I have gone thru several inexpensive cordless drill, I was wondering if Dewalt drills are worth money. Being a cheap person, I have looked around and still can't make a decision. Let Me know of a dependable cordless drill, that can take a beating.But, won't break the bank. I would appreciate a reply. Thank You.
welcome to the forum, Clymer. what part of the country are you in ?
we like to see new members start off with an introduction and
tell us a little bit about themselves when asking general questions.
photos of some of your past projects and what you will be using
the hand tools for will put us all on the same page as you.
WOOD Magazine periodically does cordless drill reviews. Gives the pros and cons of each drill and picks a Best product and the Best Value product. DeWalt makes good stuff. Not sure what type of beating you will be giving your drill. Different quality levels i.e. Industrial, Commercial, Homeowner.
I started out with B&D 6 volt drills from Kmart, then Makitas 9.6 volts, then got into the 18 volt Dewalt family of saws and impacts and drills for about 30 years. I still use them to this day even though they are Ni-Cad. I added the Milwaukee family of 18 v Ni-Cads and LI about 10 years ago and they are now my favorite. I have the circular saw, the Sawzall, drills drivers and impacts from 1/2" to 1/4" and a new LI router.
You need to "start a family" when thinking about cordless stuff because the batteries need to all interchange. Why? When the battery on the drill dies in the middle of your project, you can easily grab another fully changed one and keep on workin'. There are so many possibilities now like, chain saws, miter saws, trimmers, woodworking routers and sanders that it's mind blowing.:surprise2:
I will generalize and say pick a drill within your budget and stay with that brand. Get the best battery warranty out there.... Rigid is a lifetime if you register them first I believe. I also have a few Rigid drills and a circ saw, by the way. Good stuff. Makita makes some 10.8 volt compact drills and drivers which are really handy for installing cabinets and drawer slides because of their small size.
I always used 3 of the same drill when building cabinets. One to drill the pilot hole, one to countersink the head and the third to drive the screw. This speeds up bit changing to zero, because each drill is ready for it's application, without changing the bit. The impact drivers come with a quick change collets, but the drills do not. You can get Q/C drill bits however, that fit in the same 1/4" hex drive collets on the impacts.
I don't use a corded drill any longer unless the hole is in steel and more than 1/2" diameter. The chucks I have are really worn out and need replacing on the Dewalts. But I don't remember this until I try to drill a big hole and the bit keeps slipping no matter how tight I try to make it .... :sad2: I have probably drilled as many holes in metal as I have in wood over the years, so I'm hard on them. Sharp bits are as important as a good quality drill. A drill sharpening jig is a good investment, especially for metal work: https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/sho...ClI8O2CDAvpmhj97nrT81mqrtf0Kc4mxoC56cQAvD_BwE
I would say, brand wise, go with Milwaukee or DeWalt.
For cheapness, shop around the early to mid June. (Just before Father's Day) The manufacturer's thinking is the kids buy and they have hooked dear old dad on their brand.
I have two cordless drills and two old corded drills that I rarely use.
I won't recommend Craftsman any more, but my Craftsman cordless drill/driver continues to run well after more than 20 years of use. It got new life when Craftsman came out with lithium batteries to replace the original NiCd batteries. The only issue with it is that I want to replace the chuck, but the old one won't come off, despite numerous attempts to get it off. The original keyless chuck still works, but takes too much effort to tighten securely. I have a new one that I want to attach.
Lessons learned from Craftsman cordless drill/driver:
* If the drill/driver doesn't take lithium batteries, don't buy it. NiCd batteries don't hold a charge, and don't last long.
* Periodically remove the chuck and oil the threads, so that later, when you want to replace it, you can get it off.
I have a small Hitachi (now Metabo) drill/driver that lives inside the house for convenience. I like having a small drill/driver. It fits in areas where the larger drill/driver would be an issue, is much lighter and more convenient in the hand, and is great for small jobs around the house. The only issue with it is that the charger failed. I looked on eBay, and saw lots of the same drill/drivers for sale without chargers. I found an impact driver on eBay with the same charger for less than the replacement cost of the charger or replacing the drill/driver.
Lessons learned from Hitachi (Metabo) small drill/driver:
* The drill/driver may be covered by the lifetime warranty, but it doesn't matter if the charger is not.
The 110v corded drills are very old, dating back to the 1970s or earlier. I rarely use them, but keep them around for high-power jobs like drilling holes in concrete or cinder block, or for use with the largest drills where I need a big chuck. I don't remember the brands or models. One is a switchable regular/hammer drill.
I bought DeWalt, for decades. had a perfectly lovely 18v model, wanted new batteries. well, for their price of batteries, you can buy a new drill.
so I did.
a Ryobi. nothing wrong with it until you take your finger off the trigger. it "stops dead" - it stops so suddenly it loosens the chuck.
I got tired of climbing down the ladder to pick up the bit, so I bought a Milwaukee. it does not have that problem.
my son does 'road warrior' installations - in his circle Milwaukee is preferred by a wide margin. newbies are easily identified by their DeWalts....
