It's more the time that is burned replacing inadequate or broken items, I've found. If you have to spend half a day resolving a problem with one of these things, the effective cost is way more than the saving, so I don't see the point.
But apart from all of that, a good deal.......
A 12v Makita with 2 batteries and 1 hour charger can be obtained for about £110 and a 14.4v one for not much more...
.andy
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Do you mean like a snake?
My God!! Two 12v or 14.4v drills with 1 hr charger and two batteries can be had for under this price with change and longer guarantees too. One breaks pick up the other.
It's like groundhog day!
What did you want?
I was talking about cost of wasted time in invoking guarantees as well as the difference in quality.
It's stupid to buy two cheap things that are going to break rather than one decent one....
.andy
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Even more stupid to buy one expensive item that breaks!
At the end of the day I have found the cheap stuff fine for "domestic DIY" jobs.
If you are a professional then I can see there is possibly an argument for paying a little more. Having said that a lot of professionals can be seen in B&Q buying the cheap stuff!
sPoNiX
think there's a bit more to it than that.
What you're after in a drill/driver is torque, and that appears to be a function of the quality of the efficiency of the motor windings, gearing, etc.
For instance, I have an old-ish (c 2001) Atlas Copco product flyer here - their standard PES 12T drill (12v, 2Ah, NiCd, no hammer) gives max torque of
25Nm. The LocTor S variant of this drill uses the same battery but claims a maximum torque of 50Nm!!I had a 12v B&D drill/driver and after 2 1/2 years the battery was knackered. It had a crude charger and took 3 hours to charge.
Replaced it with a 9.6v A-C drill a couple of years ago and that is now still going as strong as the day I bought it, and this has had far, far heavier use than the B&D ever had. Torque far exceeds the B&D one.
I'm sure that PPro are now much better than the DIY B&D that I had, but after using this A-C drill I wouldn't go back to using "occasional use" tools.
YMMV.
-- Richard Sampson
email me at richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk
You are confused - as ever. What makes you think a PP Pro will break down in a few months. Many people testify to the longevity of some of their cheapish tools. maybe they are all out of step except you.
Not to mention ecological issues.
-- Richard Sampson
email me at richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk
Do power drills belch out smoke. Maybe you have an old steam powered one.
It would be if it did, but I have never had a good quality branded power tool break in under five years of use and it has then been inexpensive to repair.
It really depends on how much time you have to screw around with replacing defective products and whether you mind about the handling quality, ease of use and accuracy of a proper product.
There's certainly an argument if you are a professional. In the case of DIY, there is still a strong argument if you do'nt want to waste time on getting cheap tools replaced. If it takes half a day to go and do that, then any cost difference is wiped out.
I suppose that depends on your definition of "professional".....
.andy
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Sigh, that should, of course, have read "environmental issues".
Serves me right for listening to the radio whilst typing....
-- Richard Sampson
email me at richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk
Accidents are rarely designed.
PoP
I have to say that several of my tools are from the cheaper end of the market, and in general I'm happy with them.
The only one I splashed out on was to get a decent router because buying the cheapo B&Q special was a definite no-no.
If it does the job, etc.
One of the issues that pro's have to deal with is that their kit gets nicked from the back of vans etc. If it's got a badge on it then it's worth something, but if it's a cheapo then it's next to worthless for resale.
PoP
So yours was well engineered then.
I meet a fair few self employed chippies in the course of my work, and I've yet to see one using a DIY cordless drill.
How about seeing a bunch of them being dumped into a skip at the side of a local store.....
.andy
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You just made that up.
Get a drill like that with a respectable looking charger and not one of those early bag of s*it types of cheapo and you won't go far wrong.
If you get it from Maplins they will give you your moneuy back with no quibble.
Nope....
.andy
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