Thread: Cordless Drills

For the abuse a school will hand out I'd go with Makita, Hitachi, Metabo or, if you can afford them, Panasonic.

Never even heard of them, sorry.

They sound cheap. I would have thought that if you approached a national distributor of a known brand and gave them a spiel about instilling brand recognition early on in the young impressionable minds of future tradesmen and women you could get a very good deal.


Either that or get laughed at.

In our school we tried a set of cordless drills (Hitachi). Cordless may work well elsewhere but we found the cherubs tend to look after them even less than the normal variety.

The tools spent more time unused than used due to battery charging issues. I have had a pair of 9 v Makitas for 5 years with no problems , simply because I follow recommendations.

The other problem will be the endless failure of keyless chucks ,simply because the cherubs open the chuck under battery power.They open the chuck until it jams open which is not good for it.

I am aware of this because of close links with the repair agents who saw the problem on a regular basis not only from our school but from others in the district.

Students are tough on tools

Grahame

Here's some cordless drills I would trust to students (old man's voice) They were good enough in my day(off old man's voice)
http://www.toolexchange.com.au/Stanl...20Tools-11.htm

My brother's tried Worx and found them OK, they are meant to be for light trade use.

Cheers
Michael

Originally Posted by mic-d

Here's some cordless drills I would trust to students (old man's voice) They were good enough in my day(off old man's voice)
http://www.toolexchange.com.au/Stanl...20Tools-11.htm

My brother's tried Worx and found them OK, they are meant to be for light trade use.
Cheers
Michael

gawd we never used no stinkin power tools at tech [another old mans voice]
we got taught so much about how to use planes, files rasps, chisels, sharpening, cutting, joining methods, handsaw, tenon saw an that was all in 3 years 1 morning a week. We was never allowed near power tools. I leaned pretty good those skills an after 40 years takin up woodwork as a hobby i was surprised at how much i remembered from the burnt out old tradies who used to teach "woodwork" as we called it.

Any bozo can stick a power drill or circular saw through a bit of wood wood. no skill there at all

Usin those cordless drills in the previous post will teach em a lot more about woodcraft than a lectric drill.

I have always used makita drills from 9.6 volt through to 18 volt. They have lasted me years and are still going since new. I bought my first one 7 yrs ago and it is still fine, only problem was a stuffed charger but its all sweet cos I have another couple drills. I'd look at the metabo or hitachi or even Black and Decker which is basically the cheaper version of DeWalt. These drills I have seen around seem to have all worked well but I would't recommend DeWalt after seeing a few of them crapping themselves after a couple yrs use. All comes down to what you have a budget for and some kids really like to trash the tools.

All my experiences with Black and Decker were such that I will never have another - experience that is -certainly wouldn't put them in a school, particularly if you want any after sales service

I have just got a Jaycar smart charger kit to try and prolong battery life - apparently many of the chargers supplied these days are the reason for battery failure- it works by sensing the rate of temperature increase in the battery via a thermister, and also has an adjustable end time for the charging cycle via a variable pot, so now I can safely put it on overnight if need be and not worry about frying my batteries.

Originally Posted by old_picker

Any bozo can stick a power drill or circular saw through a bit of wood wood. no skill there at all

True, but to be able to do it safely and accurately is another story!

Originally Posted by old_picker

Usin those cordless drills in the previous post will teach em a lot more about woodcraft than a lectric drill.

The mode of powering a drill is relatively inconsequential. More important is knowing how the drill cuts!

Good morning

We think in a school situation Makita is the best, for the following reasons.

1. great tools
2. great price for school budgets
3. great to handle for smaller hands ( ergonomic )
4. after sales service and support is better than everyone else
5. Bendigo Power Tools is a service agent for makita (biesed)

I think Worx is a house brand of home hardware so they're probably chinese

OK Bendigo Power Tools.

As you like to promote yourself so well lets see what deal you can do for these kids.

Remember that the whole world is watching you now, no pressure mind you.

When I was at college, most of the drills were, routers, CMS were Makita.