I've just stripped the gears in my close-quarter 379-1 Milwaukee drill again so it's time for something a little heavier. Primary use is drilling 5/8" up to 1" holes through studs and joists for house wiring. The idea of 4 1/2" capacity for the odd drain or whatever is nice. These are my possibilities so far. Prices are close enough not to care.
I love my 379. But I use it as a screwdriver and as a cabinet drill. I don't think it was ever designed for the bull-work you have in mind. In that case, a plumber friend of mine swears by the Milwaukee. All his guys use them. They throw some serious self-feed bits in those. I just don't get 'the feel' off Makita. I'm horribly biased, my shop is almost excluvely red with a hint of green, some grey and a little black with fluorescent green buttons. A few blue pieces too. NO yellow. There may be a yellow belt sander in my future, because I am getting sick and tired of replacing motor bearings in both the 4x24 and 3x21 PC's I have a Makita disc sander and a couple of laminate trimmers. No complaints. What the hell, buy the Milwaukee....USA made.
0?0Rob
Get the hole hawg Milwaukee1676-6 - You will never have to buy another angle drill - ever. (Unless it get stolen).
All others pale in comparison.
Dave
HoleHAWG is pretty good, but Milwaukee is NOT going to get any right angle drill business from me, after the gears on my 379-1 stripped out three times, the last time NOT covered under warranty.
Local Milwaukwee repair place said that they see TONS of those drills coming in with stripped gears.
Get a Bosch
John
time for something a little
house wiring. The idea of 4 1/2"
Prices are close enough not to care.
Those PC units are toys.
Must have burned up and rebuilt under warranty the 4x24 at least 6 times before PC refused to rebuild again.
The only belt sander designed to survive is the PC50* unit which uses a chain drive.
Don't be shocked at the price, but it is worth it.
It will be the last one you ever buy, but you won't find it at Home Depot.
HTH
Lew
Those PC units are toys.
Must have burned up and rebuilt under warranty the 4x24 at least 6 times before PC refused to rebuild again.
The only belt sander designed to survive is the PC50* unit which uses a chain drive.
Don't be shocked at the price, but it is worth it.
It will be the last one you ever buy, but you won't find it at Home Depot.
HTH
Lew
Milwaukee hole hawg.
time for something a little
house wiring. The idea of 4 1/2"
Prices are close enough not to care.
try this:
They pretty much suck canal water.
I had a 4x24 Milwaukee that worked okay for a long time till it got dropped for the last time and the case blew apart. The brushes were running on shaft, the gears were round...but it paid for itself umpteen times over. So I went to a PC...BOO hiss.
Thanks for thr tip on the PC50, I will look into it.
0¿0Rob
Found it!
I refer to mine as the Choo-Choo.
If It will make you feel any better, I had to buy two (2)of them in order to keep one (1).
The person that stole it probably hocked it for $10 worth of crack.
Lew
I picked up my hole hawg used at a garge sale 15 years ago. We still use it every day. I do like the smaller head of the DeWalt right angle, and the Super Hole Awg looks similiar, but seems to weigh a lot more.
All of these drills are two-handed propositions; some have a clutch in low gear if the bit binds. I bought the Hole Hawg for a good price and condition at a pawn shop. I am very careful when drilling where a bind is likely. Either unit will make all the holes that you will need.
Now that I see the original post, the two models which you are comparing are the medium-duty units, quite serviceable, but not in the Hole Hawg category. Since most of your current work is with auger bits rather than self-feeding, get the Hole Hawg for its compact size. Many electricians and plumbers use the Milwaukee HH.
The 379 does what it was designed for rather well. That was not to run selffeed bits.*S* It's a lightweight tool. I buy the 1/2" versions because that one gives me lower RPM.. nice for driving screws in narrow cabinets, etc. Now when I see one of my helpers even LOOK at that 379......[snip]
It's tempting to reach for that tool and stick in a hole saw or a spade bit for that 'quick dishwasher hook-up'.
Now I just grab a Magnum Holeshooter. If the bit grabs on that one, it is *I* who will be spinning around.
On 27 Jan 2005 20:42:32 -0800, the inscrutable "IBM5081" spake:
Um, auger bits -are- self-feeding.
======================================================== TANSTAAFL: There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.
The Bosch that someone suggested seems at bit of a light-weight:
When the 379's gears first went, I was told that I shouldn't have been using it as a screw-driver (100s of 3" #8 coated) so I've only used it to drill holes (95% 5/8") since. It's rated as 1/2" capacity in steel - but nothing online or in the manual about wood. It seems reasonable to expect the capacity to be larger in wood. The manual also tells you how to drive screws, thus belieing the original repair rep (not a Milwaukke repair centre anymore). Looks like Mil. underengineered?
Can't imagine finding a HH at a garage sale though.
So does anyone have an opinion of the Mil 3107-6? I haven't seen any comments on it.
ciao N.
Very true. However a self-feeding bit and an auger bit are not the same thing. The auger has flutes to carry away the chips while the self-feeding bits use only chip lifters in the same plane as the perimeter teeth that do the actual hole cutting.
On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 07:04:07 -0600, the inscrutable Thomas Kendrick spake:
I'm from Missouri (for this subject). Show me. Got JPGs?
======================================================== TANSTAAFL: There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.
Here are the self feeding bits. As you can see, they are not augers.
Here are augers. The Google is "auger bit".
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