Some of you may remember the sad loss of my Erbauer 18V drill.
There were several suggestions as to what I should replace it
with. One suggestion was the B&Q PPPro 18V.

Having looked at these in the shop, and looked at their
motor/battery spec, I'd dismissed them as being too poor to
contemplate. But this wasn't based on actually having owned one.

I was in B&Q last week, and knowing that I'd be near B&Q again
next week thought what the hell, I'll try one. So I handed over
my £90 and took one home.

You get the drill, 2x 1.5Ah batteries, and a 1 hour charger. You
also get quite a nice case (which I didn't have with the
Erbauer, which cost £160 just over a year ago, now priced at £140).

The overall dimensions are quite a bit bigger than those of the
Erbauer, which makes the drill more difficult to use. In
particular, the 1.5Ah battery packs are significantly bigger
than the 1.9Ah ones that come with the Erbauer.

The chuck is of similar quality and design to the Erbauer, but
has the annoying habit of switching over to hammer action as
soon as the clutch comes into play.

It does, however, have two major problems.

First, battery life is awful. Lucky to get half the use on a
full charge that I would with the Erbauer.

Second, and more serious, is the speed controller. It doesn't
control the speed in a manner proportional to trigger movement.
There is a step jump to near full speed about half way along the
travel. This is a real pain, and makes it very difficult to use.

If this drill was £40, I think I'd keep it and live with the
deficiencies. But at that price, and especially when they brand
it as a semi-pro machine, no way.

Tune in next week, when I'll be reviewing Axminster's White 18V
drill...

--
Grunff

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
Some of you may remember the sad loss of my Erbauer 18V drill.
There were several suggestions as to what I should replace it
with. One suggestion was the B&Q PPPro 18V.

Having looked at these in the shop, and looked at their
motor/battery spec, I'd dismissed them as being too poor to
contemplate. But this wasn't based on actually having owned one.

I was in B&Q last week, and knowing that I'd be near B&Q again
next week thought what the hell, I'll try one. So I handed over
my £90 and took one home.

You get the drill, 2x 1.5Ah batteries, and a 1 hour charger. You
also get quite a nice case (which I didn't have with the
Erbauer, which cost £160 just over a year ago, now priced at £140).

The overall dimensions are quite a bit bigger than those of the
Erbauer, which makes the drill more difficult to use. In
particular, the 1.5Ah battery packs are significantly bigger
than the 1.9Ah ones that come with the Erbauer.

The chuck is of similar quality and design to the Erbauer, but
has the annoying habit of switching over to hammer action as
soon as the clutch comes into play.

It does, however, have two major problems.

First, battery life is awful. Lucky to get half the use on a
full charge that I would with the Erbauer.

Second, and more serious, is the speed controller. It doesn't
control the speed in a manner proportional to trigger movement.
There is a step jump to near full speed about half way along the
travel. This is a real pain, and makes it very difficult to use.

Told you so (nyahh, nyahh :-)

Actually I found it not a problem driving 5x65s into flooring, but I'm still
sure it'd be a windup in some applications.

If this drill was £40, I think I'd keep it and live with the
deficiencies. But at that price, and especially when they brand
it as a semi-pro machine, no way.

Bundled with the cordless circular saw, jigsaw and torch I think it's worth
part of the overall £150, but I wouldn't buy it on its own for £90.


Tune in next week, when I'll be reviewing Axminster's White 18V
drill...

Our B&Q (Reading) has Ryobi 18V drills on 'when it's gone it's gone' offer
at £90. At least it has one one display - whether they actually have any
left to buy I didn't check. Having the 14.4 'Site' branded version of this
machine and having used a colleague's 18V Site I'd expect it to be the
mutt's nuts.




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

Grunff wrote:
I was in B&Q last week, and knowing that I'd be near B&Q again
next week thought what the hell, I'll try one. So I handed over
my £90 and took one home.

If this drill was £40, I think I'd keep it and live with the
deficiencies. But at that price, and especially when they brand
it as a semi-pro machine, no way.

Tune in next week, when I'll be reviewing Axminster's White 18V
drill...

I wonder where all the "ex-demo" drills go. You never see recon ones crop up
eBay, maybe they just hit the bin?

Toby.

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
Some of you may remember the sad loss of my Erbauer 18V drill.
There were several suggestions as to what I should replace it
with. One suggestion was the B&Q PPPro 18V.

