Apologies for a newbie question, but any advice on what characteristics of a
cordless drill I should
be looking for? I'll use it main in and around the house - some metal work,
quite a lot of wood and
quite a lot of masonary (for screw fitting etc, perhaps some bolts outside
for fence posts into bricks)

Cheers,
Graham

In article ,
Graham Dean wrote:
Apologies for a newbie question, but any advice on what characteristics
of a cordless drill I should be looking for? I'll use it main in and
around the house - some metal work, quite a lot of wood and quite a lot
of masonary (for screw fitting etc, perhaps some bolts outside for
fence posts into bricks)

IMHO, for anything other than fairly soft bricks, masonry drilling is best
with an SDS drill. And SDS cordless ain't cheap - really not cost
effective for DIY.

Cordless are ideal for screwdriving and the odd hole in wood, etc, or
where you really can't easily get mains, which doesn't apply round the
house.

But for most things mains drills are still much better value.

If I had to have only one drill out of my many, it would be my mains
DeWalt SDS which can do everything, including screw driving.

Do you already have a mains drill?

--
*Avoid clichés like the plague. (They're old hat.) *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Graham Dean wrote:

Apologies for a newbie question, but any advice on what characteristics o=
f a
cordless drill I should be looking for? I'll use it main in and around the
house - some metal work, quite a lot of wood and quite a lot of masonary
(for screw fitting etc, perhaps some bolts outside for fence posts into
bricks)

I have a heavy imitation 20v Makita, that is excellent and cost me
=A375. I think they use their genuine rebadged trademark these days. And
are somewhat cheaper.

Or you could get a lighter, less powerful more "reliable make" for
about ten or twenty quid more. These will have top notch batteries and
chargers. It is the charger that lets the cheap stuff down.

Ferm were making a very heavy, rather slow 32 volt. I have one of them
and it is a good work horse. It weighs as much as an SDS cordless
though. I bought it because it was so cheap.

For about the same money you can get a 240 SDS cheapo from B&Q or
somewhere. That would be the ideal for drilling masonry. If you are
working within extension lead distance of a 240 plug, get a good all
around mains hammer drill like the Black and Decker with the money you
save not buying a cordless.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Graham Dean wrote:
Apologies for a newbie question, but any advice on what characteristics
of a cordless drill I should be looking for? I'll use it main in and
around the house - some metal work, quite a lot of wood and quite a lot
of masonary (for screw fitting etc, perhaps some bolts outside for
fence posts into bricks)

IMHO, for anything other than fairly soft bricks, masonry drilling is best
with an SDS drill. And SDS cordless ain't cheap - really not cost
effective for DIY.

Cordless are ideal for screwdriving and the odd hole in wood, etc, or
where you really can't easily get mains, which doesn't apply round the
house.

But for most things mains drills are still much better value.

If I had to have only one drill out of my many, it would be my mains
DeWalt SDS which can do everything, including screw driving.

Do you already have a mains drill?

--
*Avoid clichés like the plague. (They're old hat.) *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

This would be my only drill - so it sounds like I'd be better sticking with
a mains powered one. One of the
240v ones I'd looked at was the 'Dewalt D25102K 22mm SDS Drill' - a
sensible buy for all jobs
around the house / garden?

Thanks again.

Graham

On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 18:07:47 +0000 (UTC), "Graham Dean"
wrote:



This would be my only drill - so it sounds like I'd be better sticking with
a mains powered one. One of the
240v ones I'd looked at was the 'Dewalt D25102K 22mm SDS Drill' - a
sensible buy for all jobs
around the house / garden?

The 25103 would be a better bet because it has a rotation stop to
allow chiselling




--

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 18:07:47 +0000 (UTC), "Graham Dean"
wrote:



This would be my only drill - so it sounds like I'd be better sticking
with
a mains powered one. One of the
240v ones I'd looked at was the 'Dewalt D25102K 22mm SDS Drill' - a
sensible buy for all jobs
around the house / garden?

The 25103 would be a better bet because it has a rotation stop to
allow chiselling


Oh no, I can see myself going the normal way... just a few more pounds...
;-)

Thanks anyway! I'm having trouble wondering what I'd chisel with it tho - am
I
missing something? Wouldn't surprise me...

Graham

On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 19:46:19 +0000 (UTC), "Graham Dean"
wrote:


"Andy Hall" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 18:07:47 +0000 (UTC), "Graham Dean"
wrote:



This would be my only drill - so it sounds like I'd be better sticking
with
a mains powered one. One of the
240v ones I'd looked at was the 'Dewalt D25102K 22mm SDS Drill' - a
sensible buy for all jobs
around the house / garden?

The 25103 would be a better bet because it has a rotation stop to
allow chiselling


Oh no, I can see myself going the normal way... just a few more pounds...
;-)

Thanks anyway! I'm having trouble wondering what I'd chisel with it tho - am
I
missing something? Wouldn't surprise me...

Graham



A bit of light chasing in walls, mortar between bricks etc.

I was putting in a fence post yesterday (in a new position) and
discovered that some an*s of a builder had dumped some hoggin and
concrete where I wanted to put the post. The SDS made easy work of
that.

I haven't looked for best pricing, but Lawson HIS (who are normally
pretty good) have them for £103 and the 25103 for £130.

Personally, if I was only going for one drill, then either is a good
compromise. You could go for a reasonable cordless drill like a
Makita later on if you fancy one. I just thought that I would mention
the chisel issue, because it's the kind of thing that one can kick
oneself for not having later. Several people here have bought an SDS
without rotary stop and then wished they hadn't. The problem is then
that it's pretty hard to justify another SDS.


--

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Graham Dean wrote:

Apologies for a newbie question, but any advice on what characteristics of a
cordless drill I should
be looking for? I'll use it main in and around the house - some metal work,
quite a lot of wood and
quite a lot of masonary (for screw fitting etc, perhaps some bolts outside
for fence posts into bricks)

Have a read through the bits on cordless tools in general and drills in
particular he

http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/powertools/drill.htm
http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/powertools/cordless.htm
http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/powertools/sds.htm

If you want a cordless as your one and only drill, then you will need a
resonably serious 18V combi drill or better. Good ones are not cheap
(250 quid plus), but they will do pretty much anything (except really
hard masonry).

A lightweight SDS drill like the Makita HR2450, plus a mid range 12V/14V
cordless drill/driver will probably caover a wider range of tasks for
less money.



--
Cheers,

John.

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"Graham Dean" wrote in message
...
Apologies for a newbie question, but any advice on what characteristics of
a cordless drill I should
be looking for? I'll use it main in and around the house - some metal
work, quite a lot of wood and
quite a lot of masonary (for screw fitting etc, perhaps some bolts outside
for fence posts into bricks)

Cheers,
Graham



Thanks for all your advice - I've decided to get a 240v drill as it will be
my only one. I've gone
for a Dewalt 25103 in the end.

Cheers,
Graham