Cordless Drill recommendation?

Sleepy · 23-11-2020 4:24pm #1

The battery on my cheap cordless Black & Decker gave up the ghost this year (only holds a full charge for approx 1 minute!) and I'd like to add a replacement to the Christmas list this year. I already have a decent corded hammer drill so this would be mainly used for fairly light duty work (woodwork, plasterboard etc.)

As a DIY hobbyist rather than a pro, it seems logical to me to look for a system of cordless tools where if I were to get a drill this year, it would use a battery system I can use with other power tools I'd like to buy down the line (track saw and impact driver being the main tools I'd like to get cordless versions of atm).

So, what would the good people of Boards.ie suggest? Makita? Ryobi? Bosch? Something else? A quick look on Amazon seems like the prices are either too high for a hobbyist or are brands I've never heard of and too low to be reliable.

listermint · 23-11-2020 4:28pm

value for money into the pro territory i think hard to look past Makita and fairly safe battery system.

But all comes back to budget i suppose. Ive a Bosch which is consumer but hasnt missed a beat in 7 years,

steinbock123 · 23-11-2020 4:30pm

Bosch all the way for me too.
Was pricey but worth the money in my opinion.

magicbastarder · 23-11-2020 4:36pm

i got one of these on sale in woodies a couple of years ago, and i think you'll occasionally see them on sale from time to time. very happy with it. AFAIK the dewalt battery system is used across a range of their tools.

https://www.woodies.ie/diy-building-materials/powertools-accessories/drills-power-screwdrivers/dewalt-18v-xr-brushless-lithium-ion-combi-drill-2-x-1-5-ah-1147998

glynf · 23-11-2020 5:00pm

Of the brands you mentioned only Makita currently have a proper cordless track saw, Bosch have a 'biturbo' one coming out apparently. IMO you can't go wrong with Makita or Bosch pro (blue). I used to have the Makita 18V kit for work (since changed to hilti), found it to be decent quality for the money. only issue I had was the SDS & grinder would chew through batteries under 4Ah; this is probably less of an issue now with brushless tools. I found the mak impact excellent, small, light & powerful for the size.

I have a mate at work who uses Bosch and swears by them, no experience with Ryobi. Metabo, Hitachi/HiKOKI, Milwaukee & Dewalt are well worth a look as well.
I would suggest going for a drill/driver & impact kit with two of the larger capacity batteries and a decent charger to begin with, and to buy bare tools as you need them.

Sleepy · 24-11-2020 10:27am

listermint wrote: »

value for money into the pro territory i think hard to look past Makita and fairly safe battery system.

But all comes back to budget i suppose. Ive a Bosch which is consumer but hasnt missed a beat in 7 years,

I haven't really set a budget yet, it's more a question of "what do I have to spend to get into a good system without paying for unnecessary brand mark-up or bells and whistles I'll never use". I don't mind paying for quality, I hate paying for an expensive marketing department.

glynf wrote: »

Of the brands you mentioned only Makita currently have a proper cordless track saw, Bosch have a 'biturbo' one coming out apparently. IMO you can't go wrong with Makita or Bosch pro (blue). I used to have the Makita 18V kit for work (since changed to hilti), found it to be decent quality for the money. only issue I had was the SDS & grinder would chew through batteries under 4Ah; this is probably less of an issue now with brushless tools. I found the mak impact excellent, small, light & powerful for the size.

I have a mate at work who uses Bosch and swears by them, no experience with Ryobi. Metabo, Hitachi/HiKOKI, Milwaukee & Dewalt are well worth a look as well.

I would suggest going for a drill/driver & impact kit with two of the larger capacity batteries and a decent charger to begin with, and to buy bare tools as you need them.

The last line is exactly what I'm hoping to do. Great information in your post, thanks!

Pkiernan · 24-11-2020 10:30am

I have had the same set of Dewalt cordless 18v since 2001.
They used to see an awful lot of work.

They still work great, but the older batteries are hard to source .

The newer ones are very good, and much lighter.

You won't go wrong with their drill/driver and impact gun set.

listermint · 24-11-2020 10:34am

Sleepy wrote: »

I haven't really set a budget yet, it's more a question of "what do I have to spend to get into a good system without paying for unnecessary brand mark-up or bells and whistles I'll never use". I don't mind paying for quality, I hate paying for an expensive marketing department.

The last line is exactly what I'm hoping to do. Great information in your post, thanks!

Fair points, i think if you want to get into the expensive marketing world - Milwalkee and DeWalt fit that bracket.

Makita offer very much the same experience at lower price points and are used by swathes of professionals.

