Help me choose a cordless drill set

[Mar_mite]

Having lost my drills under a floor recently, I am in the market for a new impact and drill combo. The ones I lost were 18v makita. Id had them for years and they never let me down, but I hear bad things about them now. I don't really want to spend more than £300. I rarely do any first fix so don't need monster power. I've borrowed my brother in laws 14v dewalts, screw fix have them for £200. But they are only 1.5ah. I'd be worried about the battery lasting. But they are nice to use. Any ideas? What about these milwaulkees?
http://mobile.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/M ... 0X%204.0Ah

 

[paulm]

There's a tool show yesterday and today in Esher, might be worth a visit to check out some options and look for special deals if near you ?

http://www.dm-tools.co.uk/events_diary.php

It's trade only, but I don't know how they would check, so think I'll make a trip later and have a nose around if I can pass any "trade" tests !!!

I recently went for 18v bosch gear having been impressed by their battery technology and very happy with the performance so far. The 4a/hr batteries last for ages and recharge in 45 mins, so I currently only have two of them and really only need the one, and there's new 5 a/hr versions out too.

Cheers, Paul

 

[MickCheese]

I was looking at the Milwaukee drill / drivers recently on one of their trade stands at an exhibition and speaking to their salesman.

I am only a hobby user so keep that in mind.

I thought they were well made, felt substantial, the batteries are guaranteed for 2 years and all their range uses the same batteries.

They were reasonably light and comfortable in the hand.

Didn't buy one but am considering it. I need to replace my dewalt's as the batteries are failing and they are so expensive to replace.

Mick

 

[DiscoStu]

Our shop fitters use Milwaukees and seem happy with them. I am a fan of the Ryobi range. Their 18v one+ system is great. I've got about a dozen tools but all the batteries fit each other so I have 4 batteries and one charger that can charge 6. It's fab. Their impact driver is a bargain. Also B&Q offer very good pricing on it.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Someone made a point a while ago - don't buy power you don't need. This is because the batteries fail when the weakest cell fails, and the more cells you have the more likely you are to get a weak one, so if a 12v will do the job, don't buy an 18v. This seems logical to me.

 

[dejaa]

Hi
I had my workshop broken into some time ago and was faced with the same dilemma. I eventually went for Makita 18v Li Ion. I've never heard anything bad about them and I certainly had no problems in 6 years.

My view is you never have too much power; 18v will be less stressed than 14v whatever you're doing plus hold a charge longer. If I was still in business I would buy Festool, but that's no hobby money!

david

 

[RogerBoyle]

I've had the Makita set twice now and I will not have another Quality really has gone down hill IMHO over the last 3 years
I've had the Bosch set and thought they were very good but they were stolen from site
I have the AEG 18v cordless for 4 years now but not as powerful as most other 18v drills but the batteries do seem to last a long time
I currently have the DE-Walt 18v combo pack Drill and Impact driver which came with 1.5amh batteries . Very good bits of kit but you really want the 4amh batteries for them ( I use the ones from my Nail gun )
Son in Law uses Ryobi and Panasonic has done for over 6 years and still going strong
Plumber friend uses Milwaukee and says he will no longer use anything else and that includes Festool LOL.

If I was to buy again I would probably go for the Bosch or the Milwaukee

Good Luck LOL no matter which one you buy will always get somebody that says you should have got this instead LOL

 

[paulm]

Went along to the tool fair this morning, no problems getting in, just had to register and claim to be a general builder, which is not entirely untrue these days

Picked up a naked Bosch 18v reciprocating saw in case for a very reasonable price, better than the usual D&M price, axi don't offer it in their range for some reason but as they price the circular saw version at £220 when you can get it at D&M for £150 (not a show price special) I wouldn't think they would have been competitive anyway.

They also had the l-box with screw/ drill inserts for £25 which was annoying as I got one recently for £40 which was a good price in itself (axi have them at £66 as I recall !).

So I think the conclusion is if you can get to and into one of the trade fairs in particular you can save yourself a fair bit of money

Cheers, Paul

 

[woodpig]

I bought a Makita 18V drill about 18 months ago and it's the dogs as far as I'm concerned. Hitachi is the only other brand I've used that I liked. Ryobi was cheap and nasty and the battery went south very quick, same with and AEG I had as well. Milwaukee are part of AEG so personally I wouldn't bother with them either. Surprised to hear a bad word about Makita as most folks seem to like them.

