cordless drill/driver

I would suggest a drill with at least 18V. I have a Black&Decker 18V. I
was at a friends house installing a shelf and used their Porter Cable 12V
on 3 inch screws. The B&D out performed the PC. It's all about torque. The
B&D was also cheap $60 CDN at HD.

Why by tools for a lifetime when you are over 50?
Take care
Ron
"Tom Veatch" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 6 Sep 2004 07:45:05 -0700, [email protected] (Sathyan Sundaram)
wrote:
>
> >Please recommend a few cordless drill/drivers to try out? Right now I
> >have a Skil 6265 (5 Amp corded) but would like to get a cordless for
> >outdoor use and where an outlet is not convenient.
> >
> >I'd like to buy something from DeWalt, Porter Cable, etc. or
> >equivalent. Under $200. For woodworking, decks, household repairs.
> >3/8" variable speed.
> >
> >thanks
> >Sathyan
>
>
> I have been extremely well pleased with my DeWalt DW929. It's a 3/8 chuck,
18v
> cordless in their "compact" series. . Adequate run time on the batteries.
Fairly
> light weight as 18v drills go, well balanced in the hand, more than enough
> torque to do anything I've asked a 3/8 drill to do, and adequate runtime
on the
> batteries. The XRP extended runtime battery also fits at the expense of a
little
> more weight in the hand. The 929 has been discontinued and replaced with
the
> DW959 which has a 1/2 inch chuck and is a pound or so heavier. A quick
Froogle
> shows the 929 to still be on the shelves at several places.
>
> I believe you could find either one, 3/8 or 1/2, for less than your price
> cutoff. I didn't look for reconditioned, but that might also be a
possibility.
> I've been pleased in the past with my experiences with factory
reconditioned
> tools.
>
> Tom Veatch
> Wichita, KS USA

By 6 Sep 2004 07:45:05 -0700, [email protected] (Sathyan Sundaram)
decided to post "cordless drill/driver" to rec.woodworking:

>Please recommend a few cordless drill/drivers to try out? Right now I
>have a Skil 6265 (5 Amp corded) but would like to get a cordless for
>outdoor use and where an outlet is not convenient.
>
>I'd like to buy something from DeWalt, Porter Cable, etc. or
>equivalent. Under $200. For woodworking, decks, household repairs.
>3/8" variable speed.
>
>thanks
>Sathyan

I had a PC 12v for several years, and liked it a lot -- good balance,
fairly powerful. But the batteries didn't' last but about 100 charges.
And I kept wearing out the little tiny motors. Eventually after 4 motors,
and two trigger switches, re-soldering the wiring several times, and maybe
10 batteries, I gave up on the Porter Cable cordless tool. It really
didn't stand up to professional use, and parts and construction were
substandard.

Did a bunch of networking work and took in trade an 18v Dewalt kit; it was
about 300-400 US$ at the time on sale. 1/2" hammer drill, small circ saw
and a recip saw. I like the drill a good bit -- it's heavier, but the
batteries go a long way on a charge, and it's more powerful. The circular
saw has all but replaced my other two, esp for cutting sheet goods. The
recip saw is ok, and can be handy, but is not powerful enough to, say, cut
RR ties, or cast iron pipe (which together wore out two PC Tiger saws for
me...), but it does handle studs, limbs and trees up to about 3-4" with the
right blade, and almost any size of pvc pipe. The recip saw wears out
batteries faster than either of the other tool.

Been using this dewalt cordless stuff for about 1.5 years, and the
batteries are starting to get old, not hold a charge as long. One battery
(of the 2 supplied in the kit) won't charge fully, even after a deep cycle
charge. Looks like it's dying. Used it today tho to make about 100" of
cut in 5/8" hardwood ply, then remove about 50 2" screws, and drive about
35 1 to 2.5" screws. So I guess it still has a little reserve.

Overall I'd recommend the Dewalt stuff if it prices within range for ya.

