Kawasaki 19.2V drill at Sam's

I'm sitting here pretending to not see the Kawasaki 19.2V cordless drill set, which is setting atop the treadmill that Mrs. Craig is pretending to not see. We're good that way about not knowing what we're getting for Christmas. ;-)

Sam's has these for $39.62, IIRC. Two NiCad batteries and a charger. I was going to replace my broken "Chicago Electric" 18V from Hobo Freight, but for the same price, with two batteries, from a name brand... seems like a no-brainer to me.

Has anyone tried one of these yet?

Kevin

Reply to
Kevin Craig
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Two stroke or four stroke? Jim

Reply to
Jim

I bought a cheap Grizzly 18 volt 1/2" drill about 4 years ago. It was basically just going to serve as a secondary cordless drill so I could have one chucked with a drill bit and the other with a screwdriver bit. I always thought of it as pretty much a throw away. The batteries have now outlasted one DeWalt and one Milwaukee (one after the other). The variable speed function has crapped out but it still makes a great drill.

How wrong can you go for $40.00? If you only get two years out of it, it's still a home run. If it breaks, just go buy another.

PS: Costco is selling the same drill for $79.00.

Chuck

Reply to
Chuck

How do you spell "S-m-a-r-t-a-s-s"

But kinda funny.

RonB

Reply to
RonB

That was my thinking when I bought the HF drill. I got my use out of it, then something quit. I don't know if it's the battery, the charger, or the drill. If I'd bought another, I'd have duplicates of whatever wasn't broken, but I figure this has to be a better deal.

Kevin

Reply to
Kevin Craig

Reply to
wayne mak

I bought a PC cordless drill several years ago for about $125. After a years use the battery died so I relaced the battery for $55. A short time later the charger quit. Cost of a new charger, $45. Afterwords, I swore never to buy an expensive drill again. I buy the low end cordless drills from Harbor Freight etc,. and have had pretty good luck. The weak point on the drills is usually the chuck. Also, some of the low end drills have only one speed and it's usually high. When the battery dies, you simply buy a new drill. The cost of the battery exceeds the cost of a new drill.

For the most part, you learn to deal with the shortcoming because you know you paid almost nothing for the drill.

Reply to
lschultz

I'LL TELL YOU HOW YOU CAN GO WRONG---THEY ARE MADE BY SLAVE LABOR IN A COMMUNIST COUNTRY. I HAVE SEEN ELECTRIC CORDS, 3 PRONG GROUNDED THAT DO NOT CONTAIN A GROUND WIRE,AND THAT IS NOT A FUNNY THING.

Reply to
I like To Please

Kevin,

I have been studying the heck out of cordless drills before I bought my next one. I haven't tried the Kawasaki (in fact I had never heard of it before). Sam's site doesn't say anything about it, but I found some specs on the Northern Tool website if it is the same model. Here is a bit of comparison to some of the better 18 volt cordless drills.

The Kaw has only 300 in-lbs of torque, more in the range of a good 14.4 volt tool. Dewalt's 18 volt compact model has 400 in-lbs, their top drills (DC987, DC988, etc) have 500 to 550 in-lbs. The top Hitachi has 450 in-lbs, the less expensive one has 400 in-lbs.

It has a 1.5 amp-hour battery, pretty low capacity of an 18 volt tool that I can find specs for. The Grizzly is 1.7 amp-hrs. The cheaper Hitachi's are 2.0 amp-hrs, their best is 3.0 amp-hrs. Dewalt's 18 volt XRP is 2.4 amp-hrs.

So it is more like a 14.4 volt tool in power and capacity. Not that it isn't a good *buy*, it just isn't what the 19.2 voltage leads you to expect.

By the way, after lots of agonizing and reading I just went with the Dewalt

2-tool combo (drill and reciprocating saw). Both Home Depot and Lowes have all their tool combos on a 20% off sale. The 2-tool Dewalt combos give you the most tool for the money, but they are much harder to find than the 4 and 6 tool combos. Only Lowes carries them around here.

For the best buys in a slightly lower performance, Hitachi has a great combo with drill, circular saw, recip saw, light and a free, huge drill/bit assortment for $299 at Lowes (take 20% off that). A lot more than the Kaw, I know, but it gives you something to compare.

Dennis

Reply to
DT

Reply to
wayne mak

FWIW, I have a 12V dewalt that I bought 10 years ago, reconditioned. Still going...barely! Only works in the low gear, second sounds and acts stripped. The batteries don't last long. But it still has plenty of torque at that low speed. Have no problems driving 3.5" screws into wood.

That said, I'm keeping an eye out for a replacement. Not high on my priority list though. At work we switched from the 14.4 dewalts to panasonic 15.6v. They came out highest on a consumer reports test. They're actually pretty nice, good balance, long battery life, NIMH (IIRC) batteries.

John

Reply to
John T

Ace Hardware has a 18 volt Makita on sale for $99.99 after rebates. This drill normally sells for $199.99 most places like Home Depot. Ace has it for $179.99 before rebates.

The sale price expired on the 12th, but my local ACE said they would still order it in for the $179.99 price. The rebates are good until the 31st.

I haven't ordered yet because I want to lift one first. Home Depot locally only carries the 12 and 14.4 Makita even though the web site shows a store SKU for the 18 volt.

Brian Elfert

Reply to
Brian Elfert

I guess that is why there are so many models -- to keep us all happy. I paid $189 for my Panasonic because I was sick of dealing with the shortcomings of a cheap drill. You just have to love that one hand chuck.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

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