Cordless Drills

[Graves]

My 18v li-ion makita has probably seen close to 2-300 complete charges (still somewhat new) and I mainly use it for drilling (or reaming) on sheet metal pretty much daily; no problems. I've had that sucker too hot to touch more than a few times.

[Jer]

I was an electrician for a brief period and what I bought and what everyone else had on their belt was a 12v compact Dewalt Impact. Next up was probably Milwaukee and third most common was Hitachi. Do NOT fall for Rigid's battery warranty at Home Depot. I almost did and was SO glad I didn't. The M18 fuel stuff is solid if you don't mind weight and the new 20v brushless impact from Dewalt is the cat's ass! So, in closing, Dewalt 12v compact impact for carrying around and the 20v brushless for large jobs that require more grunt and weight isn't an issue. There are kits with both of those in them and the tools included are probably the best in the business aside from maybe the comparable Milwaukee kits. You would be hard pressed to find a trade that relied on their drills more and anything other than those three brands in the hands of electricians to burnt up within weeks/months. There are a couple others (mostly German made) that are better but they're in a different price bracket than the stuff I listed so unless you're using them all day every day to earn a living it wouldn't be worth the investment.

BTW, having left my 20v at work I used my 12v impact to built this entire bench using 3" screws:



Chewed up a boat load of batteries (this is where the 20v brushless shines!) but handled it like a champ and went back to work with me Monday morning.

[Byte Stryke]

My 14 year old Dewalt 14.4 volt drill is on it's last legs. It might last for another set of batteries but for that price I could almost buy a new drill. Also the battery latch is ridiculously cumbersome.

answered your own question.

Dewalt... works

doing floors I used a dewalt, I would go through a 50# box of 2-1/2" flooring a day at least 3 days a week for 5 years.
I Still have it.. it still works.

[n8tive97]

I moved up to the DeWalt 20 Volt Li Ion Combo Pack to finish my garage and back deck.....

[jerrymrc]

Don't do Snap-on!!!!!!!! I'm on like my 5 replacement in 2 yrs. it's actually a game now.

I'd go Dewalt.

For our shop we bought all new $5000 sets that included the 18V drill. 4 batteries were DOA. 4 more died in a month and Snap-on has told us to take a hike. I still use my 10yo dewalt at work. Because of that I have Ryobi at home and have been pleased. I am not a pro user but I have not had to break out the spare drill that came with a black friday deal and mine has built a few decks and a fence.

[Richard K]

". Do NOT fall for Rigid's battery warranty at Home Depot" Please elaborate. I've not needed to use it but do they not honor it?

[hobowh]

Ryobi has com a long way, but still home owner quality not heavy use. Porter cable has gone down hill now a homeowner quality brand. Milwaukee, Dewalt are great all around tools, but cost more have had good luck with the new ridgid tool, and the lifetime warenty on batteries, and tools are great. If you want the best get the Mil if you want good all around get the Dewalt (not my fav) or rigid. not a fan of dewalt only because the quality is hit and miss, but the drills always seem to be decent.

[Jer]

". Do NOT fall for Rigid's battery warranty at Home Depot" Please elaborate. I've not needed to use it but do they not honor it?

The batteries are poor quality & you'll be using the shit out of the warranty. In addition the drills themselves are sub-par & the motors crap out regularly. They attempt to fix them at the store but will then send them off for repair. When I reach for a drill I want it to work. I don't wanna have to deal with regular trips to Home Depot. Again, my experiences are from those who use them daily & with heavy use so they may not fail as often but it's a better indication of long-term reliability.

[Ah Pook]

As stated in the #1 post, I will not be buying anything from Big Orange. If I buy a Dewalt, I want a Dewalt, not a pricepoint imitation.

Going to try and make it to Tool King this week. I forgot that I originally bought the Dewalt set from them.

Again, thanks for the info.

[Jer]

As stated in the #1 post, I will not be buying anything from Big Orange. If I buy a Dewalt, I want a Dewalt, not a pricepoint imitation.

Going to try and make it to Tool King this week. I forgot that I originally bought the Dewalt set from them.

Again, thanks for the info.

This urban legend that Home Depot gets inferior tools to supply houses is complete BS propagated by tool houses to keep them in business. I've talked to reps from Dewalt & Milwaukee who say that they cut NO corners in the tools they supply Home Depot with and don't even know what tools are going to what suppliers until long after they've been manufactured. I was actually told this by several reps both outside of as well as in actual supply houses where they're trying to push the very tools I'm questioning. I can't speak for others but it just doesn't seem to make sense to produce inferior products that could/will hurt your image/name and the added complexity for tracking and supply chain just wouldn't offset small savings from cheaper sourced parts.