Drill and Bits - Recommendations

neil_g

neil_g

neil_g

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Probably a bit of a can of worms topic..

Currently I have a fairly generic Ryobi cordless, pretty sure its an older 18V 1.3A model and a Makita bit set. It's all a bit old and generally abused. I had a 24" masonry bit on it the other day punching through a concrete wall, half the bits are snapped etc etc.

Looking for recommendations for a new cordless drill, to use at home and for work. Doesn't need to be too OTT on budget, normally I'm just punching holes for cabling, putting up mounting brackets etc. But durable and decent lasting battery would be good.
 
I'm a Makita fan. Brushless drill and impact driver set has been the most amazing kit I've owned. Can highly recommend but it's obv not the most budget of brands
 
I bought into the Erbauer EXT series and have 18v brushless drill/driver, 18v brushless Impact Wrench and 18v cordless Vacuum with a pair of 5Ah batteries and fast charger. The batteries and charger came with the drill/driver in a nice case but the prices now are crazy. I paid £130 for my kit but the same one is now £199.99. You may as well pay the extra and get the best. Toolstation has a great deal on a DeWalt brushless drill/driver + impact driver with 3x 5Ah batteries and charger for £279.98. Screwfix has a similar set but with a pair of 4Ah batteries for £199.99.
 
I love my Makita. I picked up the Makita DHP481RMJ and it can handle anything. Came with x2 4.0ah batteries, charger, carry case and the extension handle. It had the most torque I've seen in a brushless cordless combi. Up to 125nm. Many a time have I nearly snapped my wrist. Lol. I think at the time it cost me about £280.
 
Make sure to have a good think about other tools before hand that you might update/need with regards to battery sharing. They're always on sale it seems, so double check prices.
 
Makita owner here too, seems to be a lot of us, my kit ( there's a lot of it) all Makita all good. Mind you, these days I bet all the major brands stuff is decent. Even in Makita you can pick up a drill, driver etc pretty decent prices.
 
It really depends on what you’re after, as in what material you’re going to be going through and size.

Wood/plasterboard - Speed bits - Bosch expert are brilliant, they’ve got a little tip on them that pulls in. They’re pretty good if there’s nails too.

They do multi purpose drills as well, very good they struggle - well don’t go through stainless steel - if you need to go through stainless use These Bosch bad boys. They’re brilliant. Just go nice and slow.

Concrete, I use hilti bits - you’ll not get them unless you have an account with them but they’re a beast. They’ve got this 4 way tip style. Think it’s designed so it bounces away from rebar. Theres a couple of similar things on screwfix from Dewalt I’m guessing they’d be good as well, based on the price! You’re really looking for a hammer gun for concrete just makes it so much easier.

Tiles - don’t mess about just get a marcrist diamond bit they’re super expensive but they actually work. Slow and plenty cold water. If you have a grinder you can use their grinder bits.

I use hilti tools but to be honest, I wouldn’t get them going forward. I’d go for Makita. Ticks all the boxes for me Japanese, reasonably priced, huge range of tools and accessories. As well as a vast range of battery. They also do a microwave. However, I don’t think there is much between them, Milwaukee (ryobi) and dewalt. You can’t go wrong with either of the three.
 
Makita 18V here too but I skim out on using non branded batteries and charger, not all non branded are equal but savings is defo there.

Drill bits I usually get a set then replace the worn out ones and replace

If there is one tool and only one for me around the house then it is the DHP481Z, I can get away with so much masonry stuff with this but I do have the DHR171Z for that. At my studio I use DHP482Z which is lighter and great as simple drill and screw gun, garden timber built I use the DTD156Z impact with the tiniest battery to save weight.

Then there are the garden tools :)

Some of my tools are not the top range or brush less like the DTM50Z multi tool, it is 2 generation old but a really good price, no easy tool change and tons of vibrations. It was "game changer" many years ago but I can't afford all latest tools :)

Come join the blue/white side
 
Bosch blue here.

Their 18v stuff is, in my opinion probably the best bang for buck.

The 18v sds hammer drill eats through brick and concrete.

They do a lovely little 12v battery drill with all kinds of mad attachments too.

I’m a bit snobby and normally use armeg bits - but if it’s only DIY - just pick up a big multi set of any brand.

You can pay silly money for all the kit - just look for deals and sales and you can’t really go wrong.

I think all of the brands are much of a muchness now anyway.

Don’t discount the erbauer stuff either - ridiculously inexpensive and really well made.

Just my 2p.

For reference I’ve just cored an extractor fan with my 5AH Bosch and it’s only dropped 1 bar on the battery.
 
I have a team of guys who use either DeWalt, Milwaukee and Mikita.

They have both ranges, 18v and 12v and I have the 40v along with the other 2.

I am Makita, I have all the 18v and decided to move over to 40v range. Whilst doing that I wanted 12v Milwaukee after being super impressed with them.

My lowdown, if you want compact with decent power it's the Milwaukee 12v. If you want power and decent warranty then Makita. The 40v is pretty amaZing, I do only have the 40v combi and slowly moving my power hungry tools to 40v, such as band saw, grinder. The rest of my tools are Makita 18v and they have been abused to say the least.

I've had a few tools fail on me after more than 2 years (combi, sds,multi tool) of mostly daily abuse and Makita have always returned within a week fixed.

I wanted to go Milwaukee after trialing their 12v range. But Milwaukee 18v/40v is just solid with a great warrenty so I stayed with them.
 
I have a Makita cordless but now put it in storage and only use my Ferrex from ALDI and waiting to see how long before they let me down..

Last year I gave up and decided to stop buying rubbish drill bits and got some Milwaukee and never looked back.
 
SexyGreyFox said:
I have a Makita cordless but now put it in storage and only use my Ferrex from ALDI and waiting to see how long before they let me down..

Last year I gave up and decided to stop buying rubbish drill bits and got some Milwaukee and never looked back.
Click to expand...

Good price stuff from Aldi and Lidi
 
Depends on what you want to drill. General purpose drills are really not good for masonry. So if you mainly drill masonry, then buy a proper masonry drill. If you rarely drill it, general purpose is fine.

Nothing wrong with Makita drill bits. I tend to use either DeWalt or Bosch Pro. They are more expensive but they last longer. The only exception to that seems to be wood bits, which never seem to last very long at all. I generally use either very expensive ones or cheap metal bits in place of them.
 
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Whatever Screwfix have an offer on? I think they’re all pretty much a much of a muchness, and most people will recommend the brand they went with themselves.

I went with a DeWalt drill/driver combo last year when I started doing my house up. Expanded with a bare circular saw that I could share the batteries with. Love them.
 
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