Tools: What Drills are you using?

[Bernard]

Mudkip posted in his thread that he was having problems with his cordless drill because it wasn't holding a charge. I have the same problem with my Black & Decker. What drills do you recommend?

Also I really like the idea of this cordless Dremel drill for the hobbyist, does anyone have it and if so do you like it:
http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Tools/Pages/ToolDetail.aspx?pid=1100

[disturbman]

I don't have any cordless drill. Anyway, for a home or appartment use I don't really see the need for such a cordless piece of equipment. Mine is a cordlessless (doubling intended) Bosch unit. I found it in the staircase of my old appartment. It was free of charge and I've now a very effective hole maker. The thing is, to have the same tool but cordless and with a long lasting battery I will need to pay extra-bucks. And since I'm never going to use it ouside or far from an electrical socket, I really don't need to equip myself with a cordless tool.

Also, it reassures me to know that I can unplugged the thing and don't care about it. I'm paranoïd with such powerfull tool, I wouldn't want to hurt myself by mistake.

[Martijn Meerts]

I have a cordless Bosch for somewhat heavy duty work. It came with 2 batteries, and each lasts a LONG time. If you check the non-Japanese layout topic in the personal projects section, I did all the drilling and screwing with my Bosch. Used up 1 full battery and then a little of the 2nd one. Batteries take a while to charge, but since I have 2, it's no problem. I like that it's cordless because it makes it easier to work with under the table etc. It also has a little light which turns on when you press the button to start drilling. There's also a safety switch on it which makes it impossible to accidentally drill a hole in your head ;) It's kinda like http://www.bosch-do-it.co.uk:80/boptocs2-uk/DIY/Tools/GB/en/hw/Cordless+Drill/Driver/95236/PSR+12/11594/index.htm, except mine has a switch on top that allows for low and high RPM settings.

I also have a cordless Dremel, although I haven't used it much. I tend to use it only to cut the track where I want my blocks to start/end. Haven't used it at all for anything else. I have the 10.8V Lithion Ion one (http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Tools/Pages/ToolDetail.aspx?pid=10.8V+Lithium-ion+Cordless). Bought it long before that Dremel Stylus came out, otherwise I would've gotten that one I guess ;)

[qwertyaardvark]

I just a use a typical corded drill (some cheap drill bought from Walmart) with an extension cord and it has served me well over the years. I preferred the greater speeds and power from a corded drill compared to battery-driven drills. This definitely shined through 4yrs ago when I built a deck in my dorm room and I used my drill and my roommate used a cordless drill. I wonder how the cordless drill of today perform considering improvements in battery technology and such. I will also go with disturbman's statement in that since im not moving around too much, the corded drill is just fine for me.

I also used to have to a corded Dremel so "battery life" wasn't a concern. The Dremel is pretty strong and is able to cut through metal, so it pretty much did whatever I needed on a modeling scale. The only worry was it being too strong and me accidentally making additional features... Unfortunately, my model didn't last for longer than a year and died in a glorious smoky fashion... x_x

Around the time my dremel died, a friend of mine received a cordless Dremel and its nice not having to worry about the cord and the battery life is pretty decent (30min-1hr+ "usage time" depending on what speed and power you demand from it). Plenty of power and as much speed as my corded Dremel. I believe that his model was this one.

[disturbman]

There's also a safety switch on it which makes it impossible to accidentally drill a hole in your head ;)

Don't they all have? I'd be more afraid of drilling through my foot than make another hole in my head.

It's kinda like http://www.bosch-do-it.co.uk:80/boptocs2-uk/DIY/Tools/GB/en/hw/Cordless+Drill/Driver/95236/PSR+12/11594/index.htm, except mine has a switch on top that allows for low and high RPM settings.

Same here, I've got the older version of this one: http://www.bosch-do-it.co.uk/boptocs2-uk/DIY/Tools/GB/en/hw/Impact+Drills/95228/PSB+700-2+RE/11267/index.htm

[Martijn Meerts]

There's also a safety switch on it which makes it impossible to accidentally drill a hole in your head ;)

Don't they all have? I'd be more afraid of drilling through my foot than make another hole in my head.

Well, depends... We have plenty power tools here without any safety features.

We also have a REALLY old Black & Decker machine which allows you to change the front piece to turn it into a drill, saw, circular saw, sander etc.. It's at least 40 years old though, and while it still works, I wouldn't trust it entirely =)

[qwertyaardvark]

I never really believed in tools with "safety features." In the end, a "safe" tool can be used inappropriately and Safety is the mindset of both user and engineer.

安全+最後
 Safety+Dead Last

[CaptOblivious]

He family Ryobi drill hasn't held a charge in years. It can take as much as a full day to make one hole! Next drill will be corded for sure.

I have one of the newerish cordless dremels and love it. Excellent battery. But it has only one size collet so it can only hold specially designed bits and is no good therefore as a general purpose drill: none of my bits fit that one collet!

[KenS]

My primary drill is a heavy-duty cordless 1/2" (13mm) drill/driver similar to this model.  I've had it for a number of years, and managed to kill one of the two batteries while assembling my model railroad tables last fall. I think it was already on the way out, but the hole saw I used did it in.  Just to be safe, I bought a basic 3/8" corded drill (which cost about the same as a new battery for the cordless) for the rest of the hole-sawing. The drill continues to work quite well on the remaining battery, and rechargeable batteries will die over time.

That said, I had a Ryobi drill with batteries that failed after a couple of years of light use.  I won't buy one of those again.

I find the cordless aspect very useful when working under the layout, although for most things I need to do in constrained spaces like that an electric screwdriver is a better tool, and I have one of those too.  I think the most important aspects, after being cordless, are the variable-speed feature and the clutch, which lets me use it for things like driving the bolts that hold my tables together or as a screwdriver since I can set a maximum torque appropriate to what I'm doing and not over-drive it.

As for safety, the most important safety feature is behind the eyes of the user.  But for cordless tools I do like having an "off" switch or neutral gear to avoid accidental activation.

[Bernard]

Ken - the model you linked was the DeWalt drill. I borrowed my neighbor's Dewalt and really liked it.

[Martijn Meerts]

Oh, I forgot my most important drill... My Tamiya pin vise with drill bits as small as 0.25mm =)

[KenS]

Ken - the model you linked was the DeWalt drill. I borrowed my neighbor's Dewalt and really liked it.

Yes, I have an older DeWalt that's very similar to the one I linked, as well as their electric screwdriver.  The latter is ten years old, still on its original pair of batteries, and has held up through all sorts of use. The current model appears to be identical, so I'm guessing it was a successful design.

DeWalt is one of several brands owned by Black & Decker, although the B&D brand itself seems to have gone more entry-level over the years, and DW is one of their more premium brands from what I've read.  My own experience seems to bear that out.