Lithium-Ion battery powered drills
wildwood
| Posted in Power Tools and Machinery on
With the recent discussion on cordless tools, I am wondering if many of you have gotten into the new lithium-ion battery powered tools and what you think of them?
I am considering purchasing a hammer-drill for use in drilling into concrete block walls. Ones I have considered so far are a Makita, Milwaukee and Hitachi. I would appreciate input (pro or con) on any of these or other brands using the Li-I battery.
Replies
For your purposes I think you'd be better off bringing that question over to Breaktime, where the denizens of that forum do a fair amount of drilling into concrete.
That said I have the Makita LiIon set and I think it's the cat's meow. Good power-to-weight ratio, long life on the batteries, and great feel. I have to confess that I have not really used the hammerdrill for concrete, so I cannot give you an accurate assessment.
If you have a lot of holes to do, or this will be an ongoing task you'll face, I would recommend looking into buying or renting a rotary hammer. I have used those quite a bit, and they work extremely well.
Maybe someday I'll know a little something.
WW,
If you go with the hitachi, get the one with the 3.0 ah battery. These last a very,very long time between charges. Most hitachis have a 2.0 or 2.4 battery.
In general, you will be pleasantly surprised how much quicker a L-Ion battery charges and how much longer it holds it's charge.
Lee
I've tried out each of the major brands, and I think the Makita may be the best balance of comfort/functionality/versatility/price - especially for a woodworker who doesn't need to be hefting around 28v or 36v.
Consider checking out the new Makita li-ion slimpack kit. It's a nice little tool packed with features, and at $220 the price is hard to beat if you're looking to get your feet wet with Li-Ion.
http://www.amazon.com/Makita-BDF452HW-Lithium-Ion-Compact-Drill-Driver/dp/B000K6ILDW/sr=11-1/qid=1168009120/ref=sr_11_1/002-0226914-3414406
If Makita ain't your thing, take a look at the Hitachi, or maybe the smaller Bosch tools - they're all pretty nice.
Justin Fink - FHB Editorial
Your Friendly Neighborhood Moderator
I can second that Justin-I was so impressed with the LXT combo kit that I bought the smaller drill exclusively for my shop use. It's the best shop cordless drill I've ever had.
You can get them at HD for $199-at least I did. Maybe the price went up.
BTW what are you doing on this side of the fence?
Maybe someday I'll know a little something.
<< BTW what are you doing on this side of the fence? >>
That's what the FWW editors ask me each time they see me back in the shop making furniture. I'm a closet woodworker...don't tell anybody.Justin Fink - FHB Editorial
Your Friendly Neighborhood Moderator
You're supposed to be making the closets, not working in them.
Making them with screws, I might add ;-)
Maybe someday I'll know a little something.
<< You're supposed to be making the closets, not working in them.
Making them with screws, I might add >>
No way! my coil framing nailer is so much more fun! ...you woodworkers just don't know what you're missing :)Justin Fink - FHB Editorial
Your Friendly Neighborhood Moderator
Inside joke on the most recent iteration of the "nails vs. screws" going on in Breaktime right now...I spend most of my time over there.
Maybe someday I'll know a little something.
You could make that inside joke just about any time of the year...seems like that thread dies just in time for it to start up again.Justin Fink - FHB Editorial
Your Friendly Neighborhood Moderator
Maybe I'll spice it up and say something about left v. right circular saws or that holiest of all holy wars...I dare not mention the items.
anyway sorry for th ereally bad hijack.
Maybe someday I'll know a little something.
I recently got the Makita 18v LioN suite. The impact driver drives big screws like nobody's business. It will easily break small screws if you're not careful. Having a driver makes the batteries in the drill last a lot longer. I have drilled exactly 5 holes in concrete using the hammer drill and it worked fine. I found a great deal and great service at Coastal Tool. (http://www.coastaltool.com/cgi-bin/welcome.pl?ref=makita+page=/a/makita/makita.htm)
I recently upgraded to ion batterys for my milaukee 18v cordless . Im very impressed that they made them to fit the existing tools. They last about twice as long as the old batteries and weigh half as much. This means alot when your choosing the larger drill. Good luck with your decision.-Knecht
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled