Would you recommend a drill/driver with hammer facility?

[Matt_S]

I've ummed for a while about a new drill or battery, and am going to get one. Whats made the decision is I've got a hole saw stuck in my drill and hands, vices and lots of WD40 I just can't get it out!

Anyway, I'd like one drill to do all tasks including DIY round the house... so I've narrowed it down to this, as it has hammer action.

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/produ ... rewdrivers

But not many have hammer action which leads me to think that possibly they're not great. Has anyone got/used one? Would I be better just buying a standard driver and a cheap corded drill as the number if times I'd need to use it would be minimal and I could probably do this for same price. Thanks

 

[Slim]

Hi Matt,

I used to have a combi drill. The hammer action was pathetic. It would drill stone, brick etc. but it would take a long time to do it and knacker my arm in the process. I bought a cheap SDS drill. It cost about £30 and came with a selection of bits. I use it all the time (I am a landscaper) and it will drill a hole in concrete in a matter of seconds. It is brilliant. It will also drill small holes for plugs. The other bonus is that it has a rotation lock and can be used as a power chisel/breaker for chasing in walls etc.

I would buy the normal Drill/Driver makita, which is about £30 cheaper than the combi, and use that £30 to get an SDS.

PS. My SDS drill is a clone of this

 

[Matt_S]

Thank you you've confirmed what I was beggining to think would be the best plan.

 

[Karl]

Hi Matt

I have a Makita combi drill. I bought a combi on the basis that it would mean one less tool (hammer drill) to take on site. But in reality, the hammer function is pathetic and only gets used every now and again, meaning that I am left with a rather heavy drill/driver.

I have resorted to using my Hitachi SDS for any hammer drilling. It's just so much easier than using the Makita, and I don't think prolonged spells of hammer drilling are what the Makita was designed for.

If I had my time again I would buy a Makita driver.

Cheers

Karl

 

[RogerS]

What they said!

SDS for hammering ( get one with a chisel function if you can ..ie hammer only).

Makita Impact driver does the biz.

Roger

 

[matthewwh]

I'm with these guys. Got a Makita combi, saw a friend ruin the bearings in his by using the hammer facility, so I also got a cheap corded for light hammer work.

One of my neighbours is on his third free replacement under warranty cheapo SDS from Wickes. They seem to last him around 12 - 18 months and they come with a 2 year warranty, so he just keeps taking them back and getting new ones.

 

[wrightclan]

Depends what brand you buy, and what you use it for. If you plan on using it for drilling 13mm holes in concrete all day, every day, then get an SDS. Even a cheap SDS will drill big holes quicker than a standard (corded) hammer or combi (cordless) drill. For drilling smaller holes (and especially in smaller spaces) a good combi drill is indispensible.

I have a Milwaukee combi drill, and I couldn't live without it. I bought a used 18v Milwaukee about 4 years ago. I used it almost daily for 2+ years for drilling 5-6mm holes in all kinds of stone, brick, concrete etc. (I was installing woodburning stoves.) I still use it several times a week, but less often on hammer mode now. But it's still going strong after (I suspect) at least five years use; 4 years of that, very hard use. I recently had to replace the batteries (but it was a good excuse to upgrade the batteries to the new lithium batteries. ) I also had to replace the brushes once a couple of years ago.

BTW, I'm surprised the Makita was that wimpy. I've got a number of Makita tools that are very robust; and I had a cheap Ryobi combi for awhile that wasn't bad for the money.

Brad

 

[Matt_S]

Thanks everyone for advice, to finish of the thread, going to buy the makita advertised by M4ttyB.

Maybe mislead people a bit with the concrete thing, its just so far the only DIY drilling I've done in our house has been curtain rails into concrete lintels. So nothing major but my old PP cordless tickled it more than drilled! Anyway will wait until I need to do anything like this then buy a cheapish corded drill. Thanks again.

 

[peebsa24]

I think you need both. SDS corded for serious holes and a cordless hammer/drill/driver for those one tool DIY jobs around the house.
I have a Ryobi cordless and a Bosch SDS combined drill/hammer/chisel. The combination works great. Go for 18 or 24v in the cordless with 2 batteries. If you have to replace a battery it can be cheaper to just buy a new drill - the replacement batteries are expensive!!

 

[gidon]

Agree with peebsa24 - I bought a Dewalt 14.4 combi and use it all the time around the house and in the workshed. It's more than man enough for putting up shelves and such like.
For heavy stuff I use a Screwfix £30 SDS jobby which had paid for itself about 10 times over!!
Cheers
Gidon

 

[Sawdust]

Another vote for SDS

I have a Dewalt SDS drill and it's fantastic compared to my old combi drill. I also have a Dewalt drill/driver which is also brilliant.

Cheers
Mike

 

[Karl]

Hi Matt

Screwfix have got an offer on DeWalt package - a 12v cordless (2 x 1.3 ah batteries) and an SDS drill (with rotary stop) for £100. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Cheers

Karl

 

[Dibs-h]

I think you need both. SDS corded for serious holes and a cordless hammer/drill/driver for those one tool DIY jobs around the house.

Second that - I have a Makita 8443D 14.4v combo couldn't live without it. Sometimes just want to drill several holes in masonary for the odd plug\screw and it's way too much hassle to get the SDS drills out.

For the bigger jobs corded SDS all the way.

