Makita drill chuck

[nearnexus]

Just sent an email off to Makita support to see what they have say regarding the chuck on an M804 (green line) 710 watt 13 mm hammer drill I bought off Bunnings a coupla years back.

It's always had a gritty, rough chuck which would sometimes lock up on me.

Never bothered to contact them as I thought it might wear in.

Used it today and I notice one of the jaws has now jumped the scroll and is sitting below the other two. Pretty poor quality considering it's a Makita - done bugger all work with it.

Be interesting to see what they say - probably bugger off :C

The whole drill is made in China.

First issue I've ever had with Makita.

Rob

275919

[nearnexus]

Got a speedy reply back from Makita, and not surprised that they won't assist - out of warranty.

Not getting upset about it, but a bit annoyed that Makita quality appears to have slipped.

The actual chuck jaws and body are quite hard compared to some Chinese drill chucks, but the scroll has obvious problems - from new.

So I will swap across the 13 mm chuck from the lathe as I now use an ER32 collet for drilling duties.

Rob

[variant22]

Both me and my father own Makita cordless drills. Both of them have a noisy grating keyless chuck. Ours started making the noise under warranty but we never got around to returning them. Both were purchased from Bunnings. Seems to me like there is a fault somewhere with these drills. Mine has made the noise constantly for the last 3 years, but it is still going. I figure I will use it until it stops then throw it away. If I get 5 years out of it I think I will have done well..

[slidingdovetail]

My workmate has a similar issue but with his LXT 451 drill, I believe it was the first in the lithium ion hammer drill/drivers (it's up to 456 now I think).

Anyway, half the time with a metal chuck and drilling an auger, speed bore or any bit really, the chuck seems to 'unlock' itself and the bits come loose. We tighten the chuck as much as it allows by hand but it still comes loose.

It started just as it ran outta warranty which is convenient for Makita.


Although my workmate has this problem, I still love my Makita range.

[Pete F]

I have the 18V Li-ion Makitas and like them too, but the chuck was a disappointment. It wore out quite quickly and didn't grip the drills as it should. I was unable to remove it to replace it (trust me I tried!!!). In the end it was only marginally more expensive to buy a complete replacement bare drill (ie without battery), than the cost of the replacement chuck. I finished up breaking the old drill apart, ground some flats in the arbor, and took the old chuck off to use as a revolving chuck on the lathe, but it still took a heck of a job to get it off. Makita definitely aren't what they used to be, but then again the cost has come down a lot too. Personally I'd rather pay more and get a tool for life rather than something that will constantly frustrate me and let me down mid-job, so had I been able to remove the chuck I would have replaced it with a better quality one.

Pete

[nearnexus]

I've had Makita for a long time in blue, green and red line of tools.

Never had a quality issue ever.

The red Maktec stuff is pretty good even though it's cheaper.

This green line is odd in that it seems to be a New Zealand line that somehow found it's way here through Bunnings. Correct me if I'm wrong on that.

I still like Makita but looks like it's not quite as good as it used to be - like lots of things (Sutton drills comes to mind).

PS.... I tried to disassemble the chuck (even though it was stuffed), but you can't - they're just throw a way.

So I machined it in half and had a look at how it was made - not very interesting actually :rolleyes:

Rob

[Ben Dono]

I'm a huge fan of Makita but I think all the manufactures are feeling the pinch now and corners are getting cut. If it's just the chuck you can replace them easily enough with a better quality one. The Germans still make solid and reliable ones. I think the last chuck I replaced was with a little Bosch 13mm keyed.

I was drilling 16mm holes 400mm deep in hardwood logs and the original brand new Chinese chuck lasted about 10 holes. The Bosch chuck just kept on going!

In their defense, at least makita has been honest with their claims and price levels. They have 3 destinct product levels. Maktec and the Green line, the Chinese made blue and then the top of the line Japanese made.

I am lucky as I'm usually using my tools all day every day and can justify spending more on them so they last. I think the days of buying a power tool to pass down to your kids is gone though. The quality is not there any more. But they are a lot cheaper to buy today than they ever were.

[Ueee]

I've always had a sea of blue power tools, my dad always did and so did the place I did my time with. Of late I can only say even the top of the line stuff has dropped off. I am still happy with them but don't still have the "walk in and buy the makita" mentality, I'll look at the other brands too.
As for country of origin, the blue stuff is made all over the place. Orbital sander, Japan, hot air gun, Czech republic, jigsaw and cordless's, UK. That was just what happened to be out. Not sure about the rest.
Cheers,
Ew

[nearnexus]

Same story here Ewan, Makita goes back a long way.

The other brand I have (had) utmost respect for is AEG.

But now that's owned by the same mob that make Ryobi junk - which is a big worry.

