Looking for some specific advice on buying a drill

The Bosch has more umph with it being 24v and is a decent brand,whereas the Makita is into the proffesional market. I'd go for the Makita.

Yes, without a doubt the Makita.

I've owned (among many other drills) the 18V version of that Bosch, and it isn't a patch on even a 12V Makita. The Bosch green range is vastly different from the Bosch blue range. The green range is quite similar to B&D tools - home/diy quality. The Makita is built better.

No, not in any way, and it isn't 'heavier duty'.

If you mean the odd few holes here and there, yes, it'd be fine for that. If you want to use it to put up a room's worth of shelves, you'll be swapping batteries a lot.

Likewise I would go for the Makita. Try West Skelston Services 01387

Having more than one battery is vital I would say.

It is a green body one, so it will have less "serious" construction than the Makita - as they are aimed at very different market segments.

Yes.

I told him I'd have the makita, as it's got two batteries, but he'd gone off in a huff by then...

Do you think a "normal" hammer drill would go through concrete, by the way?

The right bit will,however the drill won't ;-)

Wus a *Normal* hammer drill?

the Voltage rating on a drill is no indicator of its performance capability

Charlie

The message from "The3rd Earl Of Derby" contains these words:

One with the waggly-ring sort of hammer instead of the whizzy-back-and-forth-piston sort of hammer.

The message from "charlieB" contains these words:

What if they write "turbo" on the side? Does that make it go faster?

Any figures to back this up? The voltage of the battery pack has little to do with the 'umph'.

Me too.

Heh! then why make 18v & 24v range of power tools?

The bigger the motor the more power it will deliver in conjunction with the gears.

At last an accurate easy to understand definition of the difference! Well done that man!

The message from "The Medway Handyman" contains these words:

I'm not as stupid as I look.

Thankfully.

Like for like, the higher voltage battery will have a bigger working capacity. Because it's bigger...

It mainly depends on the maximum current delivery of the cells - and since

Well, some>>>The Bosch has more umph with it being 24v

Why aren't lead acid batteries used for cordless tools? Some of the newer ones are quite compact. Is it just because of what happens to them when they're left flat, or are there other reasons?

A bunch of reasons...

Their voltage declines more as the capacity is used leading to more variation in performance. Their internal resistance also rises (and is higher to start with) and that limits the maximum current flow. At high loads they tend to need rest periods to regain output. They don't suffer abuse as well either. They are more temperature sensitive. The gel type seem less able to supply big surges of instant current (something NiCds etc do very well), but are able to withstand deep discharge. The liquid electrolyte types (i.e. car batts) are better able to deliver the big surges but deep discharge will knacker them. There is also the problem of the liquid electrolyte. Also there is the weight issue.

Only if they paint it red too.

Warwick

Ok, so why does voltage not really matter??? There are a few things to consider.

2nd if a battery has a higher potential difference (same as voltage) then it makes it easier to manufacture it to store more (stored/potential) power.

That all said, the build quality on makita's is excellent for professional use. You will have no problems with the Bosch for heavy DIY use, however my experence is that the chuck begins to give up after very extensive use. The battery and motor on both units is excellent.

I do think that the issue of 2 batteries is a huge consideration since drilling and driving does tend to be a heavy drain on the battery. To put a spanner in the works another thing to consider is to go for 2 cheaper drills since another thing that slows down work speed and causes frustration is the constant changing from drill bits to screw driver bits. If you go down this route then I would suggest ryobi combo set available for just over =A3100 for 2 drills (18V).

Hoping this has helped. Calum Sabey (NewArk Traditional Kitchens 01556 690544)

Don't recall saying it does not matter.

In this case I expect that the 24V tool *will* deliver more useful power than the 14V, however if the 14V has "enough" then you are getting it in a smaller and lighter package.

However there is nothing stopping the designer trading off extra power for longer run time. Since practially all tools are built from the same physical sized cells (sub C) increasing the voltage is an easy way of increasing the capacity of the pack without needing to spend significant amounts on very high capacity cells.

That is a big if. Cell quality is one of the first places that makers go looking for economy. A 24V pack made from decent cells represent a very sizeable chunk of the £80 the OP was quoting for the whole kit!

This is true, although I think you mean energey rather than power in this case. More cells = more energy all other things being equal.

The batteries in both cases are NiCd which have very low internal resistances anyway, so you should not be generating much heat in the battery.

The other non obvious differences will be the bosch probably has nylon cogs in the gearbox, and the ends of the motor shaft and main gearwheels supported on either simple sleave bearings, or be bearingless and directly supported in the casework. Makita usually go for all metal gearboxes and ballraces in the critical places. The makita speed controller may also be better, being able to deliver more torque at slower speeds.

If the charger is quick and the cells reasonbly good, then it in many respects makes up for the lower capacity of the cells since you can still keep working almost flat out. One battery no matter how good will eventually run out and stop you for however long it takes to charge.

Na, you just gave him another option when his mind was almost made up! ;-)