Cordless drill recommendations please

MoodySabre

MoodySabre

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I had the "What do you want for your birthday?" this morning. This is a good excuse to replace my old B&D plug-in, worn keyed chuck jobbie for a new cordless keyless chuck drill with a bit of go.

Jobs would include hammer drill for masonary bits, drilling out old rivets and drilling new holes in mast plus general stuff. I got out a Machine Mart catalogue and there were hundreds /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

So is it 14.4v? Something up £70ish. Whose got what and is it good?

TIA
 
How about having two? we keep a Dewalt 12v drill on board which is light enough for single handed use at the top of the mast as I found out yesterday (long way up an M31 mast) and use a heavier fixed plug one at home. Dewalt came from Robert Dyas store which were doing a deal at the time and man enough for all on boad stuff. Dewalt and Matika both good.

Pete
 
Adding a hammer action puts the price up considerably. Last year I splashed out on a DeWalt cordless drill for wood and metal working, about £90 and an excellent tool, but the equivalent with hammer action is almost double the price. If you are buying a cordless drill I would think about how much drilling of walls you are going to do because plug in the mains masonry drills are a lot cheaper..
 
Screwfix Erbaur are good quality for the money.
I've just had to replace mine because the batteries died after 6 years & it's cheaper to buy a new kit than replace batteries.

I got 2 makita 18V drills & 3 batteries from Westward [www.westwardbuildingservices.com] for £110. excellent quality.

Look for special offers.
Worth going for spare batteries I reckon.
 
We have a DeWalt DW960 18V right angle drill on board. Invaluable for working in tight spots like cupboards, engine compartments and cockpit lockers. Doubles as mainsail winch engine with as special bit.
The battery seems to go on forever. However, not capable of drilling masonry, and a bit above the price range. Still, an interesting item to consider.
 
We have an 18V cheapo from B&Q. The drill is really good, but the batteries do not retain their charge for a month or so, so have to be recharged. This is fine if you are in a marina with shore power. If you are not, then think about having a 300watt inverter (not expensive from Maplins) to charge the batteries - as you inevitably foreget to keep them charged when you have shore power. Useful for loads of other small items too other than SWMBO's hair dryer she tried to plug in the other day....
 
I picked a cheap one up from Halfords about 4 years ago, done a lot of work with it, and it's still going strong!

Check out Lidl - a lot of their tools are re-branded Bosch. Look for the identical green color scheme.
 
Bosch: I've always found them to give good value / performance over many years.
Mains powered hammer drill for when you really need the power, 14.4v lithium ion bosch drill (with 2 battery packs) from B&Q at around £50 and a small lithium ion battery screwdriver.
 
I got a Ryobi “one” 18v cordless starter kit and was so impressed I’ve been adding bits to it ever since. You can get everything from torches and lamps to mini vacuums to fit the battery packs, highly recommended. I have found the right angle drill especially handy for inaccessible places.

FULL RANGE HERE
 
I guess the professionals might not agree, but I bought a 24V drill from Maplins with 2 fast charge batteries and having used it successfully at home & on board for a year,am happy & have had no issues with it.
It was on offer at the time & purchased it for £29.99 I think, currently back on at £49.99, but they reappear in the Maplins offers regularly
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=221014
 
I bought a Challenge 18v cordless with hammer action 4 years ago,retains battery power for ages, its ok for DIY but its a bit on the heavy side, it cost 50 quid.
 
I second the Ryobi...

Brilliant kit


Jim

[ QUOTE ]
I got a Ryobi “one” 18v cordless starter kit and was so impressed I’ve been adding bits to it ever since. You can get everything from torches and lamps to mini vacuums to fit the battery packs, highly recommended. I have found the right angle drill especially handy for inaccessible places.

FULL RANGE HERE

[/ QUOTE ]
 
Another recommendation for Screwfix Erbaur range. I have been using one for 4years. good value good quality. I think they are the same as Homebase WORX brand.

Martin
 
I have a Bosch Combi 18v with 2 NiCad batteries which was on special offer at Christmas which with my 'senior' discount card came to about £70. Excellent bit of kit but heavier than the newer Li-ion type.
 
Dewalt are contractors tools. so unless you expect to be drilling hours a day, I doubt you ll ever need that build quality.
I d also agree with others that for masonary drilling, you really need mains power.
Then its down to frequency of use (ie what type of battery), and weight.
I still find 12v isnt powerful enough, and 24v is pretty heavy for any screw driving, so I d go for 18v If you think you ll always have time to recharge before using it, the Nimh/Nicad are ok, but if you need it to hold a charge for weeks.months, you ll need lithium- which is somewhat more expensive.
Screwfix or Toolstation usually have some deals. Some have mentioned Erbauer.. I ve heard in warranty they ll replace it, but after that, its for the bin as there arent any spares. (Cant vouch for that story, but it put me off)
Having said that, its usually the batteries, not the drill itself that give up the ghost.
 
Ryobi one.

I've had Hitachi and Clarke. Ryobi is much better, plus you only need one charger and a couple of batteries. I have drill, impact driver, detail sander and angle grinder. Sometimes get good deals on bundles from screwfix.
 
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