Hello,

I'm interested in buying a cordless drill but I also need to buy
right-angled drill attachment. I've used the cheap silverline ones but
the gearboxes always wear out. The Medway handyman recommended a
Wickes drill made by Kress IIRC but neither the Wickes nor Kress web
site give much details.

I would want it for DIY use. What are your recommendations/opinions on
this drill? Is there another cheap right angled drill corded or
cordless?

In addition to drilling does it also do screw driving? Does it have a
hammer action drill?

My main question is about the 90 degree drilling. Does the special
adapter lock in one position or can it be angled in any direction? How
tough is the attachment? Will it stand years of use/abuse? IE is it
infinity better than the silverline attachments!

TIA

Fred wrote:
Hello,

I'm interested in buying a cordless drill but I also need to buy
right-angled drill attachment. I've used the cheap silverline ones but
the gearboxes always wear out. The Medway handyman recommended a
Wickes drill made by Kress IIRC but neither the Wickes nor Kress web
site give much details.

I'd highly reccommend the Wickes/Kress combi drill drivers, but I don't have
the right angle attachment - that were someone else.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

In article ,
Fred wrote:
Hello,

I'm interested in buying a cordless drill but I also need to buy
right-angled drill attachment. I've used the cheap silverline ones but
the gearboxes always wear out. The Medway handyman recommended a
Wickes drill made by Kress IIRC but neither the Wickes nor Kress web
site give much details.

It's called a Wicks Professional 15.6v High Torque Cordless Drill.

I would want it for DIY use. What are your recommendations/opinions on
this drill? Is there another cheap right angled drill corded or
cordless?

I don't know of another. But it's not exactly cheap - just decent value.
The batteries seem top quality as is the charger.

In addition to drilling does it also do screw driving? Does it have a
hammer action drill?

Yes to both. And it's an excellent screwdriver. Can't really comment on
the hammer action as I seem only to need plain drilling or SDS. ;-)

My main question is about the 90 degree drilling. Does the special
adapter lock in one position or can it be angled in any direction?

It locks in a number of positions. To all intents and purposes any
direction.

How tough is the attachment? Will it stand years of use/abuse? IE is it
infinity better than the silverline attachments!

It seems pretty tough and well made. The adaptor is all metal. But mine
doesn't get the hard use a pro might give it.

Only thing I would add is its maximum speed is rather slower than most
cordless drills. Which might be a factor if you're drilling lots of small
holes in wood.

TIA

--
*Where there's a will, I want to be in it.

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

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In addition to drilling does it also do screw driving? Does it have a
hammer action drill?

Yes to both.

It doesn't have hammer action.

In article ,
Doctor Drivel wrote:
In addition to drilling does it also do screw driving? Does it have a
hammer action drill?

Yes to both.

It doesn't have hammer action.

Didn't think you had one 'cause you didn't know where the screwdriver bits
were stored either...

Or perhaps you simply haven't found it. Slide the black wedge on the top
back forward.

--
*Support bacteria - they're the only culture some people have *

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

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...

Slide the black wedge on the top
back forward.

A pleasant surprise.

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:28:59 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

It's called a Wicks Professional 15.6v High Torque Cordless Drill.

just visited the wickes web site:
"This product is not available to view."
;(

"Fred" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:28:59 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

It's called a Wicks Professional 15.6v High Torque Cordless Drill.

just visited the wickes web site:
"This product is not available to view."
;(

There is a little pic of it. It is now only £79. If so that is a great buy.
It may be for purchase at the stores only.

In article ,
Fred wrote:

I'm interested in buying a cordless drill but I also need to buy
right-angled drill attachment.

I would want it for DIY use. What are your recommendations/opinions on
this drill? In addition to drilling does it also do screw driving?

I have the version without the right-angle attachment. It's a very good
drill and a very good screwdriver. The batteries are decent and it
comes with an intelligent charger so it doesn't overcook them. It's
been used on a couple of house renovations and still going strong. A
friend who uses his in his job rates it highly too.


Does it have a hammer action drill?

It doesn't have hammer action. It's purely a drill driver.


neither the Wickes nor Kress web site give much details.

There are a couple of downloadable pdfs on the Kress website but they're
not in the most obvious places:

http://download.kress-elektrik.de/en...&cat=711&PHPSE
SSID=4416676dcba040267e8efacd233076bb

http://download.kress-elektrik.de/en...ressdb_en&pass
word=access&action=view&cat=805



Is there another cheap right angled drill corded or cordless?

