Tailed drill reviews?

[Wolf Lahti]

I can't seem to find any tool reviews of drills with cords. I have two battery-powered drills (and several cordless that use another kind of power entirely) and am not looking for another one of those, but the only recent reviews I can find in magazines or on the Web are for the batteried variety.

Specifically, I'm looking to replace my trusty 3/8-inch VSR with maybe a

1/2-inch hammer drill. Maybe I don't need the extra weight and expense of a 1/2-incher--after all, my old B&D 3/8 has lasted me for going on twenty years. (I probably shouldn't have tried drilling those 1/2-inch holes in concrete for the deck.)

What say ye? 3/8? 1/2? Hammer?

[Charlie Self]

Wolf Lahti notes:

I did a test of 3/8" corded drills for Woodworker's Journal last year. Most of my stuff is packed, so I can't tell you what issue it was. Cover shot was of the Hitachi. Helluva drill.

If you're doing much concrete drilling, get a hammer drill. For woodworking, it's not needed.

Charlie Self "Bore, n.: A person who talks when you wish him to listen." Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

[Kevin Singleton]

Like Charlie says, you don't need the hammer feature for woodworking, but I bought the Ridgid 1/2 hammer drill, and it kicks butt with every material I've tried, including sheet metal, cast iron, cinder blocks, concrete, tile, and even wood. It's about the same price as the other quality drills, but it has a couple of very nice features, and a long power cord. It's worth checking out, even if you can't find a review.

Kevin

[Jay]

My closet flange rotted out in the master bath recently and although my POS Crapsman 3/8" could drill the holes, it could not drive home the Tapcons for the new flange. So, I bought the Bosch 1/2" hammer/drill at Lowes for $99 on sale. This is one sweet drill. It has two gear settings and can switch between hammer and plain old drill. The depth stop guage works great and the handle is easy enough to swivel, but locks down tight.

vote for the hammer. It's a 1/2" chuck, you can selectively turn off the hammer part and its got enough balls for concrete when you need it. Only thing it lasks for wood use is a clutch to help with counter sinking.

[Jay Pique]

[e-mail] (Jay) wrote

I say go with a 1/2" hammer drill. You already should have the smaller/lower torque areas covered with you cordless units, and if you need to do any concrete work, hole sawing, lag bolt driving or large diameter boring the 1/2 incher will be just the ticket. I'd take a hard look at Milwaukee Tools.

JP