Moving in a couple of weeks – new house is in good order, but completely bare, so I need a drill. I know nothing about drills, except that Makita seems to be the pricey but good Orange 5 of the drill world.

Basically, I need something that I can use to put up curtains, toilet roll holders, blinds, shelves, sheds, locks, coat hooks etc. I once tried putting up a curtain using a crappy cordless drill and that was bad (though maybe because I was drilling into a lintel?) – Am clueless when it comes to DIY, but it looks like I’m going to have to learn sharpish…

Am also thinking I might want to install some ground anchors into the concrete my shed is going on to for some added bike security. Is this something a normal drill can do?

Suspect you lot are going to recommend an Makita SDS or some such, which are around £180. I like tools as much as the next man but B&Q sell hammer drills for £25 and I don’t know what the difference is, and I’d rather buy bike bits than drill bits. Boom boom!

Anyway, edukate me.

If making things isn’t your thing and the couple of dozen holes you’ve listed above are mostly in masonry just get a corded drill and spend the change on good quality masonary bits.

If you don’t make reasonably regular use of it a battery drill will die from lack of use, especially the new Liion ones, even good batteries can be goosed from a few months on non-use. For ground anchors hire or borrow an SDS if a regular drill isn’t managing. But theres a reasonable chance a bog standard drill will do fine.

really, you need n+1 drills – but 2 basic ones are better than one to do everything – and probably cheaper than a one to do everything type drill. I’d want one which is light and easy to use cordless, and one which is mains powered and hammer action, ideally with a two handed grip of some sort – you can get stuff which lasts for lots, or lasts ok, for less, but generally build quality is what you are looking for.

In the not total crap, but not expensive region, you might look at something like ryobi – sort of an on-one of the tool manufacturer scale, my little brother uses them and he’s a full time plumber, I’ve had a ryobi cordless for years with no problems, despite some significant abuse.

really, you need n+1 drills

I just acquired 3 more at the weekend, prior to that I think I totted up that I already had 13 – one of the new ones is 12ft tall and looks like a steampunk version of the one Bruce Willis uses in Armageddon

Dewalt. If you get the 18V NiMH ones you can pick them up for cheap and get knock-off batteries – much cheaper than the modern posh Li-Ion batteries. It’s what I’ve standardised on at the shop.

Dewalt. If you get the 18V NiMH ones you can pick them up for cheap

If you can find a good deal one of the 18v XRP dewalts cheap with NIMH or Nicad batteries then they’re one of the better choices for hammer drilling with batteries. The trade off is they’re a bit boisterous and clumsy when driving in screws

Buy the cheapest corded sds drill screw fix do, it’ll no doubt have a 3 year warranty to boot, and willout drillany of the cordless drills when it comes to drilling holes. Then get a half decent cordless for actually doing the screwing/fixings with.

I would recommend makita 18v drills. I’ve been renovating a house over the last year and have used a 18v drill and a separate SDS drill/hammer to hack all the walls in the house without a problem.

i got the drill in a box set including two batteries, a charger and a lot of bits for £100. The makita sds was £130, also well worth it.

Bosch GBH24 (SDS) cordless.

I should say I know nothing about these matters, but I had a bit of a crush on the 3 I got through fitting Sky..and it took a lot of effort to destroy them all. 🙂

You need to drills.

A corded SDS for easily drilling holes in masonry. My AEG cost about £100 and has lasted at least 12 years.

Then a cordless 18v for everything else.

A corded SDS for easily drilling holes in masonry.

Then a cordless 18v for everything else.

+1

Dewalt SDS for £99 & a Bosch 18v Li-ion with two batteries for £99.

£200?! I could buy a headset and a bottom bracket for that!

wrightyson – Member
Buy the cheapest corded sds drill screw fix do, it’ll no doubt have a 3 year warranty to boot, and will out drill any of the cordless drills when it comes to drilling holes. Then get a half decent cordless for actually doing the screwing/fixings with.

