Cordless drill shopping

[Lyle Spiegel]

I'm thinking of getting a cordless drill, just for occasional use around the house. Any suggestions for what to choose? I'm thinking 3/8" and dont want old school NiCad. batteries. Thx

[James Holford]

Milwaukee is the best Ive used in the last 8 years of my job. Dewalt...makita.... fall apart.

Plus it comes with Lipo batteries. And plenty of different tools that will use the same batteries.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[Dan Berry]

They all use lithium batteries.
Buy one in your price range and don't look back.
DeWalt, Makita, Ryobi,Milwaukee. Stick with name brands.

[Curare]

I just bought a Metabo drill/driver set. My main reasoning is that the charge technology is very high end, the chuck is great (half the chucks I've used spit drill bits because of their weird dog clutches) and the trigger is very linear. You also have the ability to reduce RPM and torque from a rotary encoder, so you don't have to be as ginger on the throttle.
 
I'd been using Hitachi before that and the trigger was killing me. It's a natural thing to pull the trigger when gripping the driver hard, and that usually resulted in full speed, and either an overdriven screw or worse, a stripped one.

[Dan Berry]

I just bought a Metabo drill/driver set. My main reasoning is that the charge technology is very high end, the chuck is great (half the chucks I've used spit drill bits because of their weird dog clutches) and the trigger is very linear. You also have the ability to reduce RPM and torque from a rotary encoder, so you don't have to be as ginger on the throttle.
 
I'd been using Hitachi before that and the trigger was killing me. It's a natural thing to pull the trigger when gripping the driver hard, and that usually resulted in full speed, and either an overdriven screw or worse, a stripped one.

To avoid butchering the screws use the drill on high speed but use a very low clutch setting. Assume that I do this a lot. I mean really a lot.

[Neil Rogers]

You will never regret buying Milwaukee tools.

[Phil Krankowski]

I love my Milwaukee m18 drill and impact.  They are slightly big for my wife so I may get a m12 drill.

Lithium batteries are great.  Forgiving of charge state,  follow 80%/20% storage guidelines for long term storage, or keep them charged if you use the drill even every other week. Many chargers are maintenance chargers, so read the instructions.

Brushless tools are more powerful, and more efficient but this is not really a big deal most of the time.  Brushless tools tend to be lighter which can be a big deal at times.

Brand is a price / tools / accessories  for a given battery.  Battery unity is important for some people, so having a set of batteries run a bunch of tools may be desireable.  Not everybody feels this way though. 

Phil 
 

[Robert Whitley]

I will heartily endorse the Milwaukee m18 drills and other tools.
Mine were continuously used professionally for over ten years and the original battery packs and chargers are still working fine.

You won’t go wrong with these if you want durable long lasting value.

[Randy Cuberly]

Contrary to what was said above, I have several DeWalt Drills of various sizes (5 to be exact) and have never had a problem with any of them.  Maybe I've just been lucky, but they have been used a lot, dropped, banged around, left sitting in the Arizona sun, and they always come through!  AT least two of them are more than 15 years old.  They are also "Purty" which I deem to be necessary!!!!

Now that I've bragged about them they'll probably all blow up at the next usage!!  (Naw...just kidding!)

Randy Cuberly

[Jim Mynes]

I heartily endorse Milwaukee cordless tools. I started with the M12 series of tools and found them to be lightweight and surprisingly powerful.
Then I discovered the M18 tools had more capability with a small weight penalty.
I use both lineups and have accumulated quite a collection of cordless tools, to include a table saw, chop saw, chainsaw, cordless router, string trimmer, and tire inflator. I’m amazed at the power of these tools, they perform just as well as their corded counterparts.
I get Milwaukee’s emails, and they are always coming out with new stuff. There’s an M18 compressor coming. I’m sure I’m going to investigate that as soon as they hit the shelves.

[Jim Mynes]

Now, having said all that, if I had it to do over again I would take a hard look at Rigid. The Milwaukee rep told me they are made by Milwaukee, or maybe it was Milwaukee was made by Rigid. Regardless, they’re close cousins.
Rigid offers a lifetime warranty if you register them. In my opinion, that’s a pretty good perk.

