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Since there are so many DIYers on here I figured this would be a good place to look for opinions.
I'm looking for a GOOD hammer drill & impact cordless kit. I already own some All Trade (or whatever BJ's brand it is) crap kit with drill being occasionally useful and none of the saws being with a damn.
Found a Hitachi kit with 570 in-lbs hammer drill and 1330 in-lbs impact for 289 which is about what either of those costs locally. And that includes two batts, a charger and a bag.
Despite the cheesy duds, it's tough to match those stats for the money. But I figured I'd fish for opinions on the matter. I am told DeWalt and Milwaukee are great, but despite my high aspirations money is most definitely an object!
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DeWalt is my brand of choice. Milwaukee is great...but...pricey, for me.
I've found that skimping on tools only costs me more money in the long
run...
I've no experience with Hitachi, so I really can't comment.
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I use a cheap corded Harbor Freight hammer drill and it works fine for me.
I have not needed a cordless one but.........
I think a saw some workers using Bosch cordless hammer drills as they were
drilling holes in the sidewalks. They claimed that these drills worked
faster and much easier than their last brands.
Try one out and make sure you can return it if it does not suit your needs.
;-)
Check out my Jeep Cherokee
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I mean Hitachi isn't cheap. I don't mean to imply this. For the same money one could get a similarly capable (thought not quite as much so) set from Ryobi that has all three saws and a light plus the drill and probably a freakin' vacuum or something.
I mean you can get the impact with battery for the same price as the whole kit (that's a "duh" right there). And 290 for one impact drill I wouldn't call "cheap" ;) I expect it's at least as stone's throw in quality a similar DeWalt. The hammer (with batt) is 220. And in a local retailer the kit is about as much as those two together. This TylerTool just seems to have a good price on the kit at the moment for some reason.
For the DeWalt version of the kit I'd have to jump another $140, thus the interest in the sort of "mid-level" options. Makita and Hitachi seem to be pretty closely matched here.
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I've had no trouble with my 13A Bosch recip, but I haven't really beat on it. Used it for some tough stuff but it doesn't get used frequently. Nice and solid, though. I have been trying to find the appropriate set, but so far to no avail! I could just grab a hammer drill, but at kit prices it seems almost silly to not get [almost] two for one.
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Amazon has some reconditioned Bosch hammer drills on sale. Not sure why
they are "reconditioned" though!
Priced in the $100-$200 range if you are looking for something good but not
expensive.
I might inquire about an extended warranty if possible. ;-)
Check out my Jeep Cherokee
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Try ebay as well. I really love my Dewalt grinder, its been through hell
in the last 6 years, and it still works like new. I just bought a 3/8
corded drill for light drilling jobs at home, and got it for $35 to my
door, brand new in the case. I won't use a cordless product any
more...had a couple supposedly quality (Dewalt and Makita) cordless
drills in the past few years, and they were always dead when I needed
them the most. If I was drilling several very small holes, no problem,
but if I tried running something like a 1/2" spade bit for running
romex, I'd drill about a half dozen holes or so and it would be dead. My
wife finally took it away from me during our basement project last year,
before I launched the thing somewhere.
One of the very few cordless items I've seen work really well is a
Snap-On 1/2" impact gun. I have a few mechanic friends who use them and
love them. No hose to drag around a customer's car, and one friend uses
his at the track for his race car. The batteries actually last a fairly
long time.
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I think a lot of it is battery. If they were NiCad and you don't use them they tank and permanently. That's why I'm going Lithium, keep'em charged and they last a long time (both in use and in useful life). Because I know exactly what you're talking about! My friend who fixes up houses just has a $70 Firestorm 18V NiCad regular drill and the thing runs awesome because he uses it frequently and kills the batteries. Same with his Ryobi impact 18V NiCaid. The Ryobi's got more juice than my plug in.
I might just go with a hammer drill and skip the impact for now if I can find a good deal on one. I'd rather build up slowly it's just that the individual tools are so damned expensive you're almost getting one or more for free when you buy the kits.
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I have switch to Lithium as just don't use a cordless often enough. My NiCad powered one died due to little use and was always dead when I needed it. Always had to think the day before if I needed it. Now with the Lithium I have had no such problems and it is really great.