Having looked at these in the shop, and looked at their
motor/battery spec, I'd dismissed them as being too poor to
contemplate. But this wasn't based on actually having owned one.

I was in B&Q last week, and knowing that I'd be near B&Q again
next week thought what the hell, I'll try one. So I handed over
my £90 and took one home.

You get the drill, 2x 1.5Ah batteries, and a 1 hour charger. You
also get quite a nice case (which I didn't have with the
Erbauer, which cost £160 just over a year ago, now priced at £140).

The overall dimensions are quite a bit bigger than those of the
Erbauer, which makes the drill more difficult to use. In
particular, the 1.5Ah battery packs are significantly bigger
than the 1.9Ah ones that come with the Erbauer.

The chuck is of similar quality and design to the Erbauer, but
has the annoying habit of switching over to hammer action as
soon as the clutch comes into play.

It does, however, have two major problems.

First, battery life is awful. Lucky to get half the use on a
full charge that I would with the Erbauer.

Second, and more serious, is the speed controller. It doesn't
control the speed in a manner proportional to trigger movement.
There is a step jump to near full speed about half way along the
travel. This is a real pain, and makes it very difficult to use.

If this drill was £40, I think I'd keep it and live with the
deficiencies. But at that price, and especially when they brand
it as a semi-pro machine, no way.

Tune in next week, when I'll be reviewing Axminster's White 18V


A local special is the PPro Trade set ... a circular saw,
hammer/driver/drill, light and aligator saw all in a carrying case, complete
with 3 batteries & charger .... all for £69.99

It may not be perfect but it knocks spots off my DeWalt 12V, and the set is
great value for money.


I actually found battery life excellent ... perhaps it depends what you are
using as benchmark.
Rick

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

Our B&Q (Reading) has Ryobi 18V drills on 'when it's gone it's gone'
offer
at £90.

Err that's the same drill as the PPro, innit?


Sadly not. Ryobi did a batch of drills badged as 'Site' for B&Q last year
and I picked up the last one they had, a 14.4V job (half price at £60) so I
have both to compare. For identification the PPPs have the usual, er, male
protrusion on the battery which fits into a matching recess in the tool (in
a way which any half-indecent psychologist could no doubt make a meal out of
explaining how we predominantly male diy/tradespeople find so satisfying
:-). The Ryobis have an arrangement like a camera/flashgun shoe.

On features & performance the PPP has a 13mm chuck (which is good for hole
saws and auger bits) and hammer (which I haven't tried) and speed control
which jumps from about half speed to max (with no load). The Site has a 10mm
chuck, no hammer and better speed control. For torque (I've used both to
drive 12 x 4"s into softwood) I don't think there's anything in it. I
haven't got a sense of relative battery capacity.


--
John Stumbles
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-+
Load dropped, paperwork completed: job done.

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
Some of you may remember the sad loss of my Erbauer 18V drill.
There were several suggestions as to what I should replace it
with. One suggestion was the B&Q PPPro 18V.

Having looked at these in the shop, and looked at their
motor/battery spec, I'd dismissed them as being too poor to
contemplate. But this wasn't based on actually having owned one.

I was in B&Q last week, and knowing that I'd be near B&Q again
next week thought what the hell, I'll try one. So I handed over
my £90 and took one home.

You get the drill, 2x 1.5Ah batteries, and a 1 hour charger. You
also get quite a nice case (which I didn't have with the
Erbauer, which cost £160 just over a year ago, now priced at £140).

The overall dimensions are quite a bit bigger than those of the
Erbauer, which makes the drill more difficult to use. In
particular, the 1.5Ah battery packs are significantly bigger
than the 1.9Ah ones that come with the Erbauer.

The chuck is of similar quality and design to the Erbauer, but
has the annoying habit of switching over to hammer action as
soon as the clutch comes into play.

It does, however, have two major problems.

First, battery life is awful. Lucky to get half the use on a
full charge that I would with the Erbauer.

Second, and more serious, is the speed controller. It doesn't
control the speed in a manner proportional to trigger movement.
There is a step jump to near full speed about half way along the
travel. This is a real pain, and makes it very difficult to use.

If this drill was £40, I think I'd keep it and live with the
deficiencies. But at that price, and especially when they brand
it as a semi-pro machine, no way.

