Thread: C-12 or new Lithium Ion?

Originally Posted by Honorary Bloke

Well, my 5 years old cheapy number 2 cordless spit the dummy and carked it. So now, a new Festo drill! But . . . although I am enamoured of the C-12's weight, balance, and small footprint, I am wondering if those of you who may have played with the new Lithium Ion drill noticed any big advantages in performance and size?

I still have a DeWalt cordless and a Milwaukee corded so I can wait if need be, but should I bother? Or just go get the C-12 and be done with it?

No one answered so I will have a go at this. The C12 is all I need in a drill and I can't see the new batteries giving me any advantage. I believe the only advantage would be that the Li batteries last longer between re-charges when being used spasmodically so if that's you it may be a good idea, though my C12 gets this treatment and the batteries are just fine. Being honest I don't think the C12 is such a big jump over the Panasonic drill/drivers to justify it and at the time I needed mine I could not buy the Panasonic I wanted. I am afraid the wank factor doesn't impress me as much as others, they after all are just tools and it gets thrown on the floor and generally lays around like any other tool. It has never been back in the systainer and is unlikely to be, I wonder if I should sell it as there are those who use them religously.

If you already have a cordless I would buy one of the new small impact drivers, they are great in cabinets etc and have immense driving capacity. I have just bought a Bosch version and my C12 gets a lot less use now as the Bosch is far and away a better thing for driving screws and fasteners. I think we will see a shift to the smaller drivers if it hasn't already started. What I did buy from Festool that impresses the hell out of me was there depth adjustable countersink bit, not the automatic thing for drywall but this one..

[media]http://www.festool.com.au/mediandoweb/index.php?sTemplate=zoom&sTemplateFile=standard.php&sLanguage=AUS-English&BILD=http://wwwinet.my-tts.com/Festool/Kat_2005/bohren_schrauben/jpg_zoom/zoom__bs_bstahs_492523_z_01a.jpg[/media]

It is without doubt a great little device but at a Festool price.

If you have a yen to buy only Festool, buy the C12 and you won't regret it otherwise I would buy a small impact driver or I would at least take the time to look at the Panasonic range, I think you will be surprised at how good they are. Me, I have no regrets buying it as I had to have a drill and the small impacts are driver only.

Thanks for that. I will have a look at the impact drivers, as I have heard elsewhere as well that they are the bees knees for driving fasteners.

Without a doubt Bob.

For my dough I would be buying the Panasonic kit. The driver and the drill. The only reason I would consider a Festool over the Panasonic would be for the specialised chucks if I needed them.

If you don't own an impact driver you don't know what your missing. Any of the leading brands are good tools.

The panasonics are great. The impact driver has a brushless motor and is very light but packs a great punch.

i agree with everyone above, the impact drivers are great tools and that panasonic 2 tool kit is great value as well.

I have the Panasonic 14.4V LiON drill driver and absolutely love it.

I've seen the panasonic set (drill-driver and impact driver) sold in a systainer3 with an insert that holds them nose down. I only seen it online though (the systainer), not in the toolstores. link to pictures, might not last long (auction site)

I still wouldn't buy it. For general hobby use like most of us, building small cabinets etc I would buy a full size drill and a small impact driver. The small impact drivers lose nothing for the general woodworker making cabinets etc and are far easier to use inside cabinets and enclosed spaces. For someone who does building/carpentry/construction the big one for sure. I too was unconvinced on how good these small drivers are, no more though.

POTENTIALLY STOOPID QUESTION:

what is the diff between an impact driver and a regular batt drill ?

well i have 2 festool cordless drill one is a 12v cdd and a c12.

the c12 i love got the all atatchments and always use them how ever the cdd is just falling apart it sux the batteries are crap and the dont hold there charge and when they are fully charged the drill spins so slow its not funny im ready to throw it out.........

i was looking on a site the other day and noticed that protool have just brought out a cordless drill that spins at 3800 rpm dam thats fast combine that with the centrotec and angle heads the same as festool ( i have been told festools angle head fits the protool cordless).

lithium ion batteries i think im going to get one of these i got a quote today.
$750 for the 18v protool lithium drill in a systainer

Originally Posted by Zed

POTENTIALLY STOOPID QUESTION:

what is the diff between an impact driver and a regular batt drill ?

There used to be a video on the dewalt site illustrating the mechanism of an impact driver, the first generation of their impactors are discontinued now, but I managed to find a link to the video that still works via google: http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/to...productID=5722

An impact driver doesn't hammer all the time, it acts as a regular driver untill it get's enough resistance for the metal block to "slip", is then pressed back into spring, which presses it back forward again and it gains momentum to hit the next notch. (might sound like a weird description, but in the video you can see a driver with part of the housing cut out, so you can see the mechanism work)

Originally Posted by Zed

POTENTIALLY STOOPID QUESTION:

what is the diff between an impact driver and a regular batt drill ?

A normal battery drill is just that. An impact driver, when a pre-set torque is exceeded uses an impact action like a rattle gun to drive the fastener in. It is very effective if a little noisy. I have one of these..

http://www.bosch-pt.com.au/boptocs2-...bject_id=11765

This thing is small, light and because it is a brushless motor with Li batteries it is very powerful. When the word spreads this size tool is going to replace the full size driver for fastening in the woodworking world. For big stuff in construction I have used a 1/2 drive rattle gun or a smaller 3/8 drive, having a compressor has its advantages and using cordless tools for that sort of work is a waste of money IMHO as air tools are so cheap and work way better than any battery or electrical driver.

Originally Posted by Bryan1982

( i have been told festools angle head fits the protool cordless).

I read somewhere that the systems are similar but not compatible, the system of the protool is compatible with their quadrill system for their corded drills. and an excenter head isn't available for the protool drills. The new protool drills do come in a cool systainer, with an extra lid within the lid for drill bit storage, and from what I read elsewhere the new festools won't come in such a systainer.
I am not sure, but it seems the festool will also be missing the retractable belt clip of the protool drills. And neither of them have built-in ledlights.

I currently own own the C12 also a Makita impact driver and an 18 volt lithium ion drill and also a 12 volt nickel cadmium and I always reach for the Festool with nickel metal hydride
They got it right when they made this tool
Tough price to swallow but it is worth it

Thanks for all the replies. Am now looking at options and will post the results.