Battery powered drill recommendations please

[Coaster]

All recommendations gratefully recieved.

Need a bit more info on @FOR USE AT HOME@

The majority of use will be internal and external carpentry. The drill may not be used for weeks, then have heavy use for quite a few hours each day, over a week or fortnight.

Having bought numerous tools over the years I've concluded that buying the best, within reason, is often the most cost-effective option, at least for frequent use items.

I'm struck by Sybaris' comment about lightness. So long as a heavy duty back-up is available a lightweight drill seems to make a lot of sense

 

[BarryH]

I use Makita everyday at work. Have been using them for years. I've had a DeWalt. Used to be good but now just a rebadged Black and Decker. Had Bosch too, batteries don't last that long....well didn't.
The one drill that has been a great surprise to me is my Hitatchi SDS. 24 Volt job. I'm fisxing things into concrete most days. I've had it 4/5 years now. The NiCads are as good now as they were when new. They'll hold a charge for ages when not used, yet I can do a good days work on 2 batteries and I drill a lot of holes!
Don't think you'll go far wrong with either makes. Both Makita and Hitatchi make some decent kit.

 

[zikzik]

..... I've had a DeWalt. Used to be good but now just a rebadged Black and Decker.....

I have sadly worked in power tool manufacturing / distribution for 30 years. BarryH is correct, many De-Walt machines are made on the same production lines, many in their China factory in Suzhou. As a brilliant marketing company in the past, B&D demonstrated that you can buy a class brand of class tools (Elu & De-Walt), add a few of their own (B&D professional) and exploit that brand (Elu brand only sold in Germany now) to achieve high selling prices while steadily reducing production costs and quality over time. Eventually, the customer loses faith if the quality falls below expectations, which is slowly happening now. All names now build part or all of their range in China. Especially their cordless products. Place of manufacture is irrelevant now probably. Makita, with UK annual sales of over £100M is the new 'must have' UK brand. They have built it slowly and solidly and mostly deserve their success. But as with any 'must have' brand, their prices are higher than the difference in product value.

Just remind yourself what you want the tool for, then what the right tool type is, as has been said above somewhere, then lastly choose the brand and tool you think will suit it. You will waste money if you buy on brand alone.

I currently and recently source products for some of our major tool / DIY retailers. I still visit factories from Germany to Bulgaria to China and even the UK (Makita, Telford). I have supplied components, gearboxes etc to major brands and I can assure you that, as with everything, much marketing money goes into brand perception.

House brands like Erbauer, McAllister, Wickes etc are mostly second level China products, but might be perfect for your needs. They all come with a warranty. Good luck.

 

[sarabande]

incidentally, Travis and Perkins are on a recruiting drive at the moment, and will issue a Trade Card to anyone (incl me !)

It gives you a lots of discounts, and they seem to stock loads of Hitachi tools.

 

[john_morris_uk]

I am on my second Dewalt battery drill - and agree that the quality isn't what it was.

I have recently bought Makita whenever I have had to replace tools (except for my big router which is a Trend)

So long as you are not setting your heart on the budget prices of the very cheapest tools, then the Makita prices aren't 'that' bad.

I used to swear by the Bosch professional range, but compared to Makita - well there's little or no comparison.

I am a very enthusiastic DIY'er - and the tools are in use several times a week. I must admit that I was influenced by the tradesmen who were working on our cottage - and I saw Makita and Hitachi and not much Dewalt in their vans.

(I might sell the router table now that the house is nearly finished!)

 

[maej]

+... errm, 6 now for Makita?

I bought one of those £99 makita specials from screwfix a couple of years ago, came with 2 nicad batteries and a bit set. It has lasted fantastically and I have never regretted it despite the nicad batteries. My first use was boarding out our loft, lots of screws for all the panels and it did the lot on one charge. It's drilled walls, steel, I've cleaned up metalwork with wire disks allsorts of abuse and it still goes strong.

I was worried about the nicads at first but in my experiance they do hold their charge for months and do have a good capacity, but I do make sure I flatten them before recharging them whenever possible as I was told that's good for nicads.

I can't compare to the other makes, my previous cordless was a cheap diy store one that I wore out in a few months.

 

[Boo2]

I have been told that DeWalt products have recently gone downhill.

Don't think it was very recently, but weren't DW bought by shi*e and Decker ? I will never buy anything from S&D ever again so that rules out DW too for me.

Boo2

 

[nigelmercier]

I need to buy a new battery powered drill, mostly for use at home. I'm prepared to pay for a good quality product with 2 lithium ion batteries etc...

if you are going to take it onto your boat, my advice would be to buy several cheap ones for the same price. Some of the cheap ones now come with spare batteries, and a timed charger, like this.