/ts



--

find / -iname "*gw*" -exec rm -rf {} \;

In heaven, there is no beer,
That's why we drink it here,
And when we're all gone from here,
Our friends will be drinking all the beer!
-- Famous old Czech song about beer --

On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 21:22:50 GMT, Badger <[email protected]>
calmly ranted:

>Larry Jaques wrote:
>> What type of failures did he experience? WHAT didn't last 6 months?
>>
>2 gearboxes and all batt packs

Suckage. I just replaced one of two dead battery packs for my
14.4v Ryobi tools. They lasted over 2 years, so I got my use
out of them. Of course, my entire tool package (drill motor,
circular saw, 2 batt packs, charger, case) was less than one
of the DW drill motors cost, so I'm even happier.

See Cheapa^H^H^H^H^H^HFrugality Pays!



-------------------------------------------------------------
give me The Luxuries Of Life * http://www.diversify.com
i can live without the necessities * 2 Tee collections online
-------------------------------------------------------------

On 6 Sep 2004 07:45:05 -0700, [email protected] (Sathyan Sundaram)
wrote:

>Please recommend a few cordless drill/drivers to try out? Right now I
>have a Skil 6265 (5 Amp corded) but would like to get a cordless for
>outdoor use and where an outlet is not convenient.
>
>I'd like to buy something from DeWalt, Porter Cable, etc. or
>equivalent. Under $200. For woodworking, decks, household repairs.
>3/8" variable speed.
>
>thanks
>Sathyan


Panasonic EY6432. This cordless drill is 15.6v and compact.
Milwaukee and Bosch are good brands too. But, I bet your Skil will
outlast any corded drill. If you really want to save money, buy a
heavy-duty outdoor extension cord for your corded drill.

On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 00:50:53 GMT, patriarch
<<patriarch>[email protected]> wrote:

<snip>

>Patriarch,
>who's not 25 any more...

Oh, I hear you! ... At least I think I do. The ears don't work quite as well as
they used to. Along with the knees, hips, shoulders, memory, and a couple of
other parts that will go unmentioned.


Tom Veatch
Wichita, KS USA

Cant beat the Dewalt (pronounced DEE'-walt) 14.4 XRP. Best drill out there.
I go through drills all the time and I've had the Dewalt for years. It's
outlived about 5 or 6 others.


"Mike Reed" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have a shop full of Porter Cable stuff and love it all.
>
> I have the 12V Cordless drill for light-duty shop work. The biggest
> job I used it for was hanging the 3 pressure-treated rails for 600
> feet of privacy fence. I used 3" decking screws. The drill did great
> for this job, with a battery lasting around 3 hours, and the spare
> only taking 45 minutes to charge. The drill had enough torque to push
> the screw head through the face and bury it until the threads left the
> other side. It has enough torque to drive un-piloted gate-hardware
> bolts into wet pressure treated pine (9/16" heads, 2" long?).
>
> For the fence, I went through about 7lbs of screws with no lapses in
> charge with two batteries. Decking would require more rapid use, so a
> 12V may have a tough time keeping up. If you keep the charger
> air-conditioned or in a freezer, it may work out though. Personally, I
> wouldn't (and didn't) buy a big drill just for the possibility of an
> extreme 1-time job like a deck. I can just pull out the cords for that
> -- decks don't move very far anyway. Most of the many hours of use the
> drill has gotten are in the shop working on small projects.
>
> My dad has a couple 14.4V DeWalts and loves them. I just can't bring
> myself to get any DeWalt stuff when I've had such great performance
> from my gray and black tools. I have a full shop, and the only yellow
> thing in it is a box of DeWalt HSS drill bits.
>
> -Mike
>
>
> [email protected] (Sathyan Sundaram) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > Please recommend a few cordless drill/drivers to try out? Right now I
> > have a Skil 6265 (5 Amp corded) but would like to get a cordless for
> > outdoor use and where an outlet is not convenient.
> >
> > I'd like to buy something from DeWalt, Porter Cable, etc. or
> > equivalent. Under $200. For woodworking, decks, household repairs.
> > 3/8" variable speed.
> >
> > thanks
> > Sathyan

H/D Lowes have a "price war going on right now: DeWalt 12V cordless/ 2
batt/one hour charger/case for $ 119.00
I ve got a lot of use ouy of mine building 2 houses over the last 5-6 yrs.

