Need new cordless drills!

[John Coloccia]

My Hitachi is finally dying. I have to say, it's really been quite a workhorse for about 4 or 5 years, so no regrets buying it. The low gear is finally starting to act up. It will pop out of gear and grind. The batteries are still original, though :) Great drill.

Here's what I'm thinking now. Usually, I get a honkin' drill because I need to be able to drive screws too, but what do you guys know about the new compact impact drivers? Maybe it makes more sense to get a lighter drill and just for drilling, and then a driver for driving? Can those tiny little driver really drive like my big 'ole heavy drills?

What do you guys think? I'm just looking for opinions and recommendations. There's soooo much to choose from out there, I just don't have the bandwidth to go on yet another quest for a power tool.

[John Coloccia]

One thing to keep in mind: if I get an impact driver, I'm just going to keep the Hitachi for now and run it into the ground until the "High" gear setting dies.

[John Coloccia]

I guess I should give my application too. I'm mainly using screws when I'm building things for the shop (storage, hanging things, etc), or building things for the house like lumber racks, maybe some deck repairs, etc. For anything major, like lagging a deck to the house or driving anchors into concrete, I have a corded impact wrench. A typical application for me is screwing 2X4s to each other with 3 1/2" deck screws or something like that. The other main application is building jigs...I build lots of jigs! That's typically very light work so I'd be interested in having something that offers good control too.

[Van Huskey]

For me drill wise:

Festool, Panasonic, Makita and Dewalt in that order assuming you are looking for something in the mid-range voltage and power wise.

[Stephen Tashiro]

I find that the impact drivers work great! They work much better than a powerful drill. With impact action you don't have to exert a strong force against the torque of the tool. They spin the screw like a drill until the screw offers some resistance. Then the impact action kicks in automatically.

[John Coloccia]

Do you think the small, compact drivers will do what I need it to do, or should I be looking at one of the midsize ones?

[Gary Max]

They are handy and work great on small stuff----are they work horses----nahhhh.

[Stephen Tashiro]

I may not understand which tools you mean by the "compact" ones. I find that my Ryobi P230 18 V cordless impact driver is completely adequate for driving deck screws (my favorite type being the "Deckmate" brand). It's so nice that I rarely use nails for anything - mainly because the impact driver is also great at taking screws out. Compared to pulling out nails, impact unscrewing is effortless!

To step up to a more powerful impact tool, you could get an "impact wrench" as opposed to an impact driver. I have a cordless DeWalt impact wrench. I'd prefer not to carry a tool that heavy around just to drive screws! (You can get a drill chuck that fits an impact wrench from a small company called Cowan Manufacturing. Using that chuck the impact wrench works well as a masonry drill.)

[Robert Chapman]

I have a number of the Bosch 12V tools. The ones I use the most are the drill and a non impact driver. I build furniture and these compact tools have plenty of power and are very easy to use. Check them out - I bet that you will like the way they feel in your hand.

[Bill Leonard]

+1 for Bosch. I own two, probably need two more.

[Tom Rick]

John- buy a couple of the m18's.

Lighter than my bad old 12 v gear and solid machines. I am about to buy another and @ $179 for the kit, the price is right...

[Dave Gaul]

I have the Makita BDF452HW. It would fit your bill just fine IMHO. I also have it's big brother, and sometimes it is too big for my needs.. I often find myself taking bits out of the big one and using the little guy to get into tight spacer, or for light duty work, but the little one can drive just about anything!

[Dan Blackshear]

My Dewalt Impact is my go-to tool for driving screws. The nice thing about impacts is they don't strip out screw heads like a driver does, the hammering keeps the bit from slipping. It's especially helpful in construction when things aren't pre-drilled. The compact size is also nice.
While it's not necessarily a finesse tool, you "learn" it like anything else and I can drive drywall screws with it and put the head just below the paper every time.

One other thing, I have found with the impact, you are better off getting the impact bits if you are driving long scews. I broke more than a few of the regular bits until I got some impact bits. No problems since.

[Curt Harms]

Do you think the small, compact drivers will do what I need it to do, or should I be looking at one of the midsize ones?

