# Cordless power tools - Milwaukee or Dewalt for trim carpenter



## Davey18 (Feb 5, 2021)

Hey! New to the forum. Starting to add cordless power tools. I have a Milwaukee 18V fuel drill and impact...should I continue purchasing Milwaukee or switch over to dewalt?? noticed most trim guys using Dewalt and not using Milwaukee. Thanks!


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## Bob Bengal (Jan 2, 2021)

Welcome to the forum. Those are both good brands, if you like the brand you have and it has well reviewed tools in what you have shopping for it is worth staying with what you have so the batteries and chargers are the same. It is nice to have one more battery than the tools it will fit, so you always have a battery in each tool and one more fully charged.


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## Bob Bengal (Jan 2, 2021)

From a sibling forum: Garage fire.

When I change a battery I put it in charger just until it is done, then take it out and unplug the charger. The battery won't loose much charge in the few weeks it is sitting around.


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## Badgerstate (Jan 18, 2021)

If you already have Milwaukee, Id go with that, just so that you dont have 2 different battery platforms. If you were starting out and didnt have any tools, Id say go DeWalt because you can often find them on sale for a pretty great deal but if you already have a Milwaukee battery, Id stick with that.
Thats actually one of the reasons why I have so many Ryobi tools. I already had a few of the batteries and it seemed silly to buy anything else when I could buy the tool only and save money because I already had the batteries.


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## Nick2727 (Jun 14, 2020)

I would say both the tools are similar quality. I would look into both the manufactures full tool line ups for the batteries. Not all tool makers make all the tools. I'm not certain what types of tools you'll end up needing to fill out a trim carpenters tool chest. This is where being a pro or a hobbyist comes into play I suspect. 

That being said, my limited exposure to the guys coming to the worksite seems construction guys lean dewalt, electricians and plumbers go Milwaukee. Not sure if it's just the culture, or what. 

My opinion would be stick with Milwaukee, unless there is a significant tool discrepancy, and dewalt offers much more of what you'd need. If that was the case, sell the drill/drivers you have now and get dewalts. If you have any inclination you'll want to change over later, just do it now.


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## Davey18 (Feb 5, 2021)

also...all my saws are dewalt


Bob Bengal said:


> Welcome to the forum. Those are both good brands, if you like the brand you have and it has well reviewed tools in what you have shopping for it is worth staying with what you have so the batteries and chargers are the same. It is nice to have one more battery than the tools it will fit, so you always have a battery in each tool and one more fully charged.





Nick2727 said:


> I would say both the tools are similar quality. I would look into both the manufactures full tool line ups for the batteries. Not all tool makers make all the tools. I'm not certain what types of tools you'll end up needing to fill out a trim carpenters tool chest. This is where being a pro or a hobbyist comes into play I suspect.
> 
> That being said, my limited exposure to the guys coming to the worksite seems construction guys lean dewalt, electricians and plumbers go Milwaukee. Not sure if it's just the culture, or what.
> 
> My opinion would be stick with Milwaukee, unless there is a significant tool discrepancy, and dewalt offers much more of what you'd need. If that was the case, sell the drill/drivers you have now and get dewalts. If you have any inclination you'll want to change over later, just do it now.


My son is a plumber and uses Milwaukee and most of the other plumbers on his site if not all of them use Milwaukee. My brother has a trim company in the florida and he said none of his carpenters use Milwaukee. I’ll be looking for cordless nailers in the future and that will probably make my decision if I will stick with Milwaukee fuel or go with dewalt xr. Thanks for your reply!


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## Mattwork23 (Feb 6, 2021)

Davey18 said:


> Hey! New to the forum. Starting to add cordless power tools. I have a Milwaukee 18V fuel drill and impact...should I continue purchasing Milwaukee or switch over to dewalt?? noticed most trim guys using Dewalt and not using Milwaukee. Thanks!


I perfer dewalt because it's more cost efficient.


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

Davey18 said:


> Hey! New to the forum. Starting to add cordless power tools. I have a Milwaukee 18V fuel drill and impact...should I continue purchasing Milwaukee or switch over to dewalt?? noticed most trim guys using Dewalt and not using Milwaukee. Thanks!


Trim guys have been leaning towards Dewalt for years. Dewalt saws and quality have caused this. But routers is usually a feature and color deal, check out the features and weigh the difference.,


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

I do NOT recommend Craftsman, but I still use an old set of Craftsman cordless tools. (The set has a circular saw, reciprocating saw, drill/driver, staple/nail gun, and fluorescent light.) They all use the same batteries and charger, which is key for me. I would have dumped them years ago with their awful NiCd batteries, but Sears/Craftsman came out with replacement lithium batteries that work with the same tools. Making compatible lithium batteries was the last smart thing that Sears/Craftsman did. I had to buy a replacement charger for the new lithium batteries, but it all keeps going.

When the time comes to replace those cordless tools, I want a set that share the same common lithium batteries. Others may disagree, but I have friends whose shops are full of separate chargers and assorted incompatible batteries. All that mess and tangled cords and battery confusion is not for me, thank you!


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

I think the wa they are changing batterie, etc. I would as a professional trim carpenter look to trade them out about every three years..

Batteries should last that and you'll get out of it before a replacement is needed.


