Looking for advice re buying a cordless drill/screwdriver.

PhotoMan

Hi

I am looking for help in choosing a cordless drill/screw driver. It is not for any kind of professional use - purely occasional domestic use - building flat pack furniture, occasional shelf mounting, drilling holes in plastic garden pots, screwing bird spikes on fences, that kind of thing. I am currently using one that belonged to my now late father-in-law and I think it is probably about 30 years old or more. It says 6V on the side. It has a removable battery that I suspect is almost exhausted - the charge lasts for no time at all. I do not want to spend a lot of money on it. It does not need to be a prestigious brand.

Does anyone have any recommendations or advice for what to look for in the specifications of the bewildering array of models out there?

I am in the UK.

Thank you to anyone who has read this far. Any help/advice/comments gratefully received.

Thank you

oldernonethewiser

Would it be an option to just replace the battery on the drill you currently use?

PhotoMan

oldernonethewiser said:

Would it be an option to just replace the battery on the drill you currently use?

I should have mentioned - I couldn't find the drill or battery on line. I suspect that it is prehistoric. The drill says on it Challenge BD1373 and the battery simply sys 6V, battery pack, NiCD battery 6V.

Ectophile

oldernonethewiser said:

Would it be an option to just replace the battery on the drill you currently use?

Probably not.

A while back, I had a Black & Decker cordless drill.  I wrecked the batteries drilling through thick steel.  But by then the batteries were obsolete.  The only ones I could find on ebay were more than the cost of a complete new drill.

kimwp

When I was looking for a drill 8-ish years ago, my dad recommended Fred's shed - it's a chap that tests gardening and DIY equipment and I think I might have emailed him and got a personal recommendation.

GDB2222

PhotoMan said:

Hi

I am looking for help in choosing a cordless drill/screw driver. It is not for any kind of professional use - purely occasional domestic use - building flat pack furniture, occasional shelf mounting, drilling holes in plastic garden pots, screwing bird spikes on fences, that kind of thing. I am currently using one that belonged to my now late father-in-law and I think it is probably about 30 years old or more. It says 6V on the side. It has a removable battery that I suspect is almost exhausted - the charge lasts for no time at all. I do not want to spend a lot of money on it. It does not need to be a prestigious brand.

Does anyone have any recommendations or advice for what to look for in the specifications of the bewildering array of models out there?

I am in the UK.

Thank you to anyone who has read this far. Any help/advice/comments gratefully received.

Thank you

For shelf mounting into masonry, you'll need a reasonably chunky hammer drill. I suggest getting a Lidl 18v hammer drill. 

MisterNick

I got a Dewalt twin pack drill and impact driver with two batteries as a present. They do seem a bit dearer now, I am not a great DIYer but having the right tools to do the job gave me confidence to do bigger jobs than I would normally take on.
I went on to get a De Walt bare multi tool, circular saw and jigsaw, and offset the price of them against what I would have previously paid a tradesman.

i also have had a Bosch screwdriver for many years which is very handy for small jobs. Again i hadn't realised the price
https://www.screwfix.com/p/bosch-go-3-6v-1-x-1-5ah-li-ion-coolpack-cordless-screwdriver/256pg

tacpot12

MacAlister MSDD18-Li-2 has good reviews on the Screwfix website. £40 for a drill + charger + 2 batteries. 

It's got no hammer function, but that's a good thing as it means you won't try to drill brick and concrete with it. Get a cheap SDS drill (e.g the Titan TTB872SDS) when/if you need to drill brick and concrete.
 

Emmia

We've recently been given this Ryobi cordless screwdriver, which works really well.

https://uk.ryobitools.eu/power-tools/drilling-and-screwdriving/screwdrivers/rsdp4/rsdp4-120g-1/

EssexExile

I have an ancient DeWalt hammer drill that came with a charger and two batteries. The batteries last for ages ( only 1.5AH) and recharge in less than an hour. I recently bought a DeWalt multitool which uses the same batteries. 

knightstyle

I have a Parkside, Lidl's own brand battery drill with a Li-ion battery and have used it a lot over several years, just as good as much more expensive drills.