Get both:D. Seriously, I have 10.8 (now 12) volt and 18 volt Bosch. The smaller impact driver works very well for smaller screws like hinges, drawer slides and the like. I find impact drivers less prone to camming out phillips head screws. The smaller impact driver is easier finesse. The 18 volt will drive 3"+ screws or 1/4" lag bolts all day long. i don't know if they're still offered but last Christmas there were Bosch & Makita 18 volt Li-Ion kits drill & driver its for less than $200.

[Paul McGaha]

Lots of good choices John. Makita, Bosch, Milwaukee are the first three that come to mind for me.

I have a couple of 18V Makita's for my shop I'm really happy with. They are about (5) years old. I'm a weekend hobbiest so they get used pretty lightly.

I'm a long time construction electrician and if I were buying battery drills for work I would probably do Bosch or Milwaukee as I think they are more heavy duty than the others.

Good luck with your choice and purchase.

PHM

[Matt Meiser]

I've got the 12V Bosch system and 18V M18 Milwaukee. Each has its place. The 12V stuff is great for a quick home repair, building furniture, etc but doing bigger jobs the batteries wear down relatively quickly. The 18V stuff gets used on bigger home projects, etc, but also the drills are pretty nimble (I ended up with 2 due to a Craigslist deal) with the compact battery so great in the shop too.

The M12 Milwaukee system looks really nice, but I've read/heard a lot of reports of premature battery failure in reviews and from a friend. As in failure in less than a year.

[Mike Heidrick]

I have makita 18V drill and impact, Dewalt 18V XRP set, and Bosch 10.8/12V drivers and impactor. In the shop the Bosch drivers/impact get grabbed the most. I use the makita drill a lot. The Makita impact is nice but for real impact works I grab the pneumatic impact. The Bosch impactor does all the screw driving I need that the Bosch driver with the clutch does not do. Lots of bare tool Bosch 10.8 dirivers around so its easy to add multiple drivers to your collection.

So I say get several. Each have their place.

[Ed Griner]

I have used Panasonic for a long time. They have high amp batteries(longer time between charges).I have had a 12volt impact hammer,this is my number #1 rotating tool.For me it has replaced a rachet,allen wrenches,screw drivers,nut drivers(great for removing rusted bolts/nuts),you get the idea.The impact hammer never yanks itself out of your hand, and is very compact.12 volt is the ideal size for me.I also own a panasonic 18 volt drill/driver for drilling,it is also a great tool,I use it about 5-10% of the time.Panasonic tools are as tough as they come,are readily available at Amazon.I am a self employed electrician (long time) and would recommend a Panasonic tools as reasonably priced,high quality tools.

Good Luck/Ed

[Matt Evans]

The Makita sets are great. I have been really pleased with the full sized set I have as well as the compact 18v. I Had Hitachis, and was pleased with them, but the quality seems to have gone down hill a bit, so switched to DeWalt, which I did not like at all, personally. Ended with the Makita, and as long as they keep the bar set where they have it now, I will likely stick with them.

The Impact is my go to driver for most screws, and I love the charge time! (15-30 minutes)

Whatever you get, consider a third battery. (or 4th!) Those times when you are doing nothing but driving and drilling will eat the batteries up, particularly when driving lags, and it is best to have one fresh battery on hand for a quick swap.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Neighbor got [for Christmas - I gave his wife the list] stuff including the 18v Li-Ion black-and-white Makita impact driver [and a pair of the bigger batteries]. I used it to drive 5/16" x 5" lag screws in pre-drilled PT lumber. Ran in like a scalded cat. I was impressed. Compact, lite-weight, very easy to handle.

[Vince Shriver]

I have a Makita drill/impact driver (flashlight also) set. It's great. Both tools are always together when you need them, sometimes you use them together as a tag team and you get two batteries as well. Mine is a 14v, but I'm sure the smaller ones work very well. Invaluable for installations, repairs, construction - probably the most used tools in the shop. Can't say enough about the set.