Tune in next week, when I'll be reviewing Axminster's White 18V
drill...

--
Grunff

I think you shall find that the Axminster White range are the cheapo
rebadged Chinese stuff that B+Q et al so fondly like to call trade stuff....
well to a 6 yr old then maybe but not to anyone who uses trade stuff they
aint...

Not to worry I use Axminster a lot and they are a good company.. but I doubt
there drills are up to much.. Rebadged Nu-Tool????

Anyhow.. good luck..

Cheers IanJH

On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 14:29:51 +0100, Grunff wrote:


If this drill was £40, I think I'd keep it and live with the
deficiencies. But at that price, and especially when they brand
it as a semi-pro machine, no way.

Tune in next week, when I'll be reviewing Axminster's White 18V
drill...

You made the mistake of not buying two.

That would have made all the difference...... ;-)



..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 14:29:51 +0100, Grunff wrote:


If this drill was £40, I think I'd keep it and live with the
deficiencies. But at that price, and especially when they brand
it as a semi-pro machine, no way.

Tune in next week, when I'll be reviewing Axminster's White 18V
drill...

You made the mistake of not buying two.

That would have made all the difference...... ;-)

At £90 each! two!


---
--

Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.520 / Virus Database: 318 - Release Date: 18/09/2003

"Toby" wrote
| Grunff wrote:
| Tune in next week, when I'll be reviewing ...
| I wonder where all the "ex-demo" drills go. You never see recon ones
| crop up eBay, maybe they just hit the bin?

They go to customers who don't check the boxes are properly sealed when they
buy a "new" drill, or TV, Video, PC ...

Owain

Andy Hall wrote:

You made the mistake of not buying two.

That would have made all the difference...... ;-)

I *knew* I'd forgotten something...

--
Grunff

IMM wrote:

At £90 each! two!

Hey - the PPPro was your recommendation!

--
Grunff

Owain wrote:
"Toby" wrote
Grunff wrote:
Tune in next week, when I'll be reviewing ...
I wonder where all the "ex-demo" drills go. You never see recon ones
crop up eBay, maybe they just hit the bin?

They go to customers who don't check the boxes are properly sealed
when they buy a "new" drill, or TV, Video, PC ...

Owain

Hmm, you're propably right. I always rigorously clean anything I'm
returning, so there can't be any question about overuse, they look pristine.
Now i'll disable a power tool by removing the fuse or brushes just to be
sure it's NWO.

My old employer recycled gsm phones for O2, all the 14 day returns went out
with new cases, bags, cable wraps, boxes etc. to be sold wholesale as new by
O2. The serial number tracking showed some phones were going round the loop
multiple times. My guess is that NuTool or whoever must be refurbing all
this kit and putting it back in the supply chain.

--
Toby.

'One day son, all this will be finished'

Grunff wrote:
Some of you may remember the sad loss of my Erbauer 18V drill.
There were several suggestions as to what I should replace it
with. One suggestion was the B&Q PPPro 18V.

Having looked at these in the shop, and looked at their
motor/battery spec, I'd dismissed them as being too poor to
contemplate. But this wasn't based on actually having owned one.

I was in B&Q last week, and knowing that I'd be near B&Q again
next week thought what the hell, I'll try one. So I handed over
my £90 and took one home.

You get the drill, 2x 1.5Ah batteries, and a 1 hour charger. You
also get quite a nice case (which I didn't have with the
Erbauer, which cost £160 just over a year ago, now priced at £140).

The overall dimensions are quite a bit bigger than those of the
Erbauer, which makes the drill more difficult to use. In
particular, the 1.5Ah battery packs are significantly bigger
than the 1.9Ah ones that come with the Erbauer.

The chuck is of similar quality and design to the Erbauer, but
has the annoying habit of switching over to hammer action as
soon as the clutch comes into play.

It does, however, have two major problems.

First, battery life is awful. Lucky to get half the use on a
full charge that I would with the Erbauer.

Second, and more serious, is the speed controller. It doesn't
control the speed in a manner proportional to trigger movement.
There is a step jump to near full speed about half way along the
travel. This is a real pain, and makes it very difficult to use.

If this drill was £40, I think I'd keep it and live with the
deficiencies. But at that price, and especially when they brand
it as a semi-pro machine, no way.

