I'm also looking for a cordless drill which I can use as a screwdriver (or a cordless screwdriver). Up until now, I've been using a cheapo Woolies cordless drill as a screwdriver which, although useful, isn't a lot of use for anything the slightest bit heavy. The battery also doesn't last long.
I need to have another look at the Screwfix catalogue to see what's available.
I expect to be doing a reasonable amount of work with it as I go around the house (flatpack assembly, shelves, you name it).
I find that I need two. One to keep a drill bit in (for the pilot holes) and another to keep a screw bit in. Otherwise I spend too much time whizzing the driver round to release the drillbit, then whizzing it back again to tighten the driver bit. Apart from the (admittedly small) battery drain, it takes up time, is an inconvenience and rapidly beomes a PITA. Of course, any organised person would drill the pilot holes and _then_ do the screwing - however, this is me I' on about :-) If you get two the same, it saves hassle with chargers, batteries etc. - Oh yes, get one (two?) with 2 batteries each - so you can keep one charging while using the other.
Any cordless drill will be ok for screwdriving. Your one must be a fairly useless drill too if it can't drive in reasonable sized screws - although it might just be a knackered battery.
For serious screw driving an impact driver is best. They take the hex bits directly - no chuck involved. But they are more expensive and need special drill bits to use as a drill. The little Makita TD020D is a superb impact type which punches well above its weight and is small enough to fit into gaps an ordinary screwdriver would - but where a normal cordless drill is too big. Other beauty with an impact type is it doesn't tug at your wrist. It's also less likely to jump out of the screw slot etc. So brilliant for use on painted over slotted ones.
I bought a Makita 12v cordless set with 3 batteries from Axminster just over 1.5 years ago. Reasonably expensive but well worth it. This set from Screwfix looks to me to be a complete bargain -
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built a deck requiring in excess of 800 screws and never had to wait for batteries to charge or run out took quickly. There was enough power in the 12v drill to drill through 4 inches of pine (probably done the motor no favours, but it worked!) and its always been tough enough to screw in or out any stubborn screw I've come across. Best tool I ever bought.
I would add, pair any decent drill-driver up with a supply of good quality bits, and match the pozi's to the pozi's, the phillips to the phillips, and you won't go far wrong!
Personally I find "L" shaped drill/drivers awkward to use. I much prefer a straight one but they appear to be getting as common as hens teeth these days.
Drill/drivers are less controlable than a decently geared driver, particulary if you need any torque. To get the torque you have to give it lots of welly from the trigger which either drives the thing in too fast once the stiction is over come or generates far more damage if the bit disengages from the screw. An nicly geared relatively slow driver has plenty of torque at a sensible speed.
In the end, because I need it soon, I bought the combined Bosch package (26072) which is on the back of the current Screwfix catalogue.
This has the GBH2400 SDS drill and the GSR12-2 drill driver for £99. When I looked up the spec for the drill driver, it seemed to be the same as the
21623-GSR12-23, except that the 12-23 comes with three batteries, whereas the 12-2 in the package comes with 2.
When I went to collect it from Screwfix (they had to get the package delivered to the store as they were out of stock on Wed) last night, I saw the 6Kg Titan SDS plus on display on the counter, complete with accessory kit (55238) on offer at £53.99 instead of cat price £89.99. This had been recommended by somebody in my SDS posting, so I decided to get that as well as that may come in handy for some more bulky work like concrete bashing!. Three new drills is a bit over the top, but at least I now have a selection of drills and it's only cost me just over £150.
I haven't actually played with the Titan yet, as I couldn't manage to bring it home with the other drills (Screwfix are about a 5 minute walk from my house and I didn't have a car). SO I'm going to pick it up this morning. I don't know how good the accessories are that supplied with it. I'm assuming that they're probably not the best quality, but at least they'll give me something to try out until I decide what bits etc. I actually want.
> I don't think these come with batteries. It doesn't mention any. Doesn't mention 'bare'. Click the picture & it shows the tools with batteries & charger in a case.
Those are the ones B&Q were selling at around the same price.
One of the problems with Makita is they will build anything to meet a price level. Or should I say that one of their geniuses is doing so without apparently denting their brand reputation too much. I guess that means they are good at it.
The main way they achieve these prices is to supply 1.3a/hr NiCd batteries, the red ones I've been running the 14.4v for 3 years in daily use & the NiCds are just starting to fail. I bought a 2.6a/hr NiMh (black) a while ago for £40 on offer & the difference is amazing.
The 12v 1.3a/hr batteries have lasted extreemly well considering. I bought a kit containing a 12v driver & a 12v impact driver (with 3 x 1.3a/hr NiCd's) just over 3 years ago & have used the impact driver a lot on decking jobs. Last year I bought a Makita mains impact driver to take the strain off the 12v batteries - it was about the same cost as a battery.
When the 12v NiCd's start failing I'll do the same - buy one 12v NiMh & keep the NiCd's as back ups.
The chucks on the cheaper Makitas aren't brilliant, I changed the 14.4v one for a better make & upgraded to 13mm for about £20 at my mates hire place.
Bosch & DeWalt have a similar ploy with cheap end batteries.
TBH though, any of the big three names is going to give great service in a DIY situation, compared to shed own label s**te.
That's one way, as is the intelligence or stupidity of the charger, and as you mention crappy chucks are another obvious sign. The gearboxes are another, as is the motor, and the [fill in the list]. It's a brand name. A very flexible one. Mak hasn't lost as much credibility as DeFault, but it is playing a similar game. I agree that they are a better bet than any no-name clone crap, but to suggest that a set they do is the bargain of the etc, is likely to over-state the real position, which is that it was built to that price in the first place (albeit maybe pretty much as well as can be done, unlike others.)
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