Got about 120 quid to spend on a decent drill recommend?

[A.C.E]

As title, need a replacement drill for general DIY duties, you know, man stuff like putting up hanging basket brackets, and the occasional hinge tightening.....

Spend? about 120 quid, pref cordless but not essential, varied speed/torque, hammer would be nice.

What do you recommend at that price point?

Currently using an old (very old) B&D but no variable speed nor torque and a pain in the ass keyed chuck.

[cahami]

Makita 18v LXT Combi, try to get it with the accessory kit was on special offer at screwfix a while back. I personally find makita products to be well made comfy to use, others will be along to say dewalt,festool etc etc its all down to personal choice and not being left dissapointed.

[northwest monkey]

A corded drill will be much better on your budget for drilling into block / brick but for convenience, a cordless is essential.

I'd get a cordless to start with as it will drill nearly all of what a corded will but will do a lot more to. Then get a corded one in a couple of months when you want to start drilling big holes in walls!

I'd have a look at AEG. My local DIY shop (not a B&Q place) did me a deal on an AEG 18V Cordless Combi - should have been £240 but were doing it for £120 including 2 batteries, case & charger. Came with a 3-year warranty as well. After 18 months of abuse, the clutch started to slip but it was sorted with no problems at all.

I'd get another one quite happily.

[LooneyTunes]

northwest monkey said:

A corded drill will be much better on your budget for drilling into block / brick but for convenience, a cordless is essential.

I'd get a cordless to start with as it will drill nearly all of what a corded will but will do a lot more to. Then get a corded one in a couple of months when you want to start drilling big holes in walls!

I'd agree with the first part, but not necessarily the second.

If you're mainly going to use it for punching holes in wall, go corded (SDS if the budget will stretch to it) and use a regular or ratchet screwdriver for the odd screw. (There's nothing worse than having a drill that is too weedy for the job)

If you're going to be screwing in lots of screws then cordless is the way to go.

Worth bearing in mind that the batteries on cordless ones don't last for ever (and are expensive to replace). Buy decent corded stuff and it will just keep on going... and an extension lead isn't really that difficult to use and it's not as if you've got to take into account moving from site to site where there may/may not be power available.

ETA: I've had a couple of Makitas for about a decade. Nothing seems to faze them.

Edited by LooneyTunes on Thursday 14th February 06:40

[juan king]

Another vote for makita. Screwfix have a deal on a 18v Lithium combi for £100. Plus if you buy a second battery at the same time, it's half price (£40). Really cant go wrong for that money!

http://www.screwfix.com/p/makita-bhp453sh-18v-1-3a...

[JoeBolt]

Deals like the one above for the Makita look good but be careful. The kit only contains a 'budget' 1.3Ah battery. You are better off spending a bit more money to get a drill supplied with a couple of 2.6Ah batteries.

[pikeyboy]

Before you rush out and buy a makita Li Ion battery drill just google makita Li Ion battery issues;). I bought a old school makita Ni Cad one instead and its brilliant, used it to replace my old dewalt combi which was starting to show its age after 4 years of hard work but was only 100 quid from screw fix.

[Rickyy]

I've gone off Makita. I bought an 18v Ni-Cd in June last year and I replaced it in November with a DeWalt 18 Ni-Cd because both batteries had failed. Makita offered to collect it for repair, but I couldn't be without one, hence buying the DeWalt.

I much prefer the DeWalt, seems more powerful and feels better built too.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dc100ka-gb-18v-1-...

You don't need lithium batteries for DIY use, I manage ok with the 1.3Ah Ni-Cd batteries, as long as you have a fully charged battery ready, your not likely to left waiting for power.

I use mine mainly for hanging radiators, boilers etc. I have an mains powered SDS drill on the van which I have barely touched since I got the DeWalt.

You could always buy my Makita with 2x duff batteries for £20!

[bigdom]

If you want to make holes, this is awesome, get the sds toolkit, chip off plaster, breakup concrete etc, great manly tool

http://www.screwfix.com/p/bosch-2kg-sds-drill-gbh2...

Beyond your current budget, but if your going to do lots of screwing, you'll want an impact driver. Great combo pack, the impact driver is so much better than a drill, will drive a 120mm screw with no pilot with ease.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dck211s2-sfgb-10-...

[MrDecadent]

I have a version of one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-GBH2-26DRE-Hammer-Dr...

SDS will drill through anything (better than hammer drills) and you can “lock” the drill in SDS mode so it becomes a chisel – great for taking up tiles, plaster off the wall etc.

[Brite spark]

Rickyy said:

I've gone off Makita. I bought an 18v Ni-Cd in June last year and I replaced it in November with a DeWalt 18 Ni-Cd because both batteries had failed. Makita offered to collect it for repair, but I couldn't be without one, hence buying the DeWalt.

Might aswell send it back to makita for repair now you have a working drill anyway

Rickyy said:

You could always buy my Makita with 2x duff batteries for £20!

Get it repaired if its foc then sell on, either way I'd be interested.

The thing with the lxt batteries is that makita have over engineered them to prevent exploding batteries, microchips in battery and charger talk to each other and refuse to ever charge a battery once it has been registered as too flat or damaged, this chip can't be reset and unfortunately seems to drain the first cell in the battery pack resulting in the failure.

Edited by Brite spark on Thursday 14th February 13:57

[hairyben]

Rickyy said:

You don't need lithium batteries for DIY use,

^that, all the lithium batteries have a high failure rate after a couple of years.

split the budget down the middle and get a sds mains drill (don't forget roto stop if you need to chisel) and a combi drill in the 14-18v range.

That should get you reasonable middle of the road kit, and do all you need it to.

[Spudler]

MrDecadent said:

I have a version of one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-GBH2-26DRE-Hammer-Dr...

SDS will drill through anything (better than hammer drills) and you can “lock” the drill in SDS mode so it becomes a chisel – great for taking up tiles, plaster off the wall etc.

Bought one of these about 8 or 9 years ago.
It gets used and abused EVERY day, the fker just won't break!!!
Far exceeded my expectations.

[jonnylayze]

My dad, my brother and I have one of these each and they're great for most things. Battery a provides plenty of power on one charge nd having two batteries is handy.

http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/Log-Cabins/...

Also have a corded 650w corded Bosch hammer drill as a back - up

[A.C.E]

Cheers chaps, I bought this:-

http://search.diy.com/search?p=R&srid=S8-UKLD0...

Used it already to put some hanging basket brackets up and seems good to me.

[Murph7355]

Spudler said:

Bought one of these about 8 or 9 years ago.
It gets used and abused EVERY day, the fker just won't break!!!
Far exceeded my expectations.

Mine's non-SDS (just normal hammer drill) but ditto. Very sturdy bit of kit.

[ColinM50]

Screwfix have got a specil offer on today, dewalt 18v combi drill with 3 batteries for £117. Use voucher code discount10

[ColinM50]

Screwfix have got a specil offer on today, dewalt 18v combi drill with 3 batteries for £117. Use voucher code discount10

[JoeBolt]

jonnylayze said:

My dad, my brother and I have one of these each and they're great for most things. Battery a provides plenty of power on one charge nd having two batteries is handy.

http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/Log-Cabins/...

Also have a corded 650w corded Bosch hammer drill as a back - up

I thought we were talking about drills. The link is for log cabins!

[AJS-]

Not sure if they have the brand in the UK but I got a Nagoya 750w sds drill here in Thailand for about half that much. Even Hitachi and Dewalt ones were only around £100. We have really hard brick walls and this thing just glides through them. Drilled granite too. Can't beat overkill when it comes to things like drills.