Time for a new drill!

[BigRed390]

Just bought a new house, and consequently need to build a new workbench to fill up part of the garage. ('62 galaxie will occupy the other half. )

Back on topic, I'm looking at 2 cordless drills, a 21.6 volt panasonic and a 18 volt Milwaukee. Both come with 2 batteries and have a seemingly appropriate amount of torque to classify them as overkill for general home-owner use (ex. I'll not be mixing any buckets of cememt in the near future.).

Anybody have any experience with either of these? Good? Bad? Other suggestions? Should I skip the cordless idea and get a plain 'ol corded drill?

Thanks,

Red

Edit: Mods, if this needs to go in the tool forum, please move it or delete it and I'll re-post.

 

[Matti]

I can't help you with these choices but I almost threw my Hitachi over the fence this weekend. Whatever you buy make sure it has a good chuck. I'm very frustrated with the cheap cordless drills that have crappy chucks.

 

[malibu101]

First off, I have nothing but Milwaukee and am very happy.
You can find some good deals on "old" 18V Milwaukee as they are pushing their LI-ION line. Don't be afraid to buy the "old" stuff as the new LI-ION batts are backwards compatible.

 

[OldCarGuy]

I have been extremely happy with my 18V Milwaukee 1/2" drill, that I've owned many years. And even purchased a second one so that I don't have to go between garages to get a drill.

 

[marty_p]

Bite the proverbial bullet and buy the Milwaukee; I promise you that you'll be glad that you did each and every time you use it!

 

[cobymedic]

I currently own two cordless that I us a far bit, but recently I purchased a cheap corded drill. I think I picked it up onsale for under 50 bucks (cdn) with a bunch of accessories. This drill has come in so handy since I bought it, lots of torque for those bigger jobs and if you battery dies you always have this one to back you up.

So basically the point I am getting at is that I dont have a say on what type of cordless you buy, but picking up a corded in the future I think is a great idea. (If you find one on sale lol)

 

[stick004]

I was less than impressed with my last Lit-Ion Milwaukee. I returned it. It didn't have near the torque or battery life I needed.

I switched to Makita and have had nothing but drilling bliss since.

 

[billspit]

I used the old Makita drills at work and loved them. I later bought a Ryobi and it was a piece of ****. The drill was OK, but the batteries were pathetic. I now have a DeWalt and love it too.

 

[JackOfAllTradesRuss]

BIG RED,
Buy the Milwaukee 18 volt, I'm sure you will like it. Russ

 

[Stuey]

I can't help you with these choices but I almost threw my Hitachi over the fence this weekend. Whatever you buy make sure it has a good chuck. I'm very frustrated with the cheap cordless drills that have crappy chucks.

What was wrong with it? I have a Hitachi and it hasn't failed me yet. If I recall correctly, Hitachi's higher end drills have metal chucks, compared to the plastic ones that yours and mine has.

Anyways, between Milwaukee and Panasonic, I might go for the Panasonic. Not sure why, though, just a feeling.

 

[Gooch]

I havn't used the 18v series but i've used the 28v model and it's fantastic. I've used almost all of the other battery drills out there and nothing has compared. only downside is weight, as it is a bit large and heavy(dunno if this is the same for the 18v)

 

[RbrtAWhyt]

I've been happy with the C3 line from Craftsman...

 

[tcianci]

I think either of the units you are looking at will serve you well. You may want to base your choice on what other tools are available in the line...stuff that you may want to buy in the future. Having had Ryobi stuff I agree wit the previous poster..the tool is fine but the batteries are low end. I got rid of my Ryobi stuff and went all Makita. I am a contractor so this stuff gets used every day and I must say that in general the Makita stuff isn't worth a darn. I have lots of Makita tools that do work fine but the 18V Lithium ion set I bougtht is the pits. I have had a battery die, the charger died, and the high speed range of the drill died all in about 14 months. The chuck is junk and the gearbox on the drill (the one they just replaced) doesn't seem long for the world and its only about 8 weeks old. And all the black rubber overlay padding is coming off the drill. The Circular saw is adequate but the blade guard is balky as it hangs up alot as you enter the workpiece and the bevel adjustment is constantly getting loose. The reciprocating saw is an instant battery eater. Last but not least...GREAT FLASHLIGHT! I work this stuff hard but no harder than the DeWalt and Ryobi tools I had before this and I would have to say that the Makita is not worth the money.