[Ed Hazel]

I have been looking at the Ridged 12 volt Li Ion for my light duty work which is 99% of what I need, the reason for the Ridged is they have lifetime battery replacement if you register the drill. Every cordless drill I have had outlasted the batteries.

[Tom Esh]

...Can those tiny little driver really drive like my big 'ole heavy drills? ...

You betcha' they can. However they're not a complete replacement for every driving job mostly because they don't have a means to limit torque. Also the impacts and vibrations tend to drown out any sense of torque feedback you might feel through your arm & wrist. Basically you have to eyeball it. That's problematic for things like driving pocket screws blind into deep counterbores. I probably use it 75% vs 25% for drill or hand.

[John Coloccia]

Thanks for all the help. I think I've decided on the Makita's 18V compact combo. The smaller ones just don't seem to have the power I need, and the larger ones are just much too large. I don't need a cordless hammer drill or a massive impact driver. I have corded ones that work just fine. I wanted to get as light as possible that would still get it done, and I think this gets it done. When I pick it up, I'll report back :)

[Dave Gaul]

Thanks for all the help. I think I've decided on the Makita's 18V compact combo. The smaller ones just don't seem to have the power I need, and the larger ones are just much too large. I don't need a cordless hammer drill or a massive impact driver. I have corded ones that work just fine. I wanted to get as light as possible that would still get it done, and I think this gets it done. When I pick it up, I'll report back :)

John, I think you will be quite happy! I got mine refurbed over 5 years ago, and it has worked flawlessly since, still on the first two 1.5ah Li batteries... I did purchase an extra 3.0ah battery for some extra juice...

Mine replaced a B&D 12v, and I swear the Makita 18 is lighter!

[Callan Campbell]

I use my drill/driver rarely at work, but I use the impact driver every single day , John. I wasn't sure when I was buying them to supplement my older 14.4 Makita if it was going to be a good deal. Well, I sold the 14.4 on Craigslist after it gathered dust and my 10.8 impact driver got used non-stop. They're small. and light, thanks to the Lithium-Ion batteries. Plenty of power, I use 3/8" drive sockets via several different adapter sets to work larger fasteners than just screws. For screw driving, the trigger is easy enough to modulate so you can slow things down if needed. I've seen the "range" settable version of this line of tools, which gives you 3 power settings for the impact, but the price cost isn't worth it to me to sell my single range impact driver just to gain a few power settings.
In other words, you have control with the impact driver, esp. after you've used it a few times. I don't strip out fastener heads as a rule, so if you're worried about that, don't be, these little Makita's are very handy.
Battery life is great, they never seem to need a charge. Plus 1 on 10.8 Makita line.:D

[Callan Campbell]

I've got the 12V Bosch system and 18V M18 Milwaukee. Each has its place. The 12V stuff is great for a quick home repair, building furniture, etc but doing bigger jobs the batteries wear down relatively quickly. The 18V stuff gets used on bigger home projects, etc, but also the drills are pretty nimble (I ended up with 2 due to a Craigslist deal) with the compact battery so great in the shop too.

The M12 Milwaukee system looks really nice, but I've read/heard a lot of reports of premature battery failure in reviews and from a friend. As in failure in less than a year.
Interesting that you say this Matt, I got rid of my 18 volt Li-Io Milwaukee drill/driver since the batteries were always going dead. I replace it with the Festool 15+3, which keeps a very long life on a charged battery like my 10.8 and 18 volt Makita's. The 18v Milwaukee was only a year old, and the batteries never held up right from the start. I probably should have complained to Milwaukee, but I kept thinking they need to see full charge and discharge cycles like the older batteries. I know the Lithiums have gotten mixed reviews from fellow creekers, but it seems like when you get a really good set, they're everything that the Manufs promised they were supposed to be.

