Which Cordless Drill?

[Bluesybloo]

By lovely friend has his 50th soon and I want to get him something practical. A cordless drill came up in conversation. Can anyone recommend one that has a good battery life, reasonable drilling time and can also go through engineering bricks, please?

 

[delmel]

you will need a hammer drill for concrete. If its just DIY then you may not want to spend lots, but the higher the voltage better the power (on branded ones) some cheap unbranded horrid things are on the market.

Dewalt
Makita

These are widely available and branded.

 

[ntb]

How much are you willing to spend?

 

[Bluesybloo]

Willing to spend around £150-ish - though I do know the ones that would be more suitable are in the £300 mark, but I just can't afford that

 

[big-all]

ryobi are great for diy and light trade you can get 35 tools for the home and garden to fit the same batteries
http://uk.ryobitools.eu/one/
18v starter kits
http://www.diy.com/departments/ryobi-cordless-18v-li-ion-hammer-drill-2-batteries/546421_BQ.prd

http://www.ryobi-direct.com/PBSCCat...BCATName=Ryobi 18V One+ Cordless Starter Kits

http://www.ryobi-direct.com/ryobi-lcdi18024ah-hammer-drill-kit-2x4ah-batteries-c2x14158801

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I'm afraid that the problem is that you won't get a good cordless SDS (hammer drill), two batteries and a charger for that price (£150). Ordinary combi drills, either cordless or corded, simply won't touch engineering brick (they are very, very, very slow and trash drill bits). You can, however, get a corded SDS well within your budget; something like a Bosch GBH2-26DRE or Bosch GBH2400. I have the latter and it's been an excellent drill for medium trade use and I'd say a very good tool for a DIYer. Not too heavy, either. For comparison I've had a Ryobi corded 2kg SDS in the past and it wasn'yt in the same league as the Bosch blue and Makita drills I've owned or used. I also have a Makita DHR202 cordless SDS kit and the cheapest I can find those is just under £240, and that's with only one battery which restricts useability

When reading these comments please bear in mind that I'm speaking from a trade-oriented perspective. A Bosch blue SDS which will last me 5 to 7 years (the last one did 20+) would last a DIYer a lifetime in all probability

 

[EddieM]

I'm afraid that the problem is that you won't get a good cordless SDS (hammer drill), two batteries and a charger for that price (£150). Ordinary combi drills, either cordless or corded, simply won't touch engineering brick (they are very, very, very slow and trash drill bits). You can, however, get a corded SDS well within your budget; something like a Bosch GBH2-26DRE or Bosch GBH2400. I have the latter and it's been an excellent drill for medium trade use and I'd say a very good tool for a DIYer. Not too heavy, either. For comparison I've had a Ryobi corded 2kg SDS in the past and it wasn'yt in the same league as the Bosch blue and Makita drills I've owned or used. I also have a Makita DHR202 cordless SDS kit and the cheapest I can find those is just under £240, and that's with only one battery which restricts useability

When reading these comments please bear in mind that I'm speaking from a trade-oriented perspective. A Bosch blue SDS which will last me 5 to 7 years (the last one did 20+) would last a DIYer a lifetime in all probability

Well...... my makita 18v teamed with dewalt extreme 2 bits goes into engineering bricks (staffy blues) like a knife through butter. Mind you it was over £300, but that was mainly the batts.

 

[ntb]

Ditto Eddie. DHP458 + 4Ah batts and Dewalt Extreme 2. But it's over budget by quite a margin.

I would suggest Bluesy goes with a Makita DHP453. 4Ah battery version is on budget:
http://www.screwfix.com/p/makita-dhp453rm-18v-4-0ah-li-ion-lxt-cordless-combi-drill/71790

Or you could get the 3Ah one for thirty quid less:
http://www.screwfix.com/p/makita-dhp453rfw-18v-3-0ah-li-ion-cordless-lxt-combi-drill/7186f

And throw in some decent drill bits:
http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-extreme-2-masonry-drill-bit-set-5pcs/88598

You can get by fine with just one battery for diy, especially given the really fast charge time (22 mins for the 3Ah battery)

As noted above, masonry performance will be limited compared to an SDS drill although decent bits help immensely. That said, a decent combi is going to give more utility to a diyer than an SDS which could be added later. Makita do a range of cordless SDS drills that can be bought 'bare' and use the same battery and charger.

Other brands are available, Makita is just what I am most familiar with.

 

[cajar]

The Makita DHP453 will not drill brick easily (if at all). I have one at home I use for general diy, and even for 1 red plug I'd rather go down to the van for the SDS instead of using this. It's performance is comparable to the bosch 10v combi drills.

The Makita bhp458 on the other hand will tackle brick reasonably well, but it's £300 (I have one of those in the van and happily use it for red plugs when I cba getting the sds out)
http://www.screwfix.com/p/makita-bhp458rfe-18v-3-0ah-li-ion-cordless-combi-drill/26226

I don't think you'll find a cordless combi less than £300 that'll drill brick tbh.

The £150 combi's are built to a price, and carry the brand name but not the grunt that goes with it.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Well...... my makita 18v teamed with dewalt extreme 2 bits goes into engineering bricks (staffy blues) like a knife through butter.

They're still a LOT slower than an SDS into Accringtons (blue engineers)....... And yes, I also use Mak 18 volt lithiums, so I am aware of what they can do

 

[ntb]

I'll bow to your experience since I don't have a 453. I find it a bit surprising though. I'd have thought slow maybe and perhaps needing to pilot with a small bit for engineering brick but workable unless the guy drills engineering bricks every week. My little 10.8V combi will do a few plug holes in ordinary brick with a bit of patience.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I've had a few improvers (three in all) over the last two or three years who've bought 453s and had problems with the gearboxes failing prematurely (stripped teeth) - they were drilling into masonry for stuff like door casings or windows instead of popping down to the site container and bringing-up an SDS. That's one reason why I prefer having an SDS for my masonry holes...... On the other hand one guy I know got rid of his 18 volt Makita kit and went Milwaukee 12 volt Red Lion - brushless SDS and brushless 12 volt drill/driver. Amazing bits of kit when teamed up with the 4 volt batteries. Slower drilling masonry than my Mak 202, but the battery life was twice as long, so he was just as productive. But unfortunately a bit outside the OPs budget

 

[gregers]

anything bosch blue,END OF.

 

[EddieM]

Well...... my makita 18v teamed with dewalt extreme 2 bits goes into engineering bricks (staffy blues) like a knife through butter.

They're still a LOT slower than an SDS into Accringtons (blue engineers)....... And yes, I also use Mak 18 volt lithiums, so I am aware of what they can do

Well I do have a 5kg SDS too.. but thats a very different story I think I need a 2kg corded one for practical purposes.

 

[Bluesybloo]

Thank you so much for all the input here. This really has given me a lot of choice and also to be able to make a more informed decision.