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harbor freight 18v drill

I was tempted by the $15.99 price. How bad can it be? Well, according the downloadable manual, the torque settings range from 16in/lb to 35in/lb (+-2in/lb). What could it possibly drill - cardboard?

nf

Reply to
nutso fasst
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I looked at one in person last weekend and was able to resist the temptation. It's the blue DrillMaster brand. All I know about that name is that I gambled a couple bucks on a set of DM hole saws that are pretty damn crappy. Next time I wanted a hole saw, I bought a good bi-metal one in the size I needed. So to me, "DrillMaster" translates to "sucks a big wagon of ass."

But so far I'm happy with other stuff I've got from HF-- clamps, a CMS, a baby drill press, a biscuit joiner, chisels, gouges, many odds n ends....

Reply to
boorite

I have several Chicago 18V drills (orange) from HF that I like and use all the time. Of course, on sale they are $40 and normally about $70.

The DrillMaster drills have all ways looked like junk.

Jess.S

Reply to
Jesse R Strawbridge

I have bought dozens of HF items and most have been satisfactory and some a darn good buy. But my experience with their 14v version of this drill several years ago was terrible. Cheap chargers, no regulation, poor connection, and the battery was good for about 3 or 4 charges before they died. Gave them away at a garage sale.....all 3 of them.... I bought 3 because the whole drill on sale was cheaper than spare batteries! Save your money on this one

Dennis Slabaugh Hobbyist Woodworker

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Reply to
Dennis

I have a set of Harbor Freight hole saws. A couple years ago I used one to cut a hole in my breaker box. It took a while, but it worked. Not too shabby, considering the price.

Reply to
Toller

My brother bought me the 18v drill and it sucked! Drill? No way. Would not drive a screw. I have the D.C. from them and it's great. The drill really sucks.

Reply to
Jimmy

| I have several Chicago 18V drills (orange) from HF that I like and | use all the time. Of course, on sale they are $40 and normally | about $70.

Me too. I have one tailed 3/8" that's used almost exclusively for pocket joinery drilling and one rechargable 3/8" that's used for driving the screws. Bought 'em both on sale about three years ago. I'm not partial to keyless chucks; but I'd buy either of these again. I figure they'd paid for themselves sever times over the first year of use - and they're still going strong.

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

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Reply to
Morris Dovey

I bought 3 of them a while back - cheaper than spare battery. Haven't had a problem. Drive a lot of square drive screws with no problem. On the occasion when I've used them as a drill, I've had no complaints. Battery doesn't seem to last as long as "branded" items but at that price, who cares?

There's no "quick" recharge and it takes about 5 hours to recharge ( that's also why I bought 3 of them ) and the charger does NOT shut down automatically when the battery has been recharged. That's the only thing I really don't like about it but it's not too hard to set a timer to remind me.

Would they last day in and day out on a construction job site? I seriously doubt it but for home workshop use it's a good deal.

Just MHO.

Vic

Reply to
Vic Baron

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Here in Canada, Canadian Tire sells a Chinese brand called Jobmate. They make power and hand tools, and the prices are unbelievably low. The quality is even lower. Calling them crap would be a compliment. Buyer beware.

Reply to
bob

Compared Drill Master torque to two others: (1) Kawasaki 19.2V (kit w/light, $40 at Pep Boys) is 300in/lb. (2) Milwaukee 18V (~$140 online) is 495in/lb. I tried to find torque numbers for two other cheapies - Hyundai 18V and Coleman 18V - but no luck.

Glad you're satisfied, but it seems 35in/lb classifies the DM as an oversized powered screwdriver, not suitable for drilling studs for 3/8" lag bolts.

The

Reply to
nutso fasst

Considering the way the Taiwanese or Chinese manuals are prepared I'd be more inclined to believe the manual was in error. I've drilled some fairly large holes with them with no problem. Caveat - I haven't drilled a lot of large holes at one time though. At that price, I'm not concerned - I do believe you get what you pay for but this is more than adequate for my needs so it's a good buy - to me. YMMV

Vic

Reply to
Vic Baron

If you RTFM a litle more closely you'll see that the 35 in-lb figure is the maximum CLUTCHED torque. It's not as explicit as it could be, but on the next setting, the clutch is locked and will not slip. The manual for this particular model does not list a maximum torque but similar 18V drills sold by Harbor Freight vary from 100 - 180 that I have seen. I purchased 2 of their 18V Drillmaster drills some time ago when they were on sale for $9.99. Not sure if they are the same model under discussion here.

I have a Dewalt 18V drill and of course it is beyond comparison in brute force to the DM, but then again, retail on the Dewalt is about

15 times the price. I use the drillmasters very frequently and I don't mind lending them out which I would never do with the Dewalt. (Actually, I own _2_ Dewalts and I did lend one of them out once, and because of what happened I won't lend out the other, but that's a different story.)

At any rate, the Drillmaster is not near as poweful as a Dewalt or name brand, the batteries don't last as lone, etc, but are they worth $10 or $15? Absolutely. Despite their lower power output they are just as efficient as my Dewalt at snapping off the heads of cheap drywall screws, ruining cheap driver tips in good quality screws, burying screws much deeper than I intended, or stripping out the threads in pine, fir, and other softwoods.

Reply to
lwasserm

Good to know, since that's mainly the type of work I do.

Reply to
boorite

What do the torque settings have to do with drilling? You lock the slip clutch to drill.

Reply to
J. Clarke

"J. Clarke" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news2.newsguy.com:

As I understand it, torque is a measure of how much force something rotating exerts on a material. If you're drilling, too low torque of will stop the drill in the hole. You'll probably not notice anything with a 1/8" bit, but get to the larger sizes like 1/4" and 1/2" and suddenly you realize how good or bad your drill is.

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

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