batteries vs. new drill: Makita?

[Kent A Bathurst]

$0.02: I have the little brother of that Makita: The BHP454. Works great, but it isn't in continual use. I like it. For any no-foolin'-around hammer drill work, I have the classic DW corded one.

Also - have the BTD144 impact driver, and the BTD452 drill. Like 'em all. The compact batteries that came with the BTD ain't doodly-squat, though, in terms of output per charge.

My set of 5 batteries for my Milwaukee pair went south 2 - 3 years ago [after 5 years of use - no complaints], and I got the Makita set. I am very happy with the $$$ I laid out.

I cannot compare to other brands.........except a friend has a pair of DW drills - dunno the models - they are much heavier. That is nothing more than anecdotal - you can decide on that bit at any store.

Other brands mentioned above have very good reps as well as the Makita. At some point, I'd guess it is simply nibbling around the margins. If it feels good in your hand, then that may be the deciding factor.

[Carl Beckett]

Well... for me, the deciding factor is availability.

Because I will walk outside in the freezing rain and across my lot to the shop and back - before I will drive a screw by hand.

So when its time to use it - Im on a pretty quick timeline to make a decision and get the thing!

[scott vroom]

I have the Makita BDF452....bought it as part of a kit with the Makita impact driver. The impact driver is a workhorse, the drill is another story. The runout is ridiculously bad....It's hard to imagine they could engineer the chuck to such loose tolerances. I'm in the market for a new drill; the best I've owned is Milwaukee NiCad. Hard use for 10 or so years, gave it up because replacement batteries were toooooo expensive and I decided to go with a lithium ion.


If you plan to drill metal or do any type of precise wood drilling, I'd think twice about a Makita due to the runout.

[Greg R Bradley]

Interesting, I have about 10 Makita LXT Hammer Drills and Drill/Drivers of various models and the chucks are fine on all of them. I wonder if Makita had an alternative supplier for chucks on some of the models that were not up to their usual standards.

Some of mine are heavily used and I've only had one battery die early but it did die after just a few months of use. Quite a few batteries have seen far more than 500 charge cycles. I had one charger die also but it was one of the originals so probably was 4 years old and lived in the maintenance area of a heavy construction company.

If you like the Dewalt, why not just have the batteries rebuilt? What is best is determined by your intended use.

[Larry Frank]

I have the 18V Makita drill and driver and could not be happier. I bought it for the weight as it was the lightest of the 18V. As I am getting older and arthritis, I want a light tool. I use them a lot and have not had any problems with the batteries. I think that it is critical with the Lion to keep them charged. If you let them run all the way down and do not charge them right away they have a tendency to go bad.

As a note, I would have tried the DeWalt but at the time they did not have the Lion batteries and the weight difference was huge. Dewalt seemed to be pretty late at adapting the Lion battery technology.

I have also bought a couple of the small 3.6 volt drivers for use on smaller projects such as the screws for electrical outlets and such. They sure save on my wrists.

[Clint Baxter]

I bought the Li-Ion Makita tools when they first came out and like them the best of the lot. Have used the Dewalt and the Milwaukee and find that the handle on the Makita is a little bit smaller and that ends up being more comfortable when you use the tool as extensively as I do, (and I have large hands.) That, however is the prime reason I favor the Makita. I do like their lineup of other tools that use that battery platform though. But then again, I also like some of the new offerings from Red and Yellow as well. Did pick up a 12V drill/impact driver set from Red here recently. Like the compactness of the tool, but still find the handle on the Makita more comfortable. When they run that battery up through the handle, it just makes it large enough to be a bit less comfortable.

BTW, Panasonic typically has about the best batteries out there. Don't necessarily rule them out either.

Clint

[Michael MacDonald]

Scott Vroom -- if you happen to see this... when/where did you get that Makita with the chuck runout? Did it come from Amazon? That is one of the things I have seen in Amazon comments... one guy went so far as to suggest the 'CW' in the model number of his drill stood for chuck wobble. (He was pissed off but made me laugh.)

