How many drills are enough?

[John Rumm]

Prompted by another thread, and as an exercise in recall, I thought I would see if I could remember the drills acquired over the years...

Some were acquired from family, some bought, and some gifted. One or two have died, a couple sold or given away.

Qualcast hand drill B&D 2 speed hammer drill - no reverse Maplin 12V "Titan" PCB drill + PSU (that sticks out way to many volts!) Richmond Branded 7.2V NiCd B&D Proline 9.6V NiCd [2] Green Bosch electronic two speed B&D Proline 12.0V NiCd [2] Makita 7.2V small impact driver Makita 18V NiMh Combi (Recently deceased!) Makita 18V NiMh Impact Driver Makita HR2450 SDS Makita HR2450 SDS [1] NuTool bench top pillar drill Wickes (rebadged Sparky) 6kg SDS Max Dewalt 14.4V angle drill (sold on) Makita 18V LiIon combi Makita 18V LiIon Impact driver Makita 18V LiIon angle drill Sparky core drill "Freeline" (aka Chinesium shop brand) 15kG concrete breaker Makita 10.8V LiIon combi drill Makita 10.8V LiIon Impact driver Rutlands "dremmel" like rotary tool plus flexi shaft

[1] Some time after ordering the first one, SF randomly included another one in a different order. Spoke to customer services, who said they would arrange collection on a number of occasions, and they never did. So gave it to a mate in the end! [2] May have skipped - basically working but batteries shagged and difficult to replace.

[Andrew]

even more impressive than your spirit level collection :-)

[Animal]

I've noticed 2 things: Mains drills usually last, cordless don't Old drills last better than new.

[Fredxx]

Battery life is key so cordless are always going to last longer where use is intermittent.

Yes, new drills of poor design are always going to fail early, so an old drill, by definition is always going to last longer.

[Robin]

Not one of them a single speed, non-hammer, non-reversing drill! I've worn out 2 such, and still have one[1] - a Wolf Sapphire I inherited which soldiers on mixing paint and muck occasionally. I've no idea if that reflects just my greater age or also other factors - e.g. lower class, lack of skill, lack of judgment :(

[1] I do also have a few other, more modern drills :)

[John Rumm]

The Titan PCB drill is :-)

But, yup they were kind of going out of fashion in the early very late

70's early 80s when that collection probably started.

I do remembering the first time I met a B&D with reverse - now that was nifty!

[John Rumm]

Well it is a kind of survivorship bias - You look at a pile of old drills and lament how long they lasted, ignoring all those of similar vintage that were long since discarded.

Many drills probably only have a 10 hour brush life, and yet will serve many occasional uses years if not decades - since the actual run time for many jobs is really quite short.

[John Rumm]

You could say that is because you stop using the mains version when you get the cordless. :-)

The drills are often ok - but much depends on the economics of replacing the batteries when they wear out.

True of many manufactured appliances alas.

My B&D 2 speed will probably last forever since I never use it...

[Tricky Dicky]

More importantly how many angle grinders have you got?

[jim.gm4dhj]

fenestrating

[Animal]

I often use mains drills in with cordless.

IME seldom worth it

its good to know. Most people chase the newest gimmickiest.

[alan_m]

Is it also the case that when you get your cordless it becomes the drill of choice and the older corded drill remains unused?

40 years ago what was available to the DIY user at a reasonable price was limited and not necessarily of good quality. Possibly if you spend £100/£200 on a cordless drill today you have got something of better quality than a corded item of 20/30/40 years ago at an equivalent price point.

[RJH]

£35 for 1.5Ah L/ion for my 10 year old Lidl power tools - near Makita prices. They're on their second set now - it'll be a tough call when this set expires.

Not sure - higher end stuff does seem to be very well made. Used a top of range 18V DeWalt the other day - felt much more substantial (chuck, switch, battery mount) than my mid-range Makita. It is about twice the price - but then maybe power tools were more expensive than I remember in say the 70s? So the DeWalt might be good value in relative terms - cheaper perhaps than it's

70s counterpart.

We do - plus tend to chuck stuff away and buy new far more often than necessary.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Yes and no. In my vase the cheapo cordless screwdriver/drill becomes the most used unless there is *serious* drilling to be done, or I need to alttlernate a drill and a screwdriver.

[John Rumm]

Only 3... poor showing I know!

[Brian Gaff]

Well, I have considerably fewer since I losst my sight. I now have two hand drills and one old b/D two speed with no hammer for just making holes in stuff. Very hard to drill a hole in your hand unless you engage the lock, but I don't. As its mains powered no faffing about with batteries, as I am seldom far from a plug. Brian

[Brian Gaff]

And what about the actual bits. I seem to have a collection of so called hss twist drills that are either bent or broken and resharpened. A few assorted wood bits with sds or chuck fittings, a hole saw of which none of the sizes ever fits the size you need, and some better quality twist drills that have taken all the abuse and are still good. I don't think Draper know how to make drills that last very long. Brian

[charles]

The plug is on the end of the lead. Do you mean a socket?

[Rod Speed]

Can't agree with that. When I built my house doing almost all the work myself, I did add another decent Bosch green mains drill and it still works fine apart from the lock button on the trigger. Perfectly afforadable at the time and that was more than 50 years ago now, in the very early 70s.

Not as far as how long it will be useable for tho. That is never going to last 50 years even if it isnt used much.

[Andy Burns]

Black & Decker Quattro Black & Decker Proline Clarke "metalworker" benchtop pillar drill Van Dorn drill with bench stand Dremel Makita SDS mains Makita SDS 36V Makita impact driver 18V Makita combi drill 18V

2x Makita "pistol" drill/driver 10.8V

I still have all of them, except the quattro, which was a) a bit useless and b) stolen.