What's The Drill?

My beloved Makita 9V cordless drill is finally worn out. I think I got my money's worth - 18 years of home improvement, furniture projects, and general maintenance.

So ... what shall I buy to replace it. I am looking at another Makita or a DeWalt (both 18V Li).

What is the Wreck-wisdom here?

Reply to
Tim Daneliuk
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Panasonic, Bosch, Milwaukee. I've seen too many people complain about the yellow Black & Decker drills. No experience with Makita

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Well, Makita still builds a good drill/tool, Go with the green models.

I have owned DeWalt, Makita, Panasonic, and Festool. Oh yeah I have a Bosch impactor that I have used about 3 times in the last 3 or so years.

I am partial to the Festool but you are going to spend some money.

Least favorite for me, Bosch and DeWalt.

Reply to
Leon

Tim Daneliuk wrote in news:d88r89-o4d.ln1 @ozzie.tundraware.com:

I have the Makita drill/driver kit that came in the LCT300W combo. (I see the LCT200W combo still, same drill/driver no flashlight.) I'm extremely happy with the tools, but after about 5 years they are starting to show their age. The chuck on the drill is a little fiddly now, and battery runtime seems to have significantly decreased. However, with 3 batteries and approximately 30 minute recharge time it's difficult to run out of battery.

The tools still do their job quite well, and are a long way from being worn out. The impact driver still drives screws as well as it did on day one, and the drill runs true and easily.

There's two sizes of Makita batteries out there, one is 1.5 Ah and the other is 3 Ah. It might be worth looking at the 3 Ah drills because that battery will also work with other tools in their line. I have a circular saw that "requires" a 3 Ah battery (or a little surgery for a 1.5 Ah battery).

The Panasonics I've used have worked quite well, but I don't have much experience with them. One purred like a tribble, but I don't think it reproduced like one!

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

I loved my Bosch Impactor, I love my Makita lithium impactor, and I loved my old Ryobi 14.4v drill enough to buy an 18v model when the batteries finally died on the 14.4. Panasonic, Makita, Bosch, and Milwaukee are the top runners, though lots of guys here like the Ridgid drills, too.

-- Progress is the product of human agency. Things get better because we make them better. Things go wrong when we get too comfortable, when we fail to take risks or seize opportunities. -- Susan Rice

Reply to
Larry Jaques

18 years is way good service, Larry. Ya done good, troop.

I still have my 9v Ryobi, the battery pack had been rebuilt once and has finally gone south again. I'll probably rebuild it again as the drill motor itself is still perfectly good. (someday?)

But mostly I use the 12v Ryobi - which has had it's battery pack rebuilt twice.

I have two batteries for each of them. If I had another 12v battery I'd take the cells out and plug it into a 12v gel cell (12AH) for longer lasting power.

Or plug it into the boat's 12v system and use that for power.

Reply to
Richard

This is a different spin on your question, but you may consider "replacing" it with a small bench top drill press. (not one that uses a hand drill).

Many years age we were at a traveling tool sale, and they had a drill press for $39. I had always thought I need a drill press but could never justify one. $39 did not need a lot of justification.

The bottom line is I am now using the drill press for most of my drilling needs. I don't remember when I last used the hand drill. For those times when I need to drill to put up a curtain rod or such, I use my Dremmel or one of those old ratchet drills.

Reply to
Keith Nuttle

I have 2 green models...

Hitachi, I bought the 10v combo drill and impactor. Love them for light duty work. The impactor is awesome. Truly a heavy duty tool. The drill is very light duty, but great for driving light screws.

For heavy drilling I have a Ryobi 18v.. I know some of you think that sucks, but for the cheap price I paide $69 for the 18v and 2 lithium batteries it's a way better deal than some of the name brands.

I recently saw a bunch of c> >> My beloved Makita 9V cordless drill is finally worn out. I think I got

Reply to
tiredofspam

Since I live in Wisconsin, I'll be bias toward Wisconsin companies when they make a competitive, quality product. So it's Milwaukee drills for me. The only problem is they last forever so I never have a reason to buy a new one. I got my 9v cordless when it was the best available at the time. Later when I got into larger, more frequent projects I got a (best at the time) 14.4v L/ion for drilling and dedicated the 9v to driving screws. I have 3 battery packs for each drill and every few years I'll take the one with the oldest batteries to Batteries Plus for a rebuild. I label battery packs with the date purchased or rebuilt so I can stagger them. Haven't needed to rebuild any 14.4v packs yet. Is rebuilding battery packs a simple DIY task or does it require something special?