[Callan Campbell]

Thanks for all the help. I think I've decided on the Makita's 18V compact combo. The smaller ones just don't seem to have the power I need, and the larger ones are just much too large. I don't need a cordless hammer drill or a massive impact driver. I have corded ones that work just fine. I wanted to get as light as possible that would still get it done, and I think this gets it done. When I pick it up, I'll report back :)
I have the 18v Makita for home use, also a impact driver, with the smaller battery Ah pack. Holds a charge forever, very light for its size and power is never an issue. It gets used for masonary fasteners and long screws like you posted about. You should love it.:cool: Way more power than my 10.8s at work, but I needed small access space tools for that application.:mad:

[John Coloccia]

I picked up the LCT300W kit. It's an 18V system but with a smaller battery pack than the LXT, and the tools are a little lighter too. Perfect for me.

So my preliminary verdict after using it for 20 minutes screwing some 3" screws through 2X4s (I'm hanging some cleats for some additional storage locations): It's like CHEATING. Those screws go in effortlessly. This is great for someone like me who suffers from tennis elbow. I could use this thing all day long with practically no effort at all. No leaning on the drill to keep from caming out. Just pull the trigger, reasonable pressure and it's done. Even one handed in awkward positions is no problem at all. No reaction torque as the fastener seats. It has a great trigger also. I found it very easy to modulate the torque I'm applying so I can drive them in fast, and then back off and get the fastener right where I want it. FAR superior control than I've ever had with a drill.

The drill it came with is very nice too. More torque than my old 14V Hitachi, much smaller and lighter.

It's loud as all heck. Fortunately, my shop is a walk-out, so I'm essentially at basement level. I can run whatever I want any time of day or night, and nothing makes it through to the top floor where the bedrooms are. If I was doing a lot of driving, I would probably wear hearing protection, especially since I already suffer from tinnitus thanks to playing in loud bands in my youth.

The bag it comes with is nice, though I just use it in my shop so the bag goes into storage. I yanked off that those stupid belt clips too.

The flashlight it comes with is useless. I don't even know why they include it. I would have preferred paying $20 less and they can keep their stupid flashlight.

Just for fun, I also drove some 4" screws just to see. No problem. I'll be lagging some screws later to hang a reel extension cord. I suspect it will handle that just fine too.

We'll see how I feel in a year, but as a first look doing the typical work I do in my shop, and I'm guessing what many of us do, Makita really seems to have nailed it. I definitely think I would not have been happy with the LXT series. The last thing I needed was another set of heavy tools.

[michael osadchuk]

John,
I've had the same Makita dual driver and impact for a year or two and enjoy their high power and very small/light size; nice in tight situations. And almost all the brands have come out with similar 18v combos.

Read up a bit on lithium ion batteries as their longevity and care differ a bit from nicads.....

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/

li-on batteries keep a charge much longer that nicads but they apparently do have a finite shelf life; also their shelf life degrades if stored in a high temperature environment...... what I take from this is to avoid buying any replacement batteries until you are ready to put them into service (in addition to lion batteries likely becoming cheaper and better over time)

good luck

michael

[Dan Karachio]

John, I have two old 18v Hitachi's too and yet I am less lucky than you - mine won't die! After years and years of abuse and countless tasks, they just keep humming along! I look at all the nice Bosch, Makita and others out there and I yearn and yearn for them, but for some reason I can't push myself to do it until my old trusty friends pass on... sniff.. sniff...

On topic, can anyone tell me if the Festool's are twice as much drill as a Bosch or Makita, because the price is a little out of bounds. Don't get me wrong, I love my Festool stuff, but $500 for a 14.4 drill/driver is asking a lot. Or is it superior dust collection that bumps up the price? :D

[John Coloccia]

John, I have two old 18v Hitachi's too and yet I am less lucky than you - mine won't die! After years and years of abuse and countless tasks, they just keep humming along! I look at all the nice Bosch, Makita and others out there and I yearn and yearn for them, but for some reason I can't push myself to do it until my old trusty friends pass on... sniff.. sniff...

On topic, can anyone tell me if the Festool's are twice as much drill as a Bosch or Makita, because the price is a little out of bounds. Don't get me wrong, I love my Festool stuff, but $500 for a 14.4 drill/driver is asking a lot. Or is it superior dust collection that bumps up the price? :D

Before mine started dying, I kept saying that too because I wanted to switch to the LiIon technology. ...but the Hitachi just kept going and going and going. It didn't seem to matter what sort of abuse I put it through. It just wouldn't die until now. To be fair, it will works fine in high gear, and it will work in low gear if I hold the selector in place.

