has few good screws (big boxes though and not all sizes I need) but you can see the sizes there and then order on line. I am not sure I can share my sources because I am new to the forum but believe me or not...you spend less in the long run.
ii) use jig that help your life!! you can build tons of incredible jigs yourself if you have time. Although, there are some up there that you can buy and resell when you are done. They are expensive but I can tell you that because they are well know brand...they go fast on ebay/craiglist. I am alone in this hobby (my hubby is not really a diy guy and I am the builder in a 1939 house!) and I need several hands sometime...but I only have 2 (and small) so I need jigs as extra hands. iii) buy quality products: you will have better ROI at the end of your journey and most of the time quality products have features that add on other things. I can give examples but I am trying to stay away from pushing on one specific tool/brand. The same comment is valid for finishing your work, I decided to try a non big box line of finishing products and I will never go back. It saves me time and money (less coats) and the results are incredible. iv) you cannot /do not want to use a table saw (I do not not)? you can find a local shop that cut it for you...precisely!! The guy who build my kitchen island is willing to do that. I pay for his shop time but he cut it precisely, I can carry it at home and most importantly he gets the quality supply I want (no formaldehyde). v) Pay attention to material and handling processes: cutting/drilling some ply/mdf/etc are not good for your lungs/eyes/etc...use protective gears for anything you do...from respirators to googles. And yes...my kids call me "woodnerd". btw, I apologize for grammar/etc but I had only 10 mins to draft this before the next conf call.
