Drill driver recommendations

bianchimoon

Any body help have recommendations for a cordless drill/driver, or drill and driver sets. Been looking at the Bosch, DeWalt and Makita ranges seeem very similar in quality and performance? Anything in particular to look out for? Ta

Matthewfalle

i've had a Bosch for 15 years - used a couple of times a week for everything from drilling holes in walls to unscrewing stuff to attacking things with wire brush end. battered to bits but still works perfect. lacks oooomph though but that will be down to the model

the army uses makita as standard issue. never seen anyone have a problem with them (never used them as its not my job) and if they are squaddie proof .......

oxoman

For a use and forget then dewalt would be my choice now days. Used Bosch, Makita,Toshiba amongst others. Currently use dewalt at work in a heavy engineering environment.

drlodge

I have almost the entire range in Makita, including their top of the line 18V drill/driver but a much cheaper brushed impact driver as the latter is used a lot less. Your first purchase is the most important, as that dictates which brand's batteries and charger you're stuck with, later tools can be 'body only' purchases.

My 18v drill can drill almost anything, except for really hard brick when I have to get my SDS+ drill out, I bought it with 2 x 5Ah batteries and a charger and it cost £300. There are good value "combo" options available, got my drill from https://www.alanwadkinstoolstore.co.uk/ but shop around once you've decided on what you want.

This is my drill I think https://www.alanwadkinstoolstore.co.uk/ ... pac-p38757

But combo options include https://www.alanwadkinstoolstore.co.uk/ ... ies-p47027

And there are "pack" options like https://www.alanwadkinstoolstore.co.uk/ ... ies-p39098

bianchimoon

Thanks all, I love the thought of the Makita pack!, seems weird all of that for £630, but your drill link is over £300?
So a Brushless 18v with two batteries. Looks like the akita will give more future options to add to?

Alejandrosdog

bianchimoon wrote:

Thanks all, I love the thought of the Makita pack!, seems weird all of that for £630, but your drill link is over £300?
So a Brushless 18v with two batteries. Looks like the akita will give more future options to add to?

the makita packs are attractive, if youre not going to really hammer your tools theyre ok but dont usually include the brushless models.

But its a bit like buying a bike tool kit, good value if you use it all otherwise just buy the stuff you need. The other thing about makita is the batteries seem to have been the same shape for ages and are readily available.

drlodge

That Makita drill was £300 when I bought it....5 years ago. My thought process was that it made more sense to buy a high end drill with good batteries, as I'd use that the most and there's a saving to be had when buying the first tool with batteries and charger...so go big. I then bought lesser quality 'body only' tools in the line as/when needed e.g. impact driver, torch, multi tool, circular saw, reciprocating saw etc.

The packs are good if it contains the tools you want and you want them all at once, otherwise might be best to buy as/when needed and at the quality level you think is most appropriate.

bianchimoon

Appreciate the replies, I think you're right with the as and when needed drlodge, as much as it probably makes better financial sense, not sure I'll use them all in the short term - cheers

eric_draven

drlodge wrote:

That Makita drill was £300 when I bought it....5 years ago. My thought process was that it made more sense to buy a high end drill with good batteries, as I'd use that the most and there's a saving to be had when buying the first tool with batteries and charger...so go big. I then bought lesser quality 'body only' tools in the line as/when needed e.g. impact driver, torch, multi tool, circular saw, reciprocating saw etc.

I bought a DeWalt drill and driver set does everything I want it to,but when I was looking at getting a circular saw I found my batteries were not strong enough to drive one, as mine being 2amh and needing at least 4amh ones,it was never really a consideration when I bought the drill set,but after it's a bit of ah bigger, a lot of sense in what drlodge says on this

drlodge

Yes, I also have a 3Ah battery, it doesn't last long at all in some tools just gets drained in a few minutes.

oxoman

Have a look at screwfix directs offers as they often do sets discounted. Beware sets when the tools are supplied bare as this means without batterys. New brushless tools are out with 54v battery packs that perform as well as mains powered tools. The Dewalt tools I mentioned above are pretty much used daily 24/7. I personally wouldn't be going back to Makita as the last few I've had have been sadly underpowered. If for DIY occasional use then pretty much anything would do. Lithium batteries are the way to go.

robert88

I do prefer Makita or Bosch. Have had a De Walt router 2kw and its depth gauge never worked properly and it is a crude piece of kit beside Makita - bought for a router table only but with a dodgy depth stop it's not much use for that. I also have a De Walt heavy duty jigsaw that is ok but needs fixing now and then and combination table saw that is quite frankly dangerous due to design and quality considerations. I can't understand where De Walt gets its reputation from. My Bosch mitre saw is a fantastic piece of kit if rather heavy for site use.

