Good, Light Cordless Drill?

[Doug White]

My oldest stepdaughter is out in the world, and wants a drill for Christmas. She's pretty handy with tools, but she isn't gentle on them. She's also about 100 pound sopping wet, so getting a huge 18V drill ain't gonna hack it. She will use it only intermittently, so NiCd batteries that have memory issues is probably not a good idea. A battery/smart-charger set up where you can leave a battery plugged in for months without damage would be great. A few years ago, Li Ion drills all seemed to be powered & priced for pros.

So, I'm looking for something rugged, reliable, and powerful within the constraints of not being too heavy. All my drills are old NiCd jobs, and I have no idea who's making good stuff these days, or what the technology options are.

All suggestions welcome.

Thanks!

Doug White

[Ignoramus27358]

I would get her a DeWalt 18v, despite her being 100 lbs. After a few years she will not be 100 lbs, but the Dewalt will still work great.

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[Dave]

A DeWalt Li Ion 18v would be my choice for a lighter drill, smaller battery. If you have to go cheaper, then the 12v Li Ion would be suitable.

[Bruce L. Bergman (munged human]

If you are starting her from scratch, the DeWalt 12V/20V Max Li-Ion system looks to be the best bet for the future - Or the old 18V with the Nano Li-Ion batteries. Rugged and reliable, Check.

NiCd batteries aren't all that bad, you just have to make sure she knows about the self-discharge and memory issues so she isn't caught with dead batteries in a crisis. I'd switch to the 18V Nano batteries, but they haven't seemed to get into wide circulation - and they still have the "Two for $99" on the XRP's.

You never want to buy Toy tools, because you ask them to do real work and they Fail. And that discourages her from doing the work and fall back on calling for help - that's not good.

Within reason, don't worry about the weight of the tool - 100 pounds or not, she isn't made of spun glass. Real Tools need a little heft to work and not break from their own torque.

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[-MIKE-]

These little Bosch drivers fit the bill. They are very light and pack quite a punch. You'd have to check their website to see about the charger, but just about every late model cordless driver I've seen has a smart charger.

[Steve B]

I asked a friend of mine who is a contractor why he has Ridgid. He said it was because of the lifetime guarantee. He said he doesn't send it in, but just takes it back to HD, and they swap it out.

A consideration. Plus, I love the little light on their drill.

Steve

[Leon Fisk]

For intermittent use battery tools are kind of expensive. Need maintenance even if you aren't using them...

Unless she has to have battery power I would get her a corded Dewalt

3/8 inch VSR (~$50) and a nice 50 ft 14 gauge extension cord. I good heavy extension cord is infinitely useful and the drill will have zero maintenance issues. My Dewalt DW106 is ~10 years old and gets intermittent hard use. Never had any issues with it and plenty of power. Only thing that might give your daughter some grief is/are the keyless chucks. I still have a really strong grip in my hands but can't keep say a 3/8 inch bit from slipping in the keyless chuck while drilling hard in metal. Other than mine has the keyless chuck, this is it (no longer available?):

[LdB]

Now's the time in instill the idea of buying quality tools not cheap junk. I've got two Milwaukee cordless drills. A big M18 Cordless and an small M12 Cordless screwdriver. They are without a doubt the best cordless drills I have ever used.

If I was in the market for a smaller cordless drill I would go out and get one of these without a second thought.

[Steve B]

"LdB" wrote

> LdB

And here, I believe is the core of the discussion.

If I was to want to introduce someone to fishing, I would take them fishing, and provide them with a quality rod and reel. Nothing turns off a newbie like hassling with gear.

It is the same with tools. Your tool (or rod and reel) screw up, and you're done until you can get it fixed or get another one. And in the meantime, a lot of time goes out the window.

I was a steel erection contractor for nine years. I would never spend what they want for Hilti stuff, but there were lots of good intermediate tools, Milwaukee included, that are very reliable. I had one of their sawzalls and rotohammer drills. Not a day of problems from either. You can skimp on tools, and yes, there are people who are going to use them so infrequently that some things make no difference at all. But a cordless drill is one of the things that's used the most, so I'd spend a few extra bucks and get a good one, instead of doing it a month or two down the line when the cheapie takes a dump and becomes a fishing weight.

Steve

[Bill]

Yep, Yep! If she is getting by without a drill now, then this combination ought to be plenty adequate. One of those $5-10 sets of screw bits and a sets of small drill bits would be nice accessories!

