Any recommendations for a cordless hammer drill - for DIY use, not
professional? Would like to avoid NiCd-battery versions and having to be
careful how/when to charge it.

I had a Bosch corded drill which lasted for many years. It would be good
to get something similarly long-lasting, although I understand that a
battery would not last more than a few years.

To my surprise I see Makita have some affordable products. I think of
the name as relatively high end but do their affordable hammer drills
mean that they are getting into lower quality merchandise?

A bonus would be being able to use the same batteries in other kit.

So, any suggestions for a DIY cordless hammer drill? Is there a
sweet-spot for such things these days?

James

On 06/12/2015 16:42, James Harris wrote:
Any recommendations for a cordless hammer drill - for DIY use, not
professional? Would like to avoid NiCd-battery versions and having to be
careful how/when to charge it.

I had a Bosch corded drill which lasted for many years. It would be good
to get something similarly long-lasting, although I understand that a
battery would not last more than a few years.

To my surprise I see Makita have some affordable products. I think of
the name as relatively high end but do their affordable hammer drills
mean that they are getting into lower quality merchandise?

They do a lot of deals with Ni Cads but also with Li-Ion, probably with
cheaper chucks.

I've got one of these, can't fault it;
http://www.screwfix.com/p/hitachi-dv...bi-drill/8652f


A bonus would be being able to use the same batteries in other kit.

All the Hitachi stuff has the same batteries. I bought the 18v combi
because it's batteries are compatible with my Hitachi SDS

So, any suggestions for a DIY cordless hammer drill? Is there a
sweet-spot for such things these days?

James


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman

David Lang Wrote in message:
On 06/12/2015 16:42, James Harris wrote:
Any recommendations for a cordless hammer drill - for DIY use, not
professional? Would like to avoid NiCd-battery versions and having to be
careful how/when to charge it.

I had a Bosch corded drill which lasted for many years. It would be good
to get something similarly long-lasting, although I understand that a
battery would not last more than a few years.

To my surprise I see Makita have some affordable products. I think of
the name as relatively high end but do their affordable hammer drills
mean that they are getting into lower quality merchandise?

They do a lot of deals with Ni Cads but also with Li-Ion, probably with
cheaper chucks.

I've got one of these, can't fault it;
http://www.screwfix.com/p/hitachi-dv...bi-drill/8652f


A bonus would be being able to use the same batteries in other kit.

All the Hitachi stuff has the same batteries. I bought the 18v combi
because it's batteries are compatible with my Hitachi SDS

How do you find the 1.5ah batteries?

I went from makita nicds to 3ah lithium ions by modding the
existing tools and it's a transformation, but wonder how much
1.5ah will do especially in an sds?

--
Jim K


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

On 06/12/2015 18:45, jim wrote:
David Lang Wrote in message:
On 06/12/2015 16:42, James Harris wrote:
Any recommendations for a cordless hammer drill - for DIY use, not
professional? Would like to avoid NiCd-battery versions and having to be
careful how/when to charge it.

I had a Bosch corded drill which lasted for many years. It would be good
to get something similarly long-lasting, although I understand that a
battery would not last more than a few years.

To my surprise I see Makita have some affordable products. I think of
the name as relatively high end but do their affordable hammer drills
mean that they are getting into lower quality merchandise?

They do a lot of deals with Ni Cads but also with Li-Ion, probably with
cheaper chucks.

I've got one of these, can't fault it;
http://www.screwfix.com/p/hitachi-dv...bi-drill/8652f


A bonus would be being able to use the same batteries in other kit.

All the Hitachi stuff has the same batteries. I bought the 18v combi
because it's batteries are compatible with my Hitachi SDS

How do you find the 1.5ah batteries?

Pretty good. The charger is fairly quick and it came with 2 batteries,
not been a problem. Nice & light!

I went from makita nicds to 3ah lithium ions by modding the
existing tools and it's a transformation, but wonder how much
1.5ah will do especially in an sds?

Sorry, the SDS has a 3a/hr battery. I've used the 1.5 to back up the SDS
more than the other way around.

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman

replying to James Harris , richpwrr wrote:
james.harris.1 wrote:

Any recommendations for a cordless hammer drill - for DIY use, not
professional? Would like to avoid NiCd-battery versions and having to be
careful how/when to charge it.
I had a Bosch corded drill which lasted for many years. It would be good
to get something similarly long-lasting, although I understand that a
battery would not last more than a few years.
To my surprise I see Makita have some affordable products. I think of
the name as relatively high end but do their affordable hammer drills
mean that they are getting into lower quality merchandise?
A bonus would be being able to use the same batteries in other kit.
So, any suggestions for a DIY cordless hammer drill? Is there a
sweet-spot for such things these days?
James



Hi James,

Having been in a similar situation recently, I looked into a lot of
options. as you did, i used to think Makita was out of my price range but
have recently found some good offers. I have just bought a Makita DHP456
drill and can not speak highly enough about it. It has had no problems
with any of the tasks I have used it for so far. As you alluded, to the
advantage it has is that it shares a battery with loads of other bits of
kit. I have also just bought a makita jigsaw. Because the battery fits
both, I went for a body only option and saved loads.

