Recommend a drill

[Sergeant Pluck]

I need a drill for general household hole creation. Im thinking of this one (and I don't really want to spend more than this as it'll only get occasional use):

http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dw907k2v-12v-1-3ah-ni-cd-cordless-drill-driver/81433

Seems to be fairly well regarded. Any other suggestions?

[Diver300]

Do not get anything with NiCd or NiMh batteries if you are only using it occasionally. Either go for corded or for Li-Ion batteries.

NiCd and NiMh have quite high self-discharge rates, but they vary between cells. So when you leave your drill for 3 months, some cells are flat,  some are reasonably well charged. When you use the drill, the flat ones soon hit 0 V but the other cells continue to force current through the flat ones, reverse charging them and damaging them.

When you charge up the drill, the reasonably well charged ones soon get to fully charged, and then get over-charged as while the flat ones keep the overall voltage low.

Obviously better chargers have cell balancing. It can also help to leave the drill flat when it's not going to be used, but that is difficult to do.

[Sergeant Pluck]

Do not get anything with NiCd or NiMh batteries if you are only using it occasionally. Either go for corded or for Li-Ion batteries.

Thanks for that. Scrub that one of the list of possibles then. I did wonder when a casual search for that model on Ebay throws up nothing but hundreds of dodgy-looking batteries.

Ideally I'd like cordless if I can get one around that sort of budget but I suppose li-ion are well out of range.

[Gattopardo]

Check out B&Q in store only

http://www.diy.com/nav/fix/power-tools/drills/Makita-18V-Lithium-Ion-Combi-Drill-12988839?skuId=13499666&ecamp=Aff-47868&awc=483_1380251846_3d9dfb0c6d7bc0eb4197feef11d8ddb8

It is an end of line.  So may not be local.

Makita are a good make imo.

[Valiant]

Come borrow my trade card if you do Unless you need wireless go cabled. It's less hassle!

[Tewdric]

Check out B&Q in store only

http://www.diy.com/nav/fix/power-tools/drills/Makita-18V-Lithium-Ion-Combi-Drill-12988839?skuId=13499666&ecamp=Aff-47868&awc=483_1380251846_3d9dfb0c6d7bc0eb4197feef11d8ddb8

It is an end of line.  So may not be local.

Makita are a good make imo.

That looks like a very good deal.  I was going to chop in say go for 18v li-ion if you can.  Marital stuff is great and lots of tradesmen seem to use them.

[Jaded]

Check out B&Q in store only

http://www.diy.com/nav/fix/power-tools/drills/Makita-18V-Lithium-Ion-Combi-Drill-12988839?skuId=13499666&ecamp=Aff-47868&awc=483_1380251846_3d9dfb0c6d7bc0eb4197feef11d8ddb8

It is an end of line.  So may not be local.

Makita are a good make imo.

That looks like a very good deal.  I was going to chop in say go for 18v li-ion if you can.  Marital stuff is great and lots of tradesmen seem to use them.

QFT. Fnaar fnaar

[Woofage]

I've had a Makita NiCd drill (well, 2 actually) for a few years and the batteries have performed impeccably. If I was buying again I'd get that one liked above.

I will add this though: there's no substitute for a mains drill (even a cheap one) when it comes to drilling into masonry.

[Little Jim]

Wot Woofage says.  I've had several Makitas over the years and all have been good, but when it comes to drilling in to anything hard, like brick, the cordless drill won't touch it, but my 20 year old Black & Decker, plugged into the mains, does the job every time.

[T42]

We have a bunch of vintage Black & Decker mains drills, dating back to the mid-60s, that are all still perfectly functional.

[Biggsy]

Make sure it has variable speed.  My mains drill doesn't.  Drilling too fast blunts your bits as they overheat (as I found out only after ruining all mine).

Cordless is so worthwhile for general light jobs that I rather have a cordless with a crap battery than only a mains drill.  You can rebuild batteries with individual cells.  I think I'll do that with my old cordless drill rather than replace the whole thing.

[T42]

Yeah, I'd rather go for a 40-euro own-brand effort that be without. Which I am since my 2001 Skil's battery gave up: not available any more. Still, 12 years ain't bad.

