I am frustrated with my cordless drills. I have three of them, a Dewalt, a Makita, and a Black and Decker.Whenever I need one, the battery is dead or functions only for a couple of minutes.New batteries are terribly expensive. I have several corded drills, but only two work with one working marginally. The corded drill that works is a Harbor Freight 1/2 inch heavy duty(Chicago Electric) that I bought about 20 years ago. Although if is used very seldom(big and bulky), it works when I need it. I would like to purchase a 3/8 inch reversible drill or two to replace all of the cordless drills. I have a couple of Harbor Freight grinders(Chicago Electric), one over five years old and they have performed flawlessly. I am considering HF drills, but have read about problems with HF drills and grinders, some work well other are ****. I have noticed that HF sells not only Chicago Electric drills and grinders but also Drillmaster. Are the Chicago Electric products better quality than Drillmaster? What have you experienced? Please dont recommend purchasing other products like Milwaukee. I have a Milwaukee Sawsall and it is a great tool, but I just dont want to spend a lot on drills. Thanks.
Harbor Freight Drills- Drillmaster or Chicago Electric?
- Thread starter havnfun
- Start date
crewchief888
Well-known member
wait for black friday, and visit your local box store for a better deal.
i picked up a B&D 1/2" hammer drill, and 3/8" drill for $60 out the door a few years ago.
i picked up a B&D 1/2" hammer drill, and 3/8" drill for $60 out the door a few years ago.
kc-steve
Well-known member
I know how ya feel, but MOST cordless stuff has a built-in obsolescence due to battery life-spans. Also a lot depends on how well you take care of the batteries, such as number of charges, allowing them to completely drain, sitting in extreme temperature yadda-yadda. And different batteries need to be treated differently, ie, lith-ion versus Ni Cad.
I seem to have solved most of the trouble with a Mikita 18v Lith-ion as well as several corded drills of various VINTAGE US makes. I even have an old corded Bosch that works great.
Yes, most US brands are now made overseas. I even looked carefully on my 2-year old Milwaukee grinder and spotted the "Made in China" in tiny script.
Steve
ajchien
Well-known member
I have the cheapest one from HF. $10 or something like that. I think it's the black drillmaster. It's been fine for 1 year. I use mostly use it with a wire wheel, but sometimes for woodworking. Light use though, maybe only bring it out once every 2 weeks. Fine for home use, and hobby working. No clue how long it would last in a contractor enviroment.
Thanks for the responses. I dont think that I can completely do without a cordless drill, so I hope that I can keep one running for the occasional job that requires long runs of cords and rely mainly on corded drills. Still would like to know the difference between Drillmaster and Chicago Electric, if any. Cannot find anything out from HF.
rickas
Active member
FYI - Locally, the Interstate Battery store will rebuild rechargeable batteries (except for some reason Craftsman). I'm very happy with the 2 I've had done.
fitz11
Well-known member
Chicago electric is old HF (blue or orange) and drillmaster is the new HF (black) in most of the products color is the only difference
TireTracks
Well-known member
My dad has a Cheapo 1/2" hammer drill he bought there for $10 about 11 years ago.It's survived those years of farm abuse well, still works, though the trigger is a bit worn out. It drilled many holes in metal, wood and concrete often by workers who only knew that you pulled the trigger to drill holes.
I know HF tools are hit and miss, but there drills seem to be good.
I know HF tools are hit and miss, but there drills seem to be good.
Handy7rick
New member
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2016
- Messages
- 1
I've had the dead battery problem also. I finally purchased a drill with a Lithium battery(2) so, one is always on charge.Although the one not on charge is always ready to go also. The Lithium battery drills are more expensive but you've Always got it ready to go. Shop online for a more reasonable priced one.
Stuart in MN
Well-known member
Yes, but...
A corded Milwaukee should last you for the rest of your life, so the cost is actually pretty reasonable.The only two power tools worthy of buying at Harbor Freight are Oscillating Multi-Tool (by Chicago Electric Professional ~$30) and the 1/2" Electric Impact Wrench (Chicago Electric ~$40)
If you want something that will work in the long run without having to warranty, I'd suggest Brushless Cordless Tools or Quality Corded Tools by Bosch, Dewalt, Ridgid, Ryobi (for the Budget-minded) and the like
I'm not sure what changes Harbor Freight has made over the year. If any improvements, do let us know.
If you want something that will work in the long run without having to warranty, I'd suggest Brushless Cordless Tools or Quality Corded Tools by Bosch, Dewalt, Ridgid, Ryobi (for the Budget-minded) and the like
I'm not sure what changes Harbor Freight has made over the year. If any improvements, do let us know.
Ahh, for $11 you can't go wrong. I have one and I like it for small jobs. I killed one being stupid, but that was my fault.
I have 3 main drills:
The harbor freight $11 special- great for repetitive small jobs where I don't want to worry about battery life.
Hitachi 10.8v Li-Ion drill- great for small jobs. Battery life is great on small tasks, but drilling big, strenuous holes will kill it pretty fast.
