Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I do alot of work in metal house framing and the only drills that can keep up to us is dewalts.

We have about 4 left of the dewalt 18v hammer drills, and they are a very strong and reliable drill. We had about 12 at one stage but they do eventually wear out (we drive series 500 screws through 14mm steel beams, and would drive a few thousand normal tec screws in a day, seriously).

Lately(last 18months or so) we have been moving to the Impact drills, have about 20 of them now, pretty much all we use unless we are doing some hardcore screwing, like putting 100 series 500 screws in a PFC, or screwing off a floor, then we reach for the dewalt drill(not impact)

If I was going to buy myself another drill, I wouldnt even consider anything but an 18v dewalt hammer drill. The hammer drill (as opposed to the non hammer cheaper drill) has a stronger gearbox and used to come with a better chuck (metal as opposed to rubber), not sure if this is still the case.

Shorti wrote:Milwalkee is owned by Ryobi now, I don't know if that has affected quality. Dewalt apparently have done alot with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the development of their new 18v hammer drill. I've used it and it has my vote.

Different Between the high end stuff and the low end stuff is

- quality of the battery cells and type NiCad, NiMh, Lithium Ion
- different amp hour ratings on batteries
- automatic breaks
- quality of the gearbox (cheap ones = plastic) seen many just stripped
- quality of chuck (keyed, keyless (only the expensive ones are usually any good)
- Charger time
- Is it going to break when you drop it (bosch have a new casing which stops this)
- Warranty (with dewalt you pay for the 3 year warranty)
- how many speed gearbox
- Torque

When I used to sells drills I would always get guys coming in and asking "I'd like to buy a good cheap cordless drill". The truth is, they don't exist.

Milwaukee-Ryobi??

I thought the dewalt was owned by ryobi - some look similar, i know that milwaukee and AEG are one and the same just ones blue the others red.
Ive got a milwaukee 18v myself heaps of grunt - 71nm of torque, good metal chuck nice drill, pretty heavy.
We have some panasonics at work, theyre nice very light and a lot of power - not as much as milwaukee though, only bad thing is the plastic chuck, gets scored then stuffs your hands when tightening..

Patroler wrote:

Shorti wrote:Milwalkee is owned by Ryobi now, I don't know if that has affected quality. Dewalt apparently have done alot with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the development of their new 18v hammer drill. I've used it and it has my vote.

Different Between the high end stuff and the low end stuff is

- quality of the battery cells and type NiCad, NiMh, Lithium Ion
- different amp hour ratings on batteries
- automatic breaks
- quality of the gearbox (cheap ones = plastic) seen many just stripped
- quality of chuck (keyed, keyless (only the expensive ones are usually any good)
- Charger time
- Is it going to break when you drop it (bosch have a new casing which stops this)
- Warranty (with dewalt you pay for the 3 year warranty)
- how many speed gearbox
- Torque

When I used to sells drills I would always get guys coming in and asking "I'd like to buy a good cheap cordless drill". The truth is, they don't exist.

Milwaukee-Ryobi??

I thought the dewalt was owned by ryobi - some look similar, i know that milwaukee and AEG are one and the same just ones blue the others red.
Ive got a milwaukee 18v myself heaps of grunt - 71nm of torque, good metal chuck nice drill, pretty heavy.
We have some panasonics at work, theyre nice very light and a lot of power - not as much as milwaukee though, only bad thing is the plastic chuck, gets scored then stuffs your hands when tightening..

dewalt is the industrial range of black&decker. No relation to ryobi.

big red,
Im a sparky and our wholesaler is selling an AEG 18 volt drill and hammer drill combo with a tool bag for $700. i've used a heap of different drills and can't beleive how smooth the operation of the AEG is. heaps of grunt too. as posted earlier AEG and Milwalkee are the same, just diffferent colours.
cheers
jordan

dewalt is the industrial range of black&decker. No relation to ryobi.

Thats what i meant stupid nightshift! 8 days off now

stuff it just get a GMC 18volter until u make up ya mind

Go the blue bosch in an 18v hammer. Special casing so it won't crack or break the battery when dropped. Good quality batteries all the fruit decent price....

These high end drills are sooo expensive. Looking for one right now and can't believe the prices. Glenfords in Tassie is the biggest seller/repairer of cordless drills and they say Dewalt has the least returns of all. It is also their biggest seller by far - to tradies mainly.

Panasonic and Milwalki are next, and GFs say Makita build a crap cordless drill - with many suffering gearbox problems. Hitachi are becoming very popular and offer very good features. All of them have Chinese parts in them somewhere or are built there or Malaysia (I hate that) - but this is fast becoming a fact of life, like it or not.

So, what will I buy - probably Dewalt XRT off Ebay cause they are the cheaper there. No savings on Hitachi over the local dealers and Panasonic don't even figure on EBay. Panasonic is legendary - out hanyman/builder (a milionaire several times over) swears by Panasonic. But he runs air tools in his workshop. He won't touch Festo.

