OT New linecord for an old drill

[RichR]

Got a nice old Milwaukee drill that needed a linecord. Not being a fan of stingy 6 foot cords I bought a 25 foot 14 gauge
extension cord. For a strain relief I used a piece of 3/8" ID x 1/2" OD clear vinyl tubing. It was a snug fit but eventually
I managed to slide it over the wire. Once it was clamped into the drill there was still the slightest bit of movement
when the cable was wiggled. Adding a piece of rubber between the clamp and cable fixed that. Here is the result:

[Paul Alciatore]

Looks like a great job. I have done similar many times when a line cord needed to be replaced. Or in some cases, just when I wanted it to be longer. Extension cords are an inexpensive source for such replacement cords.

A hint: sometimes when I fear that the cord may be subject to excessive pulls, I use a cable tie around the outer jacket just inside the clamp. I make it as tight as I can, using a pair of pliers to pull it closed. That seems to hold them better than anything else. You need to leave about 1/4" of that jacket past the cable tie or it may slip off under stress.

[Norman Bain]

[QUOTE=Paul Alciatore;1118222...
A hint: sometimes when I fear that the cord may be subject to excessive pulls, I use a cable tie around the outer jacket just inside the clamp. I make it as tight as I can, using a pair of pliers to pull it closed. That seems to hold them better than anything else...[/QUOTE]

This has become my standard approach with near any power cord. Use of a plastic wire tie in the manner Paul describes does wonders to prevent cords being pulled out of a fixture.

PS: nice job Rich.

[wdtom44]

Nice repair. And the long cord will probably come in handy sometimes. I have a long one like that on my skill saw. Generally I don't like long cords though, the longer they are the longer they take to untangle. I would rather plug in a couple of extension cords of 25 ft. than deal with the tangle of a 50 footer unless the longer cords are on a reel. 25 ft. is about the max. before the tangles get too much.

[Bob Engelhardt]

There's a trade off: coiling & uncoiling the long cord every time, whether you need the length or not versus having to use an extension cord. It all depends upon your typical use of the tool. If you use it most of the time at the bench, then a short cord is better; on a job a longer one is. If you wanted to "go Stefan"* on this you could identify the frequency of use for various distances and calculate the optimum length.

Bob

* - Stefan - no offense, I hope. "going Stefan" is the ultimate way of doing something.

[RichR]

Cord length certainly can be a double edged sword. I usually don't have an outlet next to me when using a drill so 6 foot cords are out. I had
planned on a 15 foot cord but the shortest extension cord I liked was 25 feet so that's what I went with. If you look at the right side of the
second picture you'll see a black Velcro strap that came with the cord which will keep tangling at bay when the drill is stored.

A hint: sometimes when I fear that the cord may be subject to excessive pulls, I use a cable tie around the outer jacket just inside the clamp.

I had considered that but the 6 inches of tubing I slid onto the cable for a strain relief fattened it up to the point that a thin piece of rubber
allowed to clamp tightly enough.

[BCRider]

Back before the days of battery drills I did the same to my trusty B&D. Using a longer cord let me use the drill throughout most of the shop without needing to find a new plug. Best of all it never runs low.

[Paul Alciatore]

On the long vs. short cord thing, I recently rewired my garage/shop. I placed four duplex outlets on each of the three walls that do not have the garage doors in them. That's 12 duplex outlets on four 20 Amp circuits. I also added several outlets in specific locations on the ceiling for the lathe bench, the drill press, the mill, the band saw, and a workbench that is part of that island of tools. About 16 outlets in all.

And I still have to use an extension cord on almost every hand held tool that I use. You just can't have enough outlets. You can't. The only tools that I do not need an extension on are things like the shop vac and others where I have already replaced the original cords with longer ones. I may not run out of power, but I do need extension cords.

[BCRider]

I forgot about a cheap angle grinder I got a little while back. Did the same cord swap for a 15' extension cord with the one end lopped off. I bit more of a tangle to handle but I'm not constantly looking for an extension.

As Paul says above, with the stock cords it's hard not to need extensions a lot.

[lynnl]

Cord length certainly can be a double edged sword. I usually don't have an outlet next to me when using a drill so 6 foot cords are out. I had planned on a 15 foot cord but the shortest extension cord I liked was 25 feet so that's what I went with. .

You can buy that flexible, stranded cord by the foot at Lowes and HD, or at least you could a few years ago.

[CCWKen]

You can buy that flexible, stranded cord by the foot at Lowes and HD, or at least you could a few years ago.

Yeah, but's tough molding your own plug. You end up with an add-on plug that looks like it came from a 1920s sewing machine.

[RichR]

You can buy that flexible, stranded cord by the foot at Lowes and HD, or at least you could a few years ago.

You still can, but I got tired of waiting for the guy at Lowes to come back and cut me off 15 feet so I went to plan B. Buying 15 feet would
have cost me $14.25 plus I still need a plug. The 25 foot extension cord was $20.00, has a plug already attached, and comes with a Velcro
storage strap.

[cameron]

The most annoying thing about corded tools is that you have to deal with the cord every time you put a tool back on the shelf or in the drawer, or wherever you keep it. The cord is always trailing off the shelf, or has to be tucked into a drawer, or is tangled up with other cords.

There's a case to be made for cutting all the cords off short, adding a decent plug, and accepting that an extension cord of a suitable length will always be used, and at hand when needed.

Good plugs are not expensive, and they don't have to look like they came off a 1920's sewing machine if that's going to bother you.

[alanganes]

The most annoying thing about corded tools is that you have to deal with the cord every time you put a tool back on the shelf or in the drawer, or wherever you keep it. The cord is always trailing off the shelf, or has to be tucked into a drawer, or is tangled up with other cords.

There's a case to be made for cutting all the cords off short, adding a decent plug, and accepting that an extension cord of a suitable length will always be used, and at hand when needed.

I had a contractor friend that would cut his tool cords off to about 8" or so and replace the plug with an appropriate 120V twist-lock style plug. He then had on his truck a bunch cords with the matching twist lock receptacle on one end and a regular straight blade plug on the other. They were made up in a few lengths of maybe 6', 12', and 20'. Those would let him make the cord as long as he needed for the job at hand and still have the option of using a standard extension if he needed it to be really long. The short end on the tool made it less likely to get damaged in use, particularly on the saws. Seemed like a handy system if you care to make the up-front investment in time and effort.

[mattthegamer463]

I had a contractor friend that would cut his tool cords off to about 8" or so and replace the plug with an appropriate 120V twist-lock style plug. He then had on his truck a bunch cords with the matching twist lock receptacle on one end and a regular straight blade plug on the other. They were made up in a few lengths of maybe 6', 12', and 20'. Those would let him make the cord as long as he needed for the job at hand and still have the option of using a standard extension if he needed it to be really long. The short end on the tool made it less likely to get damaged in use, particularly on the saws. Seemed like a handy system if you care to make the up-front investment in time and effort.

The clever Marius Hornberger did this recently, took it to the nth degree with fairly-expensive locking connectors but it looks great. If I had 10 angle grinders and 5 routers and 6 hammer drills like some folks I think this would be high on my list.