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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 316
L
Member
I have the milwaukee 28 volt Lithium Ion
I bought the 4 peice set off E-bay. I got it for $ 200.00 cheaper then the retail stores including the tool stores and the supply house. I am impressed with it so far. It weighs the same as the 18 volt drills and it's just a tiny big bigger.

Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 19
L
Member
You got a good price! To be fair it is about the same weight as the 18 but the battery is bigger. I think it is a bit shorter and a bit wider. I should note that I use a 14 volt for basic work these days and only bust out the 28v for big stuff and only grab the 18 if everything else is dead. that's why I say it is too big and heavy for basic work.

I forgot to mention Porter Cable in my last post as well. They have some good cordless equipment.

Anyone ever pay the premium for Hilti cordless tools?

Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 717
M
Member
I've been using Panasonic brand for quite a long time now. I've had a 15.6 volt lithium ion with two 3.5 amp hour batterys for at least the last 4 years and it is still going strong with the same two battery's that came with the set. But I did burn up two previous Panasonic drills by putting ship's auger bits into the 1/2" chucks. I have heard elsewhere that it is no problem doing that with a Dewalt 18 volt cordless, so the Dewalt motor itself must be a more powerful motor.

Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 272
L
Member
Originally Posted by Trumpy

Actually they do Luke, they go up to 13mm here.


Ok I stand corrected, just never seen a B&D 1/2 (13mm) drill yet. smile

One another note, those Dewalt 18v drills are heavy duty for sure. Using auger bits, or step (unibits)...all day and, the smoke stays in the drill.

I just hope they don't decide to change the internal setup.


Luke Clarke
Electrical Planner for TVA.

Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 830
S
Member
I made a decision. Seen where one of you fellows got one at ebay. I went to ebay and found another Dewalt for under $ 97.00 including shipping and shipping insurance. Of course the battery didn't come with it, but I already have the batteries. It's brand new and just like the one I have but should work:) Steve

Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 943
Likes: 2
N
Member
Just remember the following brand names are owned by Black & Dorker.
1) DeWalt

2) Porter-Cable

3) Delta

4) Emglo

5) and of course Black & Decker

Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,445
Likes: 2
Cat Servant
Member
I'm not about to get into the "Brand X vs Brand Y" debate .... that discussion too often takes on religious overtones.

I do have some hammer-drill observations, though .....

My cordless DeWalt does seem to have the right mix of rotation / frequency / amount of impact to drill effectively in brick, block, and softer concrete. This contrasts to a corded Skil I hadmthat seemed only to make more noise on the 'hammerdrill' setting!

In a similar manner, a small Bosch (corded) I used long ago wasn't very good with super-hard brick, while the Hilti (of similar size) drilled very well.

The corded Milwaukee I also have to say I've had decent results with.

Now... as for 'different brands that come out of the same factory'.... I've had both the DeWalt and FireStorm (Black and Decker) cordless reciprocating saws. Let's see ... $280 for the DeW, $90 for the FS. You think there might be a difference?
The FS lasted about six months, before the plastic gears within were completely stripped. The batteries took an hour to charge, were vulnerable to overcharging, and crapped out after two or three cycles. The almost identical (in appearance) DeWalt batteries last me about 18 months (on average). Differences were also felt in weight, balance, and vibration.

Carry the same comparison over to drills. My DeWalt Drill spins quite a bit faster than the B&D. There also seems to be quite a bit more torque in the DeWalt ... ironic, again, as the batteries are almost interchangeable.
Indeed, I made a slight change to the B&D so that they would accept the DeWalt batteries ... so my comparisons are based upon the tools alone, and not the battery!

The biggest problem with hammerdrills is the temptation to ask too much of them.
I limit my use of the hammerdrill to 1/4" holes, or smaller. Larger than that gets a roto-hammer.
Some smaller holes ... such as holes for tapcons (the blue screws) into concrete are also very likely to be made with the roto-hammer.

Joined: May 2005
Posts: 706
T
Member
A little off subject...all cordless hammer drills are useless compared to a rotary hammer. I bought a rotary hammer a few years ago & haven't used a hammer drill since. I use Porter Cable corded & Panasonic cordless and have only trashed one of the Panasonics in several years. The Panasonic 1/2" 18v hammer drill disassembled in an odd situation where I was backing out of a hole & caught an edge that unassembled the chuck.

Dave

Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 449
F
Member
I have 18V and 14V Milwaukee hammer drills. I have had them for over 3 years and only had one battery take a dump and Milwaukee replaced it free of charge. I have had DeWalt and Porter Cable as well but have been happiest with the Milwaukee. I only use a cordless hammer drill for setting TapCons and other small anchors up to 5/16" dia. Anything bigger(up to 3") gets the corded Bosch SDS. 4"-6" gets the Dewalt spline drive and if its bigger than that I call the core drilling crew.

Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 482
Z
Member
Tiger, sure a rotary is a superior tool, but when you're 30' up on a ladder drilling a couple of 1/4" concrete plug-anchor holes for a wallpack, nothing beats the portability of a cordless, not to mention the lack of line power in a lot of locations. I keep a good rotary on the truck (Hilti) too, but usually only break it out for super-deep or super-fat holes.

I really think the introduction of cordless tools with the technology of reliable batteries has revolutionalized our industry over the past decade and a half or so. I dont know how we got along without them before...

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