There's a world of difference between a cheapo drill and a decent one in performance - and mainly down to the better batteries. Good make batteries give much more low end torque and make the tool more useful for screwdriving, etc. I re-celled a PPro 18v with decent cells and it improved it enormously. But it doesn't feel as nice to use as my Makita.
'Ford' drivers often are because they ain't ever driven a 'Porsche'. ;-)
Agreed. My (several) Makita drills/drivers/impact drivers feel like they are almost part of your hand, the ergonomics are superb, speed control is excellent and, as you say, low end torque is brill.
Speed control is so good you can use a Mak on plastic ceiling roses without cracking them for example.
I'd rate a 12v Mak against a 14.4v or even 18v cheapie any day.
Didn't have that opinion until I started using stuff six days a week on sometimes demanding jobs.
I find this hard to understand. Even cheap cells will supply more than enough current for the motor to run at its maximum. I do know that cheap cells may not last as long but I seriously doubt if you could make a PPro run better by just swapping the cells unless the original cells were already faulty.
One thing you need to remember is that the professionals on this NG have a different set of values from "us" amateurs - who maybe do a little woodworking or suchlike from time to time. For a start, anything they buy is classed as a business expense. So they claim back the VAT _and_ buy things using pre-taxed income (and without N.I. either) That automatically means that they have to earn far less - usually less than half as much to buy a tool than the rest of us. Also, they value reliability and ruggedness more than we (well, I) do. If one of my tools breaks down, I just go and do something else with my spare time. For a pro, if a tool breaks - that's lost income. (Same with havig to wait for batteries to charge).
So while it's nice to be able to pick their brains and get advice of how to do jobs, we must remember that their opinions about what is value for money are based on a different set of requirements than amateurs have.
wise words - well written! cheers jim
And ironically often means 'we' (amateurs) have a more difficult job, like learning to play an instrument on a 'learners' version?
Re the quality of cells etc. I used to race RC electric cars and I know how much difference a make of a particular spec cell can make (generally directly related to the price). However, I guess it's possible (in not actually probable) that a manufacturer of a big branded cordless product could use at least reasonable spec cells? I was thinking that they would still have to balance their reputation with cost / profit etc.
A good mate has just given me 3 of his Dewalt 12V drills as I have one and he has moved over (up?) to later spec stuff. They also came with flat batteries and 2 of the 3 seem to have recovered sufficiently for me to do a small job with each (and they were still going when I'd finished). I was also given a Hi-Cap battery (2Ah) that still seems to be pretty dead but luckily being 12V and NiMH I still have some RC chargers that might be able to cycle the pack and maybe get them going again.
Thinking on this irregular use thing I was wondering if I could keep the cells on some tiny solar panels, just enough to compensate for the self discharge?
Cheers, T i m
The amount of current a cell can supply is one mark of its quality. And I can assure you cheap ones can't supply as much current. Think it's down to the internal resistance - and a low internal resistance makes the speed controller work better.
I can assure you it did. I'd bought a second battery before re-celling the old one. Chalk and cheese.
I'm not a pro and can't claim back anything for a tool of this sort. Or at least haven't tried to.
Really for simple DIY you're better off with a mains drill. You're unlikely to be far enough away from a socket to make this a problem. But for some reason simple DIYers want a cordless one - even although they have nothing going for them in terms of drilling performance. And lots of disadvantages.
I certainly wouldn't deny a cheap cordless drill will do what it says on the box. But then so will a cheap chisel - but will need sharpening more often and may not take as keen an edge as a good one.
Many here are into DIY because they enjoy it - as well as it perhaps being a necessity, cost wise. And decent tools add to that enjoyment.
Try telling a golfer the cheapest clubs do the job just as well. ;-)
Two points really; firstly the cheaper cells often don't supply the same current - so the run speed may be the same, but the maximum torque is less - sometime by quite a margin.
Secondly remember that battery packs are made from multiple cells. The cheaper cells are often less well matched than the batter quality ones. A pack made from mismatched cells will not perform as well to start with, and will also fail sooner since individual cells will fail doe to abuse sooner.
They probably were in a sense...
Some of us amateurs appreciate there is more to a tool than just price though...
Indeed, very true.
If you can charge in a hour or so, then you can do useful work by the simple expedient of have a spare batt or two. If it takes 16 hours however, then its a practical hindrance regardless of if you are doing work for reward or fun!
I would say they are not as different in reality as you might expect. Many non business people may fall into the trap of not attaching value to their time and as a result underestimate the cost of doing various jobs.
However there are other scales by which an amateur may wish to measure these things. One decent quality tool may be more versatile than the budget one, and hence can replace several - keeping the overall cost the same, and improving the value.
One may care about the quality of the result - and with some budget tools you wont achieve the same quality of work regardless of how much extra time you are prepared to lavish on the job.
Quite right Pete.
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