I previously had the PPPro (GMC) one, like this:

http://www.silverlinetools.com/index.html?code=763617

It did the job but no great shakes and the varibale speed trigger has
just died, so I'm looking at getting the Kress.

If you're not in the market for a Bosch/Makita, the cheap cordless
option is the 18v one from Toolstation:

http://www.toolstation.com/search.ht...tr=angle+drill




The Medway handyman recommended a Wickes drill made by Kress IIRC

I think you'll find the person recommending it was IMM/Drivel. Hardly
surprising - he and Dave Plowman agree on everything. Honestly, you'd
struggle to shove a cigarette paper between those boys' opinions.....

"mike" wrote in message
...

Is there another cheap right angled drill corded or cordless?

I previously had the PPPro (GMC) one, like this:

http://www.silverlinetools.com/index.html?code=763617

It did the job but no great shakes and the varibale speed trigger has
just died, so I'm looking at getting the Kress.

The Silverline can be had for around £26. It is a "mains" angle drill and
the cheapest angle drill around, so worth it for occasioonal use which angle
drills are used get anway. Many angle adapters are that price.

If you're not in the market for a Bosch/Makita, the cheap cordless
option is the 18v one from Toolstation:

http://www.toolstation.com/search.ht...tr=angle+drill

Yep @ £160 for a B&D. Duh!

In article , "Doctor Drivel"
wrote:


The Silverline can be had for around £26. It is a "mains" angle drill and
the cheapest angle drill around, so worth it for occasioonal use which angle
drills are used get anway. Many angle adapters are that price.

It would be worth it for occasional use if it worked for occasional use.
But as I said, I had the identical PPPro one, it had occasional use and
the switch died. So I wouldn't recommend it and I wouldn't buy another.

At £26 it is cheap though, so for *very occasional* occasional use...


If you're not in the market for a Bosch/Makita, the cheap cordless
option is the 18v one from Toolstation:

http://www.toolstation.com/search.ht...tr=angle+drill

Yep @ £160 for a B&D. Duh!


The 18v drill on the link I provided is £49. So why the "Duh!"?

"mike" wrote in message
...
In article , "Doctor Drivel"
wrote:


The Silverline can be had for around £26. It is a "mains" angle drill and
the cheapest angle drill around, so worth it for occasioonal use which
angle
drills are used get anway. Many angle adapters are that price.

It would be worth it for occasional use if it worked for occasional use.
But as I said, I had the identical PPPro one, it had occasional use and
the switch died. So I wouldn't recommend it and I wouldn't buy another.

At £26 it is cheap though, so for *very occasional* occasional use...

OK you had a bad one. Is that exactly the same drill as the PPPro? The
switches must be available to buy. A mains angle drill is handy for
drilling joists for cables and pipes.

If you're not in the market for a Bosch/Makita, the cheap cordless
option is the 18v one from Toolstation:

http://www.toolstation.com/search.ht...tr=angle+drill

Yep @ £160 for a B&D. Duh!

The 18v drill on the link I provided is £49. So why the "Duh!"?

Never noticed that. There is huge a difference in price there from £160 -
£115 - £49. The £115 one looks the best as it can in tighter and a normal
chuck not a keyless.

The £49 drill is way cheaper than the rest (OK no 2nd battery), so why so
cheap?

In article , "Doctor Drivel"
wrote:

At £26 it is cheap though, so for *very occasional* occasional use...

OK you had a bad one.

Yeah, I accept that a sample of one is not statistically significant and
maybe I just had the Friday afternoon one. But the truth is it's just
not great. It's a different body shape to any other mains angle drill
for no obvious or good reason. Seems quite large and long in comparison
which partly defeats the object of an angle drill.

It's got a keyless chuck but the back part of the chuck is covered by a
shroud to stop you touching it. Instead you have to use a manual
spindle lock button on the top of the drill, and waggle the front end of
the chuck until the lock engages. Either the keyless chuck alone or an
auto spindle lock would be fine. But what's the point of this perverse
arrangement?

It's never sounded particularly smooth-running from the get-go.

And B&Q (and GMC who supplied them) have both discontinued them.



Is that exactly the same drill as the PPPro?

Yup.


The switches must be available to buy.

That's a reasonable assumption and one that I made too. So far, it's
proved not to be true.

I rung customer services at B&Q's head office. They scoffed at the idea
of getting it repaired but gave me a number for GMC's UK office.

I phoned GMC who said the service dept would call me back.

I phoned GMC twice more each time asking to speak to the service dept,
each time being told they'd call me back.