Probably explains why AEG prices have come back a lot.

Briggs and Stratton same thing, used to be good, but turn into grenades these days.

Nothing stays the same.

Rob

[Ben Dono]

It's a shame about the battery platforms. You can't get buy with just one system.
I had a full set of Milwaulkee v28 tools when they first came out. Really damn good tools and I flogged the hell out of them for 5 years. I had 2 of their big hammer/drill/driver drills and they just kept on powering through. But the v28 did not have the rattle guns so I bought a pair of the makita bt140's. I had a mate who bought the full set of the lxt 18v makita. The cordless powersaw had more grunt than the v28 but the makita hammer/drill/driver was useless.

I just rolled the v28 Milwaulkee kit over last year to the m18 system. I'm quite disappointed with it really. Don't get me wrong, it's still good gear but it's a far cry from what they started out with. The m18 Batteries are crap compared to my now 3 + year old makita 18v batteries. The rubber moulding on the drills just peels off and the cordless saw is only good for thin ply. I can use the makita 18v cordless saw for framing no problem at all.

[RayG]

I used to swear by Makita, but the quality has gone down to where it's in the same category as the generic stuff.. I recently chucked out 2 Makita angle grinders that were less than a year old, and replaced them with Metabo.

My Makita cordless drill has a dodgy chuck, and, like the angle grinder saga I'm going to buy Metabo next time around..

Regards
Ray

[nearnexus]

I used to swear by Makita, I'm going to buy Metabo next time around..

Regards
Ray

Totally agree Ray.

I use Metabo drill chucks these days, and quality is very good. Still made in Germany.

Metabo is the way to go.


Rob

[Pete F]

If it's just the chuck you can replace them easily enough with a better quality one. The Germans still make solid and reliable ones. I think the last chuck I replaced was with a little Bosch 13mm keyed.

Well no, sometimes you can't. As I mentioned above, the chuck on my 18 V Makita would NOT come off, so I trashed an otherwise perfectly good drill in doing so. Even when I broke it apart I needed to grind some flats in the arbor, hold the arbor in a vise, and only then would it release with a hell of a hammer blow! I thought it would break the chuck for sure, there's no way in heck it would have come off if still attached to the gearbox. I couldn't see any obvious thread locker in there, but I presume that's what they used. Even the (LH) locking screw was unnecessarily tight, plus it definitely did have thread lock on it. Clearly not meant to be serviced.

I too have Metabo tools, and would consider them the pick of the bunch. However sadly I've seen their quality clearly begin to slide also. What bugs me is that there are many people like myself who would rather have fewer good quality tools and buy them as we can afford to, but then keep them for life. Increasingly they're just not available. Most consumer products have a design life of about 5 years. The companies figure by then you've had a "good run" out of it, and will then buy a new one from them. Wait while I don my tin-foil hat and claim it's a giant conspiracy, designed by giant pandas to make us buy more crap rather than less stuff that lasts. ... hey, there's Elvis!!!

[Ben Dono]

Sorry Pete F, I must have skipped right past your post. That's the first chuck I have come across that was not removable/replaceable and I have replaced many over the years. It's a shame if that's a sign of the times to come.

I did have one that had cold welded itself to the shaft once. That was a throwaway job.
I would not worry too much about the foil hat. It's called planned obsolescence and unfortunately it makes perfect sence in the tool world (that is if I was selling them). I still have my fathers Makita power saw 40plus years old amongst many other of his tools.

[Machtool]

I spent a boozy night in Uncles Chillies fun pub, in the basement of the P J Hilton in Malaysia, nearly 2 decades ago.

I bumped into this Yank, that had been in China for months, setting up a plant to make keyless drill chucks. The kind that go on your $39 dollar specials you see at Bunnings. They were punching out thousands per day. I'll never forget him telling me. They had to produce them for 78 US cents each.

Regards Phil.

[nearnexus]

I've got an old metal case 13 mm two speed gearbox type Wolf drill that had a warranty claim - sheared the chuck off the drill just behind the chuck mount - the actual thick shaft, not the threaded section. Snapped clean in half.

Took it back and they replaced it.

Guy scratched the old head, "never seen this happen before". Didn't tell him I was using small shank drills in it which were just a tad oversized.

But goes to show how much power that Wolf can put out through a proper gearbox.

But like a lot of those old drills, she's a wrist breaker - the ergonomics (grip length) are all wrong for the power it can generate.

It's the only drill I have, where you need to use the side grip to hang onto it.

The bro in laws got a big old Sher, the one with the hunk of pipe sticking out for a grip, and that will throw you across the shed if you're not careful.

Rob

[Pete F]

But goes to show how much power that Wolf can put out through a proper gearbox.