[Chris Rosenberger]

On topic, can anyone tell me if the Festool's are twice as much drill as a Bosch or Makita, because the price is a little out of bounds. Don't get me wrong, I love my Festool stuff, but $500 for a 14.4 drill/driver is asking a lot. Or is it superior dust collection that bumps up the price? :D

They are for me, the batteries & the quick change chucks make them worth it for me.
I have the 15+3 drill kit & after about a year of usage, I have yet to get the drill out of my work truck & had a dead battery. Many times the drill will go unused for a week or more. I have yet to run 2 batteries down in one day.
The motors do not use brushes & the clutch is electronic. When installing cabinets, being able to quickly change to the angle head in tight spots is great.
I also have the depth stop chuck that allows me to use the Festool drill as a drywall screw gun.

[Peter Quinn]

Thanks for all the help. I think I've decided on the Makita's 18V compact combo. The smaller ones just don't seem to have the power I need, and the larger ones are just much too large. I don't need a cordless hammer drill or a massive impact driver. I have corded ones that work just fine. I wanted to get as light as possible that would still get it done, and I think this gets it done. When I pick it up, I'll report back :)

John, I got my Dad the 18V makita compact li-ion set last year (driver and impact), and he loves it. We just got a few new Makita li-io compact drill drivers at work to replace some old 14V with shot clutches, and I'm sold. It will be my next drill. Light, nice clutch, very sensitive variable speed control, good power, long battery life for a light battery, and very quick charges (15 minutes!) Now I'm praying my main drill at home will die so I can replace it! Its been good to me, but now its time to go! Maybe I'll bring it to work.

Oh, I used a guys Festool on a job site a while back, and it was a nice tool. I had to pry it out of his hands after he said I could borrow it. His hand just would not release it, And he had to pry it out of mine to get it back. It was nice, but not 3X the price of the makita nice.

I also have a 7V sub compact Metabo drill driver, and that is my favorite toy in the drill category. It will drive 3" screws in hard wood if required, its very small and comfortable, it fits in my pocket or tool belt, its perfect for hardware installs as its clutch is very delicate. I love having a drill in that micro category, but its not great for repeated driving of larger screws. Nice to have both really.

[Bobby O'Neal]

Between my M12 impact and a corded Dewalt, I'm very happy.

[John Coloccia]

The flashlight it comes with is useless. I don't even know why they include it. I would have preferred paying $20 less and they can keep their stupid flashlight.

Time to eat crow. I had to run for something and decided to just give their flashlight a try. I didn't feel like going for a Maglight, and my outdoor lighting takes a few minutes to warm up.

The flashlight is actually quite nice. I'm glad they included it.

[Dan Karachio]

I have been looking at the Ridged 12 volt Li Ion for my light duty work which is 99% of what I need, the reason for the Ridged is they have lifetime battery replacement if you register the drill. Every cordless drill I have had outlasted the batteries.

Ed, I thought about this too, but there is one thing that annoyed me. The Rigid light only goes on when the drill is running. The Makita lets you hit the switch and the light stays on for a bit. Maybe I am weird, but I am often drilling in tight spots and the Rigid would drive me nuts in having a cool light, but not in the way I need it to work. For me, not worth getting battery replacements for life. I swear, the drill is about the most used tool for most people and it has to be perfect.

[John Coloccia]

Ed, I thought about this too, but there is one thing that annoyed me. The Rigid light only goes on when the drill is running. The Makita lets you hit the switch and the light stays on for a bit. Maybe I am weird, but I am often drilling in tight spots and the Rigid would drive me nuts in having a cool light, but not in the way I need it to work. For me, not worth getting battery replacements for life. I swear, the drill is about the most used tool for most people and it has to be perfect.

I've always HATED lights on my tools. Makita got that one right too. I really appreciate the Makita light exactly because it stays on for a while. It's actually useful, as opposed to irritating.

