[Closed] the exhilarating world of drills

Yes it would, Makita is generally good kit and as long as its at least 18v you'll be fine, does depend on what you are planning on doing though...

I'd get soemthing with 2 batteries but MAkita have a good reputation.

Main thing if you get multi batteries is not whether it's 1.3Ah or higher it's if you get enough use out of a charge to cover the charge time for the 2nd battery (assuming you'll be using it near a power source). So if it comes with a 30min charger then you just need 30 mins use out of each battery.

That's a great drill and good price, especially if all the bits and bobs are useful to you.

EDIT: I agree with the two battery thing to some extent but the 3Ah battery on that Makita lasts ages and holds it charge when not in use so it rarely runs out at exactly the wrong time. The 20 min charge is a good time for a tea break!

I bought the exact same one a couple of weeks ago and it's tackled everything I've needed it for absolutely fine.

If you want to drill into hard walls then you will need to pilot the hole first but that's no big deal. The torque setting are very useful too for screwing stuff.

Loads of accessories come with it although some you will probably never use but it's nice to have just in case.

Overall, for household DIY it's perfect, just don't expect it to drill huge hills as it won't cope.

Edit; Used mine for 3 weekends running and still on the same charge.

Double post

My local B&Q (Welwyn Garden City) have got a huge stack of Makita 18v drills including 2 batteries for £99.

Looks very similar to that Screwfix one but doesn't come with all the bits & bobs (most of which you won't use!)

what size chuck has it got ?

i found out to my wrong recently that a 10mm chuck as found on my bosch liion 18v is pish if you want to core 70mm holes in a door

Lucky my corded drill has a 13mm chuck and was able to do it.

and its not a corded vs cordless thing as my dads dewalt and hilti drills both have full size HD chucks even on their smaller powered guns.

other than that - its unlikely a DIY users going to kill batterys that often that he needs to care about if the charger will charge batterys quicker than he kills them..... if you are then you really do want a corded drill.

This won't be an every day work drill or anything it'll be occasionally used to drill holes in classic cars and camper vans. It'll be once less tool i have to try and borrow when i need one. Nice to hear some positive comments, don't want to splash out with zero knowledge.

My local B&Q (Welwyn Garden City) have got a huge stack of Makita 18v drills including 2 batteries for £99.

These often have 1.3Ah NiCd batteries and are not in the same league as the one the OP is looking at. B & Q are also doing an 18V Ryobi with 2 1.4 LiOn batteries at the moment for £85 which isn't bad, I needed an additional battery for my existing drill but that would have cost £50+ so two batteries, drill and charger for £85 seemed better value.

Good price but you wont be drilling big holes in to brick walls.....you could easily get a corded hammer drill/sds for the big jobs and a battery operated hand drill for the smaller jobs for the same price as that, best of both worlds. If you're just a weekend diy'er it seems a bit of waste but hey, if you got the cash go for it!

i saw the makitas in bnq recently they were li ions

there is a blue bosch in screwfix (blue bosch is trade as oppose green bosch is diy)

99 quid and a voucher for 60 quid off a spare battery.

only issue it has a 10mm chuck 🙁

I got an 18v Bosch drill driver with two 1.5 Li-ion batteries for under a £100 a couple of months ago in B&Q. Served me well so far. This model:

[img] [/img]

it is done! cheers boys.
it's a big kit but i can honestly say there's nothing i won't use eventually and most of it will come in handy during the camper conversion i'm doing.

now...what can i find that needs a hole in it first?

First thing you have to do with a new drill is hold it at your side and then do a James Bond style point and shoot whilst pressing the trigger.

It's the law.

during the camper conversion i'm doing.

Lets see the van then 😀 Can't go dangling the carrot then snatch it away again 8)

One li-ion battery will give plenty of use between charges, and you don't need to fully recharge either. The makita charger gives a signal when the battery is 80% charged which happens very quickly, less than half the time a full charge can take. And you don't have to wait for the battery to go flat before you charge so you shouldn't ever get caught out

there is a blue bosch in screwfix (blue bosch is trade as oppose green bosch is diy)

The blue Bosch thing isn't as true as it used to be, some of the cheaper Bosch blue drills are a bit mickey mouse, even for DIY duties they don't last long. Even their big ticket items these days can be pretty disappointing.

I have a hedge trimmer that looks suspiciously like a drill

Get that Makita.

I got the exact same one 6 months back and I use it most days.

I build & fit bedroom furniture and it's just perfect. The LXT drills are the professional range, the balance and power are spot on, and many of the 101 extras are handy.

The 3ah battery means I charge it about once a week and because it only takes 20 mins I don't need a spare.

Last month that one was on offer at £200 so it's a genuine sale price.

Looks like a very good deal. Personally I just buy bare bones drills without all the bits etc but if you don't have that kind of stuff already it is a good buy. 18V and 3Ah Lithium battery are very good and will last you a good while between charges. The spare battery at £140 is a bit steep, even with the £50 off and unless you will be using the drill all day I probably wouldnt bother.

Nicad drills are not worth it. Lithium all the way. I've got 14V green Bosch (ie the DIY range) as I wanted a lightweight, compact drill mainly for drilling pilot holes in wood and screwing and tbh it has proved to be very good at drilling into hard materials too. One of the problems some people have is cheap bits. Buy a decent quality bit and it is amazing how easy holes can be. Basically buy bits from the big powertool companies - Dewalt, Bosch etc and they will be much better than cheap rubbish.

As for Ryobi - I am sure they used to be a good make but they seem to be based on generic cheap stuff these days from what I have seen.

Get yourself a little box of the DeWalt Pz2 bits too. Hard as nails.

as previously said this drill with one battery is more than adequate for most diy-er 20 min charge last for ages. spare battery ebay about £60

I've the Makita one that B&Q/Screwfix have been selling (£100ish inc 2 batteries) - works well.

But there is nothing more frustrating than starting a job and running out of charge mid-way - I'd either buy a 2nd battery or another drill (inc 2 batteries).

And if you intending to do a big drill/driver job, get a separate drill/driver then you're not forever changing drill to driver...

The spare battery at £140 is a bit steep, even with the £50 off and unless you will be using the drill all day I probably wouldnt bother

For diy stuff you'll never need the second battery as you can get a usable charge really quickly. But if you were needing one..... The good thing about the 18v makitas is the battery is standard across a wide range of their tools, having already acquired a charger you can pick up body only and body with one battery deals on ebay. Makita's cordless circular saw and anglegrinders are sublimely useful things and you can sometimes find one with a battery thrown in for around the price of a battery on its own

footflaps - Member

I got an 18v Bosch drill driver

Uuurgh, green bosch. I had a lot of fun finding out how many warranty claims you can make on one purchase but I didn't get to drill very many holes...

Here's mine:

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