Best battery operated sander & drill?

Fr J Hackett said:
Why buy a special angle drill when for very little money you can buy a 90° attachment for a drill.
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Because many of the reviews I read then of inexpensive right angle attachments were discouraging about reliability, and rightly or wrongly having the batteries already I thought the cost of a bare drill which I could use - both as a right angle drill, and as a simple drill alongside my drill/driver - in other applications was worthwhile. I find today that a Dewalt right angle attachment is about half that of a Ryobi angle drill body, but I don't recall seeing any Dewalt right angle attachments at the time - perhaps I did not look hard enough!
 
Hydrozoan said:
Because many of the reviews I read then of inexpensive right angle attachments were discouraging about reliability, and rightly or wrongly having the batteries already I thought the cost of a bare drill which I could use - both as a right angle drill, and as a simple drill alongside my drill/driver - in other applications was worthwhile. I find today that a Dewalt right angle attachment is about half that of a Ryobi angle drill body, but I don't recall seeing any Dewalt right angle attachments at the time - perhaps I did not look hard enough!
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I wasn't being critical, I bought one many years ago for a specific job on a boat it was all metal and a nice tool, I still have it somewhere and have never used since which is why I queried how much use a 90° drill would be apart from the limited times that it may find a use.
 
Fr J Hackett said:
I wasn't being critical, I bought one many years ago for a specific job on a boat it was all metal and a nice tool, I still have it somewhere and have never used since which is why I queried how much use a 90° drill would be apart from the limited times that it may find a use.
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It was a fair point, and if I had seen a Dewalt attachment - if they existed then - I might well have got one instead. But it was quite a hard drilling job and I did not want to risk messing about, timewise, replacing a failed attachment. I have occasionally found the Ryobi useful since for awkward jobs in the house/garden - but it is I admit very basic and of limited use as a conventional drill.
 
I've got one of those 90 degree attachments.
It was about £7 and did the job which I couldn't see another way to do.
Not an easy or nice tool to use.

Sometimes in a boat, a small cheap drill is handier than a big 18V aspirational tool-snob's drill.

Sanders?
I have a 1/3 sheet orbital which has earned its keep, a random-orbit type and a belt sander. Plus angle grinder. And more than one Dremel type of thing.
Depends on the job in hand.
A lot of work, you're better off sanding manually.
 
Fr J Hackett said:
OK I would suggest a good 5Ahr drill and a small cordless orbital sander 125mm discs use the Abranet abrasives. Whatever you buy buy the same manufacturer so that you economise on batteries and charger. after the basic sanding then you should be thinking of hand sanding between coats with fine abrasives As for hull preparation using a sander of any type is now frowned on and prohibited in most places because of the toxic nature of the dust produced. If it is just to key the scraped hull prior to application of of the priming coat for later antifouling then you would be better with a long board and wet and dry paper but if you insist on power tools then a corded sander polisher would be a good choice as it will let you polish the topsides as well.
As for which marque my choice would be Makita but it depends on how deep your pockets are and how long your arms are.

If you buy any sort of orbital sander buy some Mirka pad savers to go with it as with constant use the velcro that attaches to the sanding discs becomes worn and won't hold the sanding disc. Pad savers are far cheaper than replacing the sanders own backing disc.
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Wow! Thank you so much for your reply.... it'll take some digesting but really appreciate it. I have to admit the local yard services / boat mechanic did say that using a hand held pan cleaner / abrasive cleaning pad on the existing anti foul would be good enough prep after washing down ...... just need to ask him again what sort of cleaning pad!
Thanks again. WW
 
Fr J Hackett said:
Why buy a special angle drill when for very little money you can buy a 90° attachment for a drill.
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I have both and although the attachment (mine is 105 degrees, not 90 degrees)) is small and can be got into tighter corners, it is a bit fiddly to use as it needs two hands: one to hold the drill and the other to hold the attachment

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Familiar tone here. Makita.
I have gone over to buying fake Makita tools and then used the Makita battery and charger

Just occasional use so the battery is more important than the tool.

But the drill, circular saw and the tyre pump are the real thing
 
I've got an Aldi drill with 2 batteries which stays on the boat, 16v version, bought a good price. Excellent as it's smaller than a lot of them & been v useful. At home I have Ryobi with 2 batteries + the right angle version which has been useful.
 
Wing Mark said:
I've got one of those 90 degree attachments.
It was about £7 and did the job which I couldn't see another way to do.
Not an easy or nice tool to use.

Sometimes in a boat, a small cheap drill is handier than a big 18V aspirational tool-snob's drill.......
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Agreed. A few years ago I nearly bought one of these 10.8 volt drills for a particular job in a tight space. The need disappeared so I didn't bother in the end, but I'm sure I would have found it very useful. It does impact/masonry drilling as well, within limits.

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For any tool that will be subject to sustained use or heavy loads a corded model is always preferable. This includes sanders, skill saws, drills used for mixing things and the latest bit of nonsense: battery powered table saws.

I have not found the extra 30 sec I get from "brushless" technology to be worth the additional expense.

Do not mix different cordless brands to keep the battery bank consistent.

Good tools last longer, sanders included. Cheap tools are a waste of money; my last set of Makita drill & driver lasted 15 years of constant professional use. Our local pro tool shop has name brand batteries on sale at near half price at least once a year - go for the 5A variety.
 
A number of makes suggested above - if I was searching for a drill (I have a makita, worx and a Lidl which has a number of attachments) I would be looking at size and weight - I tend to prefer the worx as it’s light to carry around in its soft bag and has 2 batteries but the Lidl with multiple tops for use as a drill, sander ,plunge tool is good for multiple tasks . I have a ryobi battery pack lawnmower and strimmer which last well and have been looking at the offer to get an impact driver as mentioned above along with the extra item -you just have to be careful with all these tools which battery size you get for a particular tool - but of course the higher number ones eg 4 or 5 can be quite bulky compared to 1.5 or 2 which might influence choice if weight is factor. I quite like the cheaper ones such as Lidl offer for leaving on board eg drill ,angle grinder etc during summer months but for any serious sanding would be using a corded version -Best Buy was a cheap £7 sander from Woolworths .
 
Poignard said:
In general, are brushless power tools so much better than those with brushes as to justify the additional cost (for DIY
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YES. No more stuck brushes due to lack of use. Longer run time. Higher quality tool with much smoother and cooler running.
I have a large makita collection. You can't really go wrong if you buy any of the big brand names.
I chose makita back when they were the only ones that made a particular cordless tool.I'm sure I would be equally happy with dewalt, milwauki, bosch etc.
Lidls tools appear good to use and great battery prices, of which they always seem to have a good stock.
You can buy battery adapters on ebay so it's possible to run a makita on a Parkside (lidl) battery costing nearly 1/3 of a makita battery, or mix many tools and batteries.
Cheap tools can do the same job, but often slower , less comfortable for prolonged use and the results may be different.
 
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