Harbor Freight Warior brand drills

You might haunt the used market to see if there are any deals. Sometimes people take on home projects, and then don't need the gear when they are done. I picked up a newish Milwaukee M18 hammer/drill driver for 80 bucks, with battery and charger. Also, if you find one with a bad chuck for cheap, that's easily replaced.

Food for thought. It may be cheaper to simply replace the $18.00 drill instead of buying a replacement battery.

And a battery operated drill is very handy to have around. Read that as so much easier to grab and go to where ever and not have to deal with an extension cord.

IMHO the battery operated drill is about the only hand tool that I would consider buying with a battery. I want corded for everything else. The less you use a tool the more you want it to be corded for the reasons you have stated. Since about 1992 I have owned a Panasonic drill, that was a really good drill back 30 years ago, 2 DeWalt's, 2 because the whole drill, charger, and 2 batteries were cheaper than 2 batteries alone. And a Makita, the most disappointing, and my last is the current Festool that I bought in 2011. Its LIon batteries are still running strong although they have discontinued the 15 volt version, which I have, and gone 18 bolt in the series that I own.

An $18 drill, you get what you pay for.

FWIW I have owned a Makita impact, that is a good tool, and was awarded a Bosch impact a few years later. I use the Makita all the time as the Makita drill was almost useless as far as power goes. Since getting the 15 volt Festool I very seldom have need for an impact driver at all. It is just that good.

FWIW, Someone gave me a 12-V Harbor Freight drill as a wedding gift (a different one than you posted a link to). It didn't have enough ooomph. I caught a sale on a Bosch drill/impact combo kit and upgraded it. I never knew exactly why I needed an impact drill until I had one, but it's a great tool. The Bosch batteries stay charged for a Long time (more than a year), and they have a charge indicator light on the side. I just checked at Amazon and the 12v combo is $99 and the 18v combo is $179. Both kits have alot more options. I understand that this may be "more tool" than you actually need, but this is my (admittedly limited) experience. Good luck with your next drill!

OP: I understand what you are saying about the $18 dollar drill.

As for battery vs corded, right now the only battery tool I have is my battery powered screw driver. It is one of the most used tools I have and it will not be a question of should, but it will be replace. I realized it value when removing a screw in the head liner of an old car. Turns out the screw was about 2" long the battery screw drive worked much better that a lot of wrist action.

I think I would give up my table saw before the battery powered screw driver.

I wound up with a bunch of Ryobi cordless tools (3 tools, 2 batters, charger <$33 out the thrift shop door.) New batteries were expensive, but now I have a couple other tools (on sale) and ...

Yeah, the issue is what do I do when the Harbor Freight Drillmaster's finally die? Get what ever new Harbor Freight drills are, or see about picking up Ryobi's at the next sale? Depends on how soon I need to replace the dead ones.

Glad you mentioned the battery powered screwdriver. My first of its kind was an Diston. It was about 12~14 inches long. The battery unplugged from the tool and plugged straight into the wall socket for recharging. It was weak but out lasted me. ;~) Then a Skil screw driver that looked like a miniature drill. I finally began using the battery operated drill for driving screws with the Panasonic mentioned above. Driving screws is easy with a quality battery operated drill. But I don't mean any drill.

The Panasonic drill had wonderful circuitry and I had great control of the speed. It beat the pants off of the DeWalt's and the Makita.

The Festool set the standard. Perhaps the better name brands offer the type electronics that Festool does, now.

The T15 Festool drill that I own now, as mentioned above, has pretty much replaced my impact drivers too.

Unlike most corded drills that have little control over the speed other than the variable speed, which can be worthless, the Festool drill recognizes the position of the trigger and will increase or decrease the chuck speed to match the unloaded speed.

What this means is that if you pull the trigger just enough to spin the chuck with out a load, you can pretty much expect the drill to turn the chuck at the same trigger location and at the same unloaded speed under a load. With most corded you continue to pull the VS trigger until the chuck finally turns. Impact drivers are good at driving screws but with less fineness than the Festool drill that I own.

About 8 years ago I was adding shelving to our shed. 3" deck screws and

I am not suggesting that you go out to buy a Festool drill but take a look at what is available. Battery operated drills have come long way as far as efficiency goes. But check out the Festool drill. Most suppliers will let you try before you buy. You might find that you use it more than you would think when you know how well it works.

WHen my 20 year old Black and Decker screw drive fails I may look at a Festool. Recently a battery died, I found the Versapac batteries were still available through a different vendor.

May be this answers my original question, If Warrior dies some third part battery manufacture may pick it up and batteries be available long after Warrior is gone.

The weak part of your warrior drill would be the battery imo. Most likely you could get replacement batteries or have it rebuilt for a long time to come.

Personally, I own 4 12 volt Bosch drills. An angle drill, 2 drill/drivers and an impact driver. I rarely use the angle drill or the impact driver. I bought my first one in 2011 and all batteries work like new, and the drills are fantastic. 2 I bought on a 2 for $100 deal. These drills are smallish, but PERFECT for a cabinet shop. If you plan on screwing in a big deck you need a bigger, and probably a corded drill. I have several 18/20 volt drills that work great, but in a cabinet shop, seldom used or needed.

I like having two drills, one for pre-drill holes, one for screws. I don't like switching out when doing screws.

The impact driver was a waste of money for me. 12 volt is too small, my regular 12 volts work fine for small stuff. For big stuff. like a deck and many screws, the 18 volt impact works best, so I can't recommend a

My first tail-less drill was a B&D Versa drill. I thought is was great but the versi batteries sucked (it was long time ago).

The Bosch drills have exceeded my expectations for 12 years now. Highly recommend them. Also highly recommend the same brand and voltage so batteries are interchangeable.

Ridgid tools have a lifetime warranty, including batteries. You can buy tools with batteries/chargers and “tool only” tools. I have 2 drills, an impact driver, belt sander, circular saw, 3 batteries and 2 chargers.*

The circular saw is mediocre at best, everything else works just fine. Having 2 drills is almost a must when pre-drilling & driving screws. Changing bits is a waste of time and energy. Having one charger in the shop and one the garage is very convenient.

The batteries charge up quickly enough that in my DIY world, I can’t recall ever being forced to stop because all 3 batteries were dead.

• I also have a 3 panel LED worklight that I bought used so it has no warranty. It also kills the battery so quickly that I have an extension cord semi-permanently attached to it. It’s an older model…maybe the newer ones are more battery friendly.

I want to add that the battery of my HF drill was it's main weak spot, in the sense, that if I wanted to use it, I'd have to charge it first. Not so (at all) with the Bosch batteries. For me, that difference is meaningful. Another option, is a drill with a tail on it (which you can almost surely find for under $18, if you have local auction house).