Cordless Impact Tool

[Grateful11]

I really like my Craftsman C3 line of cordless tools. I've never been a fan
Craftsman power tools but these are nice and after reading tons of reviews
most others think so too. They currently have the standard 1/4" hex drive
impact driver and now have a 200 ft. lbs. 1/2" Impact gun. The original set
I bought came with a 5 1/2" circular saw, 1/2 drill, Recip. saw, a Florescent light, 2 batteries and a charger for $159, I think it's currently $169.

BTW: They're supposedly made in the same factory as the Ryobi tools but it looks like the Craftsman line has more to choose from.

http://www.craftsman.com/shc/s/nb_10155_12602_NB_C3

http://toolboxhero.com/2010/02/craftsman-19-2-volt-c3-cordless-tools-review-sorting-out-the-mayhem/

http://toolboxhero.com/category/new-tool/

 

[727sunset]

I have a Ridgid 24 volt LI combo set. The impact puts out apx 95 ft/lb, IIRC...enough to do lug nuts on cars. There are many excellent choices in todays market but for occasional user/homeowner who wants an affordable yet reliable cordless impact the Ryobi is a definite winner.

 

[GlenM]

I really like my Craftsman C3 line of cordless tools. I've never been a fan
Craftsman power tools but these are nice and after reading tons of reviews
most others think so too. They currently have the standard 1/4" hex drive
impact driver and now have a 200 ft. lbs. 1/2" Impact gun. The original set
I bought came with a 5 1/2" circular saw, 1/2 drill, Recip. saw, a Florescent light, 2 batteries and a charger for $159, I think it's currently $169.

BTW: They're supposedly made in the same factory as the Ryobi tools but it looks like the Craftsman line has more to choose from.

http://www.craftsman.com/shc/s/nb_10155_12602_NB_C3

http://toolboxhero.com/2010/02/craftsman-19-2-volt-c3-cordless-tools-review-sorting-out-the-mayhem/

http://toolboxhero.com/category/new-tool/

Thanks for taking the time to gather this info, that is approaching, if not at, my price range.
I'm gonna study these guys. +1

 

[MCW]

Here's what you get if you buy cheap cordless tools...

1) Badly designed chucks.
2) Crap batteries that don't last.
3) Generally a reasonable drill that will far outlast it's chuck and batteries

I repacked an old Black and Decker 14.4v 1.4Ah Ni-Cad battery pack for my dad with 3.0Ah NiMh batteries and that cheap drill has been a weapon ever since.

I use all Hitachi 18v Li-Ion as far as my cordless tools go but honestly think the Makita/Panasonic drills are slightly better in that price bracket. Next step up is Hilti but Hilti's are a bit spendy here. I've seen too many problems with both DeWalt and Milwaukee over the years (from numerous tradesmen) to rate them as high as Hitachi etc. Despite this the DeWalts are still popular but many tradesmen won't touch them anymore. Not many Milwaukees around as too pricey for what you get.

 

[Brmorgan]

DeWalt for some reason seems to have not embraced Li-Ion as much as the other manufacturers. My brother is an electrician and used to use a DeWalt 18V NiMH for drilling and driving, but after using my Makita he bought a set of those, along with a little 10.8V impact driver just for driving screws. Both of the Makitas together are scant heavier than the DeWalt alone.

 

[GlenM]

Your're right of course, but I don't use these type tools every day like a lot of you all do, and not nearly as heavy use.
I've go a HF 'chinese' 12V cordless drill I probably use more for chuckin in a Q-tip to clean carbs than I do anything else, and great for drywall screws on projects, .
thanks,

 

[roncoinc]

UH,,,,,,did anybody get the price range ???
notice "cheap" was in the requirments ??
why suggest to somebody they pay a lot of money for an overpriced tool they dont want OR need ??
get a cheap black & decker and call it good,,you aint making a living with the tool !

 

[GlenM]

That be right-on!

 

[heimannm]

Except for the momentary elation as the really low price, I think you would be sorely disappointed with the HF stuff. Buy something with a name you recognize and you will be much better off in the long run.

For what it's worth, I have a stable full of DeWalt, they're Yellow and Black after all.

Seems to me that the more you use them the longer the batteries last. I have two sets of three 18v XRP all from around 2007, one of the lot have failed already. Prior to that I ran both 12 and 18v stuff (alternating two batteries) for 4-5 years and they just kept going and going.

Mark

 

[indiansprings]

We won a little Hitachi 12 vlt lithium at a raffle and it's been great, came with two batteries and charger, you can get them for around 90.00 bucks at Lowes, reduced from around 140.00, we have screw thousands of inch sheet metal screws putting on metal on barns, we use it all the time, we have made a T-27 extended Torx to go on it for saw disassembly and it speeds thing up dramatically. Based on the hell ours has gone through for the last two years I would highly recommend it. I see Milwaukee 12vlt lithiums advertised at around 110.00 with two batteries and charger at a local hardware. I have no complaints on the Hitachi, our Stihl dealer uses a Craftsman and really likes it.

