Help Choosing A Drill

Associate · 12 May 2013 at 2:06PM

Hi,

Hope you can give me some advice in 2 parts please.

I am thinking about buying a drill for doing a bit of general DIY around the house now and again, rather then having to wait on borrowing it from someone all the time, which does delay matters! I'd be a light user, however it would be good for it to be as versatile as possible and give as many options as possible (wood, masonary etc). Although, I know this may be limited due to my budget being around £60. I don't really want to spend much more and go for some of the more established brands, due to infrequent use, but still want one for convenience!
This will also be the first drill I've ever bought!

After doing a bit of research and as they have also got customer reviews, along with the right price range, the following 5 have caught my attention:

Draper 40764 18-Volt Cordless Rotary Drill and Case with 2 Batteries
£57.00

Challenge Xtreme Hammer Drill - 24V.
£49.99

Challenge Xtreme Hammer Drill - 18V.
£34.99

Black & Decker EPC18CA 18-Volt 1.2 Ah Cordless Drill £40.14

(Comes with 1 battery)

TERRATEK TPDC18134K 18V CORDLESS DRILL WITH 120 PIECE ACCESSORY KIT
£33.49

(Comes with 1 battery)

If it makes it easier, could please just list a few of these in order of your preference, in terms of quality (I know relative due to budge! Lol), User friendliness, sturdiness and durability, just to make things easy for me?

Secondly, would the following 2 drill bits be compatible with ALL of the above drills, and if so, which one would you recommend please:

Makita 98C263 Drilling/ Driving/ Accessory Kit (101 Pieces)

Hitachi Drill and Bit Set 112piece 705315

Thank you

olly300 · 12 May 2013 at 3:43PM

Personally I wouldn't buy any of the drills you listed. .

Save up until you can afford a Makita, Hitachi, DeWalt or whatever you see tradesmen using.

Otherwise when you decide to do a lot of DIY particularly if you are drilling into masonry you will end up buying another drill.

Also drill bits are just drill bits. As long as they are the right type they will fit into the appropriate drill regardless of who manufactured the drill bit.

If there is a Toolstation or Screwfix near you, go to them to buy the drill bits. Alternatively you can order from them online.

anotherbaldrick · 12 May 2013 at 3:55PM

I would stear clear of the cheapo ones from the supermarkets and invest in one from the new Bosch Li-Ion 18 V interchangeable range called power4all.
http://www.bosch-do-it.com/gb/en/diy/tools/18-volt-lithium-ion-cordless-system-199876.jsp

Jaynne · 12 May 2013 at 4:02PM

The first questions should be what are you drilling into and what do you want to do with your drill and how often?

A recent build house with all plasterboarded walls where you only want to put up a few pictures needs a completely different drill to an old cottage with thick stone walls or an old brick house.

For the best all round drill a corded hammer drill might be what you need but it isn't as convenient as a cordless if for instance you want it to help you assemble flatpack furniture. The drills you've listed will put together furniture ok and drill through wood and plasterboard but are going to be rubbish at anything more than that.

ValHaller · 12 May 2013 at 4:37PM

Jaynne wrote: »

For the best all round drill a corded hammer drill might be what you need but it isn't as convenient as a cordless if for instance you want it to help you assemble flatpack furniture. The drills you've listed will put together furniture ok and drill through wood and plasterboard but are going to be rubbish at anything more than that.

I agree. Horses for courses. I have always assembled flatpack with hand tools - which saves me the cost of an electric scewdriver. But my drill I bought in about 1983 - a good corded hammer drill, which has done no end of heavy DIY and still going strong. Equivalent or better quality today probably £240. I would probably have trashed 3 battery drills in the first 5 years.

Jonesya · 12 May 2013 at 5:14PM

Go for a corded/mains drill, unless you're going to spend top bucks the cordless drills won't match a mains drill. The other thing to consider is battery life, they don't last forever and some don't like being left discharged which can be a problem if you're only using it occasionally.

spannerzone · 12 May 2013 at 6:36PM

I agree, for occasional use you're better off with a corded drill as any cordless drill with NiCad or NiMh rechargeable batteries won't like standing out of use and fail after a few years.

Lithium Ion batteries should fair better if left out of use but you'll be spending nearer £100+ for a decent drill with Li-Ion batteries.

Ebe_Scrooge · 12 May 2013 at 9:55PM

I agree with all of the above comments. Firstly, what do you want to use it for ? If it's purely for drilling holes, then even a relatively cheap corded drill will be fine. But they're not good for driving in screws. For that you want a cordless. But forget NiCad batteries, you really do want Li-Ion batteries, which aren't cheap, but will pay for themselves in the long term. Over the years I've had countless NiCad powered drills, and they last for a couple of years then the battery stops holding a charge, and a new battery pack is more expensive than a new drill. Took the plunge a few years ago with a Li-On powered drill and haven't looked back since.

Go for the highest voltage you can afford ( if you do decide on a cordless ). Lower voltage drills will be fine for driving screws and light drilling, a higher voltage one will also work well on drilling, even into masonry. But as I say, a decent Li-On powered cordless is going to be more than your stated budget - so on the whole I'd say go for a mains-powered corded drill.

In terms of the drill bits, I'd avoid these packs with 1001 bits in them. They tend to be low quality, will be blunt after a few uses, and you'll end up with loads of bits that you never use. Much better to buy a small pack of good quality of the sizes you'll use - e.g. a number 6, 8 and 10, or whatever. Then if you find you need a particular size, go and buy a decent quality bit of that size, on the basis that it'll be needed again. I have numerous sets of rubbish bits that I've bought or been given over the years. But I found that I used a 6mm bit an awful lot. So I bought a single 6mm bit, splashed out a lot of cash on it - I think it was about 2 quid or so

But that's lasted me for about the last 10 years - and it gets used a lot. A slight jest there - £2 isn't a lot of money, but actually it is quite a lot compared to a set of 100 bits for £25. But well worth it.

Anyhow, I've waffled enough, hope this is of some help.

VoucherMan · 13 May 2013 at 7:18AM

I bought a cheap cordless (something like this) about 6 years ago.

It's still fine for most general DIY - drilling wood & as a screwdriver. As has been mentioned though it doesn't hold charge for long so I have to remember to charge it, either the night before or a couple of hours before I want to use it.

For the odd 'heavy duty' job I've got a cheap corded hammer drill

Couldn't see the point in paying extra for a li-ion battery as they still have a limited lifetime, from any information I've found.

I still try to get decent bits though.

anotherbaldrick · 13 May 2013 at 8:21AM

Look for good stuff on good discounts like this :-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Cordless-Drill-Driver-Battery/dp/B000RW025E/ref=sr_1_5?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1368430840&sr=1-5&keywords=psr+18+li+2

(see post No 3) I have been using an earlier version of this drill now for 12 years or more and it has still got more go than Mo Farrah

Help Choosing A Drill

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