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good point,
i'll probably give you way too much info on this, but these are tools that i
make my living with, so i'll try to keep it short.
the first thing you gotta ask yourself is what you're going to be using them
for and how frequently. generally speaking, Ryobi brand stuff is for the
occasional home DIY-er and not much more. (although i do have a Ryobi 18V
drill that i've had for over 10 years, and it's still going strong. not the
best performer, but still reliable).
overall, i think Ridgid brand stuff is a great bang-for-your-buck. again,
not *the* top-notch performers, but very reliable and a good warranty.
definitely much better than the Ryobi brand. i have a bunch of Ridgid
tools. i've had a Ridgid 18V drill/hammer drill unit for quite a while and
it does fine. i don't use it to drill large holes (bigger than 5/16") in
concrete, but it does great for drilling holes for Tapcons and other small
concrete fasteners.
DeWalt is a very solid brand. very professional grade and ergonomic.
especially their circular saws. their drills tend to be a little over
priced for my tastes and a little weighty, too.
Bosh, to me, is top-dog when it comes to jig saws, hammer drills, and
medium-duty rotary hammers. very smooth action, powerful, and ergonomic.
note that there is a BIG difference between a hammer drill and a rotary
hammer. very few companies out there even make cordless rotary hammers. i
think Hilti and Festool make one, but i'm not sure of others. hammer drills
(whether cordless, or electrically powered) are only good up to about 1/2"
diameter holes in concrete. they'll go bigger, but it's a workout, and if
you're doing a bunch of them, you'll wear your tool out quickly. rotary
hammers can poke holes in concrete all day long and come back for more. i
recently purchased a Bosch Bulldog 7/8" rotary hammer. lemme tall ya, that
thing RULES!
*ahem*
ok, so what does all of that do for you?
i dunno. ;)
if you can get past the funky skin of the Hitachi tools, they are rather
good performers and very dependable. if it were me, and i was going to be
doing general DIY stuff around the house, i'd get a Ridgid multi-tool kit.
that way, you have a lot more choices of tools that will fit the same
battery than you would with a Hitachi. and they do take a good beating.
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Dewalt is made by black and decker, I had no problems with the dewalt tool I used to own but it would not be my 1st choice.
Makita is pretty good, the thing I do not like about their cordless tools is they glue/weld the battery case together so you can not take it apart to replace the cells... minor gripe I know. But the good thing is all their batteries are forward / backward compatible.
Milwaukee cordless makes some 28V lithium ion powered tools that I'd love to own
Bosch makes or did when I was working at the hardware store a line of cordless tools called brute tough ... those are the ones we used at the store that I never saw anyone break.
Hitachi ... I have a belt sander made by them ... it works and has easy to change brushes.
I hear they make good saws but haven't heard as good things about their cordless tools.
Metabo is a brand I learned about when I visited Germany heard good things about them.
Good grinders etc.
My experience with the cordless hamerdrills (any brand) is that they are kinda cheezy compared to a "real" corded hammer drill.
1330 in lbs is 110 ftlbs
milwaukee has an impact that will put out 325 ft lbs :)
My theory is if it is not worth fixing it was not worth buying.
A no name tool may work ok but if it has problems you can't get parts then you still have to spend the money to buy a real tool.
Buying the cheapest tool you can find is educational it shows you what to look for in a good tool that you would have taken for granted otherwise.
A cheap cordless has a wall wart charger that does not shut off automatically and takes all night to charge. (ie skill or black and decker is famous for this)
A cheap cordless drill does not have a brake so the bit keeps coasting when you let go of the trigger, the better tools not only have a brake but a lock so when stopped you don't have to hold the motor from rotating when working the keyless chuck.
When people look for a car battery they know to look for more cranking amps.
When those same people search for a cordless tool they forget all about amps and focus on voltage. A lower voltage tool with a higher Amp hour rating can out perform a cheap tool with a higher pack voltage and a lower current rating.
I have a 2.4 AH rated pack on my Milwaukee drill, it came with a 1.7 ah and I rebuilt one pack with cells from a HF drill rated at only 1 AH.
The difference between the HF pack and the 9 yr old 1.7 pack is noticeable, the new 2.4 ah pack blows everything else out of the water.
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fwiw, Milwaukee tools are built to last and take harsh punishment. they're
typically amply powered but a tad bulky. i have a couple Milwaukee Sawzalls
and a 1" right angle drill. both are applications that require a robust
tool to survive. yes, they're a tad expensive, but worth their weight in
gold when you really need them.
while that same rule surely applies to hammer drills, i wouldn't necessarily
go with a Milwaukee for what you want because of their somewhat limited
selection of other tools in their cordless family. you'd be paying too much
for their tools and you wouldn't end up putting them through their paces.
kind of like using a chain saw to cut a piece of paper.
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Oh man, dagger in heart!!!! What a crap line of tools....Just my .02!!!!!
i have a bunch of Ridgid tools.
