[drewzero1]

A NiCd-powered cordless drill would be my first thought, clearly obsolete since the widespread adoption of lithium battery tools and the rapid degradation in NiCd cells over time. A radial arm saw also comes to mind, replaced for most tasks by the more portable and generally safer compound miter saw. Tools made before modern safety devices, such as table saws without anti-kickback fingers or riving knife. Some tools rely on wear parts like specialty blades or belts that are no longer available. Analog multimeters and fixed-resistance soldering irons.

I've inherited my share of obsolete tools, including but certainly not limited to the above examples.

[_yb2s]

I inherited a high quality NiCd cordless drill from my late grandfather. I was able to cheaply buy some new cells online, solder them in, and it's good as new! It has a multi-speed gearbox with a ton of torque... useful, but not a common feature on a drill.

I like the connection to previous generations, and remembering these people by using 'obsolete' tools passed down to me.

[mschuster91]

> A NiCd-powered cordless drill would be my first thought, clearly obsolete since the widespread adoption of lithium battery tools and the rapid degradation in NiCd cells over time.

On the other side, as long as it's something brand-name like Bosch, these things are built to last - and there are still shops around selling new battery packs for them (or you can replace the cells yourself - no fancy BMS required like with modern lithium batteries and no risk of things exploding or going up in blazes if you mess something up!). I'm still using power tools from my grandfather, meanwhile a friend recently complained to me that one of his "new" drills broke less than two weeks in his house renovation.

The thing is, what you can buy in construction stores these days is optimized to last for the two years warranty period aka six or seven times of being used. Keep that "old" stuff, it will likely outlast you. And if you go and buy lithium-based tools, please buy brand name (=Makita) and don't buy knock-off batteries. These are fire hazards.

ETA: The worst thing you can do with NiCd packs is using them while they are nearly empty or squeezing out that last bit of power. That will drive one of the cells into reverse charge and by then it's effectively forever toast [1].

[1] https://www.icmm.csic.es/jaalonso/velec/baterias/aboutn~1.ht...

[eropple]

> please buy brand name (=Makita)

This is probably better described as "not from an algorithmically generated name on Amazon", I think. Makita is great (I have their track saw, it's amazing)--but so are DeWalt, Milwaukee, Bosch, Festool, Metabo HPT (formerly Hitachi), and a bunch of others. Even the relatively "budget" flavors of those (Craftsman for DeWalt/SBD, Ridgid/AEG and Ryobi for Milwaukee/TTG) are solid tools these days; Ryobi still has its reputation from the days before they went neon green, but you'll see professionals using them these days because the battery compatibility guarantee is valuable. Even some of the more ancillary brands you'll see out there, like the new cordless Skil stuff (made by Chervon, who own the EGO line of garden power tools) are quite reliable; I have DeWalt and Makita stuff in my shop, but Skil's 12V tools live in the house and are fantastic.

More important than the brand name is usually the product tier, which is related but not distinct from the brand. Most of the brands above sell cheap tools, often as part of a set, and they're value-engineered until they scream. A bottom-tier DeWalt and a bottom-tier Makita and a low/mid-tier Ryobi probably aren't that different in terms of reliability, nor would the higher tiers of the above. (With some occasional exceptions; the DeWalt oscillating tool they currently sell is the best one I've ever used from any brand, with affordances that I appreciate more. Apparently they've sold particularly good ones for a while. But a drill's a drill, mostly.)

Power tools above the basement-tier have just all gotten really good in a relatively short period of time. Lemons exist for sure (though every time I hear about somebody breaking a drill during something as relatively easy as a house renovation I find myself asking whether they'd bought the cheapest one they could, as before), but overall? We're at a point where you can even make a decent argument for a Harbor Freight blue-flavored cordless set. I wouldn't, because old habits die hard, but you could. And whatever you buy is probably lasting two decades and not costing you a whole heck of a lot.

Agreed about the batteries, though. Don't buy cheap batteries.

[drewzero1]

I still wouldn't go for HF tools (or any store brand... Tool Shop, Master Mechanic, take your pick) for anything I want to keep forever. You just can't get parts for most of that stuff. I only get HF or MM if I'm buying the tool for one job and need to fit in the budget, otherwise pretty much everything else I've got is pre-owned DeWalt et al. (The warranty-period breakdown is no joke, but a lot of times if they survive much past that they can be good for a while.)

I'm also still not totally sold on cordless tools. I've found corded tools generally much easier to repair. Extension cords are cheaper than batteries, and for my typical applications they're essentially interchangable.

[eropple]

I get where you're coming from, but their modern tools are pretty much in line with everyone else's--bear in mind that there isn't much of a cost savings from them, either. The Hercules portable table saw with a rack-and-pinion fence is a good example. A friend has one, I've calibrated it for him and gotten up into its guts. And it's built pretty well! But, by virtue of being built pretty well, it costs in line with what a Metabo HPT or DeWalt model does on sale, while having a slightly smaller table. Similarly you'll see pretty equivalent motors, bearings, etc. in those as in mid-range "name brand" cordless tools. I'm sure they shave here and there, but it isn't anywhere near what it used to be, and for light use they'll be fine for quite a long time. (Plus? Good return policies.)

There are few tools I wouldn't rather have cordless, though. Corded drills don't step to an impact driver for screw-driving (the only corded drill I have is a low-speed drill/mixer). Cords on an angle grinder or a jigsaw or the like get in the way more than they help. About the only corded hand tools I have are routers, and I wish my track saw was corded mostly so as to be able to pair the dust extractor with it (but I use the track saw outside a lot too, so it's a wash). All the corded tools in my shop have been retrofitted with either a Festool pigtail or a NEMA L5 locking connector to not have to deal with cords on the tool, and that helps, but it's still not great.

[mschuster91]

Cordless is a dream on construction sites without electricity though. No more danger of tripping over a cord and suddenly you have at least two injured people... a colleague back when I was working in construction had a nasty incident involving an angle grinder and some poor sod lugging a heavy bag of cement who tripped over the cord where the angle grinder was attached to.

[Avamander]

Analog multimeters can surprisingly be useful with more complex or short signals. Sometimes providing significantly better results than digital equivalents.

[tlb]

The good quality large-scale ones like AVO are wonderful to use.