[Stew Hagerty]

I bought the new Rockwell 18V Lithium Tech and could not be happier. I've had a number of different drills over my 25 years in construction. My very first cordless was a 9.6v Makita, which I still have by the way. I've also had DeWalt, Bosch, Ryobi, Milwaukee, and I'm sure a coulple others that I just can't remember. After several months of use I would have to say that this Rockwell set is far and away my all-time favorite. It works hard and lasts a long time and then it recharges in almost no time at all. It fits me good. It has an all metal chuck which I far prefer to the ones that are rubber coated. It was Pop Mechanics Editors choice last year.

I bought the set which includes the drill and the impact. I've never had a cordless impact before, but no I don't know how I got along without one for so long. Here is the link to Rockwells page:

http://rockwelltools.com/lithtech.htm

[Caspar Hauser]

..... On topic, can anyone tell me if the Festool's are twice as much drill as a Bosch or Makita, because the price is a little out of bounds. Don't get me wrong, I love my Festool stuff, but $500 for a 14.4 drill/driver is asking a lot. Or is it superior dust collection that bumps up the price? :D

No.

I replaced mine with an 18v Makita.

[Kent A Bathurst]

..... with a smaller battery pack....

The bag it comes with is nice.........


John - all sounds good so far.

After you've had a chance to run it around the block a few times, I'd be interested in your comments on those smaller battery packs, in terms of weight v charge life. I understand the trade-off, just interested in your observations.

On the bag. Jeeeeeeeeezzz.....that means that you get a carrier you could actually use for something [if it's waterproof, looks like a good emergency cooler, even] as opposed to those dozen+ molded hardshell cases I pitched a couple years ago. What's the world coming to?:p

[John Coloccia]

John - all sounds good so far.

After you've had a chance to run it around the block a few times, I'd be interested in your comments on those smaller battery packs, in terms of weight v charge life. I understand the trade-off, just interested in your observations.

On the bag. Jeeeeeeeeezzz.....that means that you get a carrier you could actually use for something [if it's waterproof, looks like a good emergency cooler, even] as opposed to those dozen+ molded hardshell cases I pitched a couple years ago. What's the world coming to?:p

I have a dozen hard shell cases sitting in the "attic" of my shed. I should just throw them all out, to be honest. The Makita case is pretty stiff so it doesn't fold up, but it's just the right size to carry some "essentials" when camping.

In terms of battery life, I charged them up once yesterday and haven't charged them up once yet. I don't think I'd want to frame a house with these things, but I'm pretty happy with around the shop kinds of work. They've seen a bit of work because I've been rearranging my shop over the last few days. At some point, I'll post back with a more realistic review after I've used them for a while.

So far, the honeymoon is definitely still in effect!

[John Toigo]

FWIW In my experience Panasonics are unkillable.

[Jim Summers]

I bought the new Rockwell 18V Lithium Tech and could not be happier. I've had a number of different drills over my 25 years in construction. My very first cordless was a 9.6v Makita, which I still have by the way. I've also had DeWalt, Bosch, Ryobi, Milwaukee, and I'm sure a coulple others that I just can't remember. After several months of use I would have to say that this Rockwell set is far and away my all-time favorite. It works hard and lasts a long time and then it recharges in almost no time at all. It fits me good. It has an all metal chuck which I far prefer to the ones that are rubber coated. It was Pop Mechanics Editors choice last year.

I bought the set which includes the drill and the impact. I've never had a cordless impact before, but no I don't know how I got along without one for so long. Here is the link to Rockwells page:

http://rockwelltools.com/lithtech.htm

Can you tell us more about this drill? Weight? I am having trouble finding specs. Are there any "gotchas" to the free lifetime battery replacement? If this is thread hijack maybe we could start a new one.

TIA

[John Coloccia]

Is this Rockwell the same Rockwell that made those awesome laminate trim routers? I really miss those.

[Ed Hazel]

I see the Rockwell also has free batteries for life.