[peabody]

I would look at Ryobi....although I abhor the Depot, Ryobi claims to all use the same battery.

I scored an assortment of Power Cable (two batteries, recip saw, small circular saw, drill and impact driver, plus a light) at Lowes a couple years back for $200. Less 10% ex-military...good tools all.

Almost all but the very lowest rice are good....an issue is battery pricing and availability, but you're old Lyle.

Have fun

[Tom Luciano]

I have never had a issue with Milwaukee. They have always maintained excellence. I have had great luck with my
porter cable as well. Porter-Cable was always top shelf as well but have maybe gone a bit homeowner but still good. Go with what the guys out in the field use like Jaimie. If millwaukee is out of range look at the porter cable. I think I paid 100 bucks for one with 2 batteries.

Tom

[dave siegler]

I am an engineer at Milwaukee Tool so I am a little biased.  But we make good products. 

Consider the smaller M12.  I have both drills and the smaller M12 is better for me on hobby activities. I am not building decks anymore so the M12 gets used most of the time.     


Also I really like the Milwaukee rotary tool and it takes the same m12 battery. 

[William DeMauro]

This Dewalt 20 volt can serve many purposes   

[Tom Luciano]

This Dewalt 20 volt can serve many purposes   

looking at the picture. think the vertical CG might be off a bit ! lol

[BillP]

For occasional use around the house I think just about any brand will do. If you want a pro tool then it's a different story. A friend built his cottage with screw down metal roof with his ryobi a couple yrs ago and helped me put a 14x24 screw down metal roof on my home shop with it. We ran the pizz out of it and no problems.  I considered ryobi a bottom feeder but after seeing that I bought an 18v ryobi combo with 2 lith batts...mostly to install/remove house hurricane shutters annually. The lith batts stay charged 6 mos without staying on the charger and don't die from lack of use like my nicads did.

[Gerald Arana]

This Dewalt 20 volt can serve many purposes   

This just goes to show that anything will fly with enough power! 

Even an over weight U-control ship............

Jerry

[FLOYD CARTER]

I"m using an ancient Makita 12 volt drill, which works OK.  I recently saw my son using his drill, which is an "impact drill".  It has torque far beyond its small size!  That would be my next choice.

[Wayne Collier]

Metabo is Hitachi.

Never used Milwaukee but have no doubt about it being a good choice.

Makita was my favorite for years.

I have had really good service from my dewalt and ryobi drills. 

[RC Storick]

I am an engineer at Milwaukee Tool so I am a little biased.  But we make good products. 

How long have you worked in China?

[Norm Furutani]

X2. Been using the One+ Ryobi w/Li batts and it’s fine.

For occasional use around the house I think just about any brand will do. If you want a pro tool then it's a different story. A friend built his cottage with screw down metal roof with his ryobi a couple yrs ago and helped me put a 14x24 screw down metal roof on my home shop with it. We ran the pizz out of it and no problems.  I considered ryobi a bottom feeder but after seeing that I bought an 18v ryobi combo with 2 lith batts...mostly to install/remove house hurricane shutters annually. The lith batts stay charged 6 mos without staying on the charger and don't die from lack of use like my nicads did.

[Phil Spillman]

In spite of all the above advice I'd vote for Harbor Freight! I've had two with the second one now having given great service for 7 years and have had a second battery, now lithium, running for the past 4 years with minimum charging required! Priced at about $16.95!
 

[dave siegler]

How long have you worked in China?

You are misinformed.  All development engineering is in the US.  Brookfield Wisconsin right next to the Harley R&D center. 

[BillP]

In spite of all the above advice I'd vote for Harbor Freight! I've had two with the second one now having given great service for 7 years and have had a second battery, now lithium, running for the past 4 years with minimum charging required! Priced at about $16.95!
 

I had one of those $10-$15 HF drills a couple yrs and it worked pretty good until I cooked the batts. They didn't have a smart charger at the time and it was a hassle to keep the batts charged without over or under charging. They discontinued the old batt packs and I didn't feel like building a new pack and moved to ryobi. Otherwise I had no issues with the hf drill.