 

[stav]

The one thing I would look for is a three speed gearbox. I have dewalt tools and generally happy and there now seems two qualities: major DIY chain special offer and some thing a bit better. Bought a 14.4V dewalt with three speed gearbox for the boat over the summer as my tools where a 100 miles away with 3x 2.6Ah batteries and pleased with it much better than the 12V 1.3Ah from the major DIYer bought for work a year ago.

 

[emnick]

Drill for boat

I bought a very cheap B&D 12v drill. The battery did not last long, and a very short working time even from new.

When the battery died I soldered a length of cable to the drill with 2 crock clips to run it off the domestic supply . Works a treat.

Fwiw one more vote for the Makita had on for years recently dropped it from about 3m on th concrete floor still working.

 

[Simondjuk]

And now for something completely different....

I've been through dozens of cordless drills of all makes over the years. The oldest ones I currently have in use are both Hitachi. They just won't die. Actually one tried to when the trigger wouldn't give full speed (probably full of plasterboard dust from tacking ceilings) but a quick call to Hitachi UK saw a replacement posted to me free of charge even though the drill was way outside its warranty period.

Sorry, just read back properly having scanned before and see that the Hitachi suggestion has already been made, so this isn't something completely different.

Acutually, I auger drilled 25mm holes through every 9x3 floor joist in a big house using a little old 14.4 volt NiCd Hitachi which I gave away, and that was still working when last seen in spite of such an unfair hammering. So make that three of them I couldn't kill.

 

[Oldhairy]

When the battery died I soldered a length of cable to the drill with 2 crock clips to run it off the domestic supply . Works a treat.

Did the same with a 12V Bosh. When cruising, the way to go.
BTW I also have a very old metal body 12V Skil not cordless, half inch and incredible torque

 

[Talulah]

Makita 18V Lithium Ion
Also have the angle grinder that uses the same batteries. Incredibly useful on board.
Screwfix is not the cheapest.
Always worth searching online.

 

[Lakesailor]

This is the best one you can get today, trust me.

http://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/...Chuck GSR1082LiC 3165150534734 GSR 10.8-2-LIC

It is extremely small, solid quality, very strong, and long battery life. For an all round drill/driver why have a big lumpy battery, I have been using the small Bosch's for a few years now and have never found myself needing a bigger and higher voltage one.

Per

That drill seems good value. However...
Further research shows it only has a 10mm chuck (13mm minimum for me) and the batteries are NiCad.

 

[ianat182]

i have a Macallister 3 gear cordless hammer drill,24 volts that I bought secondhand , £50, as the previous owner considered it too heavy for his DIY jobs.
It performs perfectly and though only one battery pack it fully charges in 2 hours with a battery condition indicator, spirit level ,and a 5 LED spotlight for inside cupboard jobs. 19 screw torque settings. and 13mm keyless chuck. I'm well pleased with it and although heavy I do most boaty jobs, as well as used in all modes, hammer etc.

I used to have a Bosch for which I still have the battery and its charger if anyone needs one, a 9.6volt 1.4Ah. PM me to collect or pay postage.


ianat182

 

[Lakesailor]

Oddly enough I have a Macallister 12 volt battery drill (Nicad) which I bought for little money. I am waiting for it to break so that I can buy a Makita.
However it won't break. The batteries have good memory and it has a 13mm chuck, good chuck grip and lots of torque.
It's actually almost as good as the Makita I used at work.

 

[ribdriver]

Whatever you do, keep the batteries warm (household temp). Whether cheap or expensive, it'll make the batteries last for many more years!

 

[BlueSkyNick]

This seems like a good deal, albeit with NiCd batteries

What's more, it can drill through timber without anybody holding on to it !

 

[sailorman]

This seems like a good deal, albeit with NiCd batteries

What's more, it can drill through timber without anybody holding on to it !

most major manufacturers punt-out old models greatly discounted.
they dont want old stock about with newer models to sell in high profile outlets

 

[Sybaris]

That drill seems good value. However...
Further research shows it only has a 10mm chuck (13mm minimum for me) and the batteries are NiCad.

The FFX link reads:
2 x 1.3 Ah Li-Ion batteries (2 607 336 014)

The way I see it you can go two ways; 1) get a high voltage heavy cordless drill with hammer action with a 13mm chuck, or 2) get a very small and very strong 10.8V drill/driver for 98% of the tasks around a boat and a cheap corded 13mm chuck hammer drill for the other 2%.

I used to be in the option 1 camp but after having used a 10.8V mini drill/driver I am not going back. They are so small you can reach the most impossible screws.

Incidentally Bosch, Makita, Milwaukee, and AEG all make 10.8V drill/drivers that look almost identical and I bet any of those would be just as good. Don't go for the cheaper lines (like the green Bosch), it is false economy.

If you go for Bosch you can also get another great tool to have on a boat for all those impossible to get to places (Bosch multi tool) which uses the same 10.8V batteries:

http://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/... Only GOP108VLiN 3165156577373 GOP 10.8 V-LIN

Cheers,
Per