[jsabine]

I'd agree with Biggsy about the convenience of cordless for light work, but would always try to avoid ones with cheap and nasty batteries. Good cells will make a huge difference to a crap drill, but loose cells to rebuild the battery pack will make you wince at the cost.

Decent branded ones - DeWalt, Makita, blue Bosch, Festool if you are made of money - will perform well even with cheaper battery technologies like NiCd, and their cells will be a much better matched set so will have a much better life. They'll probably also have a fast charger so self-discharge won't be too much of an inconvenience. Especially if you get one described as a combi drill rather than as a drill driver, they will also be well up for drilling into masonry.

I wouldn't bother with an ordinary corded drill these days - as I say, a combi drill is fine for most masonry work, while if you've got a lot to do then an SDS drill is the one to look for.

The Makita linked to by GP is a good deal, but it's worth noting that the batteries don't fit other Makita Li-ion tools. Personally I'd prefer to have http://www.screwfix.com/p/makita-bhp453rftk-18v-3ah-li-ion-cordless-combi-drill-w-101pc-accessory-kit/20547 - but it's fifty quid more, and that's beginning to be silly money for occasional household use.

[Von Broad]

First thing I'd do is be clear about what you want the drill for. Forget what's nice, and get clear about what you're going to be doing. Chance are, what ever quality cordless you get, it won't be long before you're standing in front of some hard masonary somewhere getting very very frustrasted with proceedings.

I'm using one of these at the moment, lovely little drill, light with plenty of poke.....but I wouldn't buy it if I was in your position though.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HITACHI-DV18DSFL-JB-18V-13MM-CORDLESS-COMBI-DRILL-2-X-2-0AH-LITHIUM-KIT-/360738431224?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item53fdafa0f8

I'd be more inclined to get one of these [which I have btw, and it's perfectly fine],

http://www.wickes.co.uk/810w-hammer-drill-keyless-chuck/invt/195534/

use it, together with a good old fashioned screwdriver [or your corded on low speed, used with care!] and then decide how much I really 'needed' a cordless.

If you're going to change your kitchen then that Dewalt would be brilliant. But if it's a few shelves you're putting up then I'm not sure I'd bother.

[drossall]

I bought my Black & Decker corded drill 30 years ago and it's been fine. I've never regretted the fact that cordless was not then on offer. It would never be charged when I wanted it, given that I use it only from time to time.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Have two makita cordless, one li-on, the other ni-cad.  The latter is oldest, about 3 years and I got it with 3 batteries!  Given that I have also 2 cordless drills, each of those batteries has a quiet life and yet they have been fine so far.

If you are doing masonry a lot then you do need SDS.  I drill into granite quite often and it would simply sneer at the efforts of my cordless, 18v drill. The SDS pierces it like it was cheese. 

I'd take a chance on a de Walt cordless ni-cad but not a 12v.  I would certainly consider the Erbauer, especially if they still cary a 3 yr warranty.  I have an Erbauer demolition hammer for knocking holes in stone walls, the first one I had kinda wore out after a year so I sent it back and got the latest model which is much better and shows no sign of wearing out yet.  Erbauer isn't as sexy as de-walt but IME does the job. 

[HTFB]

I think I've just burnt out my dad's forty-year-old Black and Decker. Even its slow speed was too fast to drive a Forstner bit, really, though I did take care to stop when things started getting hot---except when the lock button (on the wrong side for a leftie) jammed. Not a good smell. It's always sparked a little, but it's a bit coruscating now.

A combi drill is one with a hammer action that's not SDS, is that right?

[Biggsy]

I love the smell of an overheating electric motor.  Reminds me of train sets.

[Sergeant Pluck]

First thing I'd do is be clear about what you want the drill for.

Firstly, it's only going to be for occasional use. I suspect there will be periods of light use with breaks of up to a few months. It's going to be used for the usual household stuff, shelves etc. However, it will occasionally need to drill masonry - but fairly minor stuff, I doubt if I'll need anything above 10 mm diameter.

I think that's pointing me towards a cheapo cordless.

[Polar Bear]

If I was you I'd buy a cordless drill for the wood / plastic work and a corded cheapo hammer drill with a bigger chuck for the occasional masonry etc. work.   I'm about to build stud walls, install bathroom stuff, add a suspended floor in the loft and do a few other jobs.   I'm considering a cordless impact driver to complement my corded hammer drill. 