Tune in next week, when I'll be reviewing Axminster's White 18V
drill...

I got the Axminster white 14.4v with 2 nimh batteries. Its very good. Knocks
spots off a cheapo 18v I used to use.

BillR wrote:

I got the Axminster white 14.4v with 2 nimh batteries. Its very good. Knocks
spots off a cheapo 18v I used to use.

Hi Bill,

How long have you had it? How much do you use it? Does it
hammer, and how much have you used it on hammer?

Thanks.

--
Grunff

On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 17:14:21 +0100, Grunff wrote:

IMM wrote:

At £90 each! two!

Hey - the PPPro was your recommendation!

Bad advice..........



..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Andy Hall wrote:

Bad advice..........

I wasn't expecting it to be good, especially having handled it
in the shop. But since I was there anyway, and will be there
again next week, I thought I'd give it a good try out. So that
next time I call it a pile of ****e, I can say so with some
authority.

I used it for about 8 hours today. It does have good points. The
chuck is good. And...erm...did I mention the chuck? It's a nice
chuck. Oh, and the case is nice too.

Battery life is really bad, much worse than my initial
assessment. Very poor batteries. It's large size makes it very
unwieldy. It's the biggest 18V I've ever handled. But the worst
thing is the speed (not all that much) controller.

--
Grunff

On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 22:07:12 +0100, Grunff wrote:

Andy Hall wrote:

Bad advice..........

I wasn't expecting it to be good, especially having handled it
in the shop. But since I was there anyway, and will be there
again next week, I thought I'd give it a good try out. So that
next time I call it a pile of ****e, I can say so with some
authority.

I used it for about 8 hours today. It does have good points. The
chuck is good. And...erm...did I mention the chuck? It's a nice
chuck. Oh, and the case is nice too.

Battery life is really bad, much worse than my initial
assessment. Very poor batteries. It's large size makes it very
unwieldy. It's the biggest 18V I've ever handled. But the worst
thing is the speed (not all that much) controller.

Have a look at the Makita as well. I was using by 14v one all day
today making some wooden frames. This involved gluing and screwing
some components together with long thin screws rather carefully and
slowly. A gentle squeeze of the trigger and the chuck turns very
slowly but with good torque.



..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 17:14:21 +0100, Grunff wrote:

IMM wrote:

At £90 each! two!

Hey - the PPPro was your recommendation!

Bad advice..........

Not according to many here.


---
--

Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.520 / Virus Database: 318 - Release Date: 18/09/2003

On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 23:47:22 +0100, "IMM" wrote:




Bad advice..........

Not according to many here.

Like I said. Bad advice.


..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

IMM wrote:

Bad advice..........

Not according to many here.

I suspect they haven't used anything with good battery life or
speed control.

--
Grunff

Andy Hall wrote:

Have a look at the Makita as well. I was using by 14v one all day
today making some wooden frames. This involved gluing and screwing
some components together with long thin screws rather carefully and
slowly. A gentle squeeze of the trigger and the chuck turns very
slowly but with good torque.

A friend has the 12V Makita, which is superb. But not quite
beefy enough for what I want.

I'd love an 18V Makita, and have a feeling I'm going to end up
with one sooner or later. But I'm gonna give the Axminster tool
a go first. One of the factors that have convinced me to do so
is their use of NiMH batteries. If they were being cheapskates,
they certainly wouldn't have included NiMH as standard.

--
Grunff

On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 23:59:56 +0100, Grunff wrote:

Andy Hall wrote:

Have a look at the Makita as well. I was using by 14v one all day
today making some wooden frames. This involved gluing and screwing
some components together with long thin screws rather carefully and
slowly. A gentle squeeze of the trigger and the chuck turns very
slowly but with good torque.

A friend has the 12V Makita, which is superb. But not quite
beefy enough for what I want.

I'd love an 18V Makita, and have a feeling I'm going to end up
with one sooner or later. But I'm gonna give the Axminster tool
a go first. One of the factors that have convinced me to do so
is their use of NiMH batteries. If they were being cheapskates,
they certainly wouldn't have included NiMH as standard.

True. They also take the trouble to define what they mean by each
grade of tool, which I find very useful when selecting.