What really differentiates one brand from another is the internals, so unfortunately it's hard to compare brands. One thing that would be handy is a little built-in LED worklight if any drills have such a thing.

John S.

Reply to
John Shear

I'm late to the party, but.... I'm extremely pleased with the Bosch 18v L-Ion drill I recently got from Lowes when they had the drill/charger/2 batts for $99. They have a drill&impact driver combo for around $249, now. One of they really nice features is the way the chuck "locks" when it clamps to a bit. With most hand chucks you have to use two hands to tighten them. With the Bosch, the motor side of the chuck locks in place and you just need one hand to tighten the bit side. Very convenient!

My local Home Depot has their Ridgid 18v L-Ion drill&impact driver combo with 2 batts/charger on sale for $199. That is a great deal for those.

Reply to
-MIKE-

Opinions will vary as to which size is best, let alone which brand.

I have a 15V Panasonic NiMH and a 12V Milwaukie Lion and I use the 12 V most of the time. The little guy doesn't have a 2nd gear so drilling is a bit on the slow side. But it is light and nimble and fine for most of the things I do, and gets into tight places, etc.

There are times I need a more muscle I still need the heavier duty drill. Or if I am driving plenty of screws that need drilling / countersinking I set up the Panasonic to drill (it spins faster) and the little guy to drive the screws.

Reply to
Jim Weisgram

Thanks all for your input ... which made the decision approximately as hard as when I started :)

I have a new DeWalt DCD760KL kit on the way. I really loved the old Makita but the new ones of comparable quality were a bit out of reach $ wise...

Reply to
Tim Daneliuk

My beloved Makita 9V cordless drill is finally worn out. I think I got my money's worth - 18 years of home improvement, furniture projects, and general maintenance.

So ... what shall I buy to replace it. I am looking at another Makita or a DeWalt (both 18V Li).

What is the Wreck-wisdom here?

I haven't read the rest of the responses so I don't know if anyone has suggested this, but here goes from my experience:

I've got that same Makita 9V cordless as my garage drill (the knuckle battery, not the long straight one). It's still in good shape and I use it regularly and like it because of the light weight and good balance, but for work down on the boat I recently bought a Festool CXS and I really like it. It was expensive at $250, but it's a sweetheart. 10.8V lithium-ion, and has considerably more power than the Makita, much longer battery life, and might actually be lighter. When I bring the Festool home from the boat for good I'm going to turn the Makita over to my wife and keep the CXS for myself.

So there's my opinion.

Tom

Reply to
Tom Dacon

No kidding, since I don't do bifocals some times that led is a real joy, or my big head is blocking the light.

Mike M

Reply to
Mike M

"Steve B" wrote in news:jpj6s1$her$ snipped-for-privacy@speranza.aioe.org:

The only thing missing from my jigsaw is a light. I miss it just about every time I turn on the tool, I've been spoiled by the drill/drivers that have them.

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

On 23 May 2012 20:35:43 GMT, Puckdropper

A light is nice on a jigsaw, but I much prefer a blower tube to keep the dust off the cut line.

Reply to
Dave

"Steve B" wrote in news:jpjrh6$90t$ snipped-for-privacy@speranza.aioe.org:

I'm not really sure where I'd mount something like that. There's levers and controls all around the blade. If I didn't care about messing it up by opening it up, I'd figure out how to add one. A white LED doesn't need much space at all.

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

Those are nice, aren't they?

Why not grab a freebie 9-LED flashlight from HF and a spring steel clip, drill a hole in the sheet metal (harder in cast iron ;) cover on the arm, and position it? It should last years between battery changes, and it will serve as an emergency lighting source during a blackout. They're plenty bright for this use.

If you can't drill through it, perhaps you could zip-tie it to the stationary arm section.

-- When a quiet man is moved to passion, it seems the very earth will shake. -- Stephanie Barron (Something for the Powers That Be to remember, eh?)

Reply to
Larry Jaques

No kidding! LOL. Every jig saw that I have owned has had a blower but never enough blow to do any good.

Reply to
Leon

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