If you had $250 for a drill, what would you buy?

Highlander

Not sure what the real question is. You could be asking one of two things.

1) The hammer function on a hammer drill is of no use for putting in screws. The hammer action is along the bit (into the material being drilled), and might even make it more difficult to screw with the drill as it will add additional friction (you probably would not notice it). The primary function of the hammer action is to 'pulverize' morter/concrete/brick to allow the flutes of the drill bit to remove the material when drilling holes into these materials.

2) On an impact driver, the impact action is rotational. When the resistance is low, the impact driver works like a drill and does not provide the impact action. Once resistance above the basic motor capability is met, the impacts start (like a little hammer, 3,000 times a minute). This is in the direction of rotation and so helps to seat a screw. The result of this is: a) The tool does not twist in your hand when resistance is met, b) Provided you keep some force pushing on the screw, there is much less chance of the drill bit camming out of the screw head, and c) You get much higher effective torque to seat a bolt/screw, for example, whereas 18 volt drills advertize torques in the range of 400 in-lbs, 18 volt impact drivers advertize torques in the range of 1400 in-lbs.

I love my impact drivers, but find there are a couple of disadvantages: a) It has too much muscle for small cabinet screws, b) I've not had this problem, but you can twist the head off screws if not careful, and c) they are noisy.

Grampa Bud

A regular drill/driver depends on speed to develope the torque needed to drive the screw home. An impact driver sacrifices speed for torque and it has a kind of ratchet built into the transmission that turns the screw or bolt in short sharp pulses that allow it to drive all sorts of fasteners without tearing up the heads. When you are doing any job, especially for pay, you don't want to destroy your work faster than you can complete it.

Highlander

The higher torques on a drill/driver are on the lower speed setting. the spped of my impact is 2x that of my drill. They are just different animals.

stevejones147

Well you have plenty of choices available to you - and good ones too!!!

I would not go the dewalt route, I do not rate them too highly myself.

why not go with this drill:- Panasonic EY6432GQKW from Panasonic of course, this cordless drill is 15.3volts - which is more than enough power, and it is a light - this is very important if you are going to hold it for long periods of time in akward positions.

It also has batteries which last longer than any other cordless drill batteries out there, it says so on their website anyway.

Hope you find this useful, if you find a better model then feel free to tell me what it is.

cheers
Steve

Mr Chips

Is it just me, or do the rest of you also feel like you are getting spammed when a new member joins and his very first post is a response to an old thread, where they plug a product and/or web store....

Maybe it should be like PM, where a new member can't list a brand name or link until they have made at least 20 posts

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Highlander

I thought the same thing; wasn't worth the effort replying.

Scuba_Dave

I generally edit out the links if a new user
If they keep it up (only links & spamming) they get banned for spamming

Grampa Bud

Guys, don't set yourself too high up on that pedestal. Everyone has their own opinions. Nothing wrong with that. Personally I was browbeat by Scuba Dave a couple of times and now I am reluctant to venture back to a website where other opinions count seemingly far more than mine. All I am saying is let the man speak. He may surprise you with a tidbit you hadn't thought of. As for Mr. Jones liking a 15.3 volt power source I would like to suggest a 12 VDC or some variation of it that can be had from a work truck or other vehicle's cigar lighter circuit. I base this on 20+ years of working out of a truck without any 120VAC source to run a standard charger.

Mr Chips

I wouldn't waste my time here if I didn't value the opinions expressed. all I'm saying is that some of these opinions often feel forced, especially when it's a brand new user, responding to an old thread, inserting a link or two. This thread was only a few months old, the ones that are three or four years old are the most obvious...

Most of the cordless tools do have a 12v charger option, regardless of tool voltage. In other words, you can charge an 18v battery with a charger that plugs into your 12v cigerette lighter. I have a one for my Makita's. It will charge my 12v, 14.4v, or 18v Makita pod batteries, and I know Dewalt and most of the others have them too

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Scuba_Dave

Mr Jones is in the UK
So different tools/voltages over there I would think

Highlander

Both car and tool batteries are the same. The big difference is the AC voltage for corded tools.

I have a Ryobi car charger for their 18 volt batteries.

Bowhunterman

I agree! This is the best drill / impact that I have ever owned....hands down.

rahfiki

I purchased a Makita lithium ion set 18 volt 3 summers ago. If you try it out, I am pretty confident you would not go back to most drills.

It is a hammer-drill which takes care of almost anthing an average homeowner would need it for, as well as an impact driver. I guarantee if you get the impact driver you well NEVER use a drill again for screws

I am a contractor and I use my Makitas every day. I highly reccomend them. The lithium is sweet. Very light, charges in 23 minutes and holds a charge for a lonnnnnnng time. The Makitas are very comfortable to use as well, which is very important if you use them all day.

You can get a Makita set like I mentioned for $200-300. Make sure it is Lithium batteries. They have two kinds, a 1.5 mh size and a 3.0, I have the 3.0 so I cannot say much about the smaller size other than I think it is more geared to homeowners with smaller capacity and perhaps lighter ( and cheaper to buy).

My opinion is if you are going to use it a fair bit...scrape up the xtra cash and get a good combo of drill/impact. You will be more than pleased.

stuart45

Quite right Dave, our voltage is 240. However safety regs on site require the use of 110 V equipment using a transformer as too many workers had a shocking experience with 240v ( it does wake you up). Therefore many of our drills work off 110v. De Walt tools are not as highly rated by most tradesmen any more, Makita seem to be more popular.