I've also found Axminster very good at resolving problems and keeping
customers happy. You might want to give their technical help desk a
call, describe the problem that you've had with the PPoo product and
whether what they have is likely to show an improvement and be more
suitable for use.
..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

In uk.d-i-y, Grunff wrote:

......................... But I'm gonna give the Axminster tool
a go first. One of the factors that have convinced me to do so
is their use of NiMH batteries. If they were being cheapskates,
they certainly wouldn't have included NiMH as standard.

If you're using it for "real" trade - day in, day out - or even for
extended heavier jobs (which I believe you are), NiMH is probably
a win over NiCad on capacity grounds. But for weekend warriors like me,
the self-discharge on NiMH is so much greater than for NiCads that I'm
happier with the older technology...

Awaiting your impressions on the Axminster White with interest, BTW;
their writeups suggest the "White" stuff is more like mid-price trade
tool than Performance Pro joke kit, but seductive prose (and, to be
fair, a different branding - "Perform" - for the really "occasional
use only" tools) is no substitute for an impartial review. And I imagine
if you're really disappointed in the quality, Axminster will take it
back and refund without hassle.

Cheers, Stefek

In article ,
Grunff wrote:
One of the factors that have convinced me to do so
is their use of NiMH batteries. If they were being cheapskates,
they certainly wouldn't have included NiMH as standard.

In theory Ni-Cads are being phased out on environmental grounds. Sad, as
they're a better battery unless size is a primary consideration which I
don't think it is in a power tool.

--
*A fool and his money are soon partying *

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

wrote:

If you're using it for "real" trade - day in, day out - or even for
extended heavier jobs (which I believe you are), NiMH is probably
a win over NiCad on capacity grounds. But for weekend warriors like me,
the self-discharge on NiMH is so much greater than for NiCads that I'm
happier with the older technology...

My usage is almost exclusively weekends, but I'm happy to accept
the high self-discharge in exchange for lightness and capacity.
It just means I have to start the weekend's work with a fresh
battery.

Having said that, I was perfectly happy with the 18V 1.9Ah NiCd
batteries on the Erbauer. It's just poor case design which let
it down. Otherwise it was a superb drill.


Awaiting your impressions on the Axminster White with interest, BTW;
their writeups suggest the "White" stuff is more like mid-price trade
tool than Performance Pro joke kit, but seductive prose (and, to be
fair, a different branding - "Perform" - for the really "occasional
use only" tools) is no substitute for an impartial review. And I imagine
if you're really disappointed in the quality, Axminster will take it
back and refund without hassle.

I'll be sure to let you know. I'm ordering it tomorrow, which
means it'll get a good workout next weekend. I'll post my
initial findings next Sat/Sun.

--
Grunff

"IanJH" wrote in message
...

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
Some of you may remember the sad loss of my Erbauer 18V drill.
There were several suggestions as to what I should replace it
with. One suggestion was the B&Q PPPro 18V.

Having looked at these in the shop, and looked at their
motor/battery spec, I'd dismissed them as being too poor to
contemplate. But this wasn't based on actually having owned one.

I was in B&Q last week, and knowing that I'd be near B&Q again
next week thought what the hell, I'll try one. So I handed over
my £90 and took one home.

You get the drill, 2x 1.5Ah batteries, and a 1 hour charger. You
also get quite a nice case (which I didn't have with the
Erbauer, which cost £160 just over a year ago, now priced at £140).

The overall dimensions are quite a bit bigger than those of the
Erbauer, which makes the drill more difficult to use. In
particular, the 1.5Ah battery packs are significantly bigger
than the 1.9Ah ones that come with the Erbauer.

The chuck is of similar quality and design to the Erbauer, but
has the annoying habit of switching over to hammer action as
soon as the clutch comes into play.

It does, however, have two major problems.

First, battery life is awful. Lucky to get half the use on a
full charge that I would with the Erbauer.

Second, and more serious, is the speed controller. It doesn't
control the speed in a manner proportional to trigger movement.
There is a step jump to near full speed about half way along the
travel. This is a real pain, and makes it very difficult to use.

If this drill was £40, I think I'd keep it and live with the
deficiencies. But at that price, and especially when they brand
it as a semi-pro machine, no way.

Tune in next week, when I'll be reviewing Axminster's White 18V
drill...

--
Grunff

I think you shall find that the Axminster White range are the cheapo
rebadged Chinese stuff that B+Q et al so fondly like to call trade
stuff....
well to a 6 yr old then maybe but not to anyone who uses trade stuff they
aint...