I have a few of the older 18V DeWalt tools and bought a couple of their 18V Li-ion batteries. Also bought their 20V to 18V adapter. Most of my DeWalt tools are now the 20V variety (including one of my lawn mowers), so I'm heavily invested in their line up. Except for one hammer drill, all the other 18V tools are still running strong. Over the last 15 years, that hammer drill has been the only DeWalt tool I've discarded. Well, I did toss out all the 18V Ni-Cad batteries and charger.
Bottom line is there are several good brands out there and it starts to come down to how many different types of chargers and batteries do you want for other tools. I want one brand and battery across the board and have stuck with Ryobi for years because of that. I couldn't care less what my choice or color of power tool says to others about my prowess as a craftsman. Ryobi has a wide variety of tools, some quite innovative, so I've been good with Ryobi, but many other manufacturers do too. Point is.. Don't just look at the drill. Look at what else you might be wanting too. Not every manufacturer has a battery operated brad nailer or tire inflator if those might be in your future too.
You can't go wrong with either DW or Mil. Ryobi is not a top tier tool IMO. I had a Ryobi impact driver both batteries had issues with charging. That said, there the M18 impact is a far superior tool.
FWIW my AC friend has all Milwaukee M18 and my electrician friend has all DeWalt.
Personally I have both DW and Mil. I am very happy with the M18 kit (drill, impact, recip and circ saw).
The only DW tools I have are a biscuit joiner, jigsaw, 12v drills and a corded drill.
Rigid also makes good tools. I've owned Rigid drills, again, like the Ryobi, neither the batteries nor chargers held up.
Bosch also makes very good tools. I love my Bosch 12V impact and jigsaw.
My suggestion is to watch out for a combo drill/impact sales around Labor Day. I picked up the M18 combo kit through Home Depot on sale for $300, well over a $100 discount.
I currently have a large set of the Ryobi One+ tools, but use the upgraded 18v batteries as all of the original black/yellow batteries are junk. These tools used the same batteries as my older Ryobi yard tools so the investment in batteries is multi-sided.
I inherited a pair of Rigid drivers/hammer drills and I also invested in the rigid multitool - which shares the same accessories as the Ryobi multitool, but is a much tougher tool. I really like these tools - although the battery release is a PITA. If I did not already have all these Ryobi items, I would go fully for Rigid. I use the two rigid drivers and the multitool tools for almost everything. I am considering my next driver to the be the compact rigid impact driver which uses the same batteries.
The Ryobi tools are not much better than hobbyist quality, but they do one one advantage - they are noticeably lighter tools, which has it's advantages if you are working overhead. I used to have several Dewalt drill/drivers - starting with a 9v, then an 18v. The 9v batteries were garbage and the 18v had some mechanical issues. I'm sure that the new tools are great, but I don't want to invest in a third battery design.
Both my miter saws, portable table saw, and planer are Dewalt and I love those tools. The older miter saw has been running reliably for the last 16 years.
I have to admit, for drills I buy the HF cheap ones and consider them disposable and I beat the heck out of them. So far I have killed 2 and with the purchased replacement policy the next ones free. They work fine for me and the work that I do. For these drills 90% is basic home repair. I have the Baurer cordless and I'm very pleased. For finer work I use my drill press.
thats like asking who makes the best car.... you can expect many answers that have worked for folks. my opinion toward buying tools (i.e. spending money) is research what you are looking for, narrow it down to a few. look for them and decide from there.
brand loyalty seldom pays off across the board of tools.
Kobalt's power tools are fairly new to the market. What few reviews of them that are out there are positive.
They are brushless, which can't be said for everyone else.
I've had mine (hammer drill, driver, oscillating tool) for about a year and I'm really happy with them. But I've never used a big name drill so I can't really compare.
Dewalt and Mil are good, Ryobi is on the cheap sode, I went with Rigid it's a good drill and I have a few so I don't have change bits between drilling, countersinking and screwing. What sold me was the lifetime warranty on the batteries, and they charge fast. Just a note you have to buy it from a licensed dealer like HD, Amazon isn't. My first one was with Amazon and I couldn't register it, but after talking a while with Rigid customer service they gave me a break and did, lesson learned
Also the plus side of having all the same drills if a battery goes dead you just swap one out and recharge the other.
15 yrs in the business and I cannot emphasize enough to stay away from DeWalt drills. Their batteries are expensive and don't last. Go with Milwaukee or Bosch.
My experience is Dewalt today is not up to the quality they once were. Still good but not great. So far, my Milwaukee seems to be a better all around tool with better battery life.
Over the years I've had DeWalt, Ryobi, Makita, Bosch and Porter Cable and I agree with what seems to be the consensus... no one brand of drill stands out more than the next.
Additionally, (and to go along with the group again) focus more on the particular brand of drill and what other tools it shares between batteries and battery sizes.
I presently own a set of 20v Porter Cable cordless. I am very satisfied with the amount of tools (Drill, reciprocating saw, Circular saw, light and a couple of batteries for around $150. Very good bang for the buck.
Having said that, I'm not a contractor but rather Harry homeowner, so I don't tax my tools as much as a tradesman.
If I had a bigger bag of money, I would definitely be looking more closely at DeWalt or Milwaukee.
That being said, Ryobi seems to be leading the field in the variety of cordless tools and gadgets available for short money.
Finally, I wouldn't even look at a tool that isn't brushless. For a little more money, you get big dividends in power and battery life.
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