 

[Mar_mite]

Well the makita set I lost were brilliant. I've seen a few negative posts on here about the recent tools being below par. To be honest I fancy a change. I'm leaning towards Bosch at the moment. Although you seem to get a lot for your money with the Milwaukee.

Thanks for the heads up Paulm, I couldn't go along to the tool show today.

 

[John Brown]

"There's a tool show yesterday and today in Esher"

Ah! That explains the bl@@dy awful trafic jam I was sitting in!

 

[paulm]

"There's a tool show yesterday and today in Esher"

Ah! That explains the bl@@dy awful trafic jam I was sitting in!

Sounds like the same one I was in for forty minutes ! Caused by a roadworks detour as far as I could see near Hampton Court ?

Cheers, Paul

 

[Ed Bray]

I have loads of the Ryobi 18v One+ kit, and a selection of Ni-Cad and Li-ion batteries, there are only 2 things I don't rate and they are the Stapler and the 10mm Drill/Driver (has a crap chuck) although the 13mm Drill/Driver is fantastic and the Circular saw, 18g Brad Nailer, Impact Driver and SDS drill are all outstanding, the other items rate from very good to good.

 

[shed9]

Panasonic is worth a look. Batteries are built in Japan and some of the best available and interchangeable between 14v and 18v tools.

I went through a recent dilemma and whilst most of my kit is Festool I couldn't quite bring myself to invest in their drills (that said I have a CXS but that was a no brainer). Anyhow I narrowed it down to Milwaukee, Fein and Panasonic. I went with a Fein 18v combo pack of impact and combi drill and whilst fairly happy with the product, if I was to do it again I'd either stump up for Festool or more likely go the Panasonic route. Never heard a bad word against Panasonic to date.

 

[RobinBHM]

I have both 18v and 12v milwaukee in my joinery shop

The 12volt is a drill and impact set, brushless 4ah They are light and compact, will comfortably screw up to 80mm screws. They are used mostly for smaller screws for fitting ironmongery and cabinet work. For assembling window frames the 18volt set will drive in any size screw at ease.

Panasonic are also great, but less common and a smaller range.

Our local power tool rep highly recommends milwaukee, and he sells loads of the 12v sets for site carpenters - a 4.0ah set will fire in screws for hours and just brilliant fir overhead work like tacking ceilings. Using one these for a few hours is lot less tiring than 18v. They have a light and 3 power settings for the impact.

I believe dewalt have jnvested hugely in cordless technology and have finally caught up with the competition.

Whatever you buy, I reckon 3ah or 4ah battery sets are worth the money. Toolstation and screwfix often have promotions but always seem to bundle in 1.5ah batteries

 

[Claud1]

I have had Dewalt and Makita in the past and Makita was by far the best but about 3 years ago I bought a 18v Milwaukee drill and 18v impact driver and they are the best I have ever had. I have since bought a Milwaukee 12v fuel drill and it is better than I expected.

 

[busy builder]

As I'm trade, I use Festool T15 drill (14v) as it has all the attachments but it is very expensive, and also my absolute favourite drill the little CXS (10.8v) which is a beaut of a drill and would recommend it to anyone.
For stuff that get thrown around on site I use a Makita 18v drill, bit heavy but not had much in the way of problems, this will be replaced soon with the bigger 18v festool hammer drill.

Try the CXS, Festool give you 30 days free trial, no obligation to buy.

 

[Stu_2]

Gone right off Bosch drills. Had a couple in the last few years, and both had head bearing issues. My 18v Makita has been excellent, and also now have the Festool CSX, which is excellent.

 

[kostello]

Fyi.
Festool stuff only comes with 14 days trial period now

Panasonic drills are awesome!!!

 

[Max Power]

My nephew has just bought a makita set of impact driver and combo drill. 18v brushless with metal gearbox and 5a batteries. Also three yrs guarantee on it. (hammer) Makita do a wide range from diy rated up to the heavy duty top end stuff so its important to ensure that you buy an item rated for your intended usage