The PP Pro range is not trade, it is better quality DIY.

Not to worry I use Axminster a lot and they are a good company.. but I
doubt
there drills are up to much.. Rebadged Nu-Tool????

I fear they have just bundled in nickel metal hydride batteries, which have
their advanatges and disadvantages, and the quality is the same as B&Q etc.
Which is fine for DIY.

You wll find that more expensive drills have better batteries to cope with
every day use, which appears to be the bulk of the cost of these items.





---
--

Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.520 / Virus Database: 318 - Release Date: 19/09/2003

In article ,
wrote:
If you're using it for "real" trade - day in, day out - or even for
extended heavier jobs (which I believe you are), NiMH is probably
a win over NiCad on capacity grounds.

The real problem for regular use is that they don't last for nearly as
many cycles.

--
*If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled? *

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
Andy Hall wrote:

Have a look at the Makita as well. I was using by 14v one all day
today making some wooden frames. This involved gluing and screwing
some components together with long thin screws rather carefully and
slowly. A gentle squeeze of the trigger and the chuck turns very
slowly but with good torque.

A friend has the 12V Makita, which is superb. But not quite
beefy enough for what I want.

I'd love an 18V Makita, and have a feeling I'm going to end up
with one sooner or later. But I'm gonna give the Axminster tool
a go first. One of the factors that have convinced me to do so
is their use of NiMH batteries. If they were being cheapskates,
they certainly wouldn't have included NiMH as standard.

--
Grunff


Based on my experiences with their tools I might have recommended looking at
Atlas Copco/Milwaukee, however having just looked up the price of their 18v
combi it is astronomical - you could have 2 of the Erbauers for the price
it!


Richard

--
Richard Sampson

email me at
richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk

On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 03:07:25 +0100, "RichardS" noaccess@invalid
wrote:




Based on my experiences with their tools I might have recommended looking at
Atlas Copco/Milwaukee, however having just looked up the price of their 18v
combi it is astronomical - you could have 2 of the Erbauers for the price
it!


Richard

The Milwaukee stuff is beloved by contractors in the U.S. for sure....

There are some heavier grade tools available there that are not
imported for sale here at present. They are not so expensive there
either of course. (Makes mental note to check during next trip).



..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 01:17:44 +0100, "IMM" wrote:



The PP Pro range is not trade, it is better quality DIY.


The trouble is that it isn't. What use are tools which can't be set
up properly, don't cut straight or consistently and can't be
controlled properly?

It can be argued that a tool for DIY purposes could have a lower duty
cycle rating than a professional tool because it gets less use, but
the notion that it's acceptable that it also does a poor and
inaccurate job makes no sense at all.

Basically this is saying that because "it's only for DIY" that junk is
acceptable. Why would people imagine that DIY work should
automatically imply a poorer standard of job?




---

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Dave Plowman wrote:

One of the factors that have convinced me to do so
is their use of NiMH batteries. If they were being cheapskates,
they certainly wouldn't have included NiMH as standard.


In theory Ni-Cads are being phased out on environmental grounds. Sad, as
they're a better battery unless size is a primary consideration which I
don't think it is in a power tool.

I dunno - when you have an 18V drill weighing 2.5kg, if you can
shave off half a kilo by going for NiMH I'm all for it.

On a more abstract note about the two types of batteries, I use
them both regularly, and they each have their strong points.
NiMH - high capacity in a small, light package. NiCd - lower
internal resistance.

--
Grunff

Grunff wrote:

Tune in next week, when I'll be reviewing Axminster's White 18V
drill...

I got this last week so can't really assess the drill itself yet, but a few
comments on the "package".
1) The drill instructions (online at
http://www.axminster.co.uk/ftp/Manual_AW180CD.pdf) say
"Note that some RAPID chargers require a "rest" period between charges, read
the instruction

manual concerning your specific charger to see if this is the case"
But of course there are no separate charger instructions.
2) You need a screwdriver to pry out the driver bits from the moulded
plastic carry-case.
3) They also supply a free box of screwdriver bits which contains an odd
assortment of sizes; three flat, two each of pozi #1 and #3, and twenty (!)
pozi #2.
--
Laurie R

All credit to Axminster for being honest about the source:

Jiangsu Jinding Electric Tools Group Co.
www.jinding.com

So they're knocking out 12 million tools - blimey. No wonder they all look
the same.
When people say they all come from that factory in china, well it's true.