But like a lot of those old drills, she's a wrist breaker - the ergonomics (grip length) are all wrong for the power it can generate.

Rob

Yes I had an "interesting" moment once while I was drilling a hole for a spring hanger in a big tandem trailer I was building and the bit grabbed, as the drill came out of my hands my thumb pushed in trigger lock. With that the drill started winding the power lead around itself. :doh: A seemingly simple task turned out to be a bit of a song and dance routine!!

[variant22]

the bit grabbed, as the drill came out of my hands my thumb pushed in trigger lock. With that the drill started winding the power lead around itself. :doh:
Given this is a Makita thread, I will share my story. My Makita SDS hammer drill (BHR202Z) has a lot of torque. It has no clutch as the chuck is an external one with an SDS arbor. I had a bit grab drilling when I first got it. The handle twisted my wrist and the battery (big 3amp ones) swung up and near hit me in the face. It was a close call and a reminder to hold on tight when using it. It is a total beast and well worth every penny. Much better than my smaller Makita mentioned earlier.

If you want to see it: Bare-Tool Makita BHR202Z 18-Volt LXT Lithium-Ion Cordless 7/8-Inch SDS-Plus Rotary Hammer (Tool Only, No Battery) - Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/home-improvement/dp/B001EYUQP0) - Total beast :)

[Zwitter]

I too had a bunch of heavy duty Makita tools. Still have a 9 & 7" saws and a big mother planer, but the cordless drill 18v professional just could not hack the pace, replaced with the Milwalkie/atlas-copco 18v but the batteries never were very good. Replaced with Metabo, no looking back.
Got hooked on Metabo when trying to cut the back off a Landrover chassis ror replacement due to rust. 2 bosch 125mm grinders shat themselves in the same day, went and spent up on a Metabo 125mm and still have it going strong 16 years later good as new.

Just bought an AEG multi tool (one of those vibrating saws) warranty of 6 years and 3 yrs on battery! Only time will tell.

Of course if money is no object, check out Festool / Festo. They have a cordless drill where the torque function is all electronic, bloody amazing tool to hold and use. $$$$

Regards
James


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Zwitter]

Me again
For SDS drills I think you can't beat the Hilti range. Nearly broke my wrists on a big drill more than once when it bit reo etc. Hilti have the clutch and so much safer.
James


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Ueee]

Me again
For SDS drills I think you can't beat the Hilti range. Nearly broke my wrists on a big drill more than once when it bit reo etc. Hilti have the clutch and so much safer.
James


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

We always used a ramset, used to call him rodger, (rodger ramset, bad one eh?)
Some of the boys used to push him until the gearbox was too hot to touch (and some people wonder why some companies don't provide tools) but he just kept going. Ended up doing the front gearbox seal and once dry that was about that....there were times on site were he would be used 8 hours solid, every day of the week. Couldn't fault him at all.

Cheers,
Ew

[RayG]

That Hilti stuff is good gear, I once had a straight fabrication job to make a 10 steel benches out of 2"x2"X1/4" angle, it was for a govt department and they were hot dipped galvanized.. each bench had rows of 1/2" holes for fixing timber.. I went through 2 of the old style Black and Decker drills before I lashed out and bought an AEG 1/2" drill, that thing could rip your arms off (apologies to Auntie Jack) but it got the job done and I've still got it 30 years later... In those days AEG was a top quality brand, sadly nowadays AEG is just another one of any number of cheap brands.

The Black and Decker drills had the armature wires soldered onto the commutator, and when it got hot and the solder melted and the plastic support for the commutator softened and went off center causing the brushes to start bouncing like crazy and arcing, then it was only a matter of minutes before the thing would die in a cloud of smoke...

The AEG had the armature wires welded to the commutator lands, and the commutator support material was something that could take the heat. I could drill 1/2" holes in 3/8" steel all day and never a problem.

Sigh... Makita I fear is going the way of AEG.....

Regards
Ray

[nearnexus]

[QUOTE=RayG; In those days AEG was a top quality brand, sadly nowadays AEG is just another one of any number of cheap brands.

Sigh... Makita I fear is going the way of AEG.....

Regards
Ray[/QUOTE]

Yes, AEG was really really good stuff, and the price reflected it.

I suppose the price still largely reflects the quality these days to a large degree. Although some brands trade and price on their name.

My favourite drill is a 13 mm AEG 500 watt job I bought 20 years ago, now on second set of brushes, and third chuck, done heaps of work - really nice drill to use, and plenty of power for the size.

If it died I would buy another one second hand if I saw one, they're that good.

Bro inlaw bought one at the same time, and he's really rough /stalls equipment and it's still going - although mine has done a LOT more work.

Rob