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Dewalt is made by black and decker
No it's not...never has been, never will be.. Larson storm doors own pella storm doors, but they don't make them....Sears owns Kenmore line of products but don't make a single item..
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lol!
sorry! ;)
btw, what's the Lowe's-exclusive brand of power tool? i know they have
Kobalt brand hand tools, but do they have a homebrand like HD has Ridgid?
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no, we just have a low end level of tools for power tools, can't think of the name of it right now, but it's comparable to black and decker or skil...not really anything I would ever recomend to anyone. although i did buy the grinder when it was on sale for $15 and has worked fine so far. tradesman brand maybe? Kobalt hand tools have always been well built, expensive though. I still usually get craftsman though because they are cheaper and have just as good a warranty, oh and because my dad will buy them so I don't have to!!
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Honestly I have never looked at their power tools, never had a reason to as we sell so many different ones or my dad always buys craftsman stuff. Just trying to get something stirred up!!
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Firestorm is carried exclusively by Lowe's, but I'm not sure it's a "house brand" like Kobalt is. It's either Black and Decker owned or made, I don't know. I've used my friend's Firestorm regular cordless drill and it works pretty well well. I'd like a little more oomph. Re: amps, most of what I'm looking at are 3Ah batteries. I am trying to pair up amps to amps in a way. I'd like to get a good rotary as well, but that's down the line. At the moment my concrete needs do not exceed your previous warnings. And most of the companies put those limits right on the boxes, too: 1/2" in concrete. That's good at the moment. I just need to anchor things, not clear the way for plumbing ;)
I understand about the torque conversion and which is why I'd like an impact + hammer combo and I'm kind of stuck there. The hammer can probably do 90% of the drilling I'll ever need and the impact will even spill over a little into auto work.
HD had a DeWalt hammer + impact kit for $300 on sale today. Almost pulled the trigger on it. But I tend to like to obsess for a few more weeks on purchases over $100 before I do anything. You know, compile information well beyond the point of usefulness and then finally give up and make an impulse buy?
Good words, though. I have a lot to think about!
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The answer isn't so clear cut.
B&D (the corporation) bought the small Dewalt company in 1960, but the
original Dewalt company only made radial arm saws and some other woodworking
equipment. They certainly didn't make all of the tools that currently carry
the Dewalt name. In 1992, B&D started their high-end/low-end marketing
scheme and resurrected the Dewalt brand name to distinguish their industrial
line tools as being higher quality. There is the Black & Decker Consumer
Group Division, and the Dewalt Tools Division. The lines between the
divisions are pretty blurry though as most of the Dewalt badged tools are
now made overseas in the same plants that turn out Black and Decker branded
tools. Even more so, since they closed quite a few plants in the US and
Europe within the last three years.
Dewalt branded tools are generally better quality than the consumer grade
B&D brand, but there are a few examples of a B&D branded tool being
identical to a Dewalt model aside from the color and markings.
B&D (the corporation) also bought out a whole slew of smaller manufacturers
and now have divisions including Porter Cable, Delta, and Black and Decker
Firestorm. Even stranger, products bearing the B&D brand are not
necessarily manufactured by B&D the company as they also license the brand
name out. Similar to how RCA hardly manufactures anything themselves, but
rather a whole bunch of companies market products with the RCA label.
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No firestorm isn't exclusive to Lowe's. That is all over the place, even target carries them. It is a line made by black and decker...unlike Dewalt (jab).
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I'm starting to think, like cars with auto parts %ages and produce with country of origin, there should be some sort of plant of origin. Sort of like how the short-hop, small planes are marked as the "Delta" provided by "US Connexion" or whatever - it's not a Delta flight, but they are a partner or partially owned, etc. So Dewalt's XYZ drill is "made for DeWalt by B&D factory 123". Grrr.
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Huh. Because I've never seen it anywhere else (I was just at Target yesterday seeing what few things they might carry actually!) and right on their website, top right it says "Exclusively at Lowes"! When you click "Store Locater" it merely redirects to Lowe's website store locater.
But I know that these branding issues can be regional things and picking up my IP to get my area is no new trick!
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One way I know is that's where I work so that's why he was asking what brand we carry that is like Rigid...I wish we had a better line exclusively to us
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Oh, I wasn't arguing, I just thought it was strange ;)
The whole branding thing drives me nuts.
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Yea, it's only going to keep getting more muddled over the years. Alot of brands are just owned by larger companies but aren't really made nearly as public. It's interesting every time we have to call a company for the first time you never know what the person answering the phone is going to answer it as. It's never anymore as the company name you are looking for.
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