Thread: I finally chose a cordless drill

Thanks for a very exhaustive and detailed analysis. Did you consider Festool drills?

Festool come with a 3yr warranty and have the most excellent reputation but even when an EOL model was on sale it was still out of my price range (the cordless drills typically go for $700, $800, $900. I did find an EOL on special for $488 but it was NiCd and weighed 2.3kg, above my target).

Originally Posted by seb001

So far quite happy with both drills.

How much did they cost you and do you think that you will get enough use to justify the cost for DIY stuff around the home ?


Peter.

Peter,

buried in my shortlist is the pricing:

Makita BDF452 ... (50Nm, 1.6kg).. $459 kit, 2x 1.5Ah batts, impact driver 1.3kg 145Nm ... totaltools, $499 sydneytools, $469 unitedtools

I paid $469 as that store was more convenient for me than the $459 store. I didn't try to haggle but they did throw in a set of Makita bits.

do you think that you will get enough use to justify the cost

excellent question. I suppose the answer is quite subjective. Ignoring the fancy account concepts, if they last 8 years then that is about $60/yr for the both of them. Not exactly cheap but then I am paying for the name and hoping to get the Makita quality as well.

I am hoping they will last about 8 yrs for home use (and expect them to last 5-12, with a battery replacement somewhere in there).

Seb001,

I think you made a good choice with the Makita BDF452. We rated it higher than the Makita BDF452HW, but actually chose the BDF452HW as a better value. They are basically the same drill, but the BDF452HW has 1.5 Ah Li-ion batteries, while the BDF452 has 3.0 Ah. The longer run-time is great, but you pay about 50% more for the drill. And the 1.5 Li-ions can be recharged in only 15 minutes.

If run-time is really important in the jobs you do, then the higher cost BDF452HW is worth it. Good luck with your new drill.

Charlie at Best Cordless Drill

Charlie,

I haven't seen the HW model in the silver colour in Australian shops. Here the 452 is sold in the blue livery with 1.5Ah batteries only. The 3.0Ah batteries are available but ONLY with the BHP model drill (BHP452 is the hammer drill, 0.1kg heavier).

Also, the manufacturers here seem to offer only 12month warranties even when the same model overseas has 3yr warranty.

I note in your extensive table the Metabo BS18Li ...(48Nm, 1.4kg)....$329 2x1.3Ah on special $329 unitedtools, $378 at vektools .... Made in PRC

There a 3 models the L, LT made in PRC and the LTX made in Germany

I purchased the LTX (with the pulse driver system) and the 18V Impact driver after many days of study (Hell its like deciding what mobile phone to buy), however I can now say that I've used them both for some weeks now and I'm very happy with my purchase. BTW Metabo offer 3 years waranty if you register within 4 weeks of purchase.

Originally Posted by waikune

Hell its like deciding what mobile phone to buy

Ain't that the truth! My Bosch 14.4v drill that I have had for many, many........... many years is on its last legs (albeit it never quite gives up - even though the batteries last only a few minutes now.)

I need a new one but recently spent all of $35 on a 12v cheapie simply because I needed something quickly and the choice of quality drills is exactly as you said, ie just like deciding which mobile phone to buy. The cheapie is good for mixing paint with a paint stirrer thingy and for drilling and screwing in light materials but when I need to shift a tough screw, out comes the old Bosch for a few minutes. (which is all it can do but it does do the job. Reminds me of endless jokes about old bulls and young bulls. )


Many thanks to seb001 for this spendid evaluation. 'Tis very helpful.

Charleville, if the Bosch is still ok (chuck doesn't wobble, motor ok, etc) then have you thought about getting the battery re-packed? I have had a couple done for my F-I-L and they work quite well. From memory it is $49 for cheapie cells, $76 for decent cells and over $100 for Pro battery cells. The co. is akkupak and have given me good service. Found the site again: Akkupak | Battery Repacking

However, if you don't have a good battery charger than I would be leery of going down that path as the battery will fail again the same way after time. I use a hobby charger to charge up my FIL's drills now.

Waikune, the LTX is the $600+ model. 2.0kg, 2.6Ah, 96Nm. Fabulous specs (and a price to match). Looks like a great drill and fairly priced.

Thanks seb001. That is very useful info.

Many thanks.



.

Originally Posted by seb001

Charleville, if the Bosch is still ok (chuck doesn't wobble, motor ok, etc) then have you thought about getting the battery re-packed?

Problem solved!!!


I just won this bunch of stuff in a radio station online competition...


Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch



That Metabo cordless drill is a bobby dazzler compared with what I have been using lately!

Awesome!



.

I have a Makita BHP453 which I bought in Mar 09 for about $450. Prices seem to have dropped quite a bit. At the time, I didn't see the kit with non-hammer drill and impact driver for a similar price or I would have been tempted to get that.