 

[ddawg16]

Get a Combi kit....drill, circular saw and Sawzall.....after you have them you will wonder how you got by without them....

While the Millwalkee, Mikita, and Porter Gables are great for the guy who uses them for his living....I don't think the average weekend guy needs that much.

I have ALL Ryobi 18v tools....including one drill that is on it's 9th year of abuse on my house....I've used the dog **** out of that drill....the battery finaly gave out last year....8 years out of a NiCad is very good....

The 5 1/4" circular saw is great for cutting sheets of plywood...easy to handle...it's also great for those hard to reach places where its hard to hold a heavy tool out at arms length....and light enough to control with one hand.

The sawzall....what can I say....you will find many uses besides cutting wood and metal....great for making holes in walls......PVC....tree trimming....basically, if you start to grab a hack saw...grab the sawzall instead....

Just don't buy the Harbor Freight power tools if you plan to use it more than once....

 

[BRK]

V28 Milwaukee that was refurbished from CPO Milwaukee was the same price that the big box store wanted for the 18v Milwaukee. I love it!

 

[nate379]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000IBHB62/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Bought one of those... supposed to pick it up tomorrow. Been wanting a hammer drill for a while now.

 

[Bojans]

Nate,

I first bought one exactly like you posted but returned it for one like this http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000H4G21K/?tag=atomicindus08-20

The reason, with all of the mechanics in front of your hand it got very hard on the wrist holding all of the weight out in the front. The one I have now is balanced much better. Just something to consider.

 

[ironman2424]

if your just going to have one drill then i'd buy a cordless impact drill. i love my impact driver and am fixing to buy another one to keep in the house too.

 

[KenB]

if your just going to have one drill then i'd buy a cordless impact drill. i love my impact driver and am fixing to buy another one to keep in the house too.

I understand these are good for driving screws, but how are they as drills?

Ken

 

[35mastr]

I just bought another Dewalt DC759 18 Volt at HD on Sunday. It was 159.00 and change. It basically replaced another that I had for 15 years. That one just dropped off the ladder one too many times.

I also have a 18 volt cordless saw so I got 6 fresh batteries always ready to go.

 

[rieferman]

ironman wrote

cordless impact drill.

oh man, I used one of these helping a buddy do some drywall recently.. His was the dewalt, forget the model. It drove screw after screw without a single slip off all day. It really was remarkable at how much easier it made it. I also found that the touch/sensitivity was much better than I'd expect - when I got down near the end you could ease off and really finesse the screw to the perfect dimple.

I didn't drill any holes that day, but just wanted to share that other experience

 

[sammerdog]

If you're hard on tools or have some bigger projects coming up, I'd steer you towards buying a decent corded model. If you're just drilling a few holes for hanging bric-a-brac and an occasional fastener, a cordless may be okay. But if you're putting up a bigger deck or some serious drywalling, you'll definitely want to have a never dying drill. Drilling holes in concrete will steer you towards a corded half-inch hammer-drill with a side handle.

Variable Speed Reversible and a good keyless chuck and you're good to go on the drill. Add a strudy belt holster and get to work.

 

[BigRed390]

New tool update!

I ended up with a 1/2 inch Milwaukee magnum of the corded variety. I looked at what I will probably be using it for (Gotta build a workbench, helping some people re-do part of a deck soon, doing some cross-tie work on our garden, etc), and it just made sense to get a heavier corded model. Besides, everybody needs multiple drills, so this gives me an excuse to buy a fancy cordless set soon!

Thanks for all the advice! Great forum!

 

[Mike83]

My personal suggestion is to look at the new Milwaukee M18 combo with the 1/2" compact drill and the impact driver. Amazon has this for $200 which is a steal in my mind. The impact is very powerful and the drill is great too.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...t_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

 

[JMURiz]

I was less than impressed with my last Lit-Ion Milwaukee. I returned it. It didn't have near the torque or battery life I needed.

I switched to Makita and have had nothing but drilling bliss since.

I got a Makita drill and driver combo kit...drill is awesome for making holes and for screwing...for bolts the driver is awesome.

Check the ads this weekend for fathers day deals.