I will buy cheap stuff to use on one-off operations and find Erbauer ok for that. Have tried Ryobi but it's cheap junk and won't last long.

For cordless I stick with Makita and buy bare tools now I have a few batteries. Pointless having too many batteries if you are organised.

giantorangedale

Currently on my fourth Makita drill supplied through work,1st gear has stopped working on everyone of them along with the chuck not keeping hold of the drill bit. They've spent more money this time so hopefully it makes a difference.

laurentian

Always think purchase of these things is very much down to how often they will be used. I bought a circular saw a few years ago, it was cheap, chinese and about £40. I needed it for a specific job and knew I would use it very infrequently thereafter. It still as good as new but it's only been used a hanful of times - if I were a jobbing chippy, I'm sure it would have given up after a couple of months.

A mate of mine has a few bits of Ryobi kit that I've borrowed a few times and it seems great (also interesting that I see a few tradesmen on sites I vivit now using this stuff which suggests to me that it's decent quality) - batteries are also universal which is worth considering.

If buying for regular use, I'd recommend Hilti for anything like this - great kit and the best customer service I've ever had.

keef66

I plumped for a Bosch professional (blue ones) twin pack of combi drill + impact driver. mainly because it was on offer at Screwfix at the time I was looking. Came with 2 batteries, charger and a robust holdall which has proved very handy for keeping them together with all the drill bits, sockets etc.

Wish I'd bought them sooner. The Impact driver has been a revelation. Nice to have quality tools if you use them a lot.

The mains powered SDS drill on the other hand gets only infrequent use, so I went for the cheapest Chinese tat that Screwfix had at the time. It's annoying to use but it works and I saved myself £150.

bianchimoon

At the end taking all into account, amount of likely use, my skill level, cost etc. I went for the Bosch PB 1800 combo drill with 2 batteries £79, used at the weekend for a project round the garden/fencing etc. A bit disappointed in the torque st to the highest and it wouldn't drive screw through fence to post without a pilot hole. But you get what you pay for and it serves it's purpose.

robert88

bianchimoon wrote:

At the end taking all into account, amount of likely use, my skill level, cost etc. I went for the Bosch PB 1800 combo drill with 2 batteries £79, used at the weekend for a project round the garden/fencing etc. A bit disappointed in the torque st to the highest and it wouldn't drive screw through fence to post without a pilot hole. But you get what you pay for and it serves it's purpose.

Surprised. My 18v has that much torque it'd break my wrist if I was careless.

Have recently been using a B&Q SDS cheapo that I bought for a few quid to do a single job. The gears don't engage every time but it still works and I did get what I paid for - the bits I got with it were the best part of the deal.

bianchimoon

Robert88 wrote:

bianchimoon wrote:

At the end taking all into account, amount of likely use, my skill level, cost etc. I went for the Bosch PB 1800 combo drill with 2 batteries £79, used at the weekend for a project round the garden/fencing etc. A bit disappointed in the torque st to the highest and it wouldn't drive screw through fence to post without a pilot hole. But you get what you pay for and it serves it's purpose.

Surprised. My 18v has that much torque it'd break my wrist if I was careless.

Have recently been using a B&Q SDS cheapo that I bought for a few quid to do a single job. The gears don't engage every time but it still works and I did get what I paid for - the bits I got with it were the best part of the deal.

Torque set to number 20, so not sure if I was doing something wrong, switched it to drill mode then it drove it in further until it started slipping out of screw. I'm not the greatest DIYer :oops:

ryan_w-2

Can't go wrong for £75:

https://www.diy.com/departments/dewalt- ... 799_BQ.prd

keef66

My Bosch 18v combi is similarly vicious on the wrist if I turn the torque up to 20 and don't pay attention to what I'm doing.

But if you want to drive screws into wood without drilling a pilot hole you really need an impact driver. Sounds brutal but it's a lot easier on you than the combi drill.