The one I have is a Bunnings-only model in Australia I think although it is on the Makita NZ site. Makita - Product Details - BHP453SHE Cordless 18V 2-Speed VSR Hammer Driver Drill

I looked at the more expensive brands but in the same price range I could only get a NiCd version. I did consider cheaper ones but thought that a drill is such a fundamental tool, it is worth getting a good one.

Previous drill was a Bosch 18V cordless which is only a 10mm chuck, so I wanted a 13mm chuck, Li-ion and decent quality. I had been given a cheap drill which came from Super Cheap Auto I think - drill ok but batteries died after about a year (cheap stuff seems to have particularly bad batteries).

Did the search of the tool shops online and at the time, it really came down to Makita. The Bosch one-handed chuck/gear mechanism is almost busted (the chuck can lock when you are removing a drill bit). At the time I bought the Bosch, the one-handed chuck was pretty unique (at least in the price range - IIRC it was $220 about 15? years ago). Apart from the chuck, the Bosch is still going strong (including battery).

I have had a few Bosch power tools (the green ones) and I find that features tend to break on them - for example they have sticky-outy bits which snap off. I have a few Makita power tools and they don't necessarily have all the features of the Bosch ones but they have been bulletproof.

I am pleased with the Makita. It is light, has 2 batteries, fast charger, hammer drill works well (I have only drilled 6mm holes into concrete but for that purpose it works as well as my 650W Bosch corded drill). Hand grip has a bit of a step molded into it which you notice when doing hammer drilling (for hammer drilling, I need to wear a glove for my delicate hands).

The clutch/gear mechanism looks to me like it will be more robust than the Bosch one was. It has two selectors: one to choose from screwdriving, drilling or hammer drilling, and another to choose torque setting. My old Bosch has one selector to choose between drilling or the torque setting, which to my mind makes it more complicated and prone to breakage.

The Li-ion batteries last for ages even though they are only 1.5 Ah (I am a DIYer so 1.5 Ah is big enough for me). I figured that the smaller batteries make it lighter and that with 2 Li-ion batteries and a fast smart charger, I am unlikely to find the 2nd battery is flat or that after switching to the 2nd battery, I use it all up before the 1st has recharged.

You can buy "skins" from Makita (tools without batteries or charger) which might save a bit depending on where you get it. Also I seem to remember that the charger is capable of charging a whole range of Makita batteries including NiCd and Li-ion and different voltages.

As an aside, I use one of those drill bit holder/extender things which holds hex bits. I use hex drill bits wherever possible and you can just simply switch between drill bits and driver bits.

Would like an impact driver though.

I don't know anything about any of the drills you've listed but I do know that Makita makes a good drill.
I was in the smash repair trade for a long time. We used to drill 1/8 holes in the panels & screw them together to check for alignment before welding (I assume they still do. Been out for 7 odd years now).

In 1994 I bought a Makita 7.2V cordless drill. I think it was about $200 from memory and came with 2 Nicad batteries of about 1200mah and a 1.5 hour "fast" charger. That drill got used every day without fail for the following 8 years to drill holes & then drive self tappers through anywhere from 2-5 layers of steel. On a heavy day I'd run both batteries flat from constant use.
It's now 2010 & that drill still runs like it did when brand new. It looks like it's been dragged behind a car for 100km but it still works great. The only wear is the poor old Nicad batteries that don't hold their charge very well but I can get replacement ones for around $60 if I want.
No other tool in my kit has survived like the Makita drill, A testament to it's quality.
If only I could get Lithium batteries to fit that drill It would outlast me.

Provided Makita hasn't decided to throw QC away by going the cheapy China route, you'll get many years of service from your new drill.
Regards.

Al

I recently purchased an AEG 18 volt lithium ION, I have used makitas, hitachis, bosch and all and sundry of others. I find the hitachis give me blisters where the "ERGONOMIC" handpiece sits between the thumb and forefinger, if used for more than about half a dozen screws.

Any way I bought it as I had had a bosch for many years and the batteries died finally so I then proceeded to go through about 5 cheap drills in 2 years and after taking the last one back as It would not hold a charge after about the third charge, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and buy something decent. One of the guys I work with had just bought a hitachi and I had tried all and sundry of others so I did the look around and found the AEG I did real world comparisons (as best as possible) and was so impressed I bought it. my mate who owns the hitachi has even stated that he prefers it to his hitachi after we recently used it on a fairly big job at work. Although there was not much change out of $400 I am very happy with its performance and would recommend it to anyone.

Another plus is that it comes with a full 3 year warranty. It has dual 1.5 amp hour batteries and you can use the 3.0 amp hour batteries of either milwaukee or AEG as they are the same thing.