Cordless drill? Mid range... ?

mattt44

As a member of a group of Telecom engineers, we had a sort of vote about which 24v drill is best, as you say, some went for Dewalt, some for Makita, alot for Bosch (which I think was due to ex BT engineers using what they are used to) and some for the other makes, I really think it makes no difference, apart from the Makita has a ratchet stop setting. But why if you needed a chisel stop would you buy a cordless? My opinion only you understand.

"At the end of the day a cordless sds drill for anybody other than a professional is not nessecary ( only my humble opinon )"

Totally, thats what I was talking about, a corded drilling machine doing the same job is much preferable.

"I go for the best i can afford and think how much i use it for example the sds is the £60 one in argos Challenge extreme i use it about 2 times a week for about 10 holes"

Now this does deserve some disscussion, the challange drill from argos is exactly the same drill sold by other retail outlets, in fact many online retailers sell exactly the same drilling machine under other names.
I would say this about this machine, I have had 2 of them, in fact 3, if you count the one I have taken back to Argos for a replacement.
The SDS movement on it is great, if you want to drill through masonry walls this is a great bit of kit, however there is a big downside.
1. It is a VERY heavy drilling machine, you do not want to use for for long, unless you have arms of steel.
2. It has a tendency on ratchet stop, to come off of the stop and suddenly start spinning the chisel. The newer version that I replaced the one I took back to Argos, had refined features to stop this happening, but it still happened.
You get a drill set with the Argos version, please do not think that what I said earlier about cheap drills being OK, refers to this set, it is complete rubbish, being virtually mild steel being used as drill bits, will not last at all.

In case you wondered, I needed a large wall and a big concrete hole breaking up, so thats why I got this drilling machine, I won't say I regretted buying it, because it was so cheap,, but, hell, yes I did, it was VERY uncomfortable, I really didn't like this machine, even though it was so cheap, after it had almost ripped my arms off for the 20th time, I regretted this purchase more than anything.
Even though my DeWalt 240v drilling machine was less effective at chiseling, I still dumped the Challenge in favour of it.

calmgirl

You pays your money you take your choice. This was all i could afford yes the bits came with them are pretty naf i now use bosch bits. And yes it is VERY heavy I have used it to break up concreate in the same affor-mentioned school ( i am a handy man)
and prob would have done the same job using the drill as a sledge hammer but it done the job and at the end of the day I would prob dump this £60 drill in favour of a £300 pund dewallt one as well.

mattt44

It was the £80 corded DeWalt I was talking about.

uncle_buck_3

If you just want the drill for DIY use I personally wouldn’t spend a lot of cash on one as it will only be used occasionally!
Keep an eye out at Aldi as they occasionally have power tools & the like on special offer ….a while back they had an 18volt drill driver with 2 batteries & a 1 hour fast charger on sale for £20
The drill had a nice solid feel about it & was quite small & compact it also had 2 speeds / gears which are normally only found on better quality tools.

It’s a while since it was on offer so I would imagine it won’t be long before it’s repeated.

mattt44

I'm not so sure about these cheap cordless drills.
Looking at it from a moneysaving point of view, the £80 DeWalt, or an equivalent one, will last 4 times as long as the cheap cordless, does a much better job, but can be more difficult to use up a ladder etc.
I can see a use for the cheap cordless if you only want to drill the odd hole in softer materials, but I think you would regret buying one after a while. Has anyone had a one for a year or two?

gardnt1

Black and decker is part of the dewalt group and IMo even though dewalt have a great reputation, you pay for the name! For diy acnt fault the 18v balck and decker firestorm, 2 batteries great drill. had mine for couple of years now and its had some work!

calmgirl

gardnt1 wrote:

Black and decker is part of the dewalt group and IMo even though dewalt have a great reputation, you pay for the name! For diy acnt fault the 18v balck and decker firestorm, 2 batteries great drill. had mine for couple of years now and its had some work!

Same one i was talking about does a lot of things well and somethings not so well. I have even used it to mix floor tile adhesive. It is a good cheapish all-rounder and if you are looking for one under £100 you cant go wrong it is still on sale in B&Q for £79-£99 today. even came with a free metal/stud detecetor. Yes sds will do much better in masonary but for most things sds is like using a sledge hammer to open an egg. If the original poster of this thread takes everybodys advice he can open his own drill store. I have three drills. (well the 14v black and decker isnt much more than a screw driver). And they all do their intended job well ( i have even used the sds as a screw driver once). At the end of the we must all agree that Bosch, Dewallt,Black and decker etc are all prety much the same. Yes some have better motors or better clutches. or batteries. He must decide which one suits him best. The one thing I will say is if you go for a brand any brand try to stick with that brand across your tool range as it grows.

If you conside that you can pick a cordless up for a tenner now. £150 + seems very expensive.

And as a previous poster has coomented The best drill on the plannet is usless with cheap bits £10 for 5 million drill bits aint going to get you good quality. Im noy going to mention any brands as I will prob be shot down by other posters but a Tenner for a 5 bit set is going to get you a good enough set.

mattt44

"Yes sds will do much better in masonary but for most things sds is like using a sledge hammer to open an egg"

Well true, but if you want to get a drill that will do masonry, SDS is the ONLY way forward, anything else and I don't believe you, for goodness sake, we should not be telling folks that the hammer action on the cheaper drills will drill through walls over (OK we'll live with 8mm) 8mm and trust me I've seen normal drills trying to get through walls at 6mm and skewing off to one side, because of harder bricks.

"At the end of the we must all agree that Bosch, Dewallt,Black and decker etc are all prety much the same"

To be honest, I have to disagree with you there, walk onto any building site and see what the guys are using, will there be a B&D, I don't think so, why? Because, even though the names are from the same stable, something is different. If you think a builder wants to save money on his tools, you are right, so why does he always buy good named tools. Because he knows they will last longer and perform better than the cheaper ones.


"I have three drills. (well the 14v black and decker isnt much more than a screw driver)."

Enough said really, if I got a DW (or any other make) 14v drilling machine, I wouldn't expect much more from it really.

"And as a previous poster has coomented The best drill on the plannet is usless with cheap bits £10 for 5 million drill bits aint going to get you good quality. Im noy going to mention any brands as I will prob be shot down by other posters but a Tenner for a 5 bit set is going to get you a good enough set."

For goodness sake, what I actually said is, it doesn't matter how good your drill bits are, it depends on how good your drilling machine is, BUT, I did say that the drill bits that are packed in with the argos drilling machine are a load of rubbish and not to take these into consideration.
Read the previous posts, for goodness sake......

mattt44

"The one thing I will say is if you go for a brand any brand try to stick with that brand
across your tool range as it grows."

And why is that?
Unless you are talking about batteries, which it doesn't sound like, that is crazy, every different tool has its best make, I would not sit here and say one make was best for all uses, we can sit here all day and discuss which tool was best for which task, its a personal decision, which should be based on input from friends and other places.
I've seen guys on site with all DeWalt stuff, the radio, the drills and all the other kit, when I asked them why they got it, they answered, because its DeWalt, that should NOT be the case, it should be because it is best at what it does.

"If the original poster of this thread takes everybodys advice he can open his own drill store. "

All the better, the more he knows, the more he should think about it.