Just seen the new(?) B&Q Performance Power Pro 18V cordless set: combi
drill, circular saw, jigsaw and torch with 3 batteries and what looks like a
proper fast charger rather than the rubbish the previous set had. £150.
Anyone tried it? Is it any good (apart from hammer action on the drill which
I wouldn't expect to be worth the candle).

tia

--
John Stumbles
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If a job's worth doing, it'll still be worth doing tomorrow.

"Steve Firth" wrote in message
.. .
"John Stumbles" ] wrote:

Just seen the new(?) B&Q Performance Power Pro 18V cordless set: combi
drill, circular saw, jigsaw and torch with 3 batteries and what looks
like a
proper fast charger rather than the rubbish the previous set had. £150.
Anyone tried it? Is it any good (apart from hammer action on the drill
which
I wouldn't expect to be worth the candle).

Grrrrr... that's the set I wanted.

---8--- (snip)

OK, well despite the lack of encouragement (i.e. an excuse for buying it :-)
from any of you 'orrible shower I've been and bought one, trading in my old
PP 18V cordless saw on which the blade guard was defective (always stayed
open, though I considered that more of a plus feature ;-) to help pay for
it.

The drill is nice enough, though my Site (last year's B&Q own brand) 14.4V
is fine. (Haven't tried the hammer action: I always use
universal/multipurpose type drill bits.) One advantage of the new machine is
the 13mm chuck which lets me use the big arbor on my hole saw kit: the Site
has only a 10mm chuck.

The circular saw (apart from the annoying blade guard which works :-) seems
OK.

The jigsaw has a rather plastickey blade grip lever: I wonder how long
that'll last. But it cuts OK (compared to my cheap Ferm mains one which is
falling apart now).

And the torch is pretty handy.

OK now back to fitting the new kitchen, to earn its keep :-|

--
John Stumbles
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-+
I've got nothing against racists
- I just wouldn't want my daughter to marry one

"Rick Hughes" wrote in message
...
---8---
"John Stumbles" ] wrote:

Just seen the new(?) B&Q Performance Power Pro 18V cordless set: combi
drill, circular saw, jigsaw and torch with 3 batteries and what looks
like a
proper fast charger rather than the rubbish the previous set had.
£150.
Anyone tried it? Is it any good (apart from hammer action on the drill
which
I wouldn't expect to be worth the candle).

---8---

I can vouch for the 18V drill ... my father bought the drill .. then a
couple of weeks later bought the triple set and donated me the drill.

It is VERY good, lots of torque, have now retired my DeWalt.

I'm a bit disappointed with the speed control: as one squeezes the trigger
further it increases smoothly then suddenly jumps to maximum. No problem for
drilling but pants for driving. The jigsaw has the same behaviour but it's
not a problem. I guess the motor speed control is just not capable of going
up to maximum so they bypass it with a switch for full power.

It's something I can live with since my Site (Ryobi rebadge for B&Q) does
the business for driving very nicely, but I wouldn't want it to be my only
drill/driver.

--
John Stumbles
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-+

In article ,
John Stumbles ] wrote:
I'm a bit disappointed with the speed control: as one squeezes the
trigger further it increases smoothly then suddenly jumps to maximum. No
problem for drilling but pants for driving.

This IMHO is the bid difference between 'cheap' and good quality drills.
When drilling, the speed control isn't that important. When screwdriving,
it is, and that's where a decent one stands out. But since IMM only
preaches and never does, he wouldn't find this out.

--
*I love cats...they taste just like chicken.

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

In article ,
John Stumbles ] wrote:
I'm a bit disappointed with the speed control: as one squeezes the
trigger further it increases smoothly then suddenly jumps to maximum. No
problem for drilling but pants for driving.

This can also be a function of poor quality batteries which can't deliver
as much current as decent ones. I noticed a big improvement over new when
re-celling my B&Q 18 volt one with Sanyo cells.

--
*In some places, C:\ is the root of all directories *

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

"Dave Plowman" wrote in message
...
In article ,
John Stumbles ] wrote:
I'm a bit disappointed with the speed control: as one squeezes the
trigger further it increases smoothly then suddenly jumps to maximum. No
problem for drilling but pants for driving.



I can vouch for superb driving capability - that is about 90% of what it is
used for - been putting in 4" x 10's ... 3 boxes of 200 used so far.
batteries last an age compared to 12V dewalt

"Dave Plowman" wrote in message
...
In article ,
John Stumbles ] wrote:
I'm a bit disappointed with the speed control: as one squeezes the
trigger further it increases smoothly then suddenly jumps to maximum. No
problem for drilling but pants for driving.

This IMHO is the bid difference between 'cheap' and good quality drills.
When drilling, the speed control isn't that important. When screwdriving,
it is, and that's where a decent one stands out. But since IMM only
preaches and never does, he wouldn't find this out.

Don't get me wrong Dave, I like slagging off IMM as much as the next man ;-)
but, er, he hasn't actually posted to this thread, has he?



--
John Stumbles
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-+
Cannibalize Legalists

"Rick Hughes" wrote in message
...

"Dave Plowman" wrote in message
...
In article ,
John Stumbles ] wrote:
I'm a bit disappointed with the speed control: as one squeezes the
trigger further it increases smoothly then suddenly jumps to maximum.
No
problem for drilling but pants for driving.



I can vouch for superb driving capability - that is about 90% of what it
is
used for - been putting in 4" x 10's ... 3 boxes of 200 used so far.
batteries last an age compared to 12V dewalt


Fair enough, just noting what mine does. Incidentally mine is model
CLM18CHD, comes with a side handle, has a 3-LED battery state indicator on
the foot - maybe yours is a different model? Or maybe they've just changed
components (or even suppliers) and package it as the same unit.

--
John Stumbles
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-+
Things don't like being anthropomorphised.

In article ,
Rick Hughes wrote:
I can vouch for superb driving capability - that is about 90% of what it
is used for - been putting in 4" x 10's ... 3 boxes of 200 used so far.
batteries last an age compared to 12V dewalt

But just driving large screws isn't necessarily the only test. Starting
small ones direct into contiboard often sorts them out. ;-)

--
*'ome is where you 'ang your @ *

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

On Thu, 25 Sep 2003 07:18:27 +0100, "John Stumbles"
] wrote:

Don't get me wrong Dave, I like slagging off IMM as much as the next man ;-)
but, er, he hasn't actually posted to this thread, has he?

He doesn't post on any threads as far as I'm concerned. He was added
to my twit filter some time ago.

PoP

In article ,
John Stumbles ] wrote:
Don't get me wrong Dave, I like slagging off IMM as much as the next man
;-) but, er, he hasn't actually posted to this thread, has he?

No, but if he had that's what he'd have said. ;-)

His two bees in bonnet are expensive heating systems fitted by cheap
tools. ;-)

--
*The beatings will continue until morale improves *

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn