Did you use this
Metabo angle attachment- the one where you fit a threaded chuck?
My set-up utilises a 1/2in keyed chuck (in point of fact a spare DW unit I had) which threads onto the front. I didn't want to use the original Rohm keyless chuck off the Bosch drill because like all keyless chucks it is longer than an equivalent keyed chuck - and when you are side drilling sistered joists
in situ you tend to need every millimetre of space you can get.
Mine cost £17 though rather than £100+ that you paid for.
Well, when you need a piece of kit for a job, urgently, there is often little alternative to paying the full price and swallowing it, I'm afraid. Either way it was still a lot cheaper than buying a new Makita angle drill which was only generally available viable alternative at the time IMHO. Given that on a daily basis we were potentially going to be drilling 120 to 150 holes @14mm diameter through the sides of 3in (75mm) thick, 150+ year old pitch pine joists I wasn't prepared to buy a cordless outfit to do the job, especially one which used an incompatible battery system (we were both Makita users). Doubtless with a few days to spare I could have got a better deal on the chuck. Incidentally, the Bosch unit was about half as much again at the time
Both require drills with a 6.35mm hex recess and a 43mm collar.
Err, nope. The one I bought requires a drill with a male threaded arbor mounting on the drill (1/2in UNC 20 tpi - the sort of
de facto standard for 1/2in corded drills) and the drive is provided by a pair of hex nuts which need to be locked together on the drill's threaded arbor. It looks like this:
Those are currently still £109 at FFX
I guess that I could use either on my drill. The only difference seems to be a hundred quid price difference and the need to use a threaded chuck.
Having in the past snapped off a 1/2in square drive adaptor in the 1/4in hex chuck of my impact driver I am not in agreement with that. An all metal threaded chuck is a lot more reliable than a part plastic cordless chuck, and a 1/2in UNC shaft will take a lot more abuse than a 1/4in hex drive shank. The smaller item is OK for the occasional hole, but it won't stand up to the sort of long term abuse I envisaged our unit getting
Did you use this do themselves no favours by not explaining differences between their products.
You may say that, but their response might be something along the lines of "if you need professional advice you should be talking to, and buying from, one of our dealers - who have staff trained to answer your queries". From personal experience Makita and Bosch are little better (try buying the appropriate Makita cordless screwdriver, or even cordless drill and you'll see what I mean - especially if shopping on-line)
