Cordless drills.

Can anyone suggest a good all-round cordless drill? Been looking at a few of the 14.4V models. Any brands that stand out with any forumites?

Aaron
 
Qu. How much work will it do?

Answer : Spend to suit that.

Tools are like mobiles. A new model with better features for less $$ is six months away.

FYI GMC has a two year warranty and they pay out no hassle in my experiences when I claimed $300 drop saw with one week to go that broke it lock. I send adn email with attachment of reciept and pic of briken lock and in one week a brand new saw arrived free of charge to me door worth $229 in Bunnings and with more features.

Peter
 
Makita, Bosch, Dewalt are the popular ones with tradies.

I bought a B&D Firestorm based on the Bunnings sales guy's recommendation. Plus it has a keyless chuck and you can quickly change between screwdriver and drill.
Nevertheless, its battery and charger combo aren't as good as the top three. Hint, keep an eye out for model runouts. And make sure whatever you buy, has standard replacement batteries available. You can get $300+ Makitas for under 180 at end of model runout.

Apart from that, if you don't do a lot of drilling, I also have a $40 job from autocheap. It works fine.....but lives up at the holiday house....so don't know how long the battery will last.
 
Some of the makita 14.4v(?) drills i've seen at bunnings are really well priced and are great all round drills and good quality. Can't remember, but i think they were abt $200-250.

I use DeWalt 18V hammer ($700) and Metabo 18V lithium battery drills (about $500) but they are great quality.:D

Avoid the nice yellow DeWalts, if only for the reason that they are a top target for theives.:D:mad:

If your intended use is once every six months, then just get a cheapie, 18v abt $50-$100.
 
Depends on the work for the drill.
I have a panasonic about 3 years old - batteries only lasts about 10 minutes as its shot so we get the work done quick. But in its heyday it was a good drill for pretty much anything except hard hammer drill stuff.
 
Qu. How much work will it do?

Answer : Spend to suit that.

Tools are like mobiles. A new model with better features for less $$ is six months away.

FYI GMC has a two year warranty and they pay out no hassle in my experiences when I claimed $300 drop saw with one week to go that broke it lock. I send adn email with attachment of reciept and pic of briken lock and in one week a brand new saw arrived free of charge to me door worth $229 in Bunnings and with more features.

Peter

Exactly the same with me.

Building a boat using epoxy most of my tools get severely abused, but I have found GMC stuff great for the dollar outlay

The battery drill puts in tens of thousands of temporary chipboard screws and works a treat and lasts for about 20 months, just in time for a free replacement before the warranty runs out.

No questions asked and no dramas that its covered in glue and resin.

The same cant be said about my expensive Festo , Bosch and Telesh sanders, but GMC don't make what I need.

Dave
 
I've been using the father in laws Ryobi. Its good for most general use. The only problem I know is when drilling the odd pilot hole and the bit keeps slipping in the chuck. The only way around that is to use hex end shaped bits. Anyone else know about a problem free cordless drill?
 
I've been using the father in laws Ryobi. Its good for most general use. The only problem I know is when drilling the odd pilot hole and the bit keeps slipping in the chuck. The only way around that is to use hex end shaped bits. Anyone else know about a problem free cordless drill?

Cordless drills or screw guns should only really be used for screwing and not drilling. Better to use an electric drill for drilling holes where possible as you have much more torque and speed. plus you don't drain your battery as quick. I wouldn't get a 14.4v cordless for similar reasons -- not enough torque. Get an 18v from bunnings or aldi and return when/if necessary for replacement or just buy another for less than $40.
 
The Panasonic drills are very good, we bought a couple at work. The first lasted 3 days and the second lasted a week and a half before they were stolen. We now have a Milwaukee that is kept under lock and key 24/7.

