Need Recommendation for Lightweight Cordless Drill

[Mike Henderson]

My cordless tools are all DeWalt 18V units - because of the batteries, you're sort of forced to stay with one brand. I've been happy with the DeWalt units but now, I'd like to get a compact, light weight drill. Dewalt has the DCD710 which is okay, but if I'm going to change battery form factors, there's no reason to stick with DeWalt if there's something better out there.

What do you recommend? I want a drill but I'd take a driver if there's a chuck that comes with it. I might even consider buying a set of hex shank bits if a driver is lots better - what do you say? I'm looking for light weight and compact (short) to get into tight places.

Mike

[Craig Michael]

The m12 series from Milwaukee is excellent. The drills and impacts are great and they have a large array of other tools.

[Rob Sack]

I have Bosch, Milwaukee, and Dewalt 12V cordless drill and drivers. They all work fine. Although I have never been a big fan of Dewalt tools, I think I like the Dewalt 12V series the best. the nice thing about Milwaukee is that they have a battery life indicator, which comes in handy. Maybe mine was a fluke, but one of my Milwaukee 12V screw guns needed repair for a bad trigger not long after I got it. Although, it was repaired under warranty, Milwaukee is now owned by the parent company of Home Depot and Ryobi. Enough said.

[Van Huskey]

Picking from the usual suspects in the 12V range I would pick the Dewalt, I really like their 12v line BUT I would not have a hard time living with the Milwaukee either. In all honesty if I wanted a good compact cordless drill/driver I would look HARD at the new Festool CXS it is just the best small drill/driver I have put my hands on.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Mike....I had a similar predicament last year. I ended up with an 18V Makita.....both driver and drill, 2 batteries and fastcharger. I found them on sale at HD. I really appreciated it last fall. With potential winter weather and an upcoming surgery staring me in the face, I had to remove the metal roof from our patio, replace the facia and soffit on the shed to which the roof is attached and then reinstall the metal roof. Most of the time I used the drill to reinstall the metal roof on 2 x 4 rafters but for that part that was installed in close quarters under the soffit of the shed, the compact driver worked like a charm. I have been quite happy with both tools. They came as a set.

[Joe Vincent 63]

I have owned the Milwaukee, Makita, and Dewalt. Gave the others away as gifts. Still have and love the Dewalt. It sits upright, has great power, and just feels right in my hands. Loved the battery indicator on the Milwaukee though.

No longer use the 18v except in extreme situations. The dewalt has plenty of power for anything I need.

Not a diehard Dewalt buyer, just really like this drill (set). LED Flashlight is awesome as well. Never tried the Festool, so can't comment on it.

Joe

[Mike Henderson]

Okay, thanks everyone for your recommendations. But one more question - would you buy a drill or a driver (such as this one)? The driver is a bit shorter and less expensive. I can buy hex shank drill bits and use it as a drill or put driver bits in to use it as a screwdriver.

Also, I think someone makes a chuck that fits a driver so I could have a chuck if I needed it.

Mike

[Cary Falk]

I had some Lowe's gift cards at Christmas so I got a 12v Bosch drill and impact. I have been a Makita fan for some time now, but I am really liking the Bosch. They have enough power for normal stuff in the shop, have good battery life and charge quickly. You can't drive 3.5" screws all day long like my 14.4v Makita but they are small, light and feel good in my hand. You probably can't go wrong with, Milwaukee, Makita, or Bosch. I have heard too many stories bad stories about DeWalt coordless that I probably wouldn't go that route but if you are happy with yours then I don't see any reason not to go that way.


Cary

[Matt Ellis]

I don't post much, but whatever you do, do NOT buy the ridgid variant from Home Depot. I bought the 18v Li-ion drill and impact last year to replace my Bosch 18v Ni-Cad whose batteries finally gave up the ghost. I like the way it felt in my hand, and the lifetime guarantee was really appealing, since it covers the batteries too. The newer generation has a battery indicator and LED's that light the chuck when the trigger is depressed too.

I have been using both pretty heavily in finish out my shop. I've driven about 1/2 a pail of 3" screws and about 2/3 of a pail of 1 5/8" screws in the process. The battery life (1.5 amp hours) is very poor. I hung 4 sheets of OSB tonight (~125 1 5/8" screws anchoring OSB to white pine studs) and completely discharged a full battery. When I popped it onto the charger, it started flashing as a defective pack. I took it off, inserted it again, and it charged properly, but I suspect it is on its way out...at 5 months of age.

The other thing that turned out to be pretty disappointing was the amount of run out that Ridgid says is acceptable. It is impossible to start a 3" screw because of the wobble of the impact's chuck with out the use of one of those extendable screw holders whose body can be pulled up around the screw. I asked about this on the Ridgid forum, and was ridiculed as a dumb engineer that did not know how to use tools. How helpful.

I guess we're going to see how good the lifetime warranty is. Frankly, I wish I would have bought the Makita kit Ken mentioned.

[Ole Anderson]

I went with the 18v PC Li-Ion combo drill and impact driver. Very lightweight compared to my old 14 volt Dewalt XLT. Only downside is that you really have to reef on the drill chuck to get it tight enough so it doesn't loosen while using it. Even so, it has become my go-to drill. And I have a set of smaller hex shaft drills that get a lot of use in the impact driver drilling screw pilot holes. The small batteries don't have a huge run time, but they make the drill or driver very light.

[Dan Rude]

I chose the Milwaukee M12 family, they have the most tools for the same platform. I even bought the Heavy Duty 12XC battery, now my tools stand up like the other brnads and go a long time. If you want a driver the compact driver does its job very well it's my goto driver for pocket holes. The problem is speed, it can drill but it is slow. I bought one of the Drill kits during a special buy and got the 12 Volt hammer Drill, impact driver and multi-tool for $200. Hope this helps.

Dan

[William Nimmo]

I have owned many and would say for sure Festool out shines the others and then next is Panasonic. No one ever talks about panasonic,
the Festool csx is priced right too.

[Clay Crocker]

I have been using the Panasonic 15.6V drills for years and have been very happy. I just recently bought a Festool CSX with the right angle chuck, wow talk about light and compact. Still use the Panasonic for the heavier jobs, but I will be using the CSX for everything else.

[Rick Potter]

Mike,

I also have the M12 Milwaukee. Drill, driver, screwgun, angle drill. If you can only get one, I would get the drill. Please note they have two drills now, one is a regular drill, the newer one is also a hammer drill. I strongly recommend you get the two piece set with drill and impact driver.

Yes, they do have a drill chuck that fits impact drivers, I got mine at HD, by Makita, about $25. Never used it yet.

Do not waste your money on the screwgun, it is way too slow. EDIT: This is the one Bill Huber really likes. It is called a screwgun, and I think it runs way too slow for a drill. It's ok for screws, but all of them are ok for screws. Different strokes, Bill.

Rick Potter

PS: I was at HD a few days ago, and they had ONE combo pack with the driver, and the drill for $199. Probably left over from Christmas.

[Craig McCormick]

In our business we are using the Bosch 12v line. Were now up to 5 tools and love them.

Craig McCormick