Bill

I good

[Nova]

18V LXT Lithium-Ion Cordless 1/2" Driver-Drill Kit Model: LXFD01

3.8 lbs.

[Doug White]

"Steve B" wrote in news:tRbAq.150110$ [e-mail]:

I wasn't even considering going cheap on this. I was figuring DeWalt, Milwaukee, Bosch or Makita. It sounds like the Bosch Li Ion 12V would be a good starting point. She quite unlikely to ever do any heavy construction where tons of capacity are needed.

I thought about a corded drill, but she's the sort who would knock over countless objects towing an extension cord around. Alternatively, she would use the extension cord elsewhere & not have it available when she needs the drill. She really bright & creative, but a bit impetuous & macrochaotic at this stage in her life.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I'll wait a few days to see where the dust settles.

Doug White

[Frunobulax]

HD is no longer honoring the Ridgid lifeteime guarantee. You have to send the entire tool (battery, charger, tool) to a service center for 'evaluation', at which point Ridgid will tell you the tool has reached it's life limit and will not be repaired. DAMHIKT.

[krw]

I like my 12V Bosch (have the 18V, too, but the 12V gets more use). Lowes has the drill and the matching driver for $139, I think.

[krw]

As I said in my previous post, I have one and love it. Li-Ion is the way to go, also. NiCd and NiMH batteries self-discharge fast enough that an intermittent user may never have a fully charged battery. It's hard on batteries to constantly charge them, too (most chargers don't). Li-Ion has a very low self-discharge so the tool will be ready to use when she is.

As others have suggested, check out Lowes.

[Bob Engelhardt]

I'm with you on this. Small, light, quality. I have the Milwaukee 12v LiIon impact driver and I LOVE it!! Pretty much only used for driving screws (I have drills for drilling), but that's what I used my cordless drills for, before I got the impact driver. Like the Bosch, it's

2-1/2lbs & that is a HUGE advantage. Every time I pick up a 5 lb drill I appreciate the small one more. Note that I am not recommending an impact driver - that's just where my experience with small LiIon is.

When I was looking for an impact driver, the Bosch & Milwaukee were virtually identical & I went for the better price.

Bob

[Snag]

Like Iggy said , the DeWalt is a good choice , they're light and powerful . If you can find the 12V model with two batteries and a charger , grab it ! Their chargers are pretty good , I've never cooked a battery and I used the

12V ones for years - just be sure to drain the battery *completely* before you put it on charge . My current unit is the 18V , but only because it was on sale at Lowes for $119.95 - normal price is 189 bucks .

[Gerald Miller]

Last January, after receiving a De Walt 1/2 cordless for Christmas from SWMBO, I inherited the hammer drill version from Junior's FiL because the hand grip was too large for his liking and the fact that his batteries were getting a little iffy, this on condition that he could borrow it back along with my new one come time to tap the sugar bush. He will be very happy to hear that I found new batteries for $119.00 each or two for $99.00 the other evening. You should be aware that it does take a fair size hand to hold one of these. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

[tiredofspam]

I'm going to go against the grain here. I saw the Hitachi 10v combo at Lowes 2 or more years ago. Love it. I wanted a light weight unit since I already have 18v Heavy monster. The 12v drill, and 12v impact from Hitachi fit what I was looking for. A good light weight setup. The drill really is a light weight and won't drill through heavy steel. But it is fine for wood and screws ... The impact driver is the real star.... very light and damn if it doesn't keep on driving screws... Long ones. It out performs my 18v, it never strips a head, drives them all the way without pre-drilling.

Now for the best part: The Hitachi unlike most other 10V or 12V (many

12v are really 10v) has a flat bottom battery pack. So it will stand up. It is the lightest tool out there and I have been super happy with it.

The LION battery is always ready, the combo comes with 2 batteries. The pack charges quickly.

[Tom Dacon]

If Festool is within your budget, their new CSX portable is a really nice lightweight but powerful small portable.

I'm used to bigger stuff, but problems with my shoulders have made it difficult for me to manage a 14V or 18V portable for quite a while. I took a chance on the CSX and I really like it. It's 10.8V, comes with two batteries and a good fast charger, and a slew of snap-on snouts that you can use to work up close against the sides of cabinets, do right-angle drilling, and so forth. Even though it's lower voltage than what I was used to, it seems to have plenty of power.

Tom