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## Outpost22 (Nov 8, 2020)

Davey18 said:


> Hey! New to the forum. Starting to add cordless power tools. I have a Milwaukee 18V fuel drill and impact...should I continue purchasing Milwaukee or switch over to dewalt?? noticed most trim guys using Dewalt and not using Milwaukee. Thanks!


The batteries are the heart of all these cordless tools. That's where the money is when the batteries fail and have to be replaced. I have 3 different types of cordless tools, Craftsman, Milwaukee, and DeWalt. I have made my choice to increase the purchase of DeWalt products as they can be found under most rocks and the choice of tools is endless. At last count I have over 15 of their cordless tools. and probably 10 of their corded tools. Customer support was very helpful the one time I had to call them.
With that said, I have had no problems with the two other cordless tool brands either. 
My advice would be to look at the types of cordless tools offered by the brands out there and see which ones fit your plans/lifestyle, then go with that brand.


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## B Coll (Nov 2, 2019)

Davey18 said:


> Hey! New to the forum. Starting to add cordless power tools. I have a Milwaukee 18V fuel drill and impact...should I continue purchasing Milwaukee or switch over to dewalt?? noticed most trim guys using Dewalt and not using Milwaukee. Thanks!


I would look at the tool lines and see which company has what you want. But, having Milwaukee, I would stick with it. In my work truck from my employer I have all DeWalt. Good for what I do at work, but does not compare to the Makita that I use in my personal shop. I have all Makita, with the exception of my battery run nailers, which are Milwaukee. Makita nailers suck, my Milwaukee run flawlessly.


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

around here, milwaukee tools were known for the on/off switches going bad, so they god a bad reuptation for that among the carpenters. that was 8-10 years ago, not sure if thats improved...


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## Lennyzx11 (Dec 14, 2019)

TimPa said:


> around here, milwaukee tools were known for the on/off switches going bad, so they god a bad reuptation for that among the carpenters. that was 8-10 years ago, not sure if thats improved...


I have my cordless vacuum from Milwaukee under the bench waiting on me to replace the switch in it. It’s two years old now and never been abused.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## GCTony (Apr 5, 2018)

Field tools for us are all Dewalt mainly because it started off with a drill/impact set, then a hammer drill, then....it was all about the batteries and selection of tools more than the quality. Plumbers and electricians seem to be using mostly Milwaukee. Back before battery tools, when I was a working carpenter, most of us didn't like using Milwaukee because they were heavier, less comfortable than most other power tools.


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

GCTony said:


> Field tools for us are all Dewalt mainly because it started off with a drill/impact set, then a hammer drill, then....it was all about the batteries and selection of tools more than the quality.


what is the concesus on _lithium batteries_, Dewalt or Milwaukee?
personally i have all Dewalt 14.4 NiCd still running strong. the spares are always in the chargers! they are at least 10 years old, used daily.
bought a porter cable 20v lithium drill and very dissapinted in the power and battery life. was that bad luck? i do like the lighter weight of the lithium tho.


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## faith michel (Sep 10, 2017)

My vote is DeWalt.. please Don't ask me why DeWalt..

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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

TimPa said:


> what is the concesus on _lithium batteries_, Dewalt or Milwaukee?
> personally i have all Dewalt 14.4 NiCd still running strong. the spares are always in the chargers! they are at least 10 years old, used daily.
> bought a porter cable 20v lithium drill and very dissapinted in the power and battery life. was that bad luck? i do like the lighter weight of the lithium tho.


I won't weigh in on Dewalt vs. Milwaukee cordless tools - I do not have experience with them.

I have always disliked NiCd batteries, because they do not last for me. I have had very good luck with Lithium batteries. I think it has a lot to do with usage patterns.

I don't use my cordless tools nearly as often as @TimPa, perhaps a few times a week. If I were to leave NiCd batteries in the charger for occasional use, they would be useless within a couple years or so. NiCd batteries have "memory" issues, so I get the best life by charging them only when they run out of power. That's very different than TimPa, but you can't argue when he gets 10 years from a set of NiCds, which seems amazing to me. It must be the different usage patterns.

NiCd batteries are cheap compared with Lithium batteries. That's why NiCds are supplied with those awful, cheap solar lights. Replacement batteries cost more than the solar lights, which is terrible for the environment. The same is true for those equally awful small cordless tools like the hand-held 4-inch hedge trimmer my spouse bought. I warned her it wouldn't last more than a couple years, and was right about that. They don't make the batteries replaceable. When you shop around for them, it is usually very hard to determine what kind of batteries are included. If they don't tell you what's inside, then assume it is cheap NiCds, because they are trying to hide it from savvy consumers.

Lithium batteries are much lighter, hold their charge much longer, and have a much longer lifetime with my usage pattern. Regardless of brand, I would buy only tools with Lithium batteries, despite the higher cost. In the long run, they are much cheaper for me.

For TimPa, there may be different considerations.


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## m.n.j.chell (May 12, 2016)

Part of the ugly truth about "green" energy sources like lithium batteries.








The Lithium Gold Rush: Inside the Race to Power Electric Vehicles (Published 2021)


A race is on to produce lithium in the United States, but competing projects are taking very different approaches to extracting the vital raw material. Some might not be very green.




www.nytimes.com


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