Cordless Drill

[MCW]

The place I bought the Panasonic reckoned they hardly turned over any Bosch, (they sold Makita, Hitachi, DeWalt, Bosch, Metabo and Panasonic in pro lines) absolutely no demand, so who do you believe ?

Yeah I reckon he'd be right. I haven't seen a Bosch cordless apart from my old 12v on any buidlings sites for years. I'd say Hitachi and Makita would have the most in our area and Adelaide. We have a top of the line AEG cordless for the business, nice drill but too bulky. Hardly ever gets used.

At the moment my Bosch 12v is doing a great job with a Torx bit pulling down and putting saws back together again. WAY faster than doing it by hand

 

[tjbier]

I recently bought the Festool T15 and it is by far the best drill I have ever used/seen.
Can't believe I spent that much $ on a drill but I make a living with my tools so it is easier for me to justify.
After buying Festool compared to box store brands... there is no comparison.
Brush less motors are awesome! It did 93 lag screws (Spax) to my Bosch NiCad doing 35.
Plus the drill has 4 adapters for it, the right angle one is cool, and a normal keyless chuck, and eccentric.

 

[mrgoodkat]

Ive never even heard of festool? Where did you pick it up at?

 

[MCW]

I recently bought the Festool T15 and it is by far the best drill I have ever used/seen.
Can't believe I spent that much $ on a drill but I make a living with my tools so it is easier for me to justify.
After buying Festool compared to box store brands... there is no comparison.
Brush less motors are awesome! It did 93 lag screws (Spax) to my Bosch NiCad doing 35.
Plus the drill has 4 adapters for it, the right angle one is cool, and a normal keyless chuck, and eccentric.

Festool is a brand I've heard of but never seen and I agree, brushless motors are the way to go. What did it cost out of interest?

 

[Buzsaw]

I got a Milwaukee 18v lithium about 4 years ago and use it (well, abuse it) daily. It has a 5 year warranty and works well for me. I had a 12v Ni-Cad Makita before the Milwaukee which last for years. It died when it leaped off a roof...I figured it was tool suicide.

 

[tjbier]

Ive never even heard of festool? Where did you pick it up at?

I got mine from Bob Marino online, but all Woodcraft stores sell them.
There is a Woodcraft in Toledo, I just checked for you.:msp_smile:
T 15+3 Lithium Ion Cordless Drill Set - CORDLESS DRILLS - Festool
Look around here, they make IMO, some of the best tools. Pricey no doubt, but they are worth it. The track saws are where it's at.
Many people havn't heard of them which is sad but once you do, watch out, it's an addiction.

Festool is a brand I've heard of but never seen and I agree, brushless motors are the way to go. What did it cost out of interest?

I got it 20% off with a promotion they were just running but it was $ 4oo.
Protool is another line under the parent company Tooltechnic Systems, that is only available in certian markets like, Netherlands, Germany, Aussie, UK.

 

[tdi-rick]

Sergio/Husq2100 rates FessTool above Hilti in battery operated drills/drivers but $$$$

 

[David (saltas)]

festool

festool is a brand of festo

in instrument fitting festo is a major brand, pnuematic solenoids relays etc. see link Festo Australia - Home

I did an apprenticeship as an electrician (4 years) in a mining company, later did another apprenticeship as an instrument fitter (another 4 years), a diploma of electrical engineering (another 4 years of night school).

I used a dewalt xrp 18volt day in day out in construction as a hammer drill doing 16mm 5/8th chemsets, screwing of roofing screws etc etc. But I looked after the bateries, C5 charge rate 9 times, then c10 discharge rate. The industry now considers theses batteries were junk and they earned a bad reputation.

hence my earlier post about how I was not going to make your ears bleed about how to get the best out of a drill/battery combination.

1) buy a major brand, Makita, Dewalt, Panasonic, Hitachi,Festool, Milwaukee
2) buy the pro series if it is going to be a day in day out work horse.
3) buy the brand that has good quality after market batteries available in your area at a affordable price.

In my area it is easier to get Makita clone batteries. with a 12 month no questions warrantee.

1) and 2) are buy quality

3) is about unless you are up to date, and anal about battery maintenance, buy what is going to be easily accessible, right price replacement in your area.

It maybe the dealer has good stock of original and clone batteries from Japan not Bangladesh, or there is a battery re-packer close to you that is not a bush ranger (ned kelly)

curently I own makita 18 li-ion 13mm BDF4543 and makita 18 li-ion BTD140

I have used my employers Dewalt, Panasonic, Festool, Makita, Bosch, Ramset, Hilti, as day in day out work tools, 7.2volt,9volt,12volt,14volt,18volt,24volt,36volt
all were good tools

also a tight-arse that bought GMC18Volt nicad, the mech fitters killed these in 3 to 4 months , I made mine last 2 years, ( absolutely full-time anal battery maintenance).

If you are a DIY re packer buy batteries with tabs on them, keep heat away from battery when soldering them together (e.g. use aluminium heat sink tweasers on tabs). professional re packers have spot welders to do this.

sanyo made good batteries, but have had over heating problems with Li/ion batteries especially with laptops ( google sanyo battery recall and see what I mean).

my first post said get a little drill with a led light if working in tight dark places, get a big drill with a umbilical cable to remote battery on you belt if installing masonry anchors over head 12 hours a day.

their is no best drill/battery, just a drill/battery that suits your needs

 

[tdi-rick]

festool is a brand of festo

[snip]
their is no best drill/battery, just a drill/battery that suits your needs

Excellent post.

Where I am it's a toss up as decent tools are 100km away (200km round trip) and aftermarket batteries are mail order. The Panasonic I bought was at least A$100 cheaper than the comparable pro drills, so my $ went that way.
Excellent tips on rebuilding the packs too.
I don't use the drill daily and not long hours when I do, it's an adjunct to all my other tools not the main tool in the arsenal.

 

[MCW]

If you are a DIY re packer buy batteries with tabs on them, keep heat away from battery when soldering them together (e.g. use aluminium heat sink tweasers on tabs). professional re packers have spot welders to do this.

Thats true. However with a good wattage soldering iron (ie: at least 80w) and by using a flux on the tabs such as Bakers Soldering Fluid (maybe only Australian but is a Zinc formulation) the soldering is done almost immediately with very little heat soak. I found that without using fluid there was no way in hell ordinary 60/40 solder was going to stick but after using it it was like chalk and cheese.

 

[Mad Professor]

millwauke

 

[bcorradi]

millwauke

I agree..I'm a milwaukee tool fan myself.

 

[Anthony_Va.]

The batteries in my 36 volt dewalt tools are nano-phosphate litium ion. I think it's new tech so maybe they'll hold up better. I've had these for about a year now and use them at least 2-3 times a week all day. They are good as new so far.

The power they have is like no other cordless I've used. The drill will about break your wrist. The circular saw will rip thru anything. Best investment in power tools I've ever made. Got the whole set for 600 bucks on Ebay brand new warranty and all. Not refurbs either. It's got a drill, circ saw and sawzall.