Thread: Drill torque doubt!

Originally Posted by Jekkil

Hi all,

I have a relatively old corded drill from Bosch, PSB 650 RE. Reading its manual, it tells me that it has a maximum speed of 3000rpm, a maximum torque of 9NM and a maximum drilling capacity in wood of 30mm.

I am looking for a replacement drill and wanted to move to cordless tools. I was looking to the Makita ones and I was looking at the DHP483Z. From Makita website I can see that it has a maximum speed of 1700rpm, a maximum Torque of 40NM and a maximum drilling capacity in wood of 36.

I am a bit confused...I was expecting a much higher drilling capacity since the maximum torque is more than 4 times the one of my current drill.

Drill capacity figures are a bit like DC air flow figures, ie pretty meaningless. Most drill bits choke and need to be cleared well before the drill reaches the max drilling capacity.

How do these characteristic compare between them? Is the Makita drill much more efficient than my current bosch, even if it is cordless?

Yep - If the Makita is brushless it will be considerably more efficient.

The 18v cordless drills have substantially more torque, in low speed you really need to hang on and feel like they would break your wrist

Depending on your proposed use, the upper models with the metal chuck have a much stronger gearbox and better chuck but are heavier as well.
I have both a metal and plastic chuck version depending on what I am doing as to my preference

Originally Posted by BobL

Drill capacity figures are a bit like DC air flow figures, ie pretty meaningless. Most drill bits choke and need to be cleared well before the drill reaches the max drilling capacity.


Yep - If the Makita is brushless it will be considerably more efficient.

Yes, the Makita is brushless. But I didn't think there could be such a big difference...also considering that the DHP483Z is one of the less performant drills..
Would you think that 40NM is enough to replace my Bosch or do you think I should go to something like 50 or 60NM?

Originally Posted by Jekkil

Yes, the Makita is brushless. But I didn't think there could be such a big difference...also considering that the DHP483Z is one of the less performant drills..
Would you think that 40NM is enough to replace my Bosch or do you think I should go to something like 50 or 60NM?

40Nm will probably be enough to break your wrist if you are not hanging on, and your are it will snap head off small bolts if you re not using the screw driver settings.

Brushless also has much better battery perf as well.

If you are looking for real power in a cordless drill check out the Dewalt 56V "stud and joist" (right angle drive) drill. It comes with sensors that shut down the drill when the bit jams otherwise you will rotate with the drill.

Thank you all for all your answers!

I've got another question for you guys...on the makita website I see that the screw sizes are indicated in Mxx (e.g. M5 to M14). Does that indicate the size of the head or the size of the thread?
Also, how does that compare with the sizes measured in G (e.g. 14G)?

Thanks
Nicola

IF you not committed to brand, the milwaukee is the most powerful drill I have used. After my makita drill died twice I replaced it with a milwaukee and it leaves all the others I have used for dead. Out of all the big brands, the only one I have not tried is Hikoki.

BTW, I have no brand loyalty either, got bosch, makita, milwaukee, hikoki at this current point in time! Had dewalt in the past as well.

Originally Posted by Pearo

IF you not committed to brand, the milwaukee is the most powerful drill I have used. After my makita drill died twice I replaced it with a milwaukee and it leaves all the others I have used for dead. Out of all the big brands, the only one I have not tried is Hikoki.

BTW, I have no brand loyalty either, got bosch, makita, milwaukee, hikoki at this current point in time! Had dewalt in the past as well.

I am not committed to any brand at the moment. I'm in the market for a drill and an impact driver and these will be my first battery-powered tools. I will probably be committed to a brand once I buy these ones

I was looking at Ryobi but wanted something more robust that would last longer.
I had a look at Milwaukee but they seem to be a bit too powerful for what I need them for.

I'll have another look though!

Given this is your first battery tool purchase, I suggest you also consider what other battery tools your selected platform has available.

I have HiKoki tools and I think they're great. They certainly rate well in independent reviews. However, their selection of tools is far less than that of Makita or Milwaukee.

The guys that work for me have either makita or milwaukee, we’ve tried all the brands and these seem to come out on top. A bloke came to site who had the new Hikoki and he said it was rubbish. I personally have a set of Protool cordless drills which I bought in 2004 and they still pull the pants off everything else, replaced one battery in all that time and that was because it fell in the river. The modern equivalent of mine are the big Festool ones. For home hobby use, I would look at AEG or Ryobi, theyre fine.

Originally Posted by riverbuilder

A bloke came to site who had the new Hikoki and he said it was rubbish.

Hit and miss with Hikoki. I have 2 Hikoki nail guns, a framer and a DA brad gun and they are the best nail guns since compressed air. Not sure how paslode even has a market now. I scored a free 36V saw recently after purchasing the hikoki plunge router and a heap of batteries, and that saw is just rubbish. The saw is so bad, that is still sitting in its box and I would be happy to give it away. On the other hand, the plunge router is exceptional for something that runs of batteries.

I have DeWalt and don’t rate their drills at all. They do all the normal drill things, but one has a frozen chuck and the other is starting to seize too. Come to think of it, the angle drill chuck is getting stiff too, and that thing only gets used twice a year.

If I was going to buy all the construction tools again I would probably choose Makita.

Originally Posted by Pearo

Hit and miss with Hikoki. I have 2 Hikoki nail guns, a framer and a DA brad gun and they are the best nail guns since compressed air. Not sure how paslode even has a market now. I scored a free 36V saw recently after purchasing the hikoki plunge router and a heap of batteries, and that saw is just rubbish. The saw is so bad, that is still sitting in its box and I would be happy to give it away. On the other hand, the plunge router is exceptional for something that runs of batteries.

I don’t know about Hikoki framers, but I know that they weight about a kilo more than a Paslode. I have a DeWalt that weighs the same as the Hikoki and it’s too heavy for me to use for more than a few minutes. Everyone that I have lent it to (and I don’t lend tools normally) finds it too heavy.

Originally Posted by Jekkil

Thank you all for all your answers!

I've got another question for you guys...on the makita website I see that the screw sizes are indicated in Mxx (e.g. M5 to M14). Does that indicate the size of the head or the size of the thread?
Also, how does that compare with the sizes measured in G (e.g. 14G)?

Thanks
Nicola

The M5 to M14 refers to the size of the thread, so M5 is a 5mm thread.
The gauge sizes (eg. 14G) refer to screw size as shown here.