Your first cordless drill?

[Knotgoalie]

Mid~late 70s, I had a disaster from Skil, 7.2v with batteries built in. Switched to Makita shortly thereafter and and stayed for years but today it is all TOTL DeWalt for cordless as my brother works for S/B&D so they turn out cheap for pro goods.

 

[merkyworks]

Mine was a Makita 12V 6227D

 

[goblue1998]

Makita 14.4v. Used for a long time.

 

[yatg]

Makita 9.6v.
Still have it, but need to rebuild the batteries.
Picked up a couple of the other 9.6v tools cheap at auction this year.

 

[Snapped-off]

I used my dad's 9.6v Makita growing up.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Makita 7.2 volt early/mid 80s ?? along time ago. Still have it and a few accessories tucked away somewhere.

 

[Sumboodie]

Makita 7.2 volt early/mid 80s ?? along time ago. Still have it and a few accessories tucked away somewhere.

6010D?

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

+1 on the Makita 9.6v drill.

Jim

 

[John McA]

9.6v Mak. Bought one for my dad 6012HD. Before the keyless chuck. All the studios had them seemed good enough for me. Collected a bunch. Gave a lot of them away recently.

 

[The Tool Tyrant]

Another 9.6 Makita here. Still have it with 2 dead batteries...I just have issues throwing tools away...I'll leave that job for my kids after I'm pushing up daisies.

 

[sparky 1971]

Early 1990's Craftsman 12 volt. Everyone that used it thought it was the greatest thing ever. If it was still around today, it would be a POS compared to what's available even at Walmart.

 

[DHCrocks]

Skill Topgun in the late 80s ish.

 

[svtride]

6010D 7.2v. Circa 1985. Got it with a flash light kitted together. Used for opening up and inspecting airplanes.
Still have both and use them occasionally. Had to buy a replacement battery 5 years ago.

 

[lardy1]

12V Porter-Cable. It was a beast in its time.

 

[The Cobbler]

skil maybe 4.8 volt, built in batteries . worked good for what it was . mid/late 80's

 

[mike93lx]

Mine was craftsman nextec 12v in the late 90's while I was working at sears

 

[Spud McGee]

Porter cable dumpsterfire. I had the Kit - saw, flashlight, drill, driver, 2 batteries, etc. After a couple years, the batteries died.

I got the last laugh, though. Lowes had a fathers day promo where you could bring in any battery powered tool and get like 20% their kobalt stuff. I traded them a porter cable flashlight with a dead battery for 20% off their biggest set of kobalt 24v tools and batteries.

 

[Walkers]

I had the 9.6ers too. Had a couple drills, the little 4” finger biter saw. After moving on to a more modern platform, I soldered a pair of wires to the terminals and put some alligator clips on the end. I could clip it onto my truck battery and probably had 15’ of range. I never did use it all that much though.

 

[captain14]

Makita 9.6 also. Purchased 1988-1990ish.

 

[JMcFly]

I recently finally got a cordless drill. Its a hammer and regular drill combo but I think I might want just a regular as well. I went with a Ryobi brushless since I already invested in their 18v line. I really like it and it suits my needs well.

 

[kaymccampbell]

I had an early Craftsman. It and the little trim saw were so great. I wore them out. The drill driver died first, and the trim saw I kept nursing along, because no one made such a nice one.
Nowadays I have yellow cordless tools. And, after decades, Dewalt has finally made a nice trim saw that can be one handed in close quarters, much like my old Craftsman.

 

[txvwnut]

Started with the 9.6v Makita non-replaceable battery. It was dead when you wanted it the most and I took it as technology of the time. Upgraded to the replaceable battery Makita and it wasn’t much better. Went to a Black and Decker, the batteries lasted longer than the charger. Then came a Skil kit till the batteries died and went with Ryobi, also have some M12 Milwaukee stuff.

 

[readhead]

Early ‘70’s 12v Milwaukee hole shooter. Looked like the 120v drill but had a 12v motor, a yellow 6’ cord with an odd plug that plugged into a metal box containing a 12v motorcycle battery. Worked very well and usually lasted all day.
Tools with self contained batteries obviously won out.

