Cordless Drill Purchase

[dragoneggs]

Lucky you! I love Makita tools. Have several very old ones that won't give up, thus allowing me to get the new higher power better battery ones. Anyways, wife did sort of surprise me with the little 12v Li-Ion drill/driver for xmas! It is nice and compact and can get into places the bigger handles of my old 9.6v and the newer 18v models can't. But boy I would love to have an 18v. That said, not doing big serious projects now so being honest to myself (I hate that) don't REALLY need it. Enjoy the power!

 

[DFB]

And the small batteries would die out on the saw if I pushed it too hard for a fast cut. I never did finish a cut in wood or steel without the saw stopping, I always had to release the trigger and start again. I cut up some thick cardboard for the garbage once, it ran great then.

One of the things Li-on battery powered tools have is a circuit protection feature. The protection circuit limits the peak voltage of each cell during charging and prevents the cell voltage from dropping too low on discharge. I experienced that firsthand when going thru motions with my new M12 hammer drill. The drill cutout and stopped (to be restarted after releasing the trigger) after it caught and bound while drilling some holes with a large bit

The jaws on the drill never did clamp tight enough to drill a 3/8 hole in steel, even with a 1/8 pilot hole. The trigger on the drill, reciprocating saw and impact driver would not power the units if squeezed slowly for a slow RPM. It worked most of the time if I went full throttle.

I've never had any major problems with any of Makita's chucks and I've had seven of their drills. 3 keyless cordless and 4 corded keyed.

But I have had similar issue using the 12v Hitachi at work The drill bit constantly came loose One the other things I have experienced on some keyless is the clutch/brake action is so abrupt that rapid start stop cycling will loosen the chuck just about every time and so the bit falls free. Annoying at best but a real pita if your on a ladder and you lose the bit. It was extremely noticeable on the Hitachi

The trigger on the drill, reciprocating saw and impact driver would not power the units if squeezed slowly for a slow RPM. It worked most of the time if I went full throttle.

The trigger touch on a lot of tools definitely varies. One of the general complaints with Milwaukee's earlier version 18v impact was that it was difficult to feather the trigger for slower speed control. Went to full on to easy it was said. The new model has a 2 speed switch for more precise control.

I love my Makita 18v cordless circular saw. It's the handiest tool I have and I think it works exceptionally well within reason. It uses the older Ni-mh so I never experienced any battery cutout conditions using it. Just as an fyi here Makita has a new 7 1/4 inch cordless that runs on twin 18v batteries whoohoo! :thumbsup:

LXT X2 About - Makita X2

 

[EddieWalker]

The sawzall eats up the batteries faster then everything else combined, but it has a ton of power. If I'm framing up a house, I can cut out the OSB for one window on one battery. Usually I use it for cutting framing that I'm demolishing, or sometimes like a jigsaw. I also have some blades for branches and roots that work great when either trimming trees or getting a root out of a post hole or footing in the ground. I also have a corded Makita sawzall that has more power, but I rarely use it because the cordless is so much easier to deal with and it has plenty of power.

Eddie

 

[Bird]

I also have some blades for branches and roots that work great when either trimming trees

Of course my Makita is corded, but I've probably used those kind of blades more than any others.

 

[EddieWalker]

When Karen moved in, we needed to build a fence for her Akita. I marked out the area I needed her to clear so we could put it in through the wooded area. I gave her the cordless sawzall with a new blade in it and a couple of charged batteries. She also had a branch lopper that she used for the smaller stuff. She took out small trees with the sawzall and some pretty good sized branches. Stuff that I would have used a chainsaw on, but since I was busy doing something else, and she had never used a chainsaw, the sawzall was the perfect tool.

I also have three chargers, but usually one is plenty. I think we had one battery on the charger, and when she ran out, she put in on the charger right away so she was never without a fresh battery.

I've found the best prices for batteries to be on Amazon. I buy two packs for something around $150.

