Recommend me a new drill driver

[Screwdriver]

My trusty old Black and Decker is beginning to tire after years of faithful service. Batteries are getting tired and new batteries are hopelessly expensive and one of the few things I wouldn't bother buying s/h.

Great tool and I'd buy another one in a heartbeat but I think I need something a little more chunky, probably an 18v jobbie. I don't need hammer action, I use an SDS wired drill for that

What is the current best value for money general purpose drill driver out there? Any deals?

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Blue or yellow. Take your pick.


I favour dewalt but have some decent Makita gear too.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

I lean towards Dewalt. Good build and if the batteries go south, good aftermarkets ones are available and good prices.

For general jobbing round the home I have some Bosch units. As a drill it lets me down as it only has a 10mm/3/8 chuck.

 

[Burdekin]

I have the Erbauer and it's okay. Used it to screw in 200mm screws into timber and 7.5mn concrete screws. Some of the more expensive ones have a higher torque rating. But get the drill and driver set for an extra £20 if going that route. I didn't see the offer when buying mine. I have a bit of an issue with the price of the batteries and bare tools of the big brands, don't think they are worth the money. The 115mm grinders especially.

 

[WorkshopChris]

Blue or yellow. Take your pick.

What about red?
I am slowly going over to Milwaukee after years of Blue.

 

[Bsmith]

I have 3 Makitas that i think are great.

 

[123hotchef]

What about red?
I am slowly going over to Milwaukee after years of Blue.

Funny me too

 

[Burdekin]

Ah I mis-read your post, thought you were after a impact driver. Anyhow this is the combo deal: https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-...ess-combi-drill-impact-driver-twin-pack/9478t

 

[daleyd]

What about red?
I am slowly going over to Milwaukee after years of Blue.

I'd love to get some Milwaukee stuff, the only thing that puts me off is the price. Notwithstanding that it's very good kit, from my limited experience of it.

I don't use my kit in an industrial environment, so my main criteria was value for money, plus I wanted a decent range of "other" tools so I could expand and buy bare tools as I went along.

(Occasionally a bit of drilling for some din rail, that's about as much as I do for work nowadays. We did some offshore stuff that was a bit more involved but we had a site box sent out - we used Makita for that, I was very impressed especially with the drill and 5ah batteries.)

I went for the Bosch blue stuff from Screwfix (Initially, I've since bought a grinder and circular saw from elsewhere), I haven't been disappointed so far. To be honest, I think for home use you could take your pick from the lower ranges of Bosch, Dewalt and Makita (and probably Hitachi) and you would be fine.

One thing I would ensure is that if you buy from Screwfix/B&Q etc that the batteries on the model you buy are compatible with the rest of their tools - they sometimes have specials made for them that use different batteries to the rest of the range, so if you buy other bare tools they don't fit.

 

[123hotchef]

shame toolstation had £100 off the drill and impact combo with case charger and 2 batteries I was greedy and splashed out on another set to keep in the truck as my Makita stuff has 5 duff batteries now

 

[Burdekin]

shame toolstation had £100 off the drill and impact combo with case charger and 2 batteries I was greedy and splashed out on another set to keep in the truck as my Makita stuff has 5 duff batteries now

I get e-mails from this lot, never used them but the prices seemed good when I had a look. https://www.ffx.co.uk/

 

[R-D-R]

If your starting fresh on your cordless gear consider wider than a drill before hopping onto one system. Look at the other tools each brand offers as it will be cheaper to stick with one brand as you expand your cordless tool collection by just purchasing the "naked" tool from then on. For me i'm currently with Festool for drills, Screwdrivers, sanders and jig saw but have also just swapped out all my old dewalt 18v nicad gear for the new FlexVolt equivalents this is for Grinders, Reciprocating saws etc the difference is night and day.

 

[Johnseat]

Well if you go off what AvE has to say on youtube then the Milwaukee isn't as good as it used to be, the internals aren't what they used to be.
Also on the traders pages on Facebook they seem to say the same.
Everyone seems to like it very the new makita gear and that's what I will be buying when I come to upgrade.

 

[Screwdriver]

I get e-mails from this lot, never used them but the prices seemed good when I had a look. https://www.ffx.co.uk/

Yeah thanks. Very tempted by this: https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product...ombi-Drill-Bare-Unit?c1=1&c2=4&sl=2&sku=26093

But it comes without batteries. Hang on batteries are "four hundred quid off" list price . But still £80 for two with no charger...

Methinks they are buying kits and breaking them down. Batteries appear to be the key issue.

 

[Screwdriver]

If your starting fresh on your cordless gear consider wider than a drill before hopping onto one system. Look at the other tools each brand offers as it will be cheaper to stick with one brand as you expand your cordless tool collection by just purchasing the "naked" tool from then on. For me i'm currently with Festool for drills, Screwdrivers, sanders and jig saw but have also just swapped out all my old dewalt 18v nicad gear for the new FlexVolt equivalents this is for Grinders, Reciprocating saws etc the difference is night and day.

Very good point thanks. This will be my first item in a battery system shopping list. I need another Dremel, the most useful tool in the universe. My first one lasted ten years of serious abuse including making a gas bottle stove and cutting out 1/4 plate. Then, ten years later I bought an "identical" one that lasted literally five minutes before the speed controller went up in smoke. Then I bought anther new battery Dremel, top of the line. Hopeless. Really completely useless thing with batteries that last five minutes and anything other than full speed means NO POWER!

So I guess whatever drill driver I get (NOT an impact drill) would be great if there was a "partner" Dremel type thing that is not a Dremel.

I should make a Venn diagram...

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

What about red?
I am slowly going over to Milwaukee after years of Blue.

True. Got a little red driver howdens gave me free and its pretty solid. Lives in the garage though. Just had a nosey. They do gasless nailguns too. Problem is it gets expensive changing brands once you've got half the range.

 

[Burdekin]

The chuck on my Hitachi is rubbish. Comes lose very easily. I don't know what they are like but I think Ryobi have a deal on, buy one tool and they will give you another free. Think you may have to spend £100.

 

[decca]

Makita for me. I have 2 the batteries last for ever and a well built machine.

 

[123hotchef]

Very good point thanks. This will be my first item in a battery system shopping list. I need another Dremel, the most useful tool in the universe. My first one lasted ten years of serious abuse including making a gas bottle stove and cutting out 1/4 plate. Then, ten years later I bought an "identical" one that lasted literally five minutes before the speed controller went up in smoke. Then I bought anther new battery Dremel, top of the line. Hopeless. Really completely useless thing with batteries that last five minutes and anything other than full speed means NO POWER!

So I guess whatever drill driver I get (NOT an impact drill) would be great if there was a "partner" Dremel type thing that is not a Dremel.

I should make a Venn diagram...

12V milawake then https://www.manomano.co.uk/angle-gr...MIufHl6Jz11wIVqrXtCh1rFgVcEAQYAiABEgIHRfD_BwE

 

[daleyd]

12V milawake then https://www.manomano.co.uk/angle-gr...MIufHl6Jz11wIVqrXtCh1rFgVcEAQYAiABEgIHRfD_BwE

Or any of the others, 18v which would give a better choice when it comes to drills/saws etc...

https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Bosch-Ggs18Vlin-3165140625258-18V-Die-Grinder-Bare-Unit

https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Makita-Bgd800Z-0088381670388-18V-Lxt-Die-Grinder-Bare-Unit