Black and Decker 1/2" Corded drill- The wrist breaker! I only get this one out for driving deck bolts, drilling huge holes, etc. I bought it new about 20 years ago, and it's served me well.
I have 3 main drills:
The harbor freight $11 special- great for repetitive small jobs where I don't want to worry about battery life.
Hitachi 10.8v Li-Ion drill- great for small jobs. Battery life is great on small tasks, but drilling big, strenuous holes will kill it pretty fast.
Black and Decker 1/2" Corded drill- The wrist breaker! I only get this one out for driving deck bolts, drilling huge holes, etc. I bought it new about 20 years ago, and it's served me well.
TerryH
Well-known member
If your old drills are 18v you might consider buying the HF replacement batteries and using the cells to rebuild your old ones. I did this on my 18v Porter Cables and it worked fine. You can buy the HF batteries for $12ish. Easy to swap the cells into PC's anyway.
ditto to above. on my 3rd one now, guy gave me a 14.4 dewalt in case with 2 batts and charger cuz the batteries wouldn't charge. rebuilt one with the $11 HF replacement battery and it worked great...till I realized his charger was putting out 108V AC!! (should have checked that first). just remember they are 1.2v per cell Ni Cad, so you can't use a LI-Ion charger (I just use my adjustable switching power supply and alligator clips when I need to charge)
Poor OP, the guy hasn't had a working drill since 2011 when he originally posted. Glad you guys came along to help him make up his mind today.
BTW - the OP hasn't posted in a year.
Zombie threads - gotta love 'em.
BTW - the OP hasn't posted in a year.
Zombie threads - gotta love 'em.
Last edited:
TerryH
Well-known member
Poor OP, the guy hasn't had a working drill since 2011 when he originally posted. Glad you guys came along to help him make up his mind today.
Zombie threads - gotta love 'em.
sheesh.
Poor OP, the guy hasn't had a working drill since 2011 when he originally posted. Glad you guys came along to help him make up his mind today.
BTW - the OP hasn't posted in a year.
Zombie threads - gotta love 'em.
Dohh! sucked in again...
B_Bimmer
Well-known member
Since most people who are looking at similar options find these threads via google, which doesn't care about the original post date, posting advice at any time is hardly a travisty. True, the original poster won't benefit, but if he was good with a harbor freight grinder... it probably doesn't matter anyway. At least someone might benefit from the legions of better products available, both new and used. I've never understood, if you don't want to read it, don't. This site would be really boring if each subject could only be discussed once... Now I am going to go start a 6 vs. 12 thread... kidding, I'm kidding! Hold your fire, I do still read those though, I find peoples various opinions interesting.
jholder
Active member
Nonsense, there's a thread on here somewhere with the real HF gems listed. I'll tell you flat out, the 4 1/2" angle grinder (usually on sale in the neighborhood of $14.99) is by far the best product they carry. I bought one, and then after disassembling most of a car with it, I went back and bought 2 more. So I'll always have a wire wheel, an abrasive cutting wheel, and a grinder ready to go.
I have no problem with new threads going over the same ground again and again. But giving advice to a poster five years after the fact is silly. This site would be really boring if posters only added to out of date five or ten year old threads instead starting new ones. And how would threads hundreds of pages long sound. To each his own.
B_Bimmer
Well-known member
Working and working well are two different things. I was once one of those people who thought if it works, what more can you want. I have a harbor fright grinder, actually 1 4.5" grinder and 1 7" sander polisher. Build quality is the same as a Mcdonald's toy, and they both vibrate meanly. I also have a Milwaukee, which some claim vibrates more than makita's and some other brands, but I assure you it is so much better than the harbor freight that I would far rather switch disks than use both. My arms thank me and honestly i feel safer.
AndrewDouglasBird
Well-known member
Rule of thumb, don't buy anything that isn't lithium ion. Just not worth it any more. Battery technology has improved greatly with li-ion and older NiMH or (gasp) Ni-Cad are worthless by comparison.
I drove almost 3 lbs of 3" deck screws with one battery using my 18v Makita impact driver. Nuff said.
I drove almost 3 lbs of 3" deck screws with one battery using my 18v Makita impact driver. Nuff said.
crguy
Well-known member
I never could understand people that buy cheap tools, then spend the rest of their life making excuses or complaining about them.
A nice Milwaukee 1/2" drill will last you forever, and you won't be on here whining about cheap HF ****.
vartz04
Well-known member
Don't buy junk. I got a hitachi 3/8" for like $60 when it was on sale and its leaps and bounds better than the HF junk. Just buy a name brand one from HD or Lowes (or menards if you have one) and never worry about making that same purchase again.
Or.... Wait til a store has one of the trade in deals for a cordless tool and step up to a quality lithium ion cordless set (Bosch, Milwaukee or Dewalt) between my Bosch cordless 18 and 12v stuff I rarely reach for the corded drill.
Or.... Wait til a store has one of the trade in deals for a cordless tool and step up to a quality lithium ion cordless set (Bosch, Milwaukee or Dewalt) between my Bosch cordless 18 and 12v stuff I rarely reach for the corded drill.