If you pick one of the stores, check the price, then advise the otherguy and
you'll probably get another 5% (or is it 10%) off using the 'low price
guarantee' they advertise.


>>Please recommend a few cordless drill/drivers to try out? Right now I
>>have a Skil 6265 (5 Amp corded) but would like to get a cordless for
>>outdoor use and where an outlet is not convenient.
...to buy something from DeWalt, Porter Cable, etc. or
>>equivalent. Under $200. For woodworking, decks, household repairs.
>>3/8" variable speed.

Larry Jaques wrote:
>>
>>If that were still the case, dewalt, like others is now targetting new
>>markets, pretty colours for women and all that, and making down to a
>>price, not upto a quality, better than most, but still not as good as
>>even 5 years ago IMHO.
>>A friend bought 6 dewalts for his aerospace shop last year (careful
>>work, not abused) not one lasted 6 months....
>
>
> What type of failures did he experience? WHAT didn't last 6 months?
>
2 gearboxes and all batt packs

I have a Makita 12v I got for Christmas about five years ago. Haven't
counted the charges (light use) so I don't know if I've reached that
magic 100 yet. No problems with the motor and the batteries hold enough
charge to get a reasonable amount of work done driving drywall screws or
general around the shop hole drilling. Used it to install twenty or so
paper towel dispensers at work. Four holes each, plastic inserts, drove
the screws to secure the dispenser. One charge.

bob g.

/.. wrote:

> By 6 Sep 2004 07:45:05 -0700, [email protected] (Sathyan Sundaram)
> decided to post "cordless drill/driver" to rec.woodworking:
>
>
>>Please recommend a few cordless drill/drivers to try out? Right now I
>>have a Skil 6265 (5 Amp corded) but would like to get a cordless for
>>outdoor use and where an outlet is not convenient.
>>
>>I'd like to buy something from DeWalt, Porter Cable, etc. or
>>equivalent. Under $200. For woodworking, decks, household repairs.
>>3/8" variable speed.
>>
>>thanks
>>Sathyan
>
>
> I had a PC 12v for several years, and liked it a lot -- good balance,
> fairly powerful. But the batteries didn't' last but about 100 charges.
> And I kept wearing out the little tiny motors. Eventually after 4 motors,
> and two trigger switches, re-soldering the wiring several times, and maybe
> 10 batteries, I gave up on the Porter Cable cordless tool. It really
> didn't stand up to professional use, and parts and construction were
> substandard.
>
> Did a bunch of networking work and took in trade an 18v Dewalt kit; it was
> about 300-400 US$ at the time on sale. 1/2" hammer drill, small circ saw
> and a recip saw. I like the drill a good bit -- it's heavier, but the
> batteries go a long way on a charge, and it's more powerful. The circular
> saw has all but replaced my other two, esp for cutting sheet goods. The
> recip saw is ok, and can be handy, but is not powerful enough to, say, cut
> RR ties, or cast iron pipe (which together wore out two PC Tiger saws for
> me...), but it does handle studs, limbs and trees up to about 3-4" with the
> right blade, and almost any size of pvc pipe. The recip saw wears out
> batteries faster than either of the other tool.
>
> Been using this dewalt cordless stuff for about 1.5 years, and the
> batteries are starting to get old, not hold a charge as long. One battery
> (of the 2 supplied in the kit) won't charge fully, even after a deep cycle
> charge. Looks like it's dying. Used it today tho to make about 100" of
> cut in 5/8" hardwood ply, then remove about 50 2" screws, and drive about
> 35 1 to 2.5" screws. So I guess it still has a little reserve.
>
> Overall I'd recommend the Dewalt stuff if it prices within range for ya.
>
> /ts
>
>
>
> --
>
> find / -iname "*gw*" -exec rm -rf {} \;
>
> In heaven, there is no beer,
> That's why we drink it here,
> And when we're all gone from here,
> Our friends will be drinking all the beer!
> -- Famous old Czech song about beer --