--
Toby.

'One day son, all this will be finished'

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
Andy Hall wrote:

Have a look at the Makita as well. I was using by 14v one all day
today making some wooden frames. This involved gluing and screwing
some components together with long thin screws rather carefully and
slowly. A gentle squeeze of the trigger and the chuck turns very
slowly but with good torque.

A friend has the 12V Makita, which is superb. But not quite
beefy enough for what I want.

I'd love an 18V Makita, and have a feeling I'm going to end up
with one sooner or later. But I'm gonna give the Axminster tool
a go first. One of the factors that have convinced me to do so
is their use of NiMH batteries. If they were being cheapskates,
they certainly wouldn't have included NiMH as standard.

Wickes have a run on a 18v hammer DIY 2 year guarantee job for around
£30-35. One battery 1 hr charge. They also have a 14.4 v drill/driver too.
The battery has a charge indicator on the side.




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"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 23:47:22 +0100, "IMM" wrote:




Bad advice..........

Not according to many here.

Like I said. Bad advice.

Must be lots of bad advise based on experience here then.


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"Toby" wrote in message
...
All credit to Axminster for being honest about the source:

Jiangsu Jinding Electric Tools Group Co.
www.jinding.com

So they're knocking out 12 million tools - blimey. No wonder they all look
the same.
When people say they all come from that factory in china, well it's true.

That is why most of them are all the same. This Axminster only has a
different type of battery. I would go for the Wickes 18v or 14.4v drills.
The same, much cheaper and a better guarantee.



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IMM wrote:

Wickes have a run on a 18v hammer DIY 2 year guarantee job for around
£30-35. One battery 1 hr charge. They also have a 14.4 v drill/driver too.
The battery has a charge indicator on the side.

You trying to be funny? Have you ever handled one of those
things? Do you ever actually *do* any diy, or is everything
purely conceptual to you?

--
Grunff

On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 13:56:53 +0100, "IMM" wrote:


"Grunff" wrote in message
...
Andy Hall wrote:

Have a look at the Makita as well. I was using by 14v one all day
today making some wooden frames. This involved gluing and screwing
some components together with long thin screws rather carefully and
slowly. A gentle squeeze of the trigger and the chuck turns very
slowly but with good torque.

A friend has the 12V Makita, which is superb. But not quite
beefy enough for what I want.

I'd love an 18V Makita, and have a feeling I'm going to end up
with one sooner or later. But I'm gonna give the Axminster tool
a go first. One of the factors that have convinced me to do so
is their use of NiMH batteries. If they were being cheapskates,
they certainly wouldn't have included NiMH as standard.

Wickes have a run on a 18v hammer DIY 2 year guarantee job for around
£30-35. One battery 1 hr charge. They also have a 14.4 v drill/driver too.
The battery has a charge indicator on the side.


Does it have a motor though?

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
IMM wrote:

Wickes have a run on a 18v hammer DIY 2 year guarantee job for around
£30-35. One battery 1 hr charge. They also have a 14.4 v drill/driver
too.
The battery has a charge indicator on the side.

You trying to be funny? Have you ever handled one of those
things? Do you ever actually *do* any diy, or is everything
purely conceptual to you?

Have you used the Wickes?


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"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 13:56:53 +0100, "IMM" wrote:


"Grunff" wrote in message
...
Andy Hall wrote:

Have a look at the Makita as well. I was using by 14v one all day
today making some wooden frames. This involved gluing and screwing
some components together with long thin screws rather carefully and
slowly. A gentle squeeze of the trigger and the chuck turns very
slowly but with good torque.

A friend has the 12V Makita, which is superb. But not quite
beefy enough for what I want.

I'd love an 18V Makita, and have a feeling I'm going to end up
with one sooner or later. But I'm gonna give the Axminster tool
a go first. One of the factors that have convinced me to do so
is their use of NiMH batteries. If they were being cheapskates,
they certainly wouldn't have included NiMH as standard.

Wickes have a run on a 18v hammer DIY 2 year guarantee job for around
£30-35. One battery 1 hr charge. They also have a 14.4 v drill/driver
too.
The battery has a charge indicator on the side.


Does it have a motor though?

It had a key you turn.


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