Ryobi & Craftsman (newbie Q)

I guess my questions might sound weird - I'm an amateur and want to redecorate my home by building shelves, simple cabinets, radiator covers and installing crown molding by myself. The extent of my experience is putting together pre-fab bookcases so I have a big learning curve ahead of me...

Questions regarding two cordless drill-drivers:

Ryobi HP1202M 12V Craftsman 315.114600 14.4V

I understand Ryobi makes Craftsman drills. Does this fact make the Ryobi line better in quality?

The release of the Ryobi switch trigger slows to a halt, whereas the Craftsman seems to screech to a halt. If the extent of my work is building wall-to-wall bookshelves (I suppose the only real woodworking I would do is mitres), is there any preference for how this operates?

What else should I consider?

Reply to
RLK
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The Craftsman will probably have an extra bell and whistle or two, such as the electric brake feature you described (stops the rotation quickly after releasing the trigger). That feature can be useful when you need more precise control.

There are more durable and more powerful brands out there (and more expensive, too), but unless you are going to use them a lot, for what you need, either model will work. 12v to 14.4v are good voltages for household projects. Strong enough to drill and drive screws, but not so heavy that it will pull you off a ladder.

Make sure whatever you get has two batteries and a one hour charger.

Rich S.

Reply to
Rich Stern

These are good choices for your needs. I have a 14.4 Ryobi (similar to Craftsman) and I'm very satisfied with the performance. You can buy bigger, better, more powerful. drills, but they get heavier and harder to handle. The electric brake on the 14.4 is a nice feature.

When I bought my drill, I set out to buy an 18V. After handling it, I decided the 14.4 was better for me. If I was a pro drilling or screwing all day, I'd go for a Bosch, Milwaukee, or Panasonic. I'm not so I save a lot of money and have a lighter drill that does the job. Ed

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

\ Personally I would buy the craftsman BUT somehow the "tone" of your note suggests you are a new homeowner and I wonder just how much MORE (over the years) you will be asking the drill to do...

That said...I would make sure the drill I purchased was a 1/2 inch drill unless you already have a corded 1/2 drill

Bob Griffiths

Reply to
Bob G

I agree on the 1/2" corded.

I am a home owner user (but have started into furniture woodworking) and bought a 3-8" cordless drill/driver thinking that would be plenty for what little I thought I would be doing.

Problem came when I remodeled my bathroom and needed to mix mortar and grout for the tile. The 3/8" cordless just couldn't cut the mustard. Too under-powered to turn the mortar mixer and was also struggling to put the screws through the concrete board that studs & plywood.

Generally, now I look at two models for everything. A low-end model and a high-end model. If the low-end (in this case a 3/8" cordless) is not much less than the high-end, I get the high-end. The whatever $30 extra now is a lot cheaper than buying one of each when I hit the limit of the low-end model's performance.

me

Reply to
<nospam

You should consider whether the driver/drill will fit inside cabinets, or whatever it is you're working on.

The higher voltage units tend to have a battery with a big fat bulb on the end, and that can be a fiddle if you're working in tight quarters.

I stayed with my 9.6v Makita(s) because of the larger physical size of the higher-voltage drivers made them less amenable to working inside equipment, which is what I do 40 hours a week.

Cheers, Fred McClellan the dash plumber at mindspring dot com

Reply to
Fred McClellan

The comments and suggestions were helpful to me. I decided on the Craftsman - (I had thought the electric braking was a "defect" till Rich S. mentioned it was a special feature!). Well... now on to my Readers Digest guides as well as lurking here learning more till I'm brave enough to start creating!! Thanks everyone.

Reply to
RLK

Neither is better quality. You would be wise to stay away from both. It does not save money to buy cheap power tools.

Peter

Reply to
peter

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