FrancieBrady · 24-11-2020 10:41am

I was told to avoid the DeWalt's that are made in China. Was that an old wives tale does anyone know? Need some new kit myself and was always a DeWalt fan.

magicbastarder · 24-11-2020 10:51am

if you want to see an ad for dewalt, here's one (TL;DW - the mythbusters strapped a dewalt drill to the side of a gunpowder barrel and it survived the explosion).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJp6VZeImiE

listermint · 24-11-2020 10:55am

FrancieBrady wrote: »

I was told to avoid the DeWalt's that are made in China. Was that an old wives tale does anyone know? Need some new kit myself and was always a DeWalt fan.

Dont mind that nonsense. But be aware that not all their models are as good as equivalent manufacturers. As is the case with anything. Some tools are ****ter than another brands.

But if you have the funds , they are a reliable brand but you pay for it.

glynf · 24-11-2020 12:10pm

listermint wrote: »

Dont mind that nonsense. But be aware that not all their models are as good as equivalent manufacturers. As is the case with anything. Some tools are ****ter than another brands.

But if you have the funds , they are a reliable brand but you pay for it.

This is so true, the quality of a brands tools can vary dependent on the price point they were made for. Some of the better Fein & Metabo grinders are made in Germany, the more 'cost effective' ones come from the far east-not necessary a bad thing, but the EU made gear tends to be more solid-chances are a lot of its components are still made in China though

Interesting graphics and info here showing who owns what tool brands.

[Deleted User] · 25-11-2020 7:55pm

There's an awful lot of low quality tools wearing DeWalt skins these days, but it's all about the pricepoint, not so much where it's made. If you can get it in your hands there's a good likelihood you'll be able to 'feel' the crap ones.

raxy · 05-01-2021 3:34pm

I'm looking to replace my hand me down hitachi hammer drill but I'm not sure what to get.
I'm thinking either this drill & impact set
https://www.screwfix.ie/p/dewalt-dck2060d2t-sfgb-18v-2-0ah-li-ion-xr-brushless-cordless-combi-drill-and-impact-driver-twin-pack/210hf#product_additional_details_container
or one of either of these.
https://www.raygrahams.com/products/138855-dewalt-dcd796p2-18v-brushless-compact-hammer-drill-2nd-gen.aspx
or
https://www.raygrahams.com/products/151205-makita-dhp482rtwj-compact-18v-combi-drill-with-2-x-50ah-batteries.aspx

Would be using for regular DIY at home. Putting furniture together & shelving etc. Would be interested to know what people would recommend either between these or if you'd recommend something else.

quietsailor · 06-01-2021 12:24pm

raxy wrote: »

I'm looking to replace my hand me down hitachi hammer drill but I'm not sure what to get.
I'm thinking either this drill & impact set
https://www.screwfix.ie/p/dewalt-dck2060d2t-sfgb-18v-2-0ah-li-ion-xr-brushless-cordless-combi-drill-and-impact-driver-twin-pack/210hf#product_additional_details_container
or one of either of these.
https://www.raygrahams.com/products/138855-dewalt-dcd796p2-18v-brushless-compact-hammer-drill-2nd-gen.aspx
or
https://www.raygrahams.com/products/151205-makita-dhp482rtwj-compact-18v-combi-drill-with-2-x-50ah-batteries.aspx

Would be using for regular DIY at home. Putting furniture together & shelving etc. Would be interested to know what people would recommend either between these or if you'd recommend something else.

All those are by reputable brands so you can't go wrong.

If you plan on working on decking/huge jobs where you will need long/large screws the impact driver helps with driving those kind of screws. HOWEVER, that set has the smallest batteries you can buy (maybe 1.5A batteries still exist!) If you're working on a job that should take all day those batteries will not be big enough and you may have to buy another battery. If you can't see that happening you should be ok with 2 X 2 Ah batteries If you can see yourself having a lot of jobs that require a lot of drilling or screws to be driven in one day pick one of the other two.

Finally Dewalt vs Makita - both are good, I got into the Dewalt system so bought a lot of tools without batteries or cases which is a big saving. Take a look at the various tools you think you probably will need that also run on those batteries and total up the cost of buying those tools for each brand. If one is significantly cheaper than the other buy that brand.

Tools I've bought in the Dewalt system that I use a lot for DIYing;
SDS drill
Oscillating saw
Angle grinder
Jigsaw

Something I reccommend to everyone of my friends who have asked me about buying tools - but good quality blades, drills and masonry bits and that improves your work rate a lot more than expensive tools. LIDL/ALDI battery drills with Dewalt/Makita/Milwakee bits will perform better than most DIYers need.

Calahonda52 · 08-01-2021 4:53pm

I got the impact and normal drill brushless with the 2 by 5A batteries pack first

This is an all day setup

I then bought the shark saw, magic tool
and the angle grinder: great as an anti clamping tool

cant get good discs for the ag, any suggestions?

Cordless Drill recommendation?

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