Harbor Freight 18V drill. - Page 2 - Woodworking Talk

eeprof · 04-24-2009, 02:16 PM

I have tried various brands of cordless drills over the past 25 years and have learned that they are poor substitutes for a good corded drill. If you are drilling metal or concrete then a cordless drill is an inferior tool. If you are drilling wood your holes will not be near as "clean" as those drilled with a good high speed corded drill. Driving screws is the forte of cordless drills if you do not have an industrial job. Tom.

wrc.six.eight · 04-29-2009, 01:54 AM

I love the battery operated drills, feel there is way more precise trigger control than any of the corded drills I've used. I've also gone through a number of the cordless. Makita ,b&d, dewalt, ryobi, craftsman and a few others. I now have a 19.2v nicd Porter Cable, that is a good drill that I got an excellent deal on, however the charger quit in the second month and a new improved one cost more than the whole drill kit with 2 batteries and charger did.
PC would not even respond to warranty inquiries, So I have boycotted them for that reason and that they no longer have their their tools made in the US.

As to the Harbor Freight tools, I kind of view them as something to hold me over till I can afford some quality. Or something I don't mind lending out, or just abusing in general.

I have an orange chicage electric 4 inch angle grinder that has taken an unbelieveable amount of abuse

rrbrown · 04-29-2009, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrc.six.eight

I love the battery operated drills, feel there is way more precise trigger control than any of the corded drills I've used. I've also gone through a number of the cordless. Makita ,b&d, dewalt, ryobi, craftsman and a few others. I now have a 19.2v nicd Porter Cable, that is a good drill that I got an excellent deal on, however the charger quit in the second month and a new improved one cost more than the whole drill kit with 2 batteries and charger did.
PC would not even respond to warranty inquiries, So I have boycotted them for that reason and that they no longer have their their tools made in the US.

As to the Harbor Freight tools, I kind of view them as something to hold me over till I can afford some quality. Or something I don't mind lending out, or just abusing in general.

I have an orange chicage electric 4 inch angle grinder that has taken an unbelieveable amount of abuse

You do know that PC and DW are both owned by B&D so you would have to boycott all 3 . You can also try going to the B&D / Dewalt / porta Cable service center and get service.

ScottyB · 04-29-2009, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrbrown

You do know that PC and DW are both owned by B&D so you would have to boycott all 3 . You can also try going to the B&D / Dewalt / porta Cable service center and get service.

I thought Porter Cable was linked to Delta, not Dewalt and Black and Decker. Am I in error?

scribbles · 04-29-2009, 10:11 PM

I have 4 19vcraftsman drills, 2 drills, one impact, one 90 degree, I love them, dirt cheap, comparatively, and I got the 3 year warrantee. I grind up an 18v xrp Dewalt in 6 months, and have only gone through 1 craftsman drill in the last year. Batteries don't last quite as long but I have 2 chargers and 4 batteries. And all 4 drills were cheaper than 1 Dewalt.

mmtools · 04-30-2009, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottyB

I thought Porter Cable was linked to Delta, not Dewalt and Black and Decker. Am I in error?

Actually, Black & Decker (Dewalt) bought both Delta and Porter Cable from Pentair (holding company) about four years ago.

wrc.six.eight · 04-30-2009, 04:16 PM

As to the non response by PC about the warranty on my charger from B&D PC or whomever, that was over 2 years ago now.

My expensive new charger and the original nicads have been performing admirably since. Even got left out in the rain once overnight while plugged in.

What is nice about the batteries is that the case unscrews apart easily and one could theoretically make an new battery pack from individual nicd or nimh cells for around half the price of a new battery.

scribbles · 04-30-2009, 04:27 PM

I think B&D owns almost all tool companies now. Do you know when B&D was founded 100 years ago or whatever; they were the highest quality available, and the industry leader in commercial quality tools and equipment.

ScottyB · 04-30-2009, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmtools

Actually, Black & Decker (Dewalt) bought both Delta and Porter Cable from Pentair (holding company) about four years ago.

That probably explains what the Delta rep told me about them getting rid of a lot of older parts that they used to stock.