The fourth time I phoned, I got ratty with them. This did have the
effect of getting the "service dept" to call back. It also revealed why
I couldn't be put through to the service dept. There is no service
dept. What GMC do is get your local B&Q to ring you back and tell you
(surprise, surprise) that they don't and never have kept spares.

What a f*cking farce.

If you look at the forum on GMC's website you'll see similar stories of
GMC's customer service, several from their home country of Australia ---
so it's not just the satellite operation that's crap.

I took the switch in to Maplin but it's all pre-moulded and sealed and
they couldn't help. On another thread, someone actually explained to me
how he'd carved the switch of a similar product apart and replaced the
innards but that it's probably easier to find another knackered tool
(knackered in another way, that is), salvage the switch from that and
botch it into this...... which I'd do if I had another variable spped
mains tool that was knackered.

The only option I haven't explored is phoning Silverline about spares
(although there's no mention of spares on their website). And to be
honest, if it were available and it cost more than a couple of quid inc
P&P, i'm not sure I'd do it 'cause I'd essentially be spending money to
repair something that wasn't that good to start with.





The £49 drill is way cheaper than the rest (OK no 2nd battery), so why so
cheap?

Well, it's not Dewalt - it just looks like one.

"mike" wrote in message
...

The 18v drill on the link I provided is £49. So why the "Duh!"?

The Ryobi bare angle drill is around £50-60, which may be the better buy if
you have the ONE+ batteries and other ONE+ kit.

mike wrote:

If you're not in the market for a Bosch/Makita, the cheap cordless
option is the 18v one from Toolstation:

http://www.toolstation.com/search.ht...tr=angle+drill

This is probably the better deal:

http://www.transtools.co.uk/store/pr...ll-driver.html

Been pleased with my one...


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In article ,
John Rumm wrote:

mike wrote:

If you're not in the market for a Bosch/Makita, the cheap cordless
option is the 18v one from Toolstation:

http://www.toolstation.com/search.ht...tr=angle+drill

This is probably the better deal:

http://www.transtools.co.uk/store/pr.../drill-drivers
/dewalt-dw966k-14-4v-cordless-angle-drill-driver.html

Been pleased with my one...


John,
How do the cordless ones perform with spade bits or augers?

mike wrote:

How do the cordless ones perform with spade bits or augers?

The short answer is "ok". My one has spent more time sticking 25 - 32mm
holes through the sides of joists using a spade bit than any other
activity I would guess. Not tried an auger it it yet.

General impression is not bad - not quite the power of the 18V combi
(the 14.4V DeWalt DW966K angle drill can produce 24Nm of torque tops)
but enough to turn most bits at a respectable speed.

(In the case of the DeWalt, this sort of use rapidly shows a difference
in performance between the 1.3Ah bats and the 2.0Ah ones).

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:08:50 +0000, John Rumm
wrote:

How do the cordless ones perform with spade bits or augers?

The short answer is "ok". My one has spent more time sticking 25 - 32mm
holes through the sides of joists using a spade bit than any other
activity I would guess. Not tried an auger it it yet.

Hello,

A couple of apologies: first apologies to the medway Handyman, I was
sure it was you that had recommended the drill in the past; that will
teach me to re-read old posts before posting.

Secondly, sorry to everyone else for any confusion: when I said I had
used a Silverline product I meant part 40354 at Toolstation. It is an
attachment made by Silverline that you screw into the front of your
drill for about £7 but it didn't work for me.

I didn't realise that silverline made an actual angle drill. The price
seems good though I am unsure whether to buy one now I've read the
other comments about it not lasting long.

It would only be used occasionally for DIY wires and pipes through
joists, so I'm not sure that I could justify hundreds of pounds on a
purchase.

I was hoping to drill a 25mm hole in a joist to run a 22mm pipe
through. Is 25mm sufficiently large for a 22mm pipe. I'm guessing I
should allow some space for copper pipe to expand or to prevent
plastic pipe from rubbing against the joist? What diameter would you
drill for other pipe sizes?

Thanks.

In message , mike
writes
In article ,
Fred wrote:

The Medway handyman recommended a Wickes drill made by Kress IIRC

I think you'll find the person recommending it was IMM/Drivel. Hardly
surprising - he and Dave Plowman agree on everything. Honestly, you'd
struggle to shove a cigarette paper between those boys' opinions.....

Whoah there tiger :-)

I've got the Wickes professional (2Kg ish?) SDS - a Kress in
disguise[1]. Wonderful piece of kit which a number of builder friends of
mine have now bought having (ab)used mine.

