Tools Of The Trade Part II

THE POWER TOOLS

With the advent of increasingly powerful rechargeable batteries, the cordless tool has reached it’s zenith of use in the construction trades. Where once there were corded electrical tools, there are now the cordless variety. I don’t know exact statistics on this, but consider that practically every tool manufacturer has rendered their own version of cordless tool kits that originally hit the market from DeWalt Tools. Let alone electricians, how many tradespeople are out there? And if each of them had one kit... ..that would be, well, you do the math!

From my own experience, as the president of my own electrical contracting company, all I hear is "Leave the extension cords in the truck, boys, we’re going cordless!" I have several brand-new reciprocating saws, which I purchased as part of the kits I bought to replace the 3/8" hammerdrills that traditionally received more than one trip to the concrete floor from on-high! Lots of pieces, but it was still cheaper to buy a new kit, with two batteries, four cordless tools (even though I only needed one), a new charger and kit box.

That’s another item that I have plenty of, so a small inventory: sawzalls (4), battery chargers (6) and kit boxes (7). I wish the corded tools got a little more use, since they are practically new, as are the extension cords! I will have a yard sale one day and part forever with these extra tools, if they aren’t obsolete by then!

Anyway, we do use the cordless screwdrivers, drills, hammer-drills, sawzalls, circular saws, flash lights, battery chargers and, most importantly, the radios, (which double as battery chargers by the way). The kits are now sold by seemingly every tool manufacturer under the sun. The installation of electrical components (or anything that requires driving screws) has never been easier, with the cordless screwdrivers, with straight or angled head, with the different driver bits, phillips head, square head, torx head, and even tamper-proof torx head! I used to be a fairly good arm wrestler, what with all the wrenching and turning those 3/4 x 10 pan head sheet metal screws all them years!

But we also use corded varieties - usually more powerful than the cordless variety - sorry battery manufacturers! In residential work, especially wood-frame construction, the Hole Hawg, from Milwaukee, is a stalwart of the industry, as is their 90 degree right angle drill. Both are manufactured for rough handling and will hold up despite the abuse. Usually used by electrician, the ships auger drill bit, in sizes from 5/8" to 1", either six or eighteen inches long, is used for boring holes in wall studs and other wood framing members.
These drills can also handle large self-feed bits; four inches or larger in diameter. These larger holes would be bored for the purpose of running conduit and larger cables. Either one of these powerful tools can lift a man off the floor (me for one), while trying to bore through tough materials.

Small electric drills, with machine bits from 1/32" to 1/2", stepped bits of any size, with maximum 3/8" chuck, for drilling in sheet metal, steel electrical boxes, or, with the correct bit, in concrete, are available in both corded or cordless varieties. Using spade, or butterfly, brad-point drill bits, for drilling small holes in wood. A telephone bit, 3/16" to 5/16" usually 12" to 18" long, for low-voltage doorbell wiring, alarm system wiring, thermostat wiring, anywhere a long, thin bit would be useful.

A rotary hammer, for drilling in concrete, brick, stone, or concrete block. The rotary hammer will take only the bit type for which it was designed. There are two types of chucks that will accept two types of bits, and you can buy adaptors for each to fit the other. There is the splined bit, a 3/4" shaft that inserts into the tool, and a locking mechanism that holds the bit fast. The other is the sds bit shank and this is usually used for drilling smaller holes in concrete, brick, stone or concrete block.

The larger sized bits, for drilling masonry, are usually core bits, or, in other words they are hollow, cutting only along the edges of the bit, requiring the operator to break off the core, or cylinder of concrete that is left inside, once the waste bottoms-out inside the bit. Think of it like a core sample, taken from the seafloor, the "sample" being inside the coring bit.

Hydraulics plays a major role in the series of tools, used for the toughest jobs an electrician has to do. Machines that enable an electrician to do the impossible with electrical conduit of all types; that is, bend it, at will, and do so accurately! As there are for hand operated knockout punches for smaller knockouts, there are also hydraulic-assist knockout punches, which cut round trade-sized holes in electrical enclosure cabinets, from 1/2" to 6" inches in diameter.

Large electrically powered winches, for pulling heavy electrical conductors into runs of electrical conduit. Winches with assemblies that attach to the conduit ends, within the electrical cabinets, using heavy, braided pulling rope and designed to heft up to 6,500 foot pounds. Some of these tasks would be impossible without the aid of electrical power or fluid dynamics!