[Sirrotica]

I'm old school and have been using pneumatic tools since the 70s, I am not prone to change over all my tools from pneumatic to electric at just under 70 YO.

How about you, what's your preference?

[tooski]

Same here. Had pneumatic well before cordless became a thing. Difficult to throw out good working tools to spend a bunch of cash just to go cordless. I had corded tools for the the minor amount of carpentry work I did. Then I bought air nailers a fair bit before battery nailers became available. Same thing with those. I do have a small cordless kit with a drill, driver, and recip saw. Those are very handy.

[Lemans64]

Air for the BIG stuff and cordless for the small stuff. Kinda nice having the cordless stuff for interior work. Cordless drill / screwdriver and 3/8's impact.

[1965gp]

I had air tools, but have moved everything to Milwaukee M12 and M18 Fuel. Very strong, efficient and last a long time. Their 1/2” M18 impact is a beast and better than any air powered one I have had. I do think there are significant differences between the brands and you should pick what suites you best.

I personally think Milwaukee is the best, but that’s probably because that’s what I see the professionals in my industry use. I like having all of the batteries interchangeable as well.

If it’s something you might use once, harbor freight is probably fine.

I’ve given away most of my air tools at this point.

[fyrffytr1]

I use pneumatic, corded and cordless electric tools. I even use regular hand tools for small jobs.

[Elarson]

I have both and they all have their place.

But....I have several DeWalt 14 volt drills that work fine except the batteries are going obsolete. It's clear that someday soon, I have to throw them out and by new ones at 20 volt...until they get obsoleted by 30 volt until they get obsoleted by.......

Compressed air never goes obsolete.

Eric

[JLBIII]

Just started getting back into the sport 2.5 yrs ago. Still very much old school using hand tools. Only have a small compressor that's not really enough to power any pneumatic tools. I have started buying Milwaukee M18 series of power tools. Buy one, cry once.

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by Elarson

I have both and they all have their place.

But....I have several DeWalt 14 volt drills that work fine except the batteries are going obsolete. It's clear that someday soon, I have to throw them out and by new ones at 20 volt...until they get obsoleted by 30 volt until they get obsoleted by.......

Compressed air never goes obsolete.

Eric

Good point Eric, I've probably thrown out at least 3 cordless drills that the batteries went bad, but there was nothing at all wrong with the tool itself. No replacement batteries available, so out they go.

[Stuart]

Corded electric for me.

[Goatracer1]

I have both. My son and grandson have given me both corded and battery powered tools. They are so convenient I hardly ever use my air tools now.

[hurryinhoosier62]

I have all three; pneumatic, corded and cordless.

[Charlie Brengun]

I have all 3, anything I need new will likely be cordless and if anything breaks its replacement will probably end up cordless as well.
I'm just not throwing out my old stuff only because a newer battery operated thingy is available.

[tigergto]

Originally Posted by Charlie Brengun

I have all 3, anything I need new will likely be cordless and if anything breaks its replacement will probably end up cordless as well.
I'm just not throwing out my old stuff only because a newer battery operated thingy is available.

Same for me. At my age I’m not switching over unless need be.

[mysticmissle]

for grinding and cut off wheels im still using air. I have been using makita drills and impact (small) for years and have nothing but good results I bought a milwaukee 1/2 impact and i absolutely love it. Its nice not to be tied to an airline. it has impressive breakway strength. I also bout a milwaukee kit from home depot with a small battery powered ratchet, drills flash light, i use the little electric ratchet alot. it is not super powerful but it is so handy.

[Mr Anonymous]

Alll depends on the job and the circumstances. I have a 1/.2" deWalt 18v cordless drill that is absolutely beat to death and still works like a champ. Its starting to smell like a toy train engine though, I may not be far from letting out the magic smoke.

Beastmode: I have a 1/2" Milwaukee corded drill... it had a 4" hole saw in it, and I was using it on a ladder. Two good solid mistakes. It caught, HARD, twisted my arm which made me pull on the trigger harder, then managed to throw me off the ladder and then have the ladder land on me. At some point the drill also succumbed to gravity yet seem to remain undamaged when I grabbed it off the floor. I revere that which has whooped my ass substantially.

[The Champ]

I have some air tools, some corded tools, but mostly cordless tools.

I haven't had the issue of my battery tools becoming "obsolete" because of battery failure. All my batteries are interchangeable with all my cordless tools - even the one's I bought nearly 20 years ago.

Glad I didn't buy into a cordless system that becomes worthless when they make a design change.

FWIW - my cordless tools are all Ryobi.

[Half-Inch Stud]

The trio of power (air, cord, cordless) sounds good to me. As for mee; rather low tech!

Air: fill and top-off tires. Blow dust.
Cord: air compressor duh, drillpress, shop vac. Lighting.
Cordless: handrill (20v, handy doing yardwork!) DMM
Manual; all wrenches & sockets, hammers. Floorjack.

[sdbob]

Since working in construction we had all corded tools,mostly Milwaukee, some Porter Cable, Hilti cheap BD. Then I bought some air tools for home. Then the battery tools,again mostly Milwaukee m12 and m18. The m18 impact is heavy and has worked well. I do get afraid of busting bolts with it though. I've checked into rebuilding batteries tried some,Worked.

[RocktimusPryme]

I also think there is room for all of the above.

I mostly use cordless tools, but my paint and body stuff is air. My grinders are all electric.

[1965gp]

Grinders seem to suck up batteries pretty quick. Same with buffers. I would love a cordless buffer but I haven’t found any that will fit my needs.

It does depend on the job- for example:

I used my 1/2” M18 to put the wheels on the car. My neighbor a life long tech made me go around and double check everything with a pry bar and socket. He said you can always tell how much air pressure you have, but you can’t tell how old/weak that battery is even if it reads 100%. Really good point.

A member here needed a fender and a section of trunk floor out of a 67 Catalina in a yard about an hour away. The m12 ratchet made quick work of the fender while the M18 sawzall allowed me to cut out the section of the floor he needed.

These cordless tools are a big plus at a junk yard. Throw them all in the truck, decide what you need when you see the car and use a duffel bag to carry them.