[Steve Helmick]

About 4 years ago, I bought a 1/2" Makita kit from CPO (Google them). Kit came with two batteries (about $100 each), charger, drill and box. NICE STUFF! I've used the drill TONS and have never been disappointed, building fences, repairing fences, and all sorts of stuff around the house. I bought the adapter to run my Sullivan starter off the Makita battery. Love that, too. I think the kit was under $300 and worth every dime. No regerts, ZERO!

I also have a Milwaukee corded drill gun and while it's awesome, I haven't used it since I got the Makita. My fishing buddy has a DeWalt, and it works, but I think my Makita is LOTS better. We use it to crank up/down the camper jacks on his camper twice a year. The batteries are way smaller, but I don't know what the AH is on them. Another buddy has a bunch of Craftsman cordless tools, and says the tools are ok but the batteries are junk. He figured out how to adapt another brand of battery, but I don't recall which. I could find out, and how he did it, if it helps anybody.    Steve

[BillP]

You are misinformed.  All development engineering is in the US.  Brookfield Wisconsin right next to the Harley R&D center.

Engineering aside, I think the idea is Milwaukee drills are made in China like all the other brands. They are all subject to "dysfunctional" mfg. What I find is TTI (china company) bought Milwaukee in 2004 and isn't the same USA Milwaukee we all grew up knowing. Milwaukee M12 and M18 drills (plus most, if not all of the cordless) are made in Dongguan, China. Is this accurate?

[dave siegler]

Engineering aside, I think the idea is Milwaukee drills are made in China like all the other brands. They are all subject to "dysfunctional" mfg. What I find is TTI (china company) bought Milwaukee in 2004 and isn't the same USA Milwaukee we all grew up knowing. Milwaukee M12 and M18 drills (plus most, if not all of the cordless) are made in Dongguan, China. Is this accurate?

Wherever its is assembled, it is a great quality product  Electronics and batteries are a global business.   

Quality, engineering, marketing and all support is US based.  US controls the spec and the quality.  It is a great company and growing adding 770 new jobs in the area.  Just yesterday this was posted. 

https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northwest/news/menomonee-falls/2020/07/09/milwaukee-tool-expand-menomonee-falls-770-jobs-expected/5397483002/

[Fredvon4]

If they are made to a specification and pass QC who really cares ....except of the few items, a country should have some control over, like national defense items, medical items, critical metals and goods...

Very few commodities like drill motors are assembled much less produced in America...I don't blame any for profit company that escaped bad American taxes, OSHA, and EPA business strangling policies enacted by non elected bureaucrats...seems like our current administration would prefer we pay Americans to produce these things and so far have eliminated many of the barriers for those companies to consider relocating back home...a good thing

back on topic...I have owned and wore out a bunch of battery tools....my current fav is 20Vdc Lion Porter Cable....but think highly of Milwaukee ---and frankly ----my $16.98 HF tool is 4 years old and a very good bang for the buck purchase

[EricV]

When I ran a shop back in another life, we picked our drills by the one that had the most durability and easiest to replace trigger. The guys would lean on the trigger much harder than needed to engage the drill because of the force used to turn the screws (we used square drive head screws, much superior to Philips for torque)

At the time, this was in the age of NICAD's, late 80's... the  Makita cordless was king in our shop for the buck. Simple to replace trigger, inexpensive, and the batteries held up pretty well to multiple recharges too.

The modern Lion stuff would blow their doors off. The only problem I have with Harbor Freight drills is the runout is sometimes awful. You might have to go through a few to find a chuck that is true... well, that was several years ago, I guess I haven't looked in a while. Hopefully you guys are getting better results from them these days.

EricV

[Fredvon4]

no EricV...no need to re look still sloppy....OK for decks and roofing but horrid for any precision cabinetry

[kevin king]

Here's my cordless.

[Fred Underwood]

Here's my cordless.

I heard that the motors weren't very good in those :-)

[Robert Whitley]

We call that sort of tool “bacon powered”.

[BillP]

Wherever its is assembled, it is a great quality product  Electronics and batteries are a global business.   

