Cordless combi drills

All I would add is that I've never been disappointed with Makita.

Likewise. I have four of their drills in different sizes and types.

I've been pleased until now with my 9 year old mains Makita SDS, however recently the brushes stated sparking. Replaced them, yes easily obtained, unfortunately it was still sparking. Silly me I hadn't spotted one of the commutator segments was shot. A new armature costs about £50. Perhaps not statistically significant but I'm disappointed and will replace with a mid-range, Erbauer perhaps, at little more cost than the cost of replacement Makita brushes and armature.

Jim A

I know what you mean. A waste of time.

No you don't. You don't - and never have - possess any pro tools. After all, you used a hacksaw to cut plastic pipe.

Thanks all, particularly Andy - it was largely your informative postings (over the years) that steered me to the Makita. Having looked at some more threads I am now also considering an 18V. The Makita 18V is only 200g heavier and the price difference is small.

Power Tools UK (powertoolsuk.co.uk) have the Makita 8443dwde 18V for

I've recently replaced a 7.2V Bosch with a 14.4V one. Very impressed so far. I've not used an equivalent speced Makita so can't give a direct comparison.

Andrew

Also have a look out for Milwaukee at that level.

Yes-indeedy. They're intimately related to Atlas-Copco, and thus to AEG; it seems that they sell the exact same tool (probably made in the same factory to identical spec) under the Milwaukee brand in the US, and under the Atlas-Copco brand here in Yurrip: but some resellers subvert this regional split, and I've managed in the past to find the Milwaukee badged item for sale in the UK at about 20% lower than the Atlas-Copco.

Performance-wise, they're lovely - but I don't claim any sustained 'pro' or 'site' experience to compare them in any deep way with the other 'premium'/'pro' brands.

If it's nine years old and had a reasonably hard life it's entitled to new brushes. Unfortunately once they start sparking the damage to the commutator may be already done. It would be worth doing a regular check on brush length on a heavily used tool.

In article , IMM writes

BI=16. Complaint goes in at BI=20.

We have another Roger or Plowman here. Two loonpots is enough, but now we have several.

On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 18:25:08 -0000, "IMM" strung together this:

If you don't like it, f*ck off somewhere else.

On 22 Jan 2005 06:16:00 -0800, "mjbarnard" strung together this:

I found them some months back and have recommended them to a few people since then. Everyone has come back with happy experiences of power tool purchasements. Within the last couple of weeks I have recommended them on a web forum and a couple of people have ordered from them and found them cheap and offered a good service.

(Just read that back and it looks like spam, it's not! I just happened across them when looking for DeWalt 18V kits).

More lunacy.

Why spend more money to end up with a (vastly) inferior product? Stick another armature in the Makita and it ought to go for another 9 years...

Not a recommendation over the Bosch, since I have not used one of their top end combi drills and so have no frame of reference. However as others have said, I have been extremely pleased with my Makita 18V combi. (In fact all my Makita tools are exceptionally good)

(If you shop around you ought to be able to find a deal that includes three batteries as well).

Looks like a good deal, although make sure you are comparing like with like. The one you mention only includes two NiMh batteries.

I find with three batts it is effectively impossible to be without power as long as you remeber to put on on charge from time to time!