[Jeff Nicol]

I have used Panasonic drills for about 10 years and while I was still doing commercial heating and cooling work I worked the snot out of them day in and day out. I still have the first 2 15.6 drills I bought and upgraded the batteries once tot he 3.5ah. That being said one day I was at our local Menards store here in Eau Claire WI. which happens to be the home town of menards and beginnings. They had their store brand "Master Force" 12v LI drill, impact on sale for $99.00 with charger and 2 batteries. I figured for the price and after handling them in the store they felt solid and heavy, the impact has a metal housing for gears and such. I got the set home and the batteries had a good charge in them so I gave the impact and drill the test. They are fairly small and fit in my hands well and the drill has plenty of power to pre-drill holes and sink 3" screws on low gear when needed. The impact blew me away for the power and torgue it has! I use it for just about every building project that requires putting 3-4" screws in decks, walls, or whatever. The batteries last a long time for only being 12v, they both have little LED lights that come on with the trigger and are nice when in dim lit areas.

A few weeks later they had a 3 piece set on sale for $99.00 with a $20 mail in rebate (rebate good in store only) this set had another drill, small recip saw and a flashlight with charger and batteries. So now I have a 5 piece set that is easy to transport works great and they don't look to bad either. I am a woodturner mostly but do a lot of flat work too so it is nice to have different bits, drills and drivers ready to go at all times.

I used the little recip saw to cut a window opening in my old garage with hard old hemlock full 2x4's, I cut all the 1" boards, and the center 2x4 for a 30x30 opening and it still had charge left to do some other trimming and cutting all on a little 12 Li battery! I was very impressed, it won't replace the corded Milwaukee saw, but in a pinch or small job it does the trick. Here is a picture of the set. I left the extra drill out of the picture.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/album.php?albumid=122&pictureid=3969

I am a toolaholic so the more the merrier!

Jeff

[Jim Summers]

Is this Rockwell the same Rockwell that made those awesome laminate trim routers? I really miss those.

That's also what I was wondering if this is the same Rockwell from back in the 60's - 70's? I am using an old rockwell jpointer that my dad bought back in the early 70's. Needs a new drive belt but other than that it works fine.

[Jim Summers]

That's also what I was wondering if this is the same Rockwell from back in the 60's - 70's? I am using an old rockwell jpointer that my dad bought back in the early 70's. Needs a new drive belt but other than that it works fine.

Did some checking and I do not believe they are the "same" Rockwell. The "About Us" at their website indicates they are part of the Positec Group that has been around since 1994.

Sounds like a lightweight tool. Lifetime batteries are attractive. Not a lot of reviews though.

[John Coloccia]

You know, now that I think of it, didn't Rockwell buy Porter Cable, rebrand all their stuff as "Rockwell", and then sold Porter Cable? It's coming back to me. I think that's what happened.

Anyhow, Porter Cable has discontinued the 310, the closest to the old Rockwell laminate trimmer (which makes perfect sense now). Whatever. I've moved on to the Bosch Colt and the PC 7310 :)

[Stew Hagerty]

Can you tell us more about this drill? Weight? I am having trouble finding specs. Are there any "gotchas" to the free lifetime battery replacement? If this is thread hijack maybe we could start a new one.

TIA

I don't see how this is a hijack, it started off with John Coloccia asking for recommendations for new drills, and that's what I did.

Anyway, the battery thing is for real. I've spoken to reps at Rockwell about it, and its really simple. If a battery goes bad, they replace it, no questions asked. By the way, the set that I got came with two batteries so I can use both tools without continually swapping back and forth.

As for the weight, both are very light. The drill with the battery weighs only 4lb 5oz and without the battery it weighs 3lb 8oz. The impact with battery is just 3 lb 7oz and without it drops to only 2lb 10oz. Both tools are very well balanced and sit well in the hand. The reverse buttons are well placed too. The drill naturally has a drill/driver clutch which works as intended, and the impact tightens carriage bolts and runs in lag bolts like a champ.

LIke I said, all-in-all it is best cordless drill I've ever had.

[Stew Hagerty]

Is this Rockwell the same Rockwell that made those awesome laminate trim routers? I really miss those.

I'm sorry, I don't know. It is, however, the same company that makes the Jawhorse (another great product) and the soni-crafter (don't know anything about it).