[Michael MacDonald]

all good feedback. I hadn't ever considered converting to Li-ion or having the nicads rebuilt... interesting. I might look into that. weight is one of the factors, so converting has more pull. I woud like a light though, and a hammer drill... and my DW does not have that.

I guess everyone does have his own experiene... probably can't go wrong with the main providers. This weekend I will head to the HD and hold a few to see if that helps inspire the decision. My intended use is not heavy--I work on house projects and honey-do lists periodically. I mostly stay away from any mech fasteners with woodworking--except for shop furniture and jigs and such... I am going to turn my bad-design of a router table into a good design next, so I was thinking I would make a drill purchase before that project... and give the drill a workout immediately.

[Prashun Patel]

Given your type of use, I would drop hammer drill from our requirement. You will just end up with a heavier than necessary drill for the 99.9 pct of the time you don't require hammer. Also, hammer IMHO is best done corded. Shoot, buy a cheap corded generic rotary hammer on the bay if you just want something for the odd times you drill concrete.

[phil harold]

I am a stout fan of my Makitas and 18v MINH side by side with a Li-on it out performs
Batteries need to be charged,
Batteries will eventually die
For the money you spend on a cordless you are better off to buy a battery for you old drill and then buy a corded hole shooter I have a couple of these 20 plus years of abuse
Get the 0-600 rpm

http://www.mytoolstore.com/milwauke/0244-1.html

Then you will have a real drill.

[Jim Andrew]

I've had about 5 sets of Makita drills, the only thing that goes bad are the batteries. My only Lithium ion is a Bosch I recently picked up on a Menards sale. The drill was 99$ and came with 2 batteries, with a form for 2 more batteries from Bosch. Got a letter from Bosch, they need another 120 to 160 days on the extra batteries. Using the 18v Bosch drill, it is a lighter weight drill than the Makitas, good for carrying, but doesn't seem as durable. Also, not as powerful as a 18v Makita. Although, I am comparing NiCad batteries and NIMH to the Bosch with the Lithium Ion. Is the lith ion a less powerful battery or drill? Anyway, my gripe is the NIMH batteries were advertised as longer lasting than the NICad, but they gave up first. I have 3 sets of the Makita batteries, and all 3 NIMH gave up. They came in sets with 1 NIMH and one NiCad per set.

[John Coloccia]

Scott Vroom -- if you happen to see this... when/where did you get that Makita with the chuck runout? Did it come from Amazon? That is one of the things I have seen in Amazon comments... one guy went so far as to suggest the 'CW' in the model number of his drill stood for chuck wobble. (He was pissed off but made me laugh.)

I have this combo, and my chuck is dead nuts:
http://www.buy.com/prod/makita-18v-c...l?listingId=-1

Makes me think it's a problem with that one model.

[Carl Beckett]

Given your type of use, I would drop hammer drill from our requirement. You will just end up with a heavier than necessary drill for the 99.9 pct of the time you don't require hammer. Also, hammer IMHO is best done corded. Shoot, buy a cheap corded generic rotary hammer on the bay if you just want something for the odd times you drill concrete.

+1 on all this.

I ended up buying a cheap corded hammer drill for the three times a year I want it.

[lowell holmes]

I have the same drill. I had to drive 60 miles round trip twice to get new free bateries. That milage cost was greater than buying new batteries at the store.

It's a con game. I do like the drill, but in my estimation, the batteries are junk.

[Kent A Bathurst]

I have this combo, and my chuck is dead nuts:
http://www.buy.com/prod/makita-18v-c...l?listingId=-1

Makes me think it's a problem with that one model.

Nah, John....the tools Gods simply do not like Scott - it's a personal thing. Drill runout. Compressor failure. Just a daily routine for him, I'd guess. There's others he hasn't shared with us.

Maybe it is simply the California hook - the Gods don't like California. Mudslides. Forest Fires. The Imminent Big One. USC. Drill runout is just a marginal issue.