cordless drill

Presumably it comes from his vibrator....

Matt, what voltage is your vibrator? Does it have a good guarantee, parts back up, pleasure to use, branded name and an angle attachment?

There are several aspects to this:

- For many generic store-labelled tools, spares are not available anyway. They simply play the numbers game with the warranty, expecting a certain return rate, and then after that the assumption is that the customer junks the product when it breaks.

- There are certain manufacturers and tool types which have proprietary consumables. One reason for that is that it is classical razor blade marketing - the Scorpion saw is an example of that as was the Rotozip in its early days. Another is that there is something inherent in the functionality of the tool that is not generally available - either because the tool/machine is specialist in nature or because it is innovative and patented - examples are the Fein Multimaster.

- One should also consider the context of the tool. If the objective is to buy something at minimum cost that meets basic functionality requirements (i.e. it's a 14.4v drill but that's all I care about) then as long as it uses standard consumables then so what. On the other hand, in the context of a quality tool, purchased with aspects such as performance, ease of use, precision and servicability, then the total cost of ownership should be taken into account. This includes the cost of spares and consumables over the projected life of the product. In that case, spares, which are relatively unlikely to be needed anyway, typically do not cost close to the original purchase price.

Pray tell; What is a "racialist"?

No, just enquiring if you can do more than just repeat the advertising jargon.

Lord Hall, do you mean the Johnson motor is not very good? Do you mean there isn't a Johnson motor in that drill? How do you know all this? Tell us all please.

A racist but with less class.

Finishing order of the Tour De France?