as above, recently killed my corded Bosch hammer drill so looking at a replacement for Christmas and im seeing lots and lots of cordless ones, are they any good?

ive seen a worx one that looks quite good, 24v, 2 batteries, good reviews for £90

only thing im worried about is it may not be fast enough for HSS (drilling car bits etc)

[Edited on 24/11/10 by dan__wright]

generally, no. A good 18v one will be fine on blocks, but not on most bricks. The £300 24v/36v ones will be good on bricks.

post a link of the worx one please!

[Edited on 24/11/10 by JoelP]

i have been using them at work for 10 plus years now avoid the cheap shite, stick with bosch makita or dewalt inn that order, depending on what you want to do 24v is the way to go 36 v not very good on batterie life and bloody heavy when be used a lot.

only my tupponce worth

rob

it will only be diy stuff and a few car bits, not for every day / pro use.
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7113017/Trail/searchtext%3EWORX.htm

that's what i was worried about re cheap stuff, see a lot of expensive dewalt stuff at so think there must be a catch with the cheaper stuff.

our sparky at work uses a cordless dewalt and it seems to be fine, even fitting out several buildings of labs (steel wall construction!)

[Edited on 24/11/10 by dan__wright]

had an 18v dewalt for 3 years now with no probs, good for most diy jobs goes through block and brick no problem as long as you use good quality bits. not a patch on my mains bosch sds drill though..... think a good cordless will be the way forward if you plan on using it mainly on the car, its a lot easier getting into tight spaces with no cables hanging around

you're not far off this one at £90, though id point out i havent used Li-ion dewalts yet:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/74113/Power-Tools/Cordless-Drills/DeWalt-XRP-DC988L1-18V-Li-Ion-Cordless-Combi-Drill?ts=30474

Drill bits don't have to run fast to make a hole, even though they say HSS on them. If it's turning slower then less heat and a more accurate hole size and more holes between sharpening.

I have a Bosch 24v drill which has been very good for most purposes.I only have used it for diy purposes using the hammer action but had no problem drilling into bricks etc for 10mm rawl bolts and for drilling through walls for sattelite cables etc.
For metal working it is fast enough for small drills and the slow speed works fine for medium size hole saws.
However I dropped it off the bench recently and it no longer works due to the magnets in the motor breaking, a new motor is going to be about £60 so cant decide if its worth repairing or replacing with something else.
Paul

A cheapo mains hammer drill will always be better for drilling brick etc.


I've currently got a Lidl 18v cordless. battery life isn't great but it came with 2 batteries and 1hr charger for £40 and quality of drill seems good.

I've used my Hitachi 18v for the last year. Does the job nicely. I've resorted to using my powered drill twice!!

I have a 36v dewalt.
It will get into brick and block, but a couple of days ago failed miserably getting into stone.
I would say a cheap wired one is better.

I just bought a new Makita 18v cordless drill and it's good but if I want to make a hole in the wall and can get to a socket I use the Bosch SDS, effortless in comparison. As Tim Taylor says, more power huh. Big volt batteries means heavy tools which is why I didn't go over 18v.

[Edited on 24/11/10 by Peteff]

Ive got one of those Worx and they are very good I also have a 24v Bosch SDS and I tend to use the Worx for rawl plugging nowadays and the Bosch for drilling straight through walls.
I use it on a daily basis and its never let me down though the charge time is a PITA, for a DIYer or for trade you'll be well happy with it.
Cheers,
Bob

I bought a Macalister 18v drill from B&Q 4 years ago and I have built 2 cars with it and done lots of work around the house, it is still going strong 1 battery is a little tired but will still work.
Regards
Bob

I would said an mains SDS drill, and a 12v cordless drill/driver combo.

My housemates bosch professional 12v cordless was very good, and i might my dad a smaller/lighter but also good quality makita last christmas which has done a good first year. Between the two brands i dont think you can got wrong, same colour even!



Daniel

I bought a Wickes 'professional' a couple of years ago, came with 2 batteries and was on offer for £54 IIRC. I then bought a reciprocating saw from the same range as it takes the same batteries and I must say that they have both been absolutely fine. I have used the drill on most materials and it seems OK to me, maybe eats the battery a little quicker on stone/brick but still does the job. Batteries seem to have stood the test of time so far so we will see.

Not sure if it would be OK for someone in the profession but it has been great for my needs.

HTH

JB