Quality, engineering, marketing and all support is US based.  US controls the spec and the quality.  It is a great company and growing adding 770 new jobs in the area.  Just yesterday this was posted. 

https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northwest/news/menomonee-falls/2020/07/09/milwaukee-tool-expand-menomonee-falls-770-jobs-expected/5397483002/

Your post made me think they were made in the USA and it matters to some people. I'm not putting milwaukee down at all, only pointing out they aren't made in the USA like yrs back.

[Dick Pacini]

I have had excellent luck with Ryobi power tools.  All of mine are 18 volt and take the same battery.

Cordless drill two speed, forward and reverse with an adjustable clutch.
Cordless hammer drill.
Cordless wrecking saw
Cordless 90° drill
8" cordless circular saw
10" miter saw and table
Cordless string trimmer
Cordless flashlight
3 chargers
5 batteries.

I have only replaced one tool, the string trimmer because the lower bearing failed.

You can save a bit of money when HD has a sale on a bag of power tools and batteries.  For home owners use, they can't be beat.

[Charles Foley]

Be careful of the bogus Dewalt website.  I was in the market for a cordless drill recently and on Yahoos main page their was an advertisement for Dewalt power tools at a big discount.  I ordered a cordless drill which turned out to be a scam. I did a bit of research and it appears their are people in CHINA that are copying the Dewalt website. The only difference is the prices. You will also find the SCAM mentioned on Dewalts website warning people.  Fortunately my CC company refunded my loss. The Chinese are determined to get your money. Be careful as to internet shopping. Obviously Yahoo does not vet their advertisers.

[Brett Buck]

Here's my cordless.

    You laugh, but, I use a hand drill ("eggbeater" style, not "brace and bit" style) for almost all hole-drillng I do. For small holes it's much more accurate, less likely to split the wood, and less likely to break small bits, particularly in metal. I have a DeWalt 20v Max system drill (and inflator, and impact wrench), but only rarely drill holes with it. I have one in the back of the van even as we speak, having hauled it 2400 miles for potential use at the NATs.

      I also routinely use spiral/Archimedes drills for very small holes, and I have drilled *many* 50-gauge or smaller holes with it and never broken a bit.

       Brett

[Brett Buck]

At the time, this was in the age of NICAD's, late 80's... the  Makita cordless was king in our shop for the buck. Simple to replace trigger, inexpensive, and the batteries held up pretty well to multiple recharges too.

The modern Lion stuff would blow their doors off.

   I had a Makita for years, and it worked very well, still does as far as I know. But you are absolutely right, any of the Li-Ion battery types are far, far, superior to any NiCad type in terms of power. Even if it blows up/wears out in 2 years (instead of 30...) it is still worth it because of the superior function.

    Brett

[Dennis Toth]

The biggest problem I've had with cordless drills is having them charged when I want to use them. I find I don't use a power drill very often so it sits in the  case then Oh I need it and low charge. Well just pull out the cord drill and get it done. Or use the old egg beater hand drill. You can't keep them plugged into the charger all the time as most cells need to be exercised. I also use the finger drills from Jim Lee, simple and they always work for small stuff. Seems the NiMH cells work pretty good but don't have the power of the Li packs and are heavier. DeWalt had been using A123 cells which are bullet proof and lighter than NiMH but heavier then Li's.

If you use it every day almost any one of the names mentioned will do fine, if its going to sit for long periods of time then the DeWalt A123 would hold up better.

Best,    DennisT

[frank mccune]

     Hello:

     I am considering purchasing batteries from the bay to replace the exhausted batteries for my older Mikita drill.  I like the drill and the charger still works.

      Good deal or bad deal?

     Tia

     Frank McCune

[Dennis Toth]

Frank,
If your going to replace the cells they usually do spot weld of the connecting strips but I have seen YouTube videos showing how to just use solder the tabs which looks like it works. I assume the solder will work as long as its not pushed to a point were it melts from high temperature of heavy loading which should not be a problem for simple modeling tasks. I would use Staybright solder as it can take a bit more temperature.

Best,   DennisT

[BillP]

I had "batteries plus" put a pack together after buying the batts from them. It took the tech about 2 minutes to solder.