Makes sense. Links to any reasonable ones?

It should make sense to be fair as I fanny about with my tools most days 😉
You could perhaps knock £50 off what footflaps has suggested, but not much more. Try your local dipt, sometimes have good deals on and also hire shops. Screwfix have sds at 60 ish but theyre bloody heavy!

I’ve just finished doing loads of DIY in our new house over the last year. SDS drill was an eye opener.

For me, it’s like bike bits, always wanting something else. Really, you NEED 😉

SDS corded

Then, sharing batteries;

Drill driver
Combi drill
Impact driver

Now, how about saws?….

Was in the same position as you, needed a drill for diy, bought a DeWalt 18v from screwfix other day, 2 batteries and charger £100. Top bit of kit, done loads of shelves general stuff over last weekend….. recommended at the price

One of these:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb278sds-5kg-sds-drill-240v/97533?cm_sp=Tools-_-CordedSDSDrills-_-97533

and one of these:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dc100ka-gb-18v-1-3ah-ni-cd-cordless-combi-drill/73596

Cheers b r How come DeWalt not Makita? http://www.screwfix.com/p/makita-bhp453sh-18v-1-3ah-li-ion-cordless-combi-drill/58614

Only one battery on the Makita, but not sure if I need two batteries?

Look at the reviews on the DeWalt drill, pretty good it seems

14.4v Panasonic cordless driver and Panasonic 24v cordless SDS. Also have the dewalt £89 18v from b&q but its a backup now cos the batteries don’t last long. The plus side of the 14.4v batteries is that they also work in my grinder and light, and my work mates use them also so there’s no shortage of batteries or chargers.

I’ve an Atlas Copco/AEG 12v drill. It’s heavy, but built like a proverbial outhouse.

It runs on NiCd, recharged by a smart charger.

The unit and it’s batteries are 20yrs and 3 months old and amazingly, still working fine!

NiCd is looked down upon as old technology because its heavy and has a memory which, if you don’t discharge on each cycle, will quickly ruin the battery’s ability to hold a charge for very long.

I have always run mine totally flat before recharging and am stunned at the lifespan of these battery units.

There is no way LiIon or even NIMh would have lasted so long.

Ryobi are a value brand that are up to professional use, so easily good enough for a keen DIYer.

SDS is essential for drilling masonry. Get a drill with Rotostop so you can use chisel attachments. For occasional DIY use, any make will do.

I still say Li-ion over the older batteries. They have more power output.

toolstation currently have a nice offer on the white makita 18V li-ion drill.

Oh and I spotted a Titan drill from screwfix above – I had 2 angle grinders by that brand that didn’t last long. They are just rebranded powertools. I now have a makita one which is much nicer to use.

I got a big SDS drill from Aldi about 6/7 years back for £30 to knock down some walls. It has ended up doing a lot of work with up to 1m long 25mm dia drill bits and many 10’s of metres of channelling out concrete. The pinion gear eventually died on the motor just as I was finishing the work I needed it for. I was going to buy a smaller Bosch SDS but I thought I would try the freephone number on the side. I spoke to a german lady who emailed me the parts diagram and I emailed her back with the parts I needed – whole armature, next gear and some bearings and she sent a quote back to me. Cost me £16 including delivery for all the parts needed and it’s back like new.

DeWalt XRP 18V.. ask 99% of trade professionals…. superb bit of kit I have a wee 9V Bosch pro for use as a scredriver in sensitive kit (speakers, fittings, etc) as the DeWalt is a tad brutal for those applications.

Rule of thumb is you get exactly what you pay for.. 4yrs ago the my XRP cost £369, its still going strong as is my DeWalt Jigsaw, Corded Drill, Chop Saw, reciprocating Saw & Cordless 4″ angle grinder all about the same age.