My BIL runs a workshop and has moved to Hitachi lately - so far so good. Others he has trashed and won't buy again include Hilti (too gutless but go forever), Bosch (things seem to fails too easily on these nowadays), Makita (gearbox/motor burn outs -though earlier 9v ones were indistructable), Ryobi (just rubbish) and wait for it - Festo. Festo appear very good with light weight and lots of grunt for their size, but have had problems with chargers failing and they can't be repaired cheaply. So for over 700 dollars and more (new models run to 900 plus), Festo is just not worth the risk, and dealer back up is totally crap in Tas.

Interesting comments, seems Panasonic is still very good.

I got me an AEG 14.4 and find it excellent for the $$ I payed, was about 350 with two batteries and a torch. Apparently the milwakies and the AEG;s have some subtle internal differences, the Milwalkie is geared a bit lower so makes a bit more useable torque
(if you look in chit chat I am sure the tread will still be there) I used my brothers 18v dewalt and found it heavy and a bit gutless .. it was getting to the end of its useful life though

I am a builder and have almost completely stopped using 240 volt tools. I have Hitachi, Dewalt, Bosch and Makita trade range 18 volt gear. Its all good. If I was you I would be looking at something that has the new lithium iron batteries. That is the new coming technology and the lithium iron batteries are much better. Last longer, are lighter and stay charged for ages, ie: they not self discharge in humid weather.
I do like my dewalt drill though. Only problem is the dam thing will not wear out so I have an excuse to buy a new one.

amtravic1 wrote:I am a builder and have almost completely stopped using 240 volt tools. I have Hitachi, Dewalt, Bosch and Makita trade range 18 volt gear. Its all good. If I was you I would be looking at something that has the new lithium iron batteries. That is the new coming technology and the lithium iron batteries are much better. Last longer, are lighter and stay charged for ages, ie: they not self discharge in humid weather.
I do like my dewalt drill though. Only problem is the dam thing will not wear out so I have an excuse to buy a new one.

lol, dewalts next advertising campaign.

I have an 18V Makita, NiMH black battery model, that kicks arse...
Work gave me a 15.6V Panasonic, which despite having a terrible chuck(sounds like crap, lathes the grips of the chuck the first time you use it somewhere tight) can pretty much do everything the Makita can (and it's lighter) until I start drilling 1/2"holes in 8mm steel, or use bigger than 40 mm holesaws

GOT the same as droppypete makita impact drill but 18 v it drive 100mm
scews threw 220mm of pine post it had more to go but run out of drill bit

ive also got the 18v drill 3 speed box a lot better than there obsalete 2 speed box wich went back 6 times for repair they gave the 3 speed to me
as a replcament for the crap 2 speed wich i kept brekin the g/box

dewalt -10 years on mine, only needed nu battery

dewalt -10 years on mine, only needed nu battery

...have reasearched the crap out of this, and settled on a Dewalt XRP DC925, latest 18v model driver/hammer, bought it on EBay, about half the price at retail. Many people said they were very good -dealers and tradies alike. They are as heavy as lead, but last by all accounts.

Can't kill my Makita. Had it for atleast 6 years now and with a flogging the batteries still hold up and the thing works like the day I bought it

Dewalt is releasing a new 36v range of Li-On battery drills. The battery is about 50% larger than the 18v ones, but weighs less than the 18v Nicad's.

mate at work bought a 36v dewalt kit from the states $1800 ish aud shipped with a drill(with hammer), cicular saw, rotary hammer, and sabre saw and 2 bats and torch. got a 240 to 110 converter for 100 from dick smiths and hes happy as.
he was told by the dewalt rep at trade tools that they are bringing the 36v series to aus this year.

i used the circ saw the other day and its magic when your climbing around a ceiling and need to cut one piece of timber.

just went to the aus site and found this
http://www.dewalt.com.au/interactive/36v/

ausoops wrote:mate at work bought a 36v dewalt kit from the states $1800 ish aud shipped with a drill(with hammer), cicular saw, rotary hammer, and sabre saw and 2 bats and torch. got a 240 to 110 converter for 100 from dick smiths and hes happy as.
he was told by the dewalt rep at trade tools that they are bringing the 36v series to aus this year.

i used the circ saw the other day and its magic when your climbing around a ceiling and need to cut one piece of timber.

just went to the aus site and found this
http://www.dewalt.com.au/interactive/36v/

ill make sure we get a set asap

I have had a 18v hitachi for a couple of months and I hate it, I have had trouble with the battery contacts and the handle is spliting, I do use it every day though, also most of the guys at work bought hitacihs and out of five, all but one has had a problem.

I like bosch, both myself and my mate josh, both carpenters have never had any trouble with bosch drills and they seem to last forever.

I should have got another one

Festool is good stuff, Ive used droopypetes drills

Mock