time for a new cordless drill

[nikerret]

I got a DeWalt 996 and 887, last year, for Father's Day. She got me two 4.0 AH batteries (20V Max series). One is still in the package. The charger is still in the package. I opened one battery, which showed two out of three bars, that day. In the year, I've done several small projects with the hammer drill (not in hammer mode) and the impact. The biggest use was last week, I drilled several holes in stacked 2X's, to make a ghetto screwdriver holder. A lot of these holes were with a 1/2" drill bit. When I was done, the battery showed one of three bars. I didn't notice any less power, at the end of the project, than I had, at the beginning.

I store the battery outside the tool, in a toolbag, in the house.

Here's a picture of the ghetto screwdriver holder. It's a 2x6 screwed to a sx4 that's screwed to two 2x4's on their sides. The crews are 3 or 3.5"'s and I used six, total.

 

[IndyGarage]

If you want a drill - they all make good ones. That was really the first tool that became really popular as a cordless tool, it doesn't require a lot of juice, so you won't really push one hard.

I rarely use my cordless drill anymore - I use an impact driver about 10X as much.

When you look at cordless tools, there are really two considerations: The battery quality, and the breadth of the tool line. Of course if you are only buying a couple of tools the breadth doesn't really matter.

Personally I think Panasonic makes the best batteries, by far. They also make excellent tools - they invented the impact driver and their drills still have features that the others haven't gotten yet. On the down side they don't have as broad a line as the others, they are expensive and you can't buy them just anywhere. (Yeah I know AVE took their drill apart and didn't like it - sorry I care about how it works, not how it looks inside)

Hilti is a rebadged Panasonic and a little more widely distributed - but uber expensive.

Of the others, I can't tell much difference between them - DeWault, Milwaukee, Makita, and Bosch are all pretty good. Flip a coin and pick your color. They all have broad lines of tools - Milwaukee might be the broadest - Makita and Dewault are close behind. They are all readily available - they all will burn you someday by creating a non-backwards compatible battery pack.

I think Ridgid is a step down in some tools, and Ryobi and the new Porter Cable cordless are homeowner brands.

I personally have some of each of them. If I could only have one cordless drill or impact driver, I would pick Panasonic - if I were buying a bunch of tools I would probably go with the cheapest package deal of Milwaukee or Makita - but I would probably be just as happy with Bosch or DeWault.

 

[engineer2]

^^^ I agree. The top tier brands are all good. Your choice can be decided by what other future tools will fulfill your interests; automotive, yard work, wood working, metal working, construction, etc.

It's nice to be able to use the same battery system for hundreds of tools.
I just wish the manufacturers would standardize on a battery packs instead of each brand being unique.

 

[lbhsbz]

Well, I bit the bullet tonight. I was tempted to grab the $199 Milwaukee deal on father's day at HD but I'm glad I didn't.

HD had a sale on a Dewalt 5pc set...drill, impact driver, recip saw, circular saw, and flashlight for $300. I have avoided these, mostly because they come with the compact batteries...I like big boy batteries. They also had a combo DeWalt trimmer/blower deal that came with a 4Ah battery for $199.

I got both.

One very attractive part is that the batteries are NOT made in China, but Japan. I've never been a dewalt fan, but at the end of the day, they're in the same league with Milwaukee and Makita, and most importantly, not made by emerson electric. The Mechanic's speak very highly of the Mac impact wrenches, which are made by DeWalt also...so I plan on buying the bare tool 3/8" and 1/2" version.

My 2 most used battery tools are my drill and my 10 year old snap-on 3/8" impact. The snappy batteries are about shot...don't hold a charge more than a couple days.

My gas weed wacker and blower are a constant battle to keep running.

My Ridgid recip saw has a **** blade release that jambs all the time because it's worn out...with not much use, and my 50 year old porter cable skill saw is heavy (but it's a beast...never will I sell it).

I'm $500 into the new stuff, and the impacts are another $250. I figure I can recover at least $250 selling my old recip saw, electric weed wacker, ridgid drill with two new batteries (warrantied them) and snap on impact.

I'm tired of dragging cords out for 2 minutes cleaning up with the weedwacker or making a couple cuts with a saw...this should make things more convenient. And, since I have all this stuff that uses the same batteries, they'll get cycles regularly and will probably last a good long time. That was my reasoning for spending $500 on this stuff I guess.

 

[Cope]

You did good. I saw the blower/weed eater combo the other day. If I didn't have two gas blowers, an electric and a good gas trimmer I would have bought the set.

 

[LB-1911]

Well, I bit the bullet tonight.