If your going to use it allot make sure you get a battery that is lithium ion.
 
buy
a drill for drilling,
an impact driver for driving screws bolts.
driving large screws eats drill batteries, impact driver is more efficient under loads, and does it without screwing your arm round
makita_BTD140.jpg
Driver
makita%20drill.jpg
Drill
The drill can be any p.o.s. as long as the impact driver works.
thats the burrrp sound the tradies make.
If you can only buy 1, buy an impact driver, and a set of 1/4 hex drill bits for the drilling
51EZ48MTWEL._SL500_AA280_.jpg
 
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Personally I would go the Dewalt 18v if the budget stretches that far. I have just finished building a heap of concrete panels for the horse stables and the drill got one hell of a work out without missing a beat.

I also have the 12v version but the 18v has so much more torque for those "Tim the tool man Taylor moments" when you really need it. If your really only going to hang a few pictures or similar the cheapies would do the job quite nicely.

Cheers
 
Whilst my earlier post is my opinon as a architect not tradie.

My tradies use to lose thier Dewalts but have moved to the Makita Pack for $1600 as shown by Almostbob.

Batteries are the big issue and having asked the boys they say Lithium Ion one are the best if you need to go all day.

Peter
 
Everyone has their favorites. I'm a Makita guy, you just cant kill the things and they go all day.

Go the cordless chuck and make sure its a metal chuck, not plastic. They don't last with even a bit of heavy use.

Makita, De Walt, Bosch, AEG etc are all good trades level (or close) but you'll pay for them.

If you're doing light work only occasionally go the 18v cheapies at Bunnings, Aldi etc.

BTW: Drilling with cordless is ok as long as its small bits and not heavy duty drilling. Nothing above say 6mm (1/4 inch) and just a few holes. Anything more, get your 240v drill out.
 
What are u using it for?

I reckon you need to work out your useage and then buy to suite. If your a tradie you need it to run 6 hours a day, 6 days a week.

I'm just a renovator so I might only use them to put up a fence or do 3 hours a day work.

I just buy the GMC and ozito stuff, the batteries might only last 1/2 hour but at $30ea just buy 2 items. I have got a nice Bosch cordless drill and that keeps it's charge 5 times as long as the GMC. Had a Ryobi but both batteries failed after 18months. Only had 12month warranty.

I don't do a lot of drilling, most of that is done with the corded drill as we have power almost everywhere.

As Peter said the warranty from the cheapies at Bunnings is great, I had an Ozito hammer drill die after 11months and took it back to Bunnings, they pulled a new box off the shelf and gave that to me.

Buy to suite your useage.

Cheers
Quoll
 
I dont think its worth buying the cheap cheap GMC stuff, but the higher end stuff seems good (for me)

I also ONLY ever get the ones with a 2 speed gearbox as on the slower speed there is much more torque and the batteries last a lot longer.

Also 2 batteries is a must.

Something like this

http://www.gmcompany.com.au/index.cfm?module=products&pid=107

for the Lithium Ion Battery lovers

http://www.gmcompany.com.au/index.cfm?module=products&pid=669

And the full battery drill listing

http://www.gmcompany.com.au/index.cfm?module=products&cid=22


Dave
 
We have a bosch 18v cordless hammer drill that cost about $400 a few years ago at bunnings, its had pretty damn heavy use and the batteries are starting to give out, they don't last anywhere near as long as they did when it was new. Just haven't got around to getting them replaced. The drill is great up on the roof drilling holes in our stone house, the weight of an extension lead when your ceilings are 4m high is a real drag so cordless rocks :)

Just bought a very light corded driver for $30 at bunnings to do the floors with at the new place. The cordless drills are very heavy, and we're a pair of dainty little people, and thought a little driver would be easier to use. No harm in expanding the power tool collection even more, is there?
 
My partner is the biggest dewalt kid. I think he has like 7 different drills. He also swears by the cordless system. He has quite a few batteries, has a dewalt radio which also charges the batteries.
 
Avoid the GMC ones. Even with two batteries mine don't hold a charge more than 60 minutes unplugged.

I would also say to avoid the GMC ones. They are much heavier then some of the brands mentioned here.

However the warranty is quite good on GMC, my one broke down just under 2 years and GMC sent through a brand new one to my door. They didnt even bother asking me to send through the broken one.

Regards,

Raja
 
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