Need Recommendation for Lightweight Cordless Drill

[Mike Henderson]

If anyone is interested in the DeWalt set, I see that Amazon has a set listed as "Used - like new" for $130. I have no clue exactly what that means but if you're willing to take a chance, it's a way to get the DeWalt set for a very good price.

Mike

[Will Blick]

Mike...I have own / use many of the major makers of these drills / drivers.... its remarkable how good they are getting every year or two. Specially battery technology and torque.

When driving large size fasteners, such as 1/4" x 6" lag screws, nothing beats impact drivers IMO, they are very efficient at driving, long battery life vs. driver.

The CXS you bought, well, that tool IMO stands in a class by itself. It is the ultimate hand screw driver, for relatively small fasteners...it is the only driver I have ever used that allows low speed driving with ultra high torque, which prevents the head from stripping, even with phillips or straight heads, although I prefer square heads. The ratchet is very sensitive and can be set "just right" to make a screw snug, but NOT strip in the wood. Not an easy task, the CXS makes it effortless.

My impact drivers will drive small screws with ease, even my mini impacts, which are better suited vs. the big guns, as too much torque introduces the risk of striping the wood threads when screw is seated. But even so, even low powered impact drivers can still strip the wood when screw is seated. Impact drivers can not have ratchets, its their one shortcoming, specially for small screws (<3" #12). This is what makes the CXS worth its price tag IMO, I would never part with my CXS.... Its my most used driver...I have a ton of cordless and corded drills / drivers / impacts....but when I drive med. to small screws, it's the only tool I pick up...and I abuse the other tools for the other tasks. The CXS is an "OK" drill, I would not buy it for that function, specially considering you can get better cordless drills for 1/3 the price. As always, Festool engineers are ahead of the design curve on this one... I am sure the Giants will catch up in 3-5 yrs.

[John TenEyck]

ALl of the brands mentioned are great tools but I wanted to throw a vote in for the Hitachi 12v. I bought the combo pack (drill, impact driver and flashlight) and couldn't be happier with size, quality and performance.

Must be something in the water here, because I have the Hitachi 12V impact driver, too, and it's a great tool. Very small and light, and very powerful for it's class. I'm looking to get the drill to go with it now. I've had a couple of 9.6 V Makita drills for over 20 years, and wouldn't hesitate to buy their new offerings, but the price on Hitachi's at Big Sky Tools made it an easy choice. If you've never considered reconditioned tools, I suggest you reconsider. All the tool, including a warranty, for half the price. What's not to like?

John

[Michael O'Sullivan]

I decided to splurge and bought the Festool CSX drill. I just got it today so I'll let you know later how I like it. My other drills are DeWalt 18V and this one is a heck of a lot lighter. But I have two DeWalt drills, one to drill the hole and one to put the screw in. So maybe I'll have to buy another CSX.

I could have bought the DeWalt drill/impact driver combo for less than the Festool so maybe I'll regret not buying that set. I wish I could have used both the DeWalt and the Festool for a while before making a decision.

Mike

It is funny -- I did almost exactly the same thing last week. I had a DW 18V drill/driver for about 6 years that served me very well until I dicovered that there was a lot of smoke and ozone (plus some pretty bright sparks) trapped inside the motor. Oddly enough, the battery is still going strong, so I probably could have bought a "body only" replacement.

But I've been jonesing for a Festool for a while, and figured this was a great excuse. If a good deal comes along on a body-only Dewalt, I may pick it up as well. Routers and drills -- you cannot have too many.

[Rob Holcomb]

John you will love the drill to go with your driver. I used to use an 18v drill as my "go to" drill. Not anymore. Can't say enough about the Hitachi

[Paul Wunder]

Mike,

Milwaukee is having a buy one tool get one free REBATE. For example, If you buy a M12 3/8" drill/driver kit for $123 (Amazon) you can get one of three naked tools free. I chose the Milwaukee Angle drill/driver (street price $89 as my free tool. The $123 kit includes two lith-on batteries, quick charge and a nice soft case

http://www.toolbarn.com/specials/reb...nufacturer=245

The rebate form is available at the Tool Barn link, but Milwaukee CS told me that I can but it anywhere except FleeBay.

P.S> I own the driver and the drill/driver. Quite pleased

[Mark Ashmeade]

Robert Bosch GmbH all the way for me. Yes, they're expensive. But they stand behind them. A bit of a no-brainer really, they make them right in the first place.

Over the years I've had many items by old Bob. Drills various, a sander, dishwashers, fridge, washing machine, dryer, freezer, fuel injection systems, and most recently, a world-beating CMS, some great 18V Li-ion tools, and a set of the 12V stuff.

The 12V drill (new one) is nearly as powerful as my 18V DeWalt is heavy. The batteries were dying on the DW, and with an existing suite of Bosch 12V (Impact driver, ordinary driver (old & new models) and a multi-tool), I took the plunge on the drill, in a combo set with the inspection camera. Couldn't be happier. It doesn't quite have the torque of the DW, but it's way lighter and easier to apply finesse to in terms of positioning. If I need to kick ass, I have its 18V Brute Tough big brother which laughs at the DW. So now in Bosch 12V world, I have 7 batteries, 3 chargers and 6 tools. Very happy I made the right choice.

[Mike Henderson]

I had a chance to use the DeWalt combo drill and impact driver today (that's two units, a drill and an impact driver). I didn't have a lot of time with them but I'll give you my first impressions.

The drill is great. It's about as long as the Festool CSX and just a little taller. Hard to tell the difference in weight - seemed pretty close. Feels good in my hand. It seems to have a brake on the drill. It goes from high speed to zero quickly and I hear a "clack" when it shuts down. Anyway, great little tool.

The impact driver is a bit harder to use. If you pull the trigger all the way, it goes fast - you could drill with it. Good lighting with the three LEDs on the front. I only drove a couple of screws and it worked fine - I just had to be careful to "feather" the trigger to keep it from driving too fast.

I noticed that the DeWalt batteries are rated at 1.1 amp hour, while the CSX has a 1.5 amp hour battery (they recently upgraded from the 1.3 amp hour battery). One nice thing on the Festool is that you can hang the charger on the wall (two screw hole slots in the back of the charger). I wish DeWalt did that.

Anyway, a very good set of tools. I'm sure I'll enjoy using the Festool CSX but I probably would have been satisfied with the DeWalt set.

Mike