Whether I/you/we (or as some posters are more frequently and annoyingly
saying "one") agree or disagree about the Wickes/Kress, I think it's
important to distinguish between disliking the tool full stop and
disliking the tool because of the *person* who raves about it :-)

Anyway, just a thought and not a flame, I'm currently fuelling one of
those elsewhere!!!

All the best,
Someone

[1] AIUI not all Wickes power tools are made by Kress. I think the grey
professional series are, but the others[2] aren't? Can't cite anything, just
what I've come to believe.

[2] What *do* they call the "other series"... Unprofessional? Amateur? Been on
"Builders from Hell"?. Gawd knows :-)

somebody wrote:

Whether I/you/we (or as some posters are more frequently and annoyingly
saying "one") agree or disagree about the Wickes/Kress, I think it's
important to distinguish between disliking the tool full stop and
disliking the tool because of the *person* who raves about it :-)

I think the grey SDS drill is generally well enough respected, and for a
time had a niche place in the market since it was a fair bit cheaper
than the more well known quality branded tools. Now that it is the same
price or even more than the slightly more powerful but otherwise
equivalent Makita' et al, the attraction is less.

The combi angle drill is not as easy to find, but if you need the angle
attachment then there is not much to touch it at the price.

[1] AIUI not all Wickes power tools are made by Kress. I think the grey
professional series are, but the others[2] aren't? Can't cite anything,
just
what I've come to believe.

From what I have seen the grey stuff tends to be from respectable OEMs,
but not always Kress. Their 1/2" router for example was a rebadged Freud.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

John Rumm wrote:
somebody wrote:

Whether I/you/we (or as some posters are more frequently and
annoyingly saying "one") agree or disagree about the Wickes/Kress, I
think it's important to distinguish between disliking the tool full
stop and disliking the tool because of the *person* who raves about
it :-)

I think the grey SDS drill is generally well enough respected, and
for a time had a niche place in the market since it was a fair bit
cheaper than the more well known quality branded tools. Now that it
is the same price or even more than the slightly more powerful but
otherwise equivalent Makita' et al, the attraction is less.

The combi angle drill is not as easy to find, but if you need the
angle attachment then there is not much to touch it at the price.

[1] AIUI not all Wickes power tools are made by Kress. I think the
grey professional series are, but the others[2] aren't? Can't cite
anything, just
what I've come to believe.

From what I have seen the grey stuff tends to be from respectable
OEMs, but not always Kress. Their 1/2" router for example was a
rebadged Freud.

Noticed the other day that the grey range has a 5 year warranty.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

In article ,
somebody wrote:


Whether I/you/we (or as some posters are more frequently and annoyingly
saying "one") agree or disagree about the Wickes/Kress, I think it's
important to distinguish between disliking the tool full stop and
disliking the tool because of the *person* who raves about it :-)

Quite right. Just good natured joshing.

[1] AIUI not all Wickes power tools are made by Kress. I think the grey
professional series are, but the others[2] aren't? Can't cite anything, just
what I've come to believe.

They all used to be Kress but not any more. The other cordless drills
are Italian - I forget the name of the manufacturer but it ain't Kress.



[2] What *do* they call the "other series"... Unprofessional? Amateur? Been on
"Builders from Hell"?. Gawd knows :-)

They used to call them "DIY" which in their minds is presumably the
antithesis of "Professional". In the last catalogue, they were called
"Power tools" to differentiate them from "Trade power tools".

Last time I was in Arnold Laver, I picked up a copy of a free magazine
called "Professional Builder". I'm not sure whether that's a tautology
or an oxymoron. Certainly, there was no sign of any sister publications
called "Amateur Builder" or "Cowboy Builder".

Inside there was an article about manufacturers widening their range of
safety gear to include sizes for women. On the opposite page was an
advertisement for routers featuring a woman in a bikini. Joined-up
thinking, eh?

"mike" wrote in message
...

[1] AIUI not all Wickes power tools are
made by Kress. I think the grey
professional series are, but the others[2]
aren't? Can't cite anything, just
what I've come to believe.

They all used to be Kress but not any more.
The other cordless drills are Italian - I forget
the name of the manufacturer but it ain't Kress.

The SDS drills and this drill/driver/angle drill are made by Kress and many
other Wickes "grey" professional tools. The info desk sometimes will tell
you who makes the tool, otherwise look at the Kress website and the Wickes
web site and compare the looks. If they look the same they will be the
same.

"Fred" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I'm interested in buying a cordless drill but I also need to buy
right-angled drill attachment. I've used the cheap silverline ones but
the gearboxes always wear out.

Fred, do you mean this is the angle drill you used?
http://www.silverlinetools.com/index.html?code=763617