However if you are not going to use it day in day out then look for a cheaper altenative.. others can advise

Not a single mention of Hilti? I used to love their stuff when it was provided at work… That TE24 I think it was called, now there was a cordless drill 🙂 Not cheap if I remember it though.

Although thinking on, was the TE24 the big bugger and the cordless was a TE5? Whatever, it was nearly 20 years ago and not that relevant for someone shopping this weekend 🙂

He doesn’t need to be spending “hilti” money on the sds, just not worth it for what it’ll be doing. The cordless however is worth spending more on because once you have one there will be countless jobs/tasks you use it for.

Spongebob – rotostop how often do you use that as a diyer ? I used it for rewiring my house chasing out the walls – never used it before or since. I borrowed a hilti for the job. But you can hire if your ever doing a considerble ammount of chiseling.

Not worth paying a premium for

Sds is worth it for the things you list though

Id go with a good corded drill and a cheapy 12-14 v screw driver for the screwing of screws – itll still drill wood 😉

Only one battery on the Makita, but not sure if I need two batteries?

You should always buy a drill with 2 (or more), even if its only for when one of them ‘dies’.

FWIW I fitted a ground anchor with an old corded drill borrowed off my dad. Just took my time and it was fine. No doubt something nicer would be better if doing it day in day out, but I’d imagine most corded drills would handle it occasionally.

My pro tip for drilling a big hole in concrete in an echo-y garage would be earplugs!

Hmmm. That Dewalt b r recommended is £89 from B&Q at the moment…

http://www.diy.com/nav/fix/power-tools/drilling-screwdriving/drilling/cordless/-specificproducttype-combination_drills/DeWALT-18v-Combi-Drill-and-2-batteries-10668127

Hmmm. That Dewalt b r recommended is £89 from B&Q at the moment.

That’s got NiMH batteries, huge and heavy but only 1.3Ah. You only need to spend a little more to get a good LIon. If you get a 3Ah you only really need one battery.

If you’re drilling concrete (floor, lintel etc) you’ll want to spend a little extra on decent bits.

Cheap ones will most likely not do the job.

My Li-ion Bosch (domestic range rather than Pro) has two 1.3 Ah batteries. They work fine as I can recharge one in the time it takes to flatten the other, so never held up waiting for batteries to charge. One advantage of smaller capacity batteries is a lighter drill, so less fatigue if you’re doing a load of over head stuff eg fixing plaster board to joists.

They work fine as I can recharge one in the time it takes to flatten the othe

I’ve got a couple of little AEG drivers like that. Nice and light and great for certain jobs. I still prefer the 3Ah Makita for general use. The battery will last all day on all but the toughest jobs. If it does go flat it’s 20 minutes to charge and if you’ve done enough drilling and screwing to flatten a 3Ah battery then you are due a tea break

I have a corded BOSH SDS for ”heavy” work
and a old Black and Decker cordless for around the house jobs

For putting holes in things

I knew this would be complicated! Is this a good deal for a good drill?

http://www.diy.com/nav/fix/power-tools/drilling-screwdriving/drilling/cordless/-specificproducttype-combination_drills/Makita-18V-Li-Combi-Drill-with-2-Batteries-12508633?skuId=13029339&_requestid=216193

That’s a good drill. You can get it with one battery from screwfix for £100, or for £20 more you can get his slightly bigger brother.

http://m.screwfix.com/c/tools/18v-cordless-combi-drills/cat2700016

That should be fine around the house. Probably not gonna dill any re-enforced concrete like pre-fab but for general duties it’ll be ok. Hitachi, Dewalt, makita et al will all do similar spec ( batteries 1.3Ah etc ) drills around the same price. I’ve never been a fan of makita though. How much, and what sort of use is it gonna get? How long do you want it to last?

I’ve always found the plastic ‘ jacobs Chuck ‘ to be problematic and would choose a Keyless metal-chuck every time.

Without spending silly money for the new ‘ brushless ‘ tech the best combi-drill on the market today with the highest torque by far in its class is This!