HD had a sale on a Dewalt 5pc set...drill, impact driver, recip saw, circular saw, and flashlight for $300. I have avoided these, mostly because they come with the compact batteries...I like big boy batteries. They also had a combo DeWalt trimmer/blower deal that came with a 4Ah battery for $199.

I got both.

The Mechanic's speak very highly of the Mac impact wrenches, which are made by DeWalt also...so I plan on buying the bare tool 3/8" and 1/2" version.

My 2 most used battery tools are my drill and my 10 year old snap-on 3/8" impact. The snappy batteries are about shot...don't hold a charge more than a couple days.

My gas weed wacker and blower are a constant battle to keep running.

My Ridgid recip saw has a **** blade release that jambs all the time because it's worn out...with not much use, and my 50 year old porter cable skill saw is heavy (but it's a beast...never will I sell it).

I'm $500 into the new stuff, and the impacts are another $250. I figure I can recover at least $250 selling my old recip saw, electric weed wacker, ridgid drill with two new batteries (warrantied them) and snap on impact.

I'm tired of dragging cords out for 2 minutes cleaning up with the weedwacker or making a couple cuts with a saw...this should make things more convenient. And, since I have all this stuff that uses the same batteries, they'll get cycles regularly and will probably last a good long time. That was my reasoning for spending $500 on this stuff I guess.

Enjoy your new acquisitions, I know you'll be smiling when you use your trimmer & blower.

 

[jonesg]

I have Makita 18 LXT and Milwaukee M18 Fuel. I prefer Milwaukee as comfort in my small hands and those Makita batteries are slippery that they slip out of my hands and lands on my concrete garage floor killing them as they don't run and/or able to take a charge. I've lost 4 batteries that way.

Its not the batteries fault , get some different hands.
A second hand shop might have some cheap.

 

[jonesg]

Well, I bit the bullet tonight. I was tempted to grab the $199 Milwaukee deal on father's day at HD but I'm glad I didn't.

HD had a sale on a Dewalt 5pc set...drill, impact driver, recip saw, circular saw, and flashlight for $300. I have avoided these, mostly because they come with the compact batteries...I like big boy batteries. They also had a combo DeWalt trimmer/blower deal that came with a 4Ah battery for $199.

I got both.

One very attractive part is that the batteries are NOT made in China, but Japan. I've never been a dewalt fan, but at the end of the day, they're in the same league with Milwaukee and Makita, and most importantly, not made by emerson electric. The Mechanic's speak very highly of the Mac impact wrenches, which are made by DeWalt also...so I plan on buying the bare tool 3/8" and 1/2" version.

My 2 most used battery tools are my drill and my 10 year old snap-on 3/8" impact. The snappy batteries are about shot...don't hold a charge more than a couple days.

My gas weed wacker and blower are a constant battle to keep running.

My Ridgid recip saw has a **** blade release that jambs all the time because it's worn out...with not much use, and my 50 year old porter cable skill saw is heavy (but it's a beast...never will I sell it).

I'm $500 into the new stuff, and the impacts are another $250. I figure I can recover at least $250 selling my old recip saw, electric weed wacker, ridgid drill with two new batteries (warrantied them) and snap on impact.

I'm tired of dragging cords out for 2 minutes cleaning up with the weedwacker or making a couple cuts with a saw...this should make things more convenient. And, since I have all this stuff that uses the same batteries, they'll get cycles regularly and will probably last a good long time. That was my reasoning for spending $500 on this stuff I guess.

I had Dewalt nicad before switching over to Milwaukee, Dewalt is very good.
I only changed to big RED because they had the elec ratchet wrench and that was impressive enough to cause the switch.

I'd be happy with Dewalt tools, its just that they were late coming to the party with impacts etc.

 

[lbhsbz]

I had Dewalt nicad before switching over to Milwaukee, Dewalt is very good.

I only changed to big RED because they had the elec ratchet wrench and that was impressive enough to cause the switch.



I'd be happy with Dewalt tools, its just that they were late coming to the party with impacts etc.

That impact ratchet is calling my name...but the price for the rest of sure isn't.

I've used everything so far...the blower is awesome, the weed wacker is meh...I dunno if the string swing is short or of the supplied cutter string is just ****...I think the latter...I've been using the triangle stuff or echo string and it's way better than basic round stuff. Saws are awesome, impact driver is awesome, drill, with the punk battery, is meh. I'm happy with my purchase

 

[dwasifar]

Here's a picture of the ghetto screwdriver holder. It's a 2x6 screwed to a sx4 that's screwed to two 2x4's on their sides. The crews are 3 or 3.5"'s and I used six, total.

What kind of drivers are those?