Search for fastfix as they have some pretty good prices.

Rich
--


--

In article s.com,
richpwrr wrote:
Having been in a similar situation recently, I looked into a lot of
options. as you did, i used to think Makita was out of my price range but
have recently found some good offers. I have just bought a Makita DHP456
drill and can not speak highly enough about it. It has had no problems
with any of the tasks I have used it for so far. As you alluded, to the
advantage it has is that it shares a battery with loads of other bits of
kit. I have also just bought a makita jigsaw. Because the battery fits
both, I went for a body only option and saved loads.

Given the batteries always die before the tool itself is worn out, this
may or may not be a good option. Depending on how much a battery costs
bought on its own - it may be cheaper as part of a package.

--
*Whatever kind of look you were going for, you missed.

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

On 07/12/2015 14:58, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article s.com,
richpwrr wrote:
Having been in a similar situation recently, I looked into a lot of
options. as you did, i used to think Makita was out of my price range but
have recently found some good offers. I have just bought a Makita DHP456
drill and can not speak highly enough about it. It has had no problems
with any of the tasks I have used it for so far. As you alluded, to the
advantage it has is that it shares a battery with loads of other bits of
kit. I have also just bought a makita jigsaw. Because the battery fits
both, I went for a body only option and saved loads.

Given the batteries always die before the tool itself is worn out, this
may or may not be a good option. Depending on how much a battery costs
bought on its own - it may be cheaper as part of a package.

The really annoying thing about Makita is that the new Li Ion batts
don't fit the older tools.

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman

David Lang Wrote in message:
On 07/12/2015 14:58, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article s.com,
richpwrr wrote:
Having been in a similar situation recently, I looked into a lot of
options. as you did, i used to think Makita was out of my price range but
have recently found some good offers. I have just bought a Makita DHP456
drill and can not speak highly enough about it. It has had no problems
with any of the tasks I have used it for so far. As you alluded, to the
advantage it has is that it shares a battery with loads of other bits of
kit. I have also just bought a makita jigsaw. Because the battery fits
both, I went for a body only option and saved loads.

Given the batteries always die before the tool itself is worn out, this
may or may not be a good option. Depending on how much a battery costs
bought on its own - it may be cheaper as part of a package.

The really annoying thing about Makita is that the new Li Ion batts
don't fit the older tools.

There was/is someone on eBay etc selling an adaptor to use mak
lithium batteries with older mak kit... I made my own
up.

--
Jim K


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

On 06/12/2015 17:17, David Lang wrote:
On 06/12/2015 16:42, James Harris wrote:

Any recommendations for a cordless hammer drill - for DIY use, not
professional? Would like to avoid NiCd-battery versions and having to be
careful how/when to charge it.

I had a Bosch corded drill which lasted for many years. It would be good
to get something similarly long-lasting, although I understand that a
battery would not last more than a few years.

To my surprise I see Makita have some affordable products. I think of
the name as relatively high end but do their affordable hammer drills
mean that they are getting into lower quality merchandise?

They do a lot of deals with Ni Cads but also with Li-Ion, probably with
cheaper chucks.

I've got one of these, can't fault it;
http://www.screwfix.com/p/hitachi-dv...bi-drill/8652f

That's good enough for me. I bought one yesterday - cost £90.

A bit of an odd tale: When I got home and opened the box there were two
batteries and a charger in it but no drill. I don't think I have ever
before bought a boxed product only to find the product missing.

Fortunately, after I phoned Screwfix they checked their CCTV footage and
could see that a mistake had been made. They had apparently given me the
box for a drill that was on display. All sorted now.

James

On 07/12/2015 13:44, richpwrr wrote:
replying to James Harris , richpwrr wrote:
james.harris.1 wrote:

Any recommendations for a cordless hammer drill - for DIY use, not
professional? Would like to avoid NiCd-battery versions and having to
be careful how/when to charge it. I had a Bosch corded drill which
lasted for many years. It would be good to get something similarly
long-lasting, although I understand that a battery would not last more
than a few years. To my surprise I see Makita have some affordable
products. I think of the name as relatively high end but do their
affordable hammer drills mean that they are getting into lower quality
merchandise? A bonus would be being able to use the same batteries in
other kit. So, any suggestions for a DIY cordless hammer drill? Is
there a sweet-spot for such things these days? James



Hi James,

Having been in a similar situation recently, I looked into a lot of
options. as you did, i used to think Makita was out of my price range but
have recently found some good offers. I have just bought a Makita DHP456
drill and can not speak highly enough about it. It has had no problems
with any of the tasks I have used it for so far. As you alluded, to the
advantage it has is that it shares a battery with loads of other bits of
kit.

Thanks for the feedback. I saw your post just after I bought a Hitachi
but I guess either will do.

I have also just bought a makita jigsaw. Because the battery fits
both, I went for a body only option and saved loads.

I took a look at some body-only prices online and I have to say the 18V
jigsaws seem expensive (for Hitachi and Makita) whereas lower voltage
units are cheaper. E.g. (both Makita) 18V £139, 10.8V £64 at

http://www.toolstop.co.uk/cordless-jigsaws-b518

James