Beauty about the Makita is that I have 5 batteries and 2 chargers, allowing me to use an Impact driver and the flourescent torch (absolutely awesome).

The money's in the batteries - not the tool really. But they allow you to expand the nbr of tools you can use.

I wouldn't recommend the 12v ones - the expandability is limited and furthermore NiCad don't really hold that much charge. My impact driver would flatten a NiCad in amount 10 mins, driving 4" nbr 10\12 screws. Whereas with the Nimh - last long enough not to become annoying.

 

[Streepips]

I used to use Nutool cordless drills, cheap cheerful and very willing, but limited lifespan, but very fair for the money....... at about 35 quid each, lasted a year to 18 month but used every day for all sorts including drilling for rawlplugs and some steelwork. For serious brickwork borrowed or hired a drill
Decided to upgrade and tried some B&Q offerings. which proved to be pathetic. Took every one back for a refund. No power, unreasonably long charge time, awful chucks etc etc. Decided to get the best I could............ Looked at Dewalt and knowing of other peoples experiences of this high priced brand decided that I would sooner spend elsewhere. Dewalt are an excellent marketing company but do not actually make much anymore.........
My mate swore by his expensive Dewalt until it packed up entirely a week after the warranty expired
I saw the panasonic range on the Rutlands website and after much deliberation and research decided to get one.
Here is the review I put on the Rutlands site after having it about 4 or 5 years . Says it all really....

Review.........
I bought one of these from Rutland not long after they came out, scarey price, but the spec sheet looked good...... I did not regret it..... This is a totally different league to any other cordless drill / driver.....a superbly engineered tool, in fact a classic. For years it has worked an average of 6 days a week,kitchen fitting, bathroom fitting, door hanging, decking, windowfitting..just about every job you could think of for a drill/driver...Timber metal and masonary I have watched colleagues De Walts, Ryobis,Hitachis,etc etc all give up and die while the Panasonic just powered on and on........Job getting done....Incredible power for such a small piece of kit. That was until last week. The motor finally gave up.......I considered what to replace it with, but on the off chance called Panasonic, who put me on to a dealer and the result...... Within 48 hours new motor for £28:00 and fitted in 15 mins.......I am sure that this drill has years in it yet, the gearbox,clutch, trigger,batteries, charger, everything is still as "tight" as when it was new.....Even the case is the toughest I have ever had. Quite simply there is no better cordless drill driver, apart from Panasonics newer models perhaps..... and one thing I have NEVER seen mentioned anywhere..........Contrary to common belief, this drill DOES have an onboard bit holder...Just pop out the battery,and there you will see a bit holder for a 50mm double ended bit !
End of review blurb..................

As for the heavier masonry work I needed something that had guts enough to cut a 110mm hole in stone brick, concrete block etc without excessive effort, or at worst dying on me and to save excessive use of the Panasonic where a lot of holes needed to be drilled in blockwork for battening etc, so chose a Bosch Multidrill which has turned out to be a really very good piece of kit.. The marketing blurb for the Multi understates its capabilities but I always make a point of speaking with the techies at the manufacturer to get some info about the real world capabilities of tools and machinery before buying and was impressed by the confidence the Bosch lads had in this unit. Plus it came with two chucks, goggles grease, Hss Bit set, spur point drill set, flat bit set and a selection of SDS bits and more.....All good quality
So between the two, these very different drills enable me to feel confident that there is not much that I could not tackle with power in reserve.
Mind you the budget is not to everyone's taste, Panasonic £269:00 ( now around £200:00) and the Bosch Multidrill at about £379:00

 

[Streepips]

By the way, I concur totally with Dibs -H re the batteries. The Panasonic has NiMH batteries rated at 3.5 Amp hours and that is quite exceptional. Work it hard all day and charge up in about 45 mins Most drills are around 2 amp hours
Other point: The Bosch Multi SDS is a 240 volt corded, which as Dibs mentioned, is the correct way to go.. Horse for courses.....Cordless and corded are both great, just get the right one for the job

 

[Dibs-h]

By the way, I concur totally with Dibs -H re the batteries. The Panasonic has NiMH batteries rated at 3.5 Amp hours and that is quite exceptional. Work it hard all day and charge up in about 45 mins Most drills are around 2 amp hours
Other point: The Bosch Multi SDS is a 240 volt corded, which as Dibs mentioned, is the correct way to go.. Horse for courses.....Cordless and corded are both great, just get the right one for the job

From what I understand - Panasonic batteries are probably the best out there in terms of how they are put togther, balanced and what they hold. Problem for me is the limited expandability - as for instance with Makita.

I started out with a Nutool myself - cordless 18v. Got some phonemenal use out of it - until the gearbox went mush. At that point, realised just how much I was using it and decided to "treat" myself to a better quality tool.

It's as you say - Horses for Courses. For something that you will rarely use, el-cheapo may well be the way to go. Use it all day, every day - can't afford for it to go flat (and take hours to charge) or burn out.

 

[Matt_S]

Just to finish this thread off I have my makita drill now from M4ttyB, feels really good quality after my PP one! Its the 18v NiCd one and with two batteries and the volume of work I do I reckon it'll do me for a good few years.

It has a hammer facility so I'll just wait and see next time I do some DIY drilling and maybe buy a cheap SDS or corded hammer drill as well if I feel the need.