Spec me a cordless drill / screwdriver

tonyyeb

tonyyeb

tonyyeb

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Hi all

I need a new drill after mine packed up last week. Im only an occasional DIY person but would like a cordless one this time. And as my cordless screw driver also packed in before christmas i'd like to to do both drilling and it be used as a screw driver.

So specs:

* Cordless
* Be able to drill (with hammer action)
* Also be used as a screw driver (So variable speed would be good)
* Short charge time
* Not bother about keyless chuck but most seem to have them these days so whatever
* £50 Max

Cheers
 
Wickes 24V 1.9Ah hammer drill. I got one for work and its top notch they're around 50 quid. At least when i got one.
 
http://www.wickes.co.uk/invt/167214

That one is the one we have, and its gets use and abuse. I've left it outside over night droped it on the floor and used it to drive M14 nuts down. Wickes also do a big box of drills and screw driver bits for about 20 quid too.
 
I have a 10 year old Bosch 9V cordless with variable speed. It was hugely expensive at the time but has taken some serious abuse and still works perfectly. I deem it money well spent. I think you can get 12V or 14V Bosches for £50 these days.
 
tonyyeb said:
* Cordless
* Be able to drill (with hammer action)
* Short charge time
* £50 Max
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You're asking a lot!! I am a firm believer in not buying cheap tools, even as an occasional user. However, I have seen some of the Bosch green* tools work reasonably well, but I don't know if you could even get one of those that hammers for £50. As for a short charge time, I'd say forget it.


*Bosch make green and blue tools. The blue are professional quality, competitors to Makita and De Walt, whereas the green are the sort sold by Argos.
 
Agree with DF though B&D's firestorm range are also very good for slightly less than heavy duty use. The most important recommendation though, is to insist on having at least two batteries. There's nothing worse than having to wait for a drill's battery to charge when you're against the clock. The better drills generally have two batteries anyway.

Also, don't ask your drill to do anything less than occasional hammer drill work because a) it will be too heavy b) hammer actions are usually quite poor (compared with proper SDS). Buy a good SDS drill to complement your rechargeable. Screwfix usually have good offers even for Dewalt.
 
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tonyyeb said:
Would you recommend getting two seperate then? One to drill (corded) and a cordless screwdriver?
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Possibly, although if you mean the original £50 to be shared between the two then you'll be compromising on quality again...

Give me a few minutes to bring myself upto date (haven't looked into powertools much over the last year or two, as I have everything I've needed...) and I'll come back with a recommendation.
 
tonyyeb said:
Would you recommend getting two seperate then? One to drill (corded) and a cordless screwdriver?
Click to expand...
Ideally yes. Big SDS for the heavy duty stuff and a 12V or 14V for taking around with you. My 9V Bosch is great but it won't drill much bigger than 25mm easily and is slow through 6mm steel.
 
Screwfix website is incredibly slow at the moment, but I've been thinking back and have remembered that there are a couple of mid-range brands I've heard recommendations for from various builders, Erbauer and Ryobi. I remember checking out the Ryobi rolling workshop in person a couple of years ago, and thinking the build quality of the tools was poor, so I wouldn't back that up myself. I've heard that the Erbauer cordless drills are okay from a couple of people, but I've no personal experience of them. Think they'd be over your budget though.

Aside from Screwfix, I'd recommend a supplier called ITS, and their site is itslondon.co.uk
 
I've found Ryobi stuff to be ok actually, used it a couple of times on site and it was up there. Makita make some cracking stuff too.
 
Just a note about Bosch blue. 30 years ago my grandfather had one that was used all day every day. My father used it for a while hard work but not a lot of it. Now i'm using it again 5 days a week 8 hours a day. Guess what its still going and all its needed maintenance wise in that time is a new plug.
 
phykell said:
Have you never heard of Toolstation? For prices it's much better than SF :)

www.toolstation.co.uk
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Thanks, but looks more expensive to me. Just a had a look at De Walt tools and:

Dewalt DC935KB 14.4v Combi Drill £275.00

As I said before, not bought anything recently, but I'm sure that's about £75 too dear! Comes with two batteries. I bought my Makita 14.4v combi, with three batteries, for £225 three years and a half years ago. I remember at the time it was a bit more pricey than the De Walt equivalent.

/Mind, I only use Screwfix for hand tools, fixings, and electrical bits & bobs. I have bought powertools from them in the past, but not for over three years except one cheapo breaker I got just for sorting my garden out.
 
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i needed a drill quick after i misplaced my main one last weekend (its in the garage somewhere). Went for the cheapest an 18v Cordless hammer from focus for £15 with 1 hour charge, seems pretty good for the money and for that price will probably keep it in the bakc of the car just in case.
 
Shame you can't get a drill that can be corded as well as battery for those harder surfaces to drill.... or can you??
 
I would invest in an SDS hammer drill for concrete and masonry, you can pick these up cheap in Makro or on ebay. Then a seperate drill/driver, the erbaur (sp) range is pretty good from screwfix for home use.
 
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