 

[Crabman]

Black and Decker 14.4

 

[Dozerhand]

Skill Topgun in the late 80s ish.

Me too

 

[whateg01]

9.6v DeWalt in the mid-90s. I still have it but the batteries are long dead. I guess I keep it for its sentimental value.

 

[engineer2]

DeWalt NiCd drill around 1994. Dropped it off a step ladder broke a motor magnet, locking up the motor. Rebuilt it. Got a lot of good use out of it, but the batteries got weak and the technology got old. Gave it to a relative.
Switched to 18V Li-Ion Makita around 2008. I'm still using the 14 year old Makita 18V batteries!

 

[tyyost]

Makita 9.6 with keyless chuck from Tool Crib of the North circa 1991. Loved that thing, used the **** out of it. EBen paid extra for the metal case
Upgraded to a DeWalt 18 volt combo kit in 1997 with drill and circular saw. Added a sawzall a year or so later. Still used the Makita as a the second drill until the batteries wouldn’t take a charge.

 

[tyyost]

DeWalt NiCd drill around 1994. Dropped it off a step ladder broke a motor magnet, locking up the motor. Rebuilt it. Got a lot of good use out of it, but the batteries got weak and the technology got old. Gave it to a relative.
Switched to 18V Li-Ion Makita around 2008. I'm still using the 14 year old Makita 18V batteries!

Similar here, switched to Makita lithium ion from DeWalt NiCad when they came out. Already had Makita 12 impact driver in the arsenal a few years earlier. Sold off the combo a few years ago still kicking on the original batteries. I had a nice set too, drill, circ and recip saws, impact driver, and a few flashlights but I was bit by the Milwaukee bug.

 

[dnschmidt]

12V Porter-Cable. It was a beast in its time.

Me too. It was all black. Looked cool.

 

[nadogail]

Mine was the 9.6 Volt Makita with the long battery.

It was replaced by a Royobi. That Royobi soon required a pair of replacement batteries. I switched back to Makita and refuse to consider any Royobi products.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

6010D?

I’ll see if I can find out tomorrow. Might take a little digging but believe I know where the it is.

 

[Norcal]

Makita 9.6v.
Still have it, but need to rebuild the batteries.
Picked up a couple of the other 9.6v tools cheap at auction this year.

Same here, rugged tool.

 

[Shiftless]

Craftsman C3 19.2 volts
Like Kay, I found the C3 trim saw a great little tool.

When the batteries all failed to hold a charge for more than an hour, I packed up all of the tools and batteries and sold them to a C3 collector and bought some Milwaukee m12 fuel tools.

 

[southalabama]

Me too. It was all black. Looked cool.

Mine was porter cable gray. They also sponsored new yankee workshop.

 

[David99]

Ryobi 18 volt - was part of a kit with the light, circular saw & nicads, Hurricane Frances was on the way - got what was available at that moment, still have them all - with newer Li-ion batteries.

 

[mogandave]

Mid '90s, 3/8" Makita LAB

 

[cannuck]

Makita 9.6v.
Still have it, but need to rebuild the batteries.
Picked up a couple of the other 9.6v tools cheap at auction this year.

Same here. Old wooden garage burned 39 years ago and I built a larger steel shop in its place. Bought the Makita 3/8 for that and along with 2 batteries it built that entire metal shop in a bitter SK winter. I still have it, it still works, batteries replaced once only. Oh: it got used commercially in boat building operation for the next 10 years of its life and survived the experience. Still do Makita for woodworking stuff, but my shop tools are all now red due to range of offerings.

 

[rancherbill]

Mastercraft (Canadian Tire Brand made by Ryobi) was excellent, I got a very long hard service life from this tool. It is not impact resistant from 15 feet.

 

[svhamelly]

early 1990s Bosch - great tool, wore out the batteries after 12 years, bought replacements and then the drill itself gave up after about 5 more years... no complaints and replaced it with a new Bosch.