[MattH]

I'm using one of these at the moment, lovely little drill, light with plenty of poke.....but I wouldn't buy it if I was in your position though.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HITACHI-DV18DSFL-JB-18V-13MM-CORDLESS-COMBI-DRILL-2-X-2-0AH-LITHIUM-KIT-/360738431224?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item53fdafa0f8

I've got one of those too - they were on offer at Screwfix and B&Q for about £100. It's been utterly fantastic - two batteries so you don't end up waiting for it to recharge, it always works when I pick it up (unlike my older NiCd which I always had to charge for a couple of hours before using it).
It did a huge amount of work for us when we were moving house; pulling furniture apart and rebuilding it, ripping the old kitchen out and putting a new one in, I even used it to drill the big holes in bricks for fitting a satellite dish (it's easier to handle up a ladder than a corded, even though it was probably on the limit of what is sensible to do with it).

However, I do also have a reasonably cheap (£30 or so) mains hammer drill for medium duty work, and an SDS for hefty stuff like big holes in walls and chiselling up floor tile.

If only having one drill, then I'd go for a variable speed corded with hammer action - though they are a bit rubbish to use as a screwdriver, which is probably 80% of what I use the Hitachi for.

[Valiant]

Here's where I stand.

Get a semi decent cordless one for most jobs. I have a three DeWalts (DW907, an XRPhardbastid and one in between), one is Nicad, the Li-on and both do a good job but are useless at masonary even though they have metal gearboxes and hammer action. I use them mainly for wood, metal and screwing. I also have an 12v Atlas Copco drill which was sturdier as you'd expect from someone like AC. But it's ancient and the batteries have died.

For serious drilling I have a cheap and nasty Wickes own brand hammer drill which cost £25. I don't care if it dies but it never does, just like Gattapardo's Tesco Drill, though we did manage to make his Bosch mains one release some magic smoke.

So yeah spend £80-120 on a nice battery drill, DeWalt, Panasonic, Hitachi, AEG, Makita etc all make lovely drills. If I was starting over, I'd go with Hitachi or Makita. If you stick to the same rough range batteries are interchangeable. Make sure you get at least two batteries. Lion is what you want and 14.4v+. 2ah batteries is the lowest worth getting. Try and make sure you get one with a metal gearbox and one where the bushes are easy to replace.

And then spend £30 on a cheapo mains drill to abuse. CPC usually have some good deals on Bosch for about £35. Otherwise their own brand starts about £20.

[Woofage]

Wot Valiant wrote.

[jsabine]

I'm not convinced about the uses of a cheap corded drill unless you are going to genuinely abuse it or use it for something like driving a mixer paddle - if 'abuse' just means prolonged heavy work an SDS will be far, far better.

The choice of drill bit makes a huge difference to the abilities of a cordless when faced with masonry - I spent about three years being paid to make holes in other people's walls, and was a very quick convert to Bosch Multi-Construction bits (http://www.screwfix.com/p/bosch-multipurpose-drill-bit-set-4pcs/95958). If you couldn't drill with them (in a DeWalt 14.4v XRP cordless), then you needed an SDS - a normal corded drill would not have helped. (In three years, I needed the SDS a couple of dozen times.)

At home, I've got a couple of DeWalt XRPs, a Wickes own-brand cordless that has a right-angle chuck, a really good B&D corded drill, and an SDS. I'm going to use the SDS this afternoon to chisel out the holes for some electrical back boxes, and that'll be the first time I've used it since putting up some shelves in the loft a year ago. I haven't used the B&D for about 10 years: the cordless ones are just so much easier to manage.

[Valiant]

Yebbut an XRP isn't £100. And an SDS is a bit overkill for your average person. If you're renovating and are going to put in some serious holes then sure. I find that none of my drills, and one is a very recent XRP has the same sustained oomph that a mains powered drill has. The harder you push a battery operated one the quicker you deplete the battery.

That said the multicon bits are nice to work with but the DeWalt Extremes do eat through brick like there's no tomorrow (started off with a brand new Multicon).