Tom Veatch <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> On 6 Sep 2004 07:45:05 -0700, [email protected] (Sathyan Sundaram)
> wrote:
>
>>Please recommend a few cordless drill/drivers to try out? Right now I
>>have a Skil 6265 (5 Amp corded) but would like to get a cordless for
>>outdoor use and where an outlet is not convenient.
>>
>>I'd like to buy something from DeWalt, Porter Cable, etc. or
>>equivalent. Under $200. For woodworking, decks, household repairs.
>>3/8" variable speed.
>>
>>thanks
>>Sathyan
>
>
> I have been extremely well pleased with my DeWalt DW929. It's a 3/8
> chuck, 18v cordless in their "compact" series. . Adequate run time on
> the batteries. Fairly light weight as 18v drills go, well balanced in
> the hand, more than enough torque to do anything I've asked a 3/8
> drill to do, and adequate runtime on the batteries. The XRP extended
> runtime battery also fits at the expense of a little more weight in
> the hand. The 929 has been discontinued and replaced with the DW959
> which has a 1/2 inch chuck and is a pound or so heavier. A quick
> Froogle shows the 929 to still be on the shelves at several places.
>
> I believe you could find either one, 3/8 or 1/2, for less than your
> price cutoff. I didn't look for reconditioned, but that might also be
> a possibility. I've been pleased in the past with my experiences with
> factory reconditioned tools.
>
> Tom Veatch
> Wichita, KS USA
>

I just recently bought the DeWalt 3/8" 12v cordless. About $129, IIRC, at
the Orange Borg. The 12v made more sense for me, because this one was an
augment to the 1/2" 12v DeWalt I purchased about 18 months ago.
Interchangable charger. Similar batteries could be swapped in a pinch.

The only reason I needed a second cordless was that the 1/2" had much more
torque than I needed for most jobs, and strained my neck and shoulder when
used for extended periods. The new one is lighter, and easier to use for
many tasks. There is a lot to be said for matching the tools to the user
and the requirement, and not just getting the Binford Torquemaster 5000....

Patriarch,
who's not 25 any more...

I have a shop full of Porter Cable stuff and love it all.

I have the 12V Cordless drill for light-duty shop work. The biggest
job I used it for was hanging the 3 pressure-treated rails for 600
feet of privacy fence. I used 3" decking screws. The drill did great
for this job, with a battery lasting around 3 hours, and the spare
only taking 45 minutes to charge. The drill had enough torque to push
the screw head through the face and bury it until the threads left the
other side. It has enough torque to drive un-piloted gate-hardware
bolts into wet pressure treated pine (9/16" heads, 2" long?).

For the fence, I went through about 7lbs of screws with no lapses in
charge with two batteries. Decking would require more rapid use, so a
12V may have a tough time keeping up. If you keep the charger
air-conditioned or in a freezer, it may work out though. Personally, I
wouldn't (and didn't) buy a big drill just for the possibility of an
extreme 1-time job like a deck. I can just pull out the cords for that
-- decks don't move very far anyway. Most of the many hours of use the
drill has gotten are in the shop working on small projects.

My dad has a couple 14.4V DeWalts and loves them. I just can't bring
myself to get any DeWalt stuff when I've had such great performance
from my gray and black tools. I have a full shop, and the only yellow
thing in it is a box of DeWalt HSS drill bits.

