I finally chose a cordless drill

[TP1]

You missed the full range of li-ion drills from Panasonic which I am sure was being used on the work sites you visited. The 21.6v EY7960LN2S for example with two 3AH Li-ion battery packs is awesome and is what I ended up getting, although I would have also happily settled for Makita.

I wanted to buy Festool initially but they do not make an impact drill

[armourj]

Of course, the other trick I have found to make it easier to put screws in is to rub the thread over a cake of soap - it adds just enough lubrication to help ease the thread into the timber.

This is not a good idea as soap is very corrosive (alkaline). Either use dry lube on your screws or get waxed screws such as from Sachys Robertson (http://sachys-robertson.com.au) which also has the considerable benefit of square drive.

[ribonzz]

I prefer Metabo BS18Li Because it's cheap and it's lighter than the others

[Bebbo]

This is not a good idea as soap is very corrosive (alkaline). Either use dry lube on your screws or get waxed screws such as from Sachys Robertson (Sachys Robertson Screws) which also has the considerable benefit of square drive.

You've had problems putting screws in timber? ... Hardwood or something?

Ive still got the old trusty 14.4v makita 2 speed big drill with the red battery.

Its 5 years old and still strong as ever. Puts in 150mm beugals WITHOUT countersinking them. Im actually trying to kill it so i can go buy a new one. But it seems to kick on!

The new makita impact driver (18v 1/4 inch chuck one) is average. My cordless is stronger.

Ive played with the new panasonic ones, they are great, not too heavy and still strong. But im goin to opt for the new makita 18v with the 3ah batteries like everyone else at work. 3 speed + hammer, lots of torque on low speed, like just as much as my drill, just starts to wear away at your wrist after a whole day of drilling. A bit heavy IMO.

The impact driver is too loud. I gotta wear muffs when using it all day.

[totoblue]

You've had problems putting screws in timber? ... Hardwood or something?
I've still got the old trusty 14.4v makita 2 speed big drill with the red battery. ... Puts in 150mm beugals WITHOUT countersinking them.

I've had screws break off when screwing into old seasoned hardwood (my house frame & trim). That's using a cordless drill and holes sized according to Sutton drill-bit/screw-size gauge. Perhaps an impact driver is less likely to break screws, I don't know.

There are a lot of crap screws around these days but I've had what appear to be quality brand-name screws break, back in the good old days when they made screws in Au. A broken screw is a bugger to remove.

A bit of lube stops the screws from breaking if you don't want to oversize the drill bit. I use a smear of petroleum jelly.

I've got a feeling that drilling the pilot hole using a wood drill-bit will polish/burn the hole less than using a metal/universal drill-bit. Perhaps the screw is more likely to bind in a pilot hole that got too hot and burnt a bit.

[Bebbo]

I've had screws break off when screwing into old seasoned hardwood (my house frame & trim). That's using a cordless drill and holes sized according to Sutton drill-bit/screw-size gauge. Perhaps an impact driver is less likely to break screws, I don't know.

There are a lot of crap screws around these days but I've had what appear to be quality brand-name screws break, back in the good old days when they made screws in Au. A broken screw is a bugger to remove.

A bit of lube stops the screws from breaking if you don't want to oversize the drill bit. I use a smear of petroleum jelly.

I've got a feeling that drilling the pilot hole using a wood drill-bit will polish/burn the hole less than using a metal/universal drill-bit. Perhaps the screw is more likely to bind in a pilot hole that got too hot and burnt a bit.

I renovate homes for a living. Soon as its hardwood i almost always try and get out of the job for this very reason lol

Hardwood frames are never straight and its a bitch to screw too!!

When screwing i just pre drill. I don't go off what is recommended, i just go a bit bigger than the shank size but not big enough that the screw won't snap. If possible use closer centres for this reason.

You test out the hilti drill combo? i used brand new 12.4v(think its .4 anyway) at work... They're awesome!!! very strong, just a little bit heavy compared to what im happy with. Also they were $1100 for impact and drill driver.

[haugh richard]

Thanks for a very exhaustive and detailed analysis. Did you consider Festool drills?

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[njray]

I have a makita model 6095d since 1985 9.6v battery. Was thinking of getting new makita 452hw hammer drill, comes with 2 batteries,charger and ccase for under $200.00. The old drill works great but battery wont hold charge as well. It is the same battery since i bought it. used constantly.should i just get battery $60.00 or just get new kit. any ideas thanks

[bobsreturn2003]

bought a 12v makita 3 speed hammerdrill bare off ebay for 120 and had the charger , batteries are around 60 , suits me fine trade quality drill . cheers

[Johncs]

Charleville, if the Bosch is still ok (chuck doesn't wobble, motor ok, etc) then have you thought about getting the battery re-packed? I have had a couple done for my F-I-L and they work quite well. From memory it is $49 for cheapie cells, $76 for decent cells and over $100 for Pro battery cells. The co. is akkupak and have given me good service. Found the site again: Akkupak | Battery Repacking

However, if you don't have a good battery charger than I would be leery of going down that path as the battery will fail again the same way after time. I use a hobby charger to charge up my FIL's drills now.

Waikune, the LTX is the $600+ model. 2.0kg, 2.6Ah, 96Nm. Fabulous specs (and a price to match). Looks like a great drill and fairly priced.

I have a Green Bosch 14v4 NiCd unit. A pair of replacement batteries (it came with two batteries) is about equal to the price of a new drill. When the time came, I bought Maktia, still NiCs, it doesn't get the workload to justify the more expensive Li models.

[Beetle Shirt]

I bought an AEG BS18XL 18V Li ion driver drill to assemble my new shed. Something like 600 Tek screws was worth a decent drill. This was maybe a little heavy at 1.8kg, but doesn't worry me. The 52Nm torque through metal planetary gears, a 13mm keyless chuck, 2 x 1.5Ah batteries with 30min charge won me over, even at about $350.

Happy to report that it's been all I hoped for. Feels great to use, and has grunt to burn. I had family helping me put the shed up, and they brought a cheapie cordless drill that couldn't remove the Tek screws I'd put in with the AEG. The other drill wouldn't undo the Tek screws on its max torque setting, and I'd backed off the torque setting on my AEG to avoid twisting the heads off the Tek screws.