Why hasn't anyone griped about this yet?

I have a Rigid jig saw with a long rubber cord and I love it. My circular saw has a stiff cheap plastic/rubber cord and is very annoying in cold weather. Jig Saw is my only Rigid tool but the cord is great and has great flex even in the cold.

-- Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.

I have used a cheap ryobi drill for one reason…..the nice long rubbber cord…..I just bought a new one…....it had a short,stiff plastic cord…....Last one I will buy…...Really pi..ed me off!

-- steve...e-mail-themantelshop@hotmail.com........remember,the best teacher is repetition.

I agree. I still have my Grandfathers black and decker drill (1960?) with the original cord. The new cords fall apart after about 5 years.

-- Sorry the reply is so long. I didn't have time to write a short reply.

I agree. This is especially a pain when it’s so cold in my shop. As soon as I read your first sentence, I thought of the excellent rubber cord on my Bosch saber saw, and then you used that as an example!

-- “It's so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone.” ― John Steinbeck

Cut them short and use an extension cord. :-)

-- Handcrafted by Mike Henderson - Channelview, Texas

...except the manual expressly forbids using extension cords! They get you on both ends (of the cord, as it is)

-Brian

-- Part of engineering is to know when to put your calculator down and pick up your tools.

”...except the manual expressly forbids using extension cords! They get you on both ends (of the cord, as it is)”

ha ha ha – real men don’t read manuals! :-)

Extension cords are a way of life.

-- Handcrafted by Mike Henderson - Channelview, Texas

On a related note, why don’t power tools come with some type of cord keeper that prevents the cord from falling out of an extension cord. That’s the biggest gripe I have about my electric chainsaw.

-- -- Rick M.

Actually I prefer the silicon rubber as they are the most flexible and durable! Pure rubber ones tend to crack and, I have to agree with you on those plastic ones, the are stiffer than …............ (fill in the blank)!

-- "I never met a board I didn't like!"

I replace the plastic with rubber cord material ( like SO cable) and a decent plug, if the tool has a cheap cord in the first place. I learned a valuable lesson 35 years ago when doing home remodeling and framing…don’t buy plastic cords, especially long extension cords. They will not last in the cold winters outside. I’ve been trying to follow that ever since.

-- Improvidus, Apto quod Victum-- Improvise, Adapt, Overcome

Rick – they do have that, just tie a knot

I like Makita tools as a rule, but the one thing that puts me off getting any more is the short, stiff plastic cord on the jigsaw and 1/2 sheet sander.
The bean counters have obviously been at work on those product lines. The two Makita drills I have though have decent rubberised cords.

-- Do or do not, there is no try

Plastic cords do save them money. Change the cord. A knot is the worst solution.
http://www.glsautoparts.com/storefrontprofiles/DeluxeSFItemDetail.aspx?sid=1&sfid=139287&c=124201&i=164915496
Replace your extension cord end with a Leviton 515LR locking cord connector for $3.24. There are other ones available. You can even buy extension cords with locking connectors and there’s many inexpensive add ons to do the job.

-- Few folks really know how to maximize the potential of their tools!

My biggest gripe is the cord length. Several of my power tools have 6 ft cords. I hate this. Far too often, 6ft is not quite long enough which makes an extension cord necessary. Not a huge problem, but definitely one of lifes little “first-world” hassles. IMO, the industry should adopt one of two options:
1- Make the cords 1 ft OR integrate a male receptacle into the tool. Seeing as how extension cords are often used with portable power tools anyway, why not just go with it and eliminate the cord all together? I like the idea. I could then just buy one or two high-end 8-10ft extension cords. Heck, I might use the previously mentioned idea of simply snipping the cord off, and making it 12-18”.

2- Make the cord at least 8 ft. The industry may already be heading in this direction. Many of the tools I purchased 5-10+ years ago, had 6 ft cords. However, the sander and biscuit jointer I recently purchesd had 8ft and 10ft cords (respectively). The additional few feet doesn’t seem like much, but for whatever reason, that extra few feet greatly reduces my need for an extension cord. Cord length is not something I used to look into before purchasing a tool, but these days, it a big selling point for me.

I agree, the plastic cords are a real pain when it’s cold – and it’s usually cold in my part of the world, except for the summer months (and not exactly hot, even then).

I also agree on the shortness issue. Only a few of my tools – notably my Bosch ROS and my Skil Router, have what I would consider adequate length. These two tools also have nice flexible cords, not stiff plastic.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the cord on my new Ridgid R4512 is both short and stiff. The manual says not to use an extension cord unless absolutely necessary. Well, it’s going to be absolutely necessary, unless you only perform crosscuts and you want the table saw up against a wall (or you happen to have outlets in the center of your floor)! You’d think in a $529 product designed to be in the middle of a room, they could use a longer cord. While stiffness isn’t as big a deal with a stationary tool like this, you would still think at the price point, they could have a nice 12-15’ flexible cord. I’d gladly have paid another $15-20 for the saw to have a cord long enough to actually use. That’s what it cost me to buy a new extension cord at HD.

-- Aaron