 

[joe912]

I Next step up is Hilti but Hilti's are a bit spendy here. .

Hilti is expensive everywhere. Great stuff though.

DeWalt = Yellow Black and Decker. It's true, look it up.

I have a Bosch Brute Tough 18V that has been used and abused over the years. The Swiss made Bosch tools are excellent. Dropped it off the second story of my house. When it hit the ground, the battery shot out of it and landed about fifteen feet away. Climbed down the ladder, reinstalled the battery, then proceeded to throw the drill back up on the roof. Went back to work with zero problems.

Oh yeah, had ProCell rebuild the battery packs last fall. batteries weren't holding charge anymore.

 

[spacemule]

I'm a DeWalt fan, so this pains me to say, but their cordless impacts suck. We set up a demonstration at work, and I got to play with the cordless tools putting them to their limits. The Makita is the best value hands down. It was able to drive a 1/2" diameter, 8" long lag screw into a 4x6 with no pre drilling and with no difficulty. We were able to sink the bolt deep enough that you could not get a socket on it to back it out. The DeWalt version would barely drive a 3/8" lag screw, and it was slower. Both of these were 18volt versions.

Not only did the higher priced blue pro grade version beat the pro grade DeWalt, the lightweight white homeowner version did as well. In fact, the bottom of the food chain Ryobi beat the DeWalt. Now, this is not an easy test, as a 1/2" lag bolt is a big assed bolt--the bolt head was too hot to touch after doing this.

Milwaukee is heavy duty and heavy built, but their power and drive speed was middle of the road.

My $.02.

 

[spacemule]

UH,,,,,,did anybody get the price range ???
notice "cheap" was in the requirments ??
why suggest to somebody they pay a lot of money for an overpriced tool they dont want OR need ??
get a cheap black & decker and call it good,,you aint making a living with the tool !

You'd be better off using your money as toilet paper--at least you'd get some use out of it.

 

[ironman_gq]

I got the Hitach Li-Ion battery set had the drill impact driver and light with 2 batteries at Lowes for less than $250. Really light and lots of power

 

[7sleeper]

I torque & loosen by hand, but then use my 12v Bosch blue line(pro model) cordless drill do the rest. I have many different nuts and bits double so that is an easy way for me. I just have the feeling I have more control by hand. Maybe I'm just paranoid. But then again I don't need them that often.

7

 

[MCW]

The Swiss made Bosch tools are excellent. Dropped it off the second story of my house. When it hit the ground, the battery shot out of it and landed about fifteen feet away. Climbed down the ladder, reinstalled the battery, then proceeded to throw the drill back up on the roof. Went back to work with zero problems.

Oh yeah, had ProCell rebuild the battery packs last fall. batteries weren't holding charge anymore.

I have two old Swiss made 12v Bosch drills. Great little units and both have had their original 1.2Ah Ni-Cad batteries repacked with 3.0Ah Ni-Mh. Small and relatively powerful. They'll fit into tight spots that the bigger drills won't I bought them both in 1995 and they have seen a lot of use. Apart from the batteries needing repacking they have never missed a beat.

 

[Grateful11]

I was pretty big on Dewalt until one of their chargers almost burned my FIL's
house down. Now I have a 14.4V charger and battery that's permanently
melted together. Then when I went replace it I saw Dewalt had gone to
Mexico but didn't bother dropping their priced. That's when I started looked
at other brands and the Craftsman C3 line reviews stood out, yea they're from
China but if it's coming from outside the US you should at least be able to save
a little money unlike some companies that move out of the US and leave their
prices where they were.

 

[MCW]

I was pretty big on Dewalt until one of their chargers almost burned my FIL's
house down. Now I have a 14.4V charger and battery that's permanently
melted together. Then when I went replace it I saw Dewalt had gone to
Mexico but didn't bother dropping their priced. That's when I started looked
at other brands and the Craftsman C3 line reviews stood out, yea they're from
China but if it's coming from outside the US you should at least be able to save
a little money unlike some companies that move out of the US and leave their
prices where they were.

I completely agree. Most major tool manufacturers are moving to China but as mentioned, their pricing does not reflect this. All of my cordless Hitachi gear has come from the US and I just use a 240v/110v step down transformer to run the US 110v chargers.
My 18v tools were landed in Australia from the US for less than half the cost of buying them here - I also had a chuck lock solid on my first 18v Hitachi drill and the dealer in the US replaced the whole drill with a new one and refunded my postage back to the US. That sort of service is hard to come by, damn near impossible in Australia!

 

[DSS]

Some one mentioned dewalt and black and decker being the same , that is true.
I have an old b&d router and can't get parts for it ,except through dewalt.Exactly the same machine.
I was told that craftsman and ridgid were the same company also.
Awful lot of people around here, guys that had nothing but dewalt, wont touch them now. Seems the quality has gone down since the move.