can't decide on cordless drill

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DeWalt was bought out by Black & Decker a couple years back. They are now, without a doubt, a P.O.S.

For the guys who have had them for ten years and still running, you have the ones that were still good.

All the guts are plastic B&D now. Trust me on this.

Makita is a great choice as they have not sold out....yet.
 
The best cordless ever made was the original Makita 9.6 volt IMO. There are still 100's of 9.6 Makitas running today but they did not have a lot of power.

I have purchased 50+ cordless drills over the years but I have not owned every brand. I now buy Dewalt 18v mostly 1/2 hammer drills. The Dewalt has a nice keyless chuck, 3 speeds, smooth trigger, well place forward and reverse switch, strong cases, and nice center of balance. Our cordless drills get total abuse and are used every day. To me they are like an Optima it work perfect until one day and it just quits. We regularly use them to drill 6" holes in plaster ceilings, 1 1/8 holes in wood, and up to 1/2" in masonary a real work horse IMO.

Best bang for the buck or home owner model would be the Ryobi 18V we started buying these because some workers kept loosing them:mad: We have found they work pretty good and they are cheap. Not the best of any one task or design but overall a good value.

A lot depends on what you are going to use for and how often. If you only have 1 project to do I think any of the cordless that have been talked about will work.
 
Been super duper happy with my Hitachi, it replaced my trusty dewalt.

It has seen some awfull abuse and chucks 1/2 inch bits.



rusmannx said:
alright.
it's i've spent the day playing with all of the models, (couldn't find the panasonic) and it's officially down to the

HILTI 15.6v
http://www.us.hilti.com/holus/modules/prcat/prca_navigation.jsp?OID=-17947

and the

Hitachi 14.4v
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?acti...tId=118401-67702-DS14DMR&detail=cr&lpage=none

the hitachi is cheaper in the stores, but i've found the hilti on ebay at a competative price. the hilti has more torque, charges about at the same rate, and feels as good in my hand as the hitachi. the hilti however does not have an all metal chuck which for some reason really bothers me. they weight about the same, and are both balanced well.
if i DO decide to go with the hitachi (which i'm leaning towards) then i'm going to do a side by side with my friends HILTI.

that is all for now.
Click to expand...
 
DONE!
incase anyone cares, i wanted to share my decision.

bought the 14v hitachi (pro series blah blah).
couldn't justify the 18v as i don't plan on boring 4" holes all day.
it's quite a bit lighter then some of the others (at least it feels that way),
charges fast (already tried it) and has no problem runing a 1" butterfly
through a floor joist. 450InLb, 50min recharge time..... it's nice.

thanks for the advice everyone.
 
Late entry

For those of you still reading this thread, I recommend the Craftsman 19.2V 1/2" cordless. It's a workhorse, and holds a charge for a long time. Comes with high and low gear and adjustable torque setting so that you don't break off bolts and screws. I broke a 3/8" lag bolt with it like it was butter, so I know it's a powerful SOB. Drilled about 100 holes into my brick for hurricane storm shutters on one battery.
 
My Father is an electrician and he has had everytype of drill possible, He has since handed down all his "old tools" to me. All of them are Milwaukee,or Dewalt I just recieved the Milwaukee cordless tool kit with sawsall, drill, skil saw. I love it, their corded tools are the best, so far no complaints with the cordless. Anything other than Milwaukee/Dewalt is junk, dont buy craftsman,bosch,panasonic or anything like that.
 
LandCruiserPhil said:
The best cordless ever made was the original Makita 9.6 volt IMO. There are still 100's of 9.6 Makitas running today but they did not have a lot of power.

I have purchased 50+ cordless drills over the years but I have not owned every brand. I now buy Dewalt 18v mostly 1/2 hammer drills. The Dewalt has a nice keyless chuck, 3 speeds, smooth trigger, well place forward and reverse switch, strong cases, and nice center of balance. Our cordless drills get total abuse and are used every day. To me they are like an Optima it work perfect until one day and it just quits. We regularly use them to drill 6" holes in plaster ceilings, 1 1/8 holes in wood, and up to 1/2" in masonary a real work horse IMO.

Best bang for the buck or home owner model would be the Ryobi 18V we started buying these because some workers kept loosing them:mad: We have found they work pretty good and they are cheap. Not the best of any one task or design but overall a good value.

A lot depends on what you are going to use for and how often. If you only have 1 project to do I think any of the cordless that have been talked about will work.
Click to expand...

I have that Makita, it still works great. I have trashed it over the years, has a cracked case, etc. and still kicks butt. I recently upgraded to a newer Makita and I love it too.
 
Snap On

Havent had this Snap On drill for 10 years.
just got it.
18V
200+/- ft lbs of power, cant remember for sure, but its high up there.
battery slides out, not drops out,
the chuck is so easy to use. you dont have to tighten it up, it locks in automaticly, then auto ratchets a few clicks. so far i havent had a single bit slip.
it has a handle for your left hand, for more stability.
that handle twists, the strap its connected to loosenses, and you can use it on the other side if your left handed, and can be removed all together.
and its super quiet.
when you let off the trigger, it stops, dosent run off.

the best part of all, takes only 35 mins for a full charge.
 
DO NOT BUY THE MAKITA 18V IF YOU ARE DRILLING STEEL.

I have one at my business and have tore the gears up 2x so I took it home for a light duty. I made the mistake of not buying another porter cable 19.2. We abuse these things all day drilling steel. They have been flawless. Also the drill chuck is important too. The porter has a good one. PORTER CABLE 19.2 is my advise!
 
I have really good luck with all of my dewalt tools. I had better since I make my living with them.
 
I am a pretty serious DIY'er but do not have to count on my tools for my lively hood. Having said that I find my Ryobi to be 100% up the the task and I have used it for more than most ever will. It has been used several times to help with major structual house projects, new laundry rooms, built a porch, couple of roofing jobs. I am on my second set of batteries, which are cheap at HD, but the drill has always performed.

Now if your gonna make your living off of these tools buy the best you can afford, but otherwise your just wasting money.

That is my $0.02
 
That definitely was NOT my experience with a Ryobi cordless I purchased new...it barely made it through one 500 sq foot deck before the clutch went along with the planetary gears. But that was also a dozen years ago...maybe they are better now.


My Bosch and Festool electric hand tools have been subjected to hard use and they just keep on doing what they were intended to do: It is refreshing to have only needed to have purchased these tools ONCE (albeit they are more expensive to begin with). I especially like my growing collection of Festool tools...they are all designed to work with their vac system to virtually eliminate dust; ergo use; light, tough and great performance. In fact I just cut a couple pieces of melamine tonight with my Festool circular saw connected to the Festool vac: It contained 99.9% of the dust during cutting.


IMO you get what you pay for...sometimes!
 
I personally have the milwaukee 18 V because i got a killer deal from a friend who's father has been a sales rep for Milwaukee for 20 some years. That said, they did just get sold/bought by a tiwan or chinese company, so i'm not sure what will happen to their quality.

Also, his father told me that they are just about to come out with a new battery that is supposed to blow the other batteries off the market. It remains at full motor power until the battery dies, and then it just cuts off. There is no loss in power. Plus it charges super fast, battery is lighter and more durable too. So you may want to hold out just a little.
 
If you don't mind spending the money, buy one of the new models (several different Manufacturers have them), that has Lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries. No memory and longer life.
 
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