The radio/boombox is also very good. I take it out to the lake when we are having fun, it's outside when I'm working, or inside wherever I'm at. The antenna picks up my AM Talk radio station, and also all the FM music stations. I can go a full day on one battery, or I can plug it into an outlet, but usually I just use the battery since it's easier not to mess with a cord or find an outlet.

Eddie

 

[bigtiller]

One of the things Li-on battery powered tools have is a circuit protection feature. The protection circuit limits the peak voltage of each cell during charging and prevents the cell voltage from dropping too low on discharge. I experienced that firsthand when going thru motions with my new M12 hammer drill. The drill cutout and stopped (to be restarted after releasing the trigger) after it caught and bound while drilling some holes with a large bit

I love my Makita 18v cordless circular saw. It's the handiest tool I have and I think it works exceptionally well within reason. It uses the older Ni-mh so I never experienced any battery cutout conditions using it. Just as an fyi here Makita has a new 7 1/4 inch cordless that runs on twin 18v batteries whoohoo!

The sawzall eats up the batteries faster then everything else combined, but it has a ton of power. If I'm framing up a house, I can cut out the OSB for one window on one battery. Usually I use it for cutting framing that I'm demolishing, or sometimes like a jigsaw. I also have some blades for branches and roots that work great when either trimming trees or getting a root out of a post hole or footing in the ground. I also have a corded Makita sawzall that has more power, but I rarely use it because the cordless is so much easier to deal with and it has plenty of power.

Eddie

That makes sense about the battery protection circuits, I hope the new 3 amp batteries will deliver more power than the little Ridged ones. The Ridged tools were the first inexpensive cordless tools I have bought. Silly me, what was I thinking.

It's good to know that a contractor uses and likes the reciprocating saw. I am going to use what I have for a few months just to gain back some lost confidence and then most likely buy that saw this spring when things start moving again.

And that 36 volt circular saw just might come along with it!

 

[Dutch445]

i also have the sawzall along with a few other tools. i can drain the 4.5" grinder
battery down pretty quick also.... but i did use it with a cutting blade in it
to cut some steel plate right after i got the tool set. i cut about 4' of 1/4"
plate steel with 2 batteries, i was impressed from day 1!

i'm going to have to investigate some other styles of blades for the sawzall,
the ones for green limbs sound interesting.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I never had much luck with cordless batteries and often the chargers.

It's why I went with Ridged when I saw their lifetime warranty program including the batteries. So far, these tools have worked well, but I hardly use them every day. Kind of pisses me off, because the batteries are sitting on a bench inside my front door, because I don't keep my shop heated and have been told that cold will destroy these LI batteries.

I was surprised to find Ridged 24 volt tools at a friends place. Apparently they are quite uncommon.

 

[Raindem]

I'll admit they're convienent, but I'm getting to the point where I really hate cordless tools. The batteries never seem to last. Recently, I gave up on my Bosch 18V cordless drill and sold it. The batteries that came with it lasted a couple years, then I started going through a battery every 6 months with light usage. Thought it was my charger so I bought a new charger. Same thing. And I didn't see a difference between NiCad or Li-ion batteries. Or cheap ones vs expensive ones.

And before that it was a cordless vac, and before that numerous versions of cordless shop/work lights. Etc. The batteries that come with these tools work good. But once they wear out (which they do soon enough) the aftermarket batteries just don't cut it. Oddly, even replacement batteries supplied by the tool's manufacturer don't last as long as the ones that came with the tool. Overall, I've spent around 150% of the tool's intial purchase value just maintaining batteries. To me, that's a high price to pay for the convienence of not having to get out the extension cord.

Rant over. Thanks for listening.

 

[yelbike]

To the op, you'll be happy. I still have but rarely use my makita 9.6v t-style I bought when I started my first apprenticeship in 1996. I've replaced the batteries once.
I bought a 18v Milwaukee kit a few years ago instead of Lakota only because of price( free radio offer at the time). I have regretted my decision ever since. No battery life, li ion can't take the cold, I must have replace no fewer than 15 batteries packs under warranty in the last five years. Early on the the distributor did upgrade most of my kit from 18v to 28v which made a big difference. I still wished I had bought makita especially now that my five year warranty has expired.