Tools

I've accumulated a few tools during all my trips to Aspö over the past couple of years. I haven't splurged on anything overly high quality but so far I've been happy with what I have— with one exception.

My simple cordless drill gets more use than everything else and it is showing the strain. I need a new one for sure. Janne and I had been talking about the huge price difference between a good drill in the US and the same one over here.

I believe the only difference is in the voltage; when I went to Home Depot in Dallas, I found their chargers only worked on 110 volts. I have hit upon a good idea, though. If the charger is the only real difference between US and EU versions, if the batteries and the drill itself is the same, why not just get a charger in the UK?

Sure enough, 220 volt chargers with the exact same model numbers as their US counterparts are easily available here for around £35. I should be able to buy a US drill, and just use my UK charger. That would get me a nice power tool for much less than the EU cost.

I'm in the US this week getting started in my new job. I've bought a very nice Makita drill with two batteries (along with a new car, but I digress). I'll buy the charger when I'm back in London and I should be all set for many happy years of high-power drilling!