I need cordless drill help (not sexual innuendo)

[sweetgrass]

I’m looking to buy a cordless drill to build a deck this spring, any recommendations?

I am a cordless tool virgin.

What voltage should I be looking at, any brands I should stay away from?  I’m hearing bad things about Black And Decker and the other brands are expensive.  I’d like to stay in the $60 to $90 range  

[St George Ute]

I’m not a professional carpenter, more of a hobbyist, so take this for what it’s worth.

On voltage, I’d go with a 20 volt if you’re doing a deck. I used a 16-volt and finished a basement about 7-8 years ago, so they’re fine, though these days it seems like 20 is the standard. I like my 20 a lot better than the 16 I used to have.

Personally, I like the Porter Cable brand if you’re looking for a good mix of quality and price. You can get a cordless drill for about $90. For lots of drilling, I’d recommend an impact driver. It’s faster than a drill if you’re screwing things in to wood. That you can get for $99 at Lowe’s. For a little more, you can buy the combo pack with both ($129). I like mine and I do a lot of work around the house, including finishing a new basement.

Stay away from Black & Decker. I’ve never had a good experience with them. Craftsman (Sears) is hit and miss (my corded drill is crap, but my jigsaw is decent). Dewalt is good (even though it’s owned by the same company that makes B&D), though they are pricey. Ridgid is also a good brand (Home Depot’s own), but a little on the pricey end as well. Like I said, for a good mix of quality and low price, I buy Porter Cable.

Hope that helps!

[Puget Ute]

If you want to stay in the $60-$90 range, just get a good drill with a nice extension cord. In fact, you can get an awesome drill for sub $50 that will crush any cordless drill in power and longevity.

If you are serious about getting a cordless drill, look at the Makita, DeWalt, Milwaukee, or similar. If you want to use it mostly for screws then look at getting a hammer/impact drill driver. There are a number of good ones on the market for ~$160. The hammer drill function uses less power despite imparting far greater energy into the fastener, so the batter lasts longer.

I have one of these little impact drivers and it works great, but there is no way I would build a deck with it unless I had at least 3+ spare batteries.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-18-Volt-3-Speed-1-4-in-Impact-Driver-Tool-Only-P237/206588778

YMMV.

[Daedalus]

Listen to Puget.  The short of it is, to be able to build a deck with a cordless you’ll need either lots of time or lots of spare batteries.  A cheaper corded drill (I like my DeWalt) will have more power and last all day long.

I’ve never had any complaints about my Ryobi cordless equipment for hobbyist stuff.  But, yeah, the battery only goes so far especially with high-powered accessories like a riciprocating saw.

[Puget Ute]

I have a $$$$ DeWalt that is uber-reliable and powerful. But for big jobs where I need to screw in hundreds of screws, I happily choose my $30 corded drill and just deal with dragging the cord around. It is smooth, extremely powerful, and works all day long without slowing down.

This is especially true with the 4″ deck screws…

[Tony (admin)]

Dewalt for sure.  

[PorterRockwell]

I have a dewalt corded drill and it is awesome.  For small jobs I have the Makita 12V  drill and driver pair. They are great for quick smaller jobs. Ie repairing fences etc  can’t go wrong with dewalt 

[vcsg01]

Whatever you go with make sure it has the torque adjustment on the chuck collar. My 40 dollar hitachi corded drill doesn’t have that and it always overdrives screws in decking. So i prefer just using my 18v ridgid drill. Its actually great on battery life and recharges really fast. Pretty much need a rest at that point.

[Utemachine]

I was an electrician in a previous life and went through several drill transmissions and chucks before deciding Dewalt held up the best. That being said I have become addicted to Ryobi 18v tools. At last count I am at 27 18v tools and counting. Nailers, sanders, several types of drills, impact wrench, lights, vacuum, etc.

I am a weekend warrior now but use my tools a lot. These things are rock solid and they never change the battery connection format. That means all the old mixes with the new. A tool never becomes obsolete. For the price you can’t beat the starter kit which has the drill, circular saw, reciprocal saw, flashlight and 2 18v batteries. Nothing comes close in price vs. quality I assure you.

[Daedalus]

I bought into the Ryobi hype before they had their titanium batteries, and loved it at the beginning of my DIY phase.  Now collecting dust are:  a bunch of yellow batteries that are way tired and don’t hold much of a charge, a circular saw that really sucks because it’s tiny and kills batteries in like five minutes, the flashlight — because come on any flashlight will work and headlamps are awesome — and the original drill.  I bought the newer drill with a couple titanium batteries and like that so much better.  Then I got some hand-me-downs and this is where it gets cool:  I have a blue (old style) reciprocating saw and I can use it with the titanium battery, no problem.  Sometimes the jigsaw and hand vacuum get some love too.

And now this thread is convincing me I need to buy an impact driver.  Crap.

OK, one complaint:  The chuck on my drill keeps loosening and dropping the bit.  It sucked when I dropped my uncle’s specialty cutting bit in a toilet flange and it went around the bend.

Do you have the shop radio too?

[Utemachine]

I bought the shop fan open box for cheap and it was broken when I plugged a battery into it. I took it back and Home Depot handed me the brand new version of the fan straight up. I waffle on the radio. The newest one has Bluetooth so it’s more enticing but haven’t yet. Let me know how you like it if you get it. My two favorites are the tire/ball pump and I just picked up the 1/2″ Impact wrench. This thing has so much torque it will rip lug nuts off a rusted diesel truck. I also just bought the 6 battery speed charging station. It’s a sickness.

[Daedalus]

I have a hearing aid and purchased a device that can stream bluetooth audio straight into my hearing aid.  So much clarity, and I can optionally turn off the hearing aid mike, so there’s little interest in radios for me.  🙂

[Utemachine]

Built in Bluetooth, that’s cool!

[Utemachine]

Daedalus, I was just looking at one of my Ryobi drills and you can remove the chuck and replace it.

[Utemachine]

In my excitement to talk Ryobi I missed you were building a deck. You need an impact driver. If you’ve put screws in with a normal drill and then use an impact driver you will never turn back. It puts screws into wood like butter. They have them on display usually with a piece of wood so you can see the night and day difference of putting a screw in with one.

http://m.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-ONE-18-Volt-Lithium-Ion-Impact-Driver-Kit-P881/203466912

[Author]

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