People of bit-tech, first of all happy Christmas! Hope you're all having a chilled and awesome day Now, to business My (until now) trusty 12v Bosch cordless drill burned out about 2 months ago and I haven't done a thing about replacing it since, much to my detriment because I seriously miss it and have been tormented using the corded one for everything since! I'm in desperate need of a cordless for drilling & tapping, screw-driving, nut-driving and all manner of other cordless jobs. The Bosch is only just out of warranty, and in fairness to the thing, has had a pretty harsh life with me for the past few years. It was bought for about £120 in a B&Q sale and really doesn't owe me anything, but this time around I'd like to get something more powerful and especially with a bit more torque for nut driving. I used to work with a tradesman who exclusively uses Panasonic cordless drills and swears by them, and rightfully so. If you took the amount of use that mine had in the past 3 years and multiplied it by 10, you might get close to the amount of use that his two Panasonics get, with all four NiMh batteries getting charged at least once per day. So, what have you got? What's good and what should I avoid? I'm leaning towards the Li-Ion DeWalt and Panasonic ranges, and for the added power I definitely need to get something above 12v. Budget wise let's keep it under £300 so my wallet doesn't get stung too badly I'm hoping to order this at the start of January because I can't really face another week of installation work without one
Can't go wrong with DeWalt or Panasonic, but my preference was always with Hitachi and Makita, always found them a good deal lighter with all the same power and durability (DeWalt batteries are nut crushingly expensive as well). My 14v li-on Hitachi impact driver survived many falls from scaffold towers when I was doing ceiling fixing. On that note i'd suggest an impact driver over a drill driver if screw driving and nut driving is what your going to be doing.
Makita /Thread. I spent 5 years using assorted drills and other power tools as a ductwork fitter and in all that time the only tools I never had a problem with were Makita (well those and Gilbows but they're hand tools).
+1 I have one that I use for work, takes all kinds of abuse and just keeps going, plus the batteries don't take long to charge and hold their charge when they aren't being used better than the older batteries so it's always ready to go. Only down side is the batteries on their own aren't cheap so make sure you get at least 2 with what ever drill you go for.
Ah, good point! I want one for nut driving because it'd make getting wheels on and off the car for cleaning etc a breeze, and should come in very handy when the project car starts as well. But can I have my cake and eat it? Can you have an impact driver and a drill/driver all in one? This kinda tells me no. Yeah I knew about Makita as well, one of the other fitters who worked for that tradesman I mentioned used a Makita as well and loved it.
18V Makita I have dropped mine on concrente from the roof several times, picked it up and went back to work. It is expensive, but you get what you pay for.
I use a Dewalt and its never let me down. But if you want something even more robust and expensive I would go with Hilti.
And a gym membership. Hilti tools are THE heaviest i've ever used, I ended up throwing my 110v screw gun off a scissor lift because I hated using it so much, replaced with a DeWalt that was probably close to half the weight.
They are all quality brands so you can't really go wrong with any of them. Pick the 18V you can get the best deal on.
Yeah like above, I've used most of the brands mentioned above over the years and still have a variety of Hitachi, Makita and dewalt cordless tools (not just drills) - to this day never had one fail on me so pretty happy all round. I'd personally look for 18v or higher (and availability of larger capacity batteries if needed) and keep a good watch on what BnQ do over this coming weeks as my local store does some good offers over holiday periods
So, no votes for Panasonic at all then? I know where you're coming from with DeWalt and all the rest though, I really am the biggest believer in getting what you pay for! [edit] Same set, £50 cheaper. Ooh...
We use these in work. http://www.caulfieldindustrial.com/...ah-liion-cordless-combi-drill/p-e13817pd.html We haven't had much luck with dwalt and the motors go after prolonged periods of use with the cheaper Makitas. We have been running 4 the above Makitas for about two years now and they can't be faulted. They are shorter than the normal versions too, which i love.
You joined in Dec 2014 and this is your first post? Wow, you must really not like that drill. I have a Dewalt 14.4v. It's ok. If I bought again, I would go Makita 18v.
Wow! Necro bumping threads Cheesecake! I eventually went with a DeWalt DCK290M2 twin pack kit with an 18V DCD985 hammer drill/driver and DCF885 18V impact driver with two 4Ah batteries. Both those tools and the many other DeWalt XR series 18V tools I've purchased and used since have served me extremely well so far and I have no doubt they'll continue to do so for many more years. Each of them handles whatever I throw at it every day, and I get the feeling a lot of the tools have power and performance in reserve.
Holy mother of zombiethread. And here I am, drinking my second cup of tea, while I could go to the nearest hardware store & buy my very own drill. To the car!
