Help me pick a good cordless drill

Chip

Chip

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Greetings!

I need to get a good cordless drill. One that I can use for carpentry as well as metal. My original Craftsman from back in the day had good power, high and low speed settings, and reasonable battery life, but it is now too old to justify buying new batteries for. I went with an newer model some time back but discovered that a full charge would not get me through even a short day of moderate use, and the power was marginal at best.

I have been told that Makita And Milwaukee are good choices, but I have no first hand experience with either brand.

I'm thinking that $100-$200 might be a good budget for something well-made and durable. Anyone here with first hand knowledge of a model I can pick up today on Zoro? (25% off + free shipping)

Also, I might be interested in something a bit more costly if it will get me a considerably higher grade of tool, as well as the possibility of instead getting a multi-tool package so long as the included drill meets my criteria.

Add that it would be an infrequent-need/project-based item, and therefore it might be left unused for long periods of time...if that is a concern.

Thanks!
 
I switched from a Dewalt drill when I dropped it to the Milwaukee 18v line. I now have 8 or 9 tools and 4 batteries. So far so good and half of the tools were purchased reconditioned. I also have a Milwaukee 12v grease gun that beats a Lincoln any day. The batteries seem to last a long time and tools are powerful. The vacuum I have eats up a charge quickly but even the circle saw last a long time. Had a Porter Cable and the circular saw wouldn't last but a few rips on ply new. Two of the the batteries are 3 years old, used all the time and still seem to be as good as new.
 
Milwaukee M18 Fuel Brushless

I recently ended up getting the Milwaukee M18 Fuel Brushless cordless drill (2603-22CT) and couldn't be happier. Here's an excellent comparison and short reviews of cordless drills on which I partly based my purchase on.
 
Nice! and a 2603-22CT fits in my budget.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that all modern cordless tools now look like an athletic shoe?
 
Makita and Milwaukee are good brands. I have a Dewalt that suits my needs.
If you're a casual user, a 15$ HF brand will do fine.
 
Ijust purchased a 19 volt drill from Home Depot - it has charger, 2 batteries, drill for around $100 - the good thing about this Rigid drill is that the batteries are warranted for ever - just call Home Depot when batteries fail, and they send you another free of charge - can't beat that - I had an old one and am still using it on 2nd set of free batteries!
 
Once you decide brand, try here, CPO Reconditioned Tools. I have been extremely happy with the last couple of purchases I've made, which incidentally were Milwaukee.
 
I think Milwaukee, Ridgid and Ryobi are owned by the same people and Ryobi is the lower homeowner end. I have a Porter Cable and a Ridgid and the Ridgid beats the PC hands down. I just wish I had more batteries.


bedwards
 
If your batteries ever fail, be sure to check out eBay and Amazon for rebuild kits. You can get a new pack of cells that are a drop in replacement for around $30-35 or solder your own cells for around $25. I plan on doing this to 4 Dewalt 18V XRP batteries that don't hold a charge any more (they are about 8 years old so they had a good life). I also picked up some new brushes for the Dewalt drills for $8 from eBay as well. Drill runs great now and no longer smells like it's on fire.
 
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