-Mike


[email protected] (Sathyan Sundaram) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Please recommend a few cordless drill/drivers to try out? Right now I
> have a Skil 6265 (5 Amp corded) but would like to get a cordless for
> outdoor use and where an outlet is not convenient.
>
> I'd like to buy something from DeWalt, Porter Cable, etc. or
> equivalent. Under $200. For woodworking, decks, household repairs.
> 3/8" variable speed.
>
> thanks
> Sathyan

On 6 Sep 2004 07:45:05 -0700, [email protected] (Sathyan Sundaram)
wrote:

>Please recommend a few cordless drill/drivers to try out? Right now I
>have a Skil 6265 (5 Amp corded) but would like to get a cordless for
>outdoor use and where an outlet is not convenient.
>
>I'd like to buy something from DeWalt, Porter Cable, etc. or
>equivalent. Under $200. For woodworking, decks, household repairs.
>3/8" variable speed.

Try yard sale, flea market, auction ...but be careful ...check it out
thoroughly first. I just recently got a Makita 3/8" cordless
reversible for $7 Can [$5.38 US] at a yard sale, and for that price
just checked if it went round and round when I pressed the trigger.
Not a damned thing wrong with it that I can see.

Bill.

Rebel (Ron) wrote:

> I would suggest a drill with at least 18V. I have a Black&Decker 18V. I
> was at a friends house installing a shelf and used their Porter Cable 12V
> on 3 inch screws. The B&D out performed the PC. It's all about torque.
> The B&D was also cheap $60 CDN at HD.
>
> Why by tools for a lifetime when you are over 50?

Good thought. Creative application of Murphy's law--if you buy crappy tools
you'll live long enough to need to replace them. Although someone 50 years
old has anywhere from 20 to 50 good years left barring accident or serious
misfortune.

> Take care
> Ron
> "Tom Veatch" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> On 6 Sep 2004 07:45:05 -0700, [email protected] (Sathyan Sundaram)
> wrote:
>>
>> >Please recommend a few cordless drill/drivers to try out? Right now I
>> >have a Skil 6265 (5 Amp corded) but would like to get a cordless for
>> >outdoor use and where an outlet is not convenient.
>> >
>> >I'd like to buy something from DeWalt, Porter Cable, etc. or
>> >equivalent. Under $200. For woodworking, decks, household repairs.
>> >3/8" variable speed.
>> >
>> >thanks
>> >Sathyan
>>
>>
>> I have been extremely well pleased with my DeWalt DW929. It's a 3/8
>> chuck,
> 18v
>> cordless in their "compact" series. . Adequate run time on the batteries.
> Fairly
>> light weight as 18v drills go, well balanced in the hand, more than
>> enough torque to do anything I've asked a 3/8 drill to do, and adequate
>> runtime
> on the
>> batteries. The XRP extended runtime battery also fits at the expense of a
> little
>> more weight in the hand. The 929 has been discontinued and replaced with
> the
>> DW959 which has a 1/2 inch chuck and is a pound or so heavier. A quick
> Froogle
>> shows the 929 to still be on the shelves at several places.
>>
>> I believe you could find either one, 3/8 or 1/2, for less than your price
>> cutoff. I didn't look for reconditioned, but that might also be a
> possibility.
>> I've been pleased in the past with my experiences with factory
> reconditioned
>> tools.
>>
>> Tom Veatch
>> Wichita, KS USA

--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Brandon wrote:

> Cant beat the Dewalt (pronounced DEE'-walt) 14.4 XRP. Best drill out there.
> I go through drills all the time and I've had the Dewalt for years. It's
> outlived about 5 or 6 others.
>
If that were still the case, dewalt, like others is now targetting new
markets, pretty colours for women and all that, and making down to a
price, not upto a quality, better than most, but still not as good as
even 5 years ago IMHO.
A friend bought 6 dewalts for his aerospace shop last year (careful
work, not abused) not one lasted 6 months....

Niel.

> Brandon wrote:
>
>> Cant beat the Dewalt (pronounced DEE'-walt) 14.4 XRP. Best drill out there.
>> I go through drills all the time and I've had the Dewalt for years. It's
>> outlived about 5 or 6 others.
>>
> A friend bought 6 dewalts for his aerospace shop last year (careful
> work, not abused) not one lasted 6 months....


I've still got a Dewalt 14.4 that both batteries have gotten weak. I replaced
it with a Milwaukee 18V hammer drill. I got a vivid demonstration a couple of
days ago when I needed to drill a couple of holes in one of the cast iron wings
on my table saw to mount a new dust catcher type saw guard. The Milwaukee went
through the cast iron like it was butter. I'd still be grinding away if I'd
used the Dewalt.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

[email protected]
http://www.mortimerschnerd.com

On 6 Sep 2004 07:45:05 -0700, [email protected] (Sathyan Sundaram)
wrote:

>Please recommend a few cordless drill/drivers to try out? Right now I
>have a Skil 6265 (5 Amp corded) but would like to get a cordless for
>outdoor use and where an outlet is not convenient.

For deck building or similar work, try one with impact capability.
It'll drive long screws with much less effort.

Barry

On 6 Sep 2004 07:45:05 -0700, [email protected] (Sathyan Sundaram)
wrote:

>Please recommend a few cordless drill/drivers to try out? Right now I
>have a Skil 6265 (5 Amp corded) but would like to get a cordless for
>outdoor use and where an outlet is not convenient.
>
>I'd like to buy something from DeWalt, Porter Cable, etc. or
>equivalent. Under $200. For woodworking, decks, household repairs.
>3/8" variable speed.
>
>thanks
>Sathyan
Have had two Makita's over the years.... replaced them with a Dewalt
14.4 that now is suffering from tired batteries. It's been a workhorse
though and given me good service. That said I will give serious
consideration to the Panasonic 15.6 (?) ... a co-worker has one and
it's a nice unit. I find most of the 18 volts are too bulky for my
needs. The Panasonic offers a bit of an upgrade (over my Dewalt 14.4)
but in a very compact package. Whatever you decide, make sure you go
somewhere where you can handle 'em for yourself and see what feels
right for you.
Good Luck
Lenny

On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 10:10:45 +0100, "njf>badger<"
<"njf>badger<"@soton.ac.uk> calmly ranted:

>
>
>Brandon wrote:
>
>> Cant beat the Dewalt (pronounced DEE'-walt) 14.4 XRP. Best drill out there.
>> I go through drills all the time and I've had the Dewalt for years. It's
>> outlived about 5 or 6 others.
>>
>If that were still the case, dewalt, like others is now targetting new
>markets, pretty colours for women and all that, and making down to a
>price, not upto a quality, better than most, but still not as good as
>even 5 years ago IMHO.
>A friend bought 6 dewalts for his aerospace shop last year (careful
>work, not abused) not one lasted 6 months....

What type of failures did he experience? WHAT didn't last 6 months?


-------------------------------------------------------------
give me The Luxuries Of Life * http://www.diversify.com
i can live without the necessities * 2 Tee collections online
-------------------------------------------------------------

On 6 Sep 2004 07:45:05 -0700, [email protected] (Sathyan Sundaram) wrote:

>Please recommend a few cordless drill/drivers to try out? Right now I
>have a Skil 6265 (5 Amp corded) but would like to get a cordless for
>outdoor use and where an outlet is not convenient.
>
>I'd like to buy something from DeWalt, Porter Cable, etc. or
>equivalent. Under $200. For woodworking, decks, household repairs.
>3/8" variable speed.
>
>thanks
>Sathyan


I have been extremely well pleased with my DeWalt DW929. It's a 3/8 chuck, 18v
cordless in their "compact" series. . Adequate run time on the batteries. Fairly
light weight as 18v drills go, well balanced in the hand, more than enough
torque to do anything I've asked a 3/8 drill to do, and adequate runtime on the
batteries. The XRP extended runtime battery also fits at the expense of a little
more weight in the hand. The 929 has been discontinued and replaced with the
DW959 which has a 1/2 inch chuck and is a pound or so heavier. A quick Froogle
shows the 929 to still be on the shelves at several places.

I believe you could find either one, 3/8 or 1/2, for less than your price
cutoff. I didn't look for reconditioned, but that might also be a possibility.
I've been pleased in the past with my experiences with factory reconditioned
tools.

Tom Veatch
Wichita, KS USA