Spec me a drill

Quartz

Quartz

Quartz

Soldato
Joined
1 Apr 2014
Posts
19,072
Location
Aberdeen
My cordless drill doesn't work any more so I need a new one. It wasn't very good anyway. The immediate task is drilling into brick, but it's to be a general purpose drill. I have a large set of bits.

The other drill threads are some years old so I thought I better check for what's new.
 
I bought a Dewalt DCD795 a couple years ago to use while refurbing my house and it's been a fantastic bit of kit. It's not skipped a beat with anything I've thrown at it.
 
Got a Bosch brushless 18v Li-ion (GSB 18 V-EC 1)

Paid a little extra for all metal chuck. Really happy with the it. 4ah battery goes forever. Easily a days DIY without charging. Everything works well and it's solid, lightweight and compact.
 
Hi, I'm an electrician and have owned countless different brands over the years.

For a regular DIY user at home I see no value in going out and buying something like a Bosch Professional or a Makita drill. You won't use it enough and you won't burn it out.

Something like Ryobi from B&Q or the Erbauer from Screwfix will be ample.

For drilling masonry you would ideally want an SDS drill but they would be no good as a general purpose drill. So the best suggestion would be a combi drill.

As a general rule you want to have a look at the chuck. A plastic chuck is a dead give away that the drill will be underpowered for masonry work.
 
Bes said:
I bought an Erbauer drill a couple of weeks ago. Great as a day-to-day drill and not too heavy.
Best thing about it is the batteries charge in less than an hour so you've always got power on tap :)

https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-eri717ddr-18v-2-0ah-li-ion-brushless-cordless-drill-driver/7897r
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This is exactly the kind of drill for a home user to do DIY with.

If you are happy to splurge the extra for a DeWalt or Bosch then go right ahead but if its going to spend most of it's life in the garden shed then it's a waste of money.
 
At the budget end -

https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/Non-Food-Offers.htm?articleId=11760
Lidl 20v (18v in real money) £40

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-tti699com-18v-1-5ah-li-ion-cordless-combi-drill/4908p
Titan 18v

At the mid range -

Bosch Professional GSB 18-2-LI Plus Cordless Combi Drill with Two 18 V 2.0 Ah https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0161PUKCK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_PhvVAbZW3A8CZ

Or the above DeWalt or the equivalent Hitachi or Makita. Normally any of these brands at £100 are moee than adequate for home use.

It's up to you how much you want to spend and what your needs are.

For me the benefit of the big brands are the range of other tools available and spares and battery availability in future.
 
Another vote for dewalt, had one 10 years, still going strong but battery bit knackered so just got the latest model. Will be sticking with them
 
This really depends on budget but that Bosch Professional on Amazon linked to earlier is by far the best of the £100 options I can see at the moment. I think it can be had for that in Screwfix too.

It's often better to get a separate corded SDS drill like the circa £50 Screwfix Titan ones for the heavy stuff too as the cheaper and to be fair even not so cheap cordless drills can struggle on some things.

DeWalt's focus shifted over the last few years to include home DIY at the £100-£150 price point where the 18v drills inc cheaper XR series etc were essentially down graded to lower end models in all the mainstream Screwfix, B&Q, Toolstation, Wickes type shops etc.

They also started including the slower chargers (60/90min).

Makita kit in the same shops follows a similar trend on 18v including the 60min/90min charger and lower specs many being non LXT compatible. Or the white ones which are LXT compatible are still the lower end drills.

Brushless isn't always better either and can have lower specs than the equivalent price point brushed in everything from torque, drilling capacity, gearbox materials and rpm.

I am not a fan of Ryobi One+ as it isn't great value once you start upgrading, buying quick chargers etc.

Where Makita are better is in the LXT drill driver range (blue not white) especially the twin packs which include the DC18RC charger (22min on 3.0Ah battery).

If going Makita, I would say the minimum benchmark is the Makita DLX 2131J twin pack with the DHP482 drill and DTD152 impact driver plus 2 x 3.0Ah and DC18RC fast charger. This can be had for £220 online https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product...-2X3.0Ah-Li-Ion-Lxt-Combi-And-Impact-Twin-Kit
 
TallPaul1878 said:
This is exactly the kind of drill for a home user to do DIY with.

If you are happy to splurge the extra for a DeWalt or Bosch then go right ahead but if its going to spend most of it's life in the garden shed then it's a waste of money.
Click to expand...

Yup, although this sized drill gets most of the jobs - wall hanging, mixing paint, etc etc. If it’s lighter and has better battery life then I’d go big brand.

I have a few ebauer things - they work.
 
TripleT said:
For me I'd go for a powerful wired one. I've had 18v and they're fine but I always forget to charge and they struggle with tough brick.

1000w wired and an extension lead is a better option imo.
Click to expand...

This can be true depending on the brick and the quality of cordless drill. A cheap cordless even 18v+ including from the lower Makita and DeWalt ranges can struggle or fail.

If buying a budget cordless then even a budget corded SDS is essential as a 2nd drill.

A decent cordless hammer drill will happily go through most things though. I can do a full wall 20mm bore hole in brick with a Makita DHP482, DHP458 or DeWalt DCD785, DCD796. I prefer using an SDS for heavy materials though as it's just easier.

The DeWalt DCD796 is only £159 with 5.0Ah battery at Howetools on their offer currently and is the best brushless drill / driver you can buy this side of £250-£300.

https://www.howetools.co.uk/dewalt-dcd796p1-18v-combi-drill-13mm-keyless-chuck

The only time I deffo go SDS is coring proper holes (60-120mm) in brick or into concrete and lintels when even the cheap Titans make short work. The below is great as a general breaker too and only £59 Inc case + bits.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb278sds-6-3kg-corded-sds-plus-drill-230-240v/97533

If cordless SDS in the Makita LXT kit then the DHR202 will do for most tasks too and is one of the advantages of being on the LXT system.

https://www.howetools.co.uk/makita-dhr202z-18v-sds-hammer

Corded DeWalt SDS that is great and sits in the higher budget corded SDS bracket is the D25133.

https://www.powertoolworld.co.uk/de...MIh4rQ54CV2gIVzZPtCh2y-QrTEAQYBSABEgLQuvD_BwE

The Screwfix Titan SDS and a cheap cordless hammer drill / driver will get you all you need for £100-£180 ish in total.

Of course, once you have used an impact driver for direct screwing then you will absolutely want one. The Erbauer twin pack is probably the best value stand alone cordless available at £120 for the drill and driver.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-...ess-combi-drill-impact-driver-twin-pack/9478t

This Bosch Professional is still the best £100 cordless drill though and you can get compatible kit.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0161PUKCK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_PhvVAbZW3A8CZ
 
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