Apologies for a newbie question, but any advice on what characteristics of a cordless drill I should be looking for? I'll use it main in and around the house - some metal work, quite a lot of wood and quite a lot of masonary (for screw fitting etc, perhaps some bolts outside for fence posts into bricks)
Cheers, Graham
IMHO, for anything other than fairly soft bricks, masonry drilling is best with an SDS drill. And SDS cordless ain't cheap - really not cost effective for DIY.
Cordless are ideal for screwdriving and the odd hole in wood, etc, or where you really can't easily get mains, which doesn't apply round the house.
But for most things mains drills are still much better value.
If I had to have only one drill out of my many, it would be my mains DeWalt SDS which can do everything, including screw driving.
Do you already have a mains drill?
I have a heavy imitation 20v Makita, that is excellent and cost me =A375. I think they use their genuine rebadged trademark these days. And are somewhat cheaper.
Or you could get a lighter, less powerful more "reliable make" for about ten or twenty quid more. These will have top notch batteries and chargers. It is the charger that lets the cheap stuff down.
Ferm were making a very heavy, rather slow 32 volt. I have one of them and it is a good work horse. It weighs as much as an SDS cordless though. I bought it because it was so cheap.
For about the same money you can get a 240 SDS cheapo from B&Q or somewhere. That would be the ideal for drilling masonry. If you are working within extension lead distance of a 240 plug, get a good all around mains hammer drill like the Black and Decker with the money you save not buying a cordless.
This would be my only drill - so it sounds like I'd be better sticking with a mains powered one. One of the
240v ones I'd looked at was the 'Dewalt D25102K 22mm SDS Drill' - a sensible buy for all jobs around the house / garden?Thanks again.
Graham
The 25103 would be a better bet because it has a rotation stop to allow chiselling
Oh no, I can see myself going the normal way... just a few more pounds... ;-)
Thanks anyway! I'm having trouble wondering what I'd chisel with it tho - am I missing something? Wouldn't surprise me...
Graham
A bit of light chasing in walls, mortar between bricks etc.
I was putting in a fence post yesterday (in a new position) and discovered that some an*s of a builder had dumped some hoggin and concrete where I wanted to put the post. The SDS made easy work of that.
I haven't looked for best pricing, but Lawson HIS (who are normally pretty good) have them for £103 and the 25103 for £130.
Personally, if I was only going for one drill, then either is a good compromise. You could go for a reasonable cordless drill like a Makita later on if you fancy one. I just thought that I would mention the chisel issue, because it's the kind of thing that one can kick oneself for not having later. Several people here have bought an SDS without rotary stop and then wished they hadn't. The problem is then that it's pretty hard to justify another SDS.
Have a read through the bits on cordless tools in general and drills in particular here:
A lightweight SDS drill like the Makita HR2450, plus a mid range 12V/14V cordless drill/driver will probably caover a wider range of tasks for less money.
Thanks for all your advice - I've decided to get a 240v drill as it will be my only one. I've gone for a Dewalt 25103 in the end.
Cheers, Graham
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