Recommend me a cordless drill

[Lefty Guns]

I'm in the middle of building a big deck beside my house and have come to the conclusion that the cordless drill I bought ten years ago for £50 is st.

One of my mates (a joiner) who is helping me has a cordless makita that cost him £350. It's a Lithium-ion 18v thing and is fking great.


So... I need a new drill but don't want to spend £350. Any recommendations around the £150 mark?

I've seen a DeWalt 14.4v one for sale in a builders merchants for £100 (with 3 batteries) but is it likely to be a bit st at that price?

Cheers
Lefty

[v15ben]

The De Walt ones are actually pretty good, but the battery life is a bit shocking. I guess if you are only using it at home and have 3 batteries that shouldn't be a problem.

[rocksteadyeddie]

I'm no expert but.....

I have a DeWalt and it's fantastic. It is one of those with a metal chuck rather than the plastic ones that are built to a price. The voltage only really matters if you are planning on drilling lots of holes in masonry or brick. For wood or a bit of screwdrivering you'll never notice. Think mine is 18V and will drill a 14mm 400mm through a wall without blinking.

I guess you get what you pay for ultimately.

HTH

[Lefty Guns]

rocksteadyeddie said:

I'm no expert but.....

I have a DeWalt and it's fantastic. It is one of those with a metal chuck rather than the plastic ones that are built to a price. The voltage only really matters if you are planning on drilling lots of holes in masonry or brick. For wood or a bit of screwdrivering you'll never notice. Think mine is 18V and will drill a 14mm 400mm through a wall without blinking.

I guess you get what you pay for ultimately.

HTH

Mind me asking how much?

[Lefty Guns]

Actually, a bloke at work suggested that I should get a corded drill. I can see hsi point, it's rare I would ever be using the drill where I couldn't use a corded one and i could use my cheap cordless one for those sort of occasional jobs.

Anyone got an opinion on this:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/28582/Power-Tools/Co...

[rocksteadyeddie]

I think it was about £250 from memory. I have a couple of corded drills too but rarely use them as it is a pain in the arse always having to unwind an extension lead.

[northwest monkey]

Lefty Guns said:

Actually, a bloke at work suggested that I should get a corded drill. I can see hsi point, it's rare I would ever be using the drill where I couldn't use a corded one and i could use my cheap cordless one for those sort of occasional jobs.

Anyone got an opinion on this:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/28582/Power-Tools/Co...

Mixer drill that matey - you need something like this:-

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/99908/Power-Tools/SD...

[Lefty Guns]

northwest monkey said:

Lefty Guns said:

Actually, a bloke at work suggested that I should get a corded drill. I can see hsi point, it's rare I would ever be using the drill where I couldn't use a corded one and i could use my cheap cordless one for those sort of occasional jobs.

Anyone got an opinion on this:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/28582/Power-Tools/Co...

Mixer drill that matey - you need something like this:-

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/99908/Power-Tools/SD...

Cheers bud, what does SDS stand for?

[Lefty Guns]

It's OK, I just found out!

[f-fuxake]

"Steck – Dreh – Sitzt" (Insert – Twist – Fits)

[Lefty Guns]

Whate are peoples thoughts on DeWalt vs Makita?

I know one joiner who says DeWalt are more like a fashion accessory than a real tool and that Makita, for similar money, are much more reliable. I've also heard that Bosch drills are as good as Makita (as long as you ignore the £40 ones from B&Q...)

[lewes]

Ive got one of these and are great drills. Maybe not suitable for decking as you would need a SDS chuck adaptor to use normal HSS wood bits but a good drill none the less.

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/99908/Power-Tools/SD...


My brother has an 18v Makita Cordless and had to drill into a concrete fence post and his struggled. A lot more guts with the corded (mains powered one) but drills are often designed for specific jobs in mind.

I used to be involved in the construction industry and not a lot of difference between Makita, Bosch (blue casings), DeWalt. Like others have said you do get what ya pay for.

[rsv gone!]

Lefty Guns said:

Whate are peoples thoughts on DeWalt vs Makita?

I know one joiner who says DeWalt are more like a fashion accessory than a real tool and that Makita, for similar money, are much more reliable. I've also heard that Bosch drills are as good as Makita (as long as you ignore the £40 ones from B&Q...)

I would take Makita over Dewalt as I agree with your joiner mate. Bosch tools are just as good so long as you only buy the professional blue ones.

Try to go for Li Ion batteries if you can.

I have a Hitachi 18v Li Ion and the torque of it is amazing; 64Nm IIRC

[Lefty Guns]

Hmmm.

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/86090/Power-Tools/Co...

Anyone know what a percusssion drill is?

[SkinnyBoy]

Panasonic Li-Ion ones are fantastic IMHO. I had one but it got half inched by some scrote. I have an 18v Makita Maktek for general stuff and a Snap-On 18v for heavy duty stuff. I find the Makita batteries tend to drain a lot quicker than the Snap-On ones.

[blinkythefish]

SkinnyBoy said:

Panasonic Li-Ion ones are fantastic IMHO. I had one but it got half inched by some scrote. I have an 18v Makita Maktek for general stuff and a Snap-On 18v for heavy duty stuff. I find the Makita batteries tend to drain a lot quicker than the Snap-On ones.

I was told told that Panasonic are one of two companies who make the Li-Ion batteries(other companies use rebadged) - it means they keep the best batteries for their own kit.

Between my dad, my brother and I, we've got two 14.4v panasonic drills, an 18V panasonic and had a panasonic cordless rip saw(which some scrote nicked). Never had any bother with them, the batteries last a long time, and they always have loads of power. My brother works in a joiner's shop, and his panasonic is usually borrowed by the others there cause it is much better than their kit.

175 quid :
http://www.powertoolworld.co.uk/panasonic-drill-dr...

Edited by blinkythefish on Tuesday 15th September 14:11

[V-spec]

f-fuxake said:

"Steck – Dreh – Sitzt" (Insert – Twist – Fits)

I got given an SDS drill recently, then tried to find SDS drill bits... impossible (at least at normal prices)! You end up buying a converter so that you can use normal ones. Shame because it seems a much better system!

[Bill]

Paddy_N_Murphy said:

Screwfix Special here

That's the one De Walt, Makita and blue Bosch come equally recommended so get whatever of those is on special offer. The only possible issue is that doing a lot of screwing with an 18v drill gets tiring as they're heavy and have lots of torque.

[Autonotiv]

The first thing need to know is what are you going to be doing with the drill you buy?

How often do you think you will use it?

What will you be doing with it? (Drilling wood, Masonary, Screwdriving??)

[Lefty Guns]

Weird, I looked at this thread a couple of hours ago and it was locked! What gives?