New SDS drill - I think it is is faulty

[Chris Melluish]

After advice from this group I ordered myself a Makita 2450 from Lawson's.

It arrived this morning, and when I tried it out I was not impressed.

The chuck seems slightly out of true - at first I thought I was using a bent drill bit but it was the same with all bits I tried.

I phoned up Lawson's who said they would arrange for it to be collected on Monday.

Later, when was out, a man from Lawson's phoned and spoke to my wife. He said that the fault I had described was normal, and was not grounds for replacing the drill. He was going to phone again later, but did not.

If I had spent £30 on the drill I would have been unhappy, and having spent over £100 I am very unhappy.

Am I being too fussy?

What is the correct name for the fault for when I talk to them again?

-- Chris Melluish

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Er, make that an 'A' and drop the 'E'. :-)

Centrifugal axis

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[EricP]

No, apart from hammering holes in things, the chuck is also meant to go round at speed. An off-centre one is dangerous as the drill will wobble in your hands and you could damage the work piece or more likely yourself.

I am surprised at a crap Makita, I always regarded them as the bees knees.

[tony sayer]

In article , EricP writes

Same here!. Excellent bit of kit. Ask them to change it for another one, very surprised that its faulty in the first place!....

[Mark]

Are you trying this with a SDS drill Bit or with a chuck adapter and straight shank bit.

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[Peter Parry]

What exactly was the fault you had described?

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Still shouldn't waver off centre with chuck adaptor inserted.

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[Lee]

I've seen some very realistic looking counterfeit "Makita" products offered for sale... But obviously not from a proper company ;)

Lee

[Chris Melluish]

Various SDS bits, including the Makita ones supplied with the drill.

-- Chris Melluish

[Chris Melluish]

bit, but it was the same with all bits I tried.

-- Chris Melluish

[Doctor Drivel]

Typical. You should have bought a Ryobi. Send it back and get your money back too. Screwfix have a Ryobi for £80. Or go to Aldi or Lidl and get two £25 jobs.

[Rob Morley]

Next time tell them there's excessive radial run-out in the chuck - that will make them think you're an engineer :-)

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Sounds like he's talking about loss of tread on a tyre to me.

Too much centrifugal axis vibration, and they think he will be.

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[EricP]

No but I have! You may have thrown light on the subject. :))

[John Rumm]

No, it ought to be spot on. Having said that there is more play with a SDS bit than you get with a conventional chuck and bit. Have you tried drilling with it? If it wobbles the body of the drill about in sympathy with the eccentricity of the bit, then you certainly have a problem. You may however find that it centres correctly during drilling / afterwards.

(I did notice a similar effect with my one once - but you could only see the problem when spinning the drill in free air not in use. It turned out to be caused by the (then very new) rubber nose cone springing back into position slightly lopsided. Retracting it and releasing it was enough to fix it. Never noticed it since)

"Eccentricity" is the word I would go for.

[--s-p-o-n-i-x--]

Fwiw, I have a £25 'Challenge' drill from Argos and there is no visible wobble in the drill bit. Even using the SDS to conventional chuck adaptor there is no wobble.

sponix

[Doctor Drivel]

The £35-40 Challenge is supposed to be a good drill.

[Mark]

Ok I asked because ive seen poorly manufactured chuck adapters that show this symptom, even jacob,s ones. I would try drilling a 10mm hole with a short bit and a LOW speed in something hard and see if the drill _body_ wobbles excessively, if so send it back.

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[david lang]

I'm well pleased with mine.

Dave