Basic Drill - worth going for a known brand?

iharding

I need to buy a basic hammer drill for simple DIY tasks such as putting up shelves (brick walls, not concrete), building wooden garden planters and similar. Corded, lightweight, and cheap are the main requirements but I don't want it to be so cheap the chuck won't stay tight or it dies on the third time of use!

In the sub-£30 price bracket is there any point going for a reputable brand such as Black and Decker (for example http://www.tesco.com/direct/black-decker-500w-corded-drill-kr504/207-5425.prd?pageLevel=&skuId=207-5425), or will this be no better quality than the £10 Tesco value drill of similar spec? Will I have to spend more money if I want a drill that isn't rubbish?

Thanks,
Ian

Jaynne

I have a £10 B&Q drill along with a more expensive cordless and SDS corded drill.

The £10 one is perfectly fine for doing light work into bricks and it would just about manage to make a planter (though probably a bit of a pain compared to the cordless with adjustable torque for driving screws).

The big annoyance with the £10 job is that it has a keyed chuck which just slows things down sometimes, your £30 B&D is keyed chuck as well. If I were getting something better than the £10 but still cheap it would probably be something like this
http://www.screwfix.com/p/direct-power-dpb084drl-750w-percussion-drill-230v/97572

Cheaper but has a keyless chuck and a hand grip too.

cyclonebri1

Go for a re manufactured Dewalt or similar from ebay. You will not need to spend a lot and will never have to buy again if that's your usage.;);)

alinwales

I have a Focus Basics hammer drill. Cost less than a tenner I believe. Had it for 5 years, and used it for lots of tasks (shelves, chain drilling for many socket holes, more shelves), and it's still going strong! imo, it's better to spend money on decent drill bits. The cheap ones break quite quickly.

iharding

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to have a browse around the remanufactured drills on ebay this evening - not something I'd thought of. Generally, I save up and buy good quality for things like washing machine, vacuum cleaner that get regular use, but harder to justify for something that will spend most of it's time in a tool box! If no joy on ebay, sounds like one of the cheap ones will be good enough even if it doesn't last forever.

Agree totally about the drill bits. Bought a top quality set for my cordless drill-driver to replace the cheap junk ones that came with it. Complete transformation :-)