Hurricane Rita ate my drill

[Corvin Alstot]

Luckily, we did not feel much impact from Hurricane Rita at my centrally locate home in Houston</FONT></ST1:p. We had some high winds all night long and a few branches down. Of course, all my spare plywood including 3/4" Baltic Birch plywood was used to board up the windows in preparation for the storm. It was pretty scary till it started moving further east as it approached land. My twenty-five year old drill decided this was the time to die. So after scrambling and help from neighbors, the plywood did make it up.

So, with the blessing of my wife, its time to buy new equipment, at least new hand drills, and possibly stock up on some 1/2" plywood for future storms. I have been looking at getting both a hammer-drill with cord and a cordless 18V drill to replace my old craftsman. Not finding any comparison reviews on drills I have been looking at a corded ½” <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com /><st1:City><ST1<IMG class=inlineimg title=<font color=" /><st1:City><ST1:p<FONT face=Verdana>Milwaukee</FONT></ST1:p</st1:City><FONT face=Verdana> 5371-21 Hammer drill and the maybe a Dewalt or </FONT><st1:City><ST1:p<FONT face=Verdana>Milwaukee</FONT></ST1:p</st1:City><FONT face=Verdana> 0624-24 18 Volt cordless drill.</FONT>

<FONT face=Verdana>Anybody using both cord and cordless? Are the ½” corded Milwaukee Hammer drills okay?<O:p</O:p</FONT>

[Corey Hallagan]

I use a 1/2 corded Ridgid drill from HD but a Milwaukee would give you top of the line service I would say. For a cordless, I would go with either a Dewalt, Milwaukee or Bosch, all make fine cordless products.

Corey

[Dev Emch]

The Milwaukee hammer drill is actually a german drill. Milwaukee bought a german company and some of the line is US made and some is german made. Usually, if its red and gray, that is a US tool. If its red and black, that is a german tool. I have the heavy duty red and black SDS hammer drill and I think its great. I have even used it as a mini jack hammer with an SDS chisel bit. Normally, I use it bore holes in concete. Just like using a spade bit on wood! You will not be disappointed. I also have a hole hawg. I am very pleased with this one as well even with its unorthadox layout. Notice that this one is US made and its colors are red and grey.

Its almost difficult to go wrong with a cordless drill. They are all made about the same and often break when the next 1 or 2 generations are released. Note that many of them do not even have brush bolts for the motor. You have split the shell to service anything inside. Also, batteries are always changing so by the time your two batteries die out, the only ones available are the next gen versions which dont fit your old tool. I have an older porter cable and, knock on wood, the batteries are still holding a charge. They are very convenient and spoil you fast but they are a true posterior discomfort to work on. The advantage of going with say a Dewalt yellow bannana is that you can get batteries and chargers in many locals assuming your needs are still current enough to stock.

So you actually used 3/4 in baltic birch to board up your windows? Ouccch! That hurts! Do you think you can dry it out and salvage it? Its very painful to see all that hardwood being ripped out and thrown about and eventually burned and discarded. Wish the government would figure out how to get some wood mizer crews in there to help clean up and then sell the processed urban recycled timber to offset the cost of this disaster.

Good Luck...

[Niels J. Larsen]

Hammerdrill w/cord: Buy Hilti - should be top of the line. Bosch isn't half bad either.

Cordless w. or wo. hammer: Buy DeWalt. In my mind it's easier to handle, better grip, lower weight and higher torque than the Bosch. I've also tried cordless drivers from Hilti and Makita - didn't really like 'em.

P.S. Now that your wife has the wallet out - send a few machines my way - 'eh ? :D

/Niels

[Vaughn McMillan]

I'll toss in my vote for the corded Bosch hammer drill. I've been very happy with mine. I got it (as a refurb) about a year ago prior to a project for which I knew I needed to drill a concrete slab for Red Head anchors, and Dev's comparison to a spade bit on wood is pretty spot on. Drilling through the sill plate into the slab, it was hard to tell where the wood ended and the concrete began. Like Buttah! (in my best New Joisey accent).

My cordless drill is a 19.2v Craftsman (it's 1.2 better :) ) and I've been happy with it, although I've not put it to a real tough test. I've used if for typical homeowner stuff (including powering a 30' drain snake) and it's handled anything I've thrown at it. I still grab my old corded Craftsman 3/8" with the thin rectangular body when I want something lightweight. Even dragging around an extension cord, it's lighter and somewhat more agile than my big cordless.

From what you describe, I don't think you'll go wrong with a corded hammer drill an a cordless VS reversible. As Dev said, the big name cordless models are all pretty similar.

- Vaughn

[Tony Falotico]

For the cordless, I'd think twice about the 18 volt. I'm not related to Tim Taylor so I'm not a MORE POWER type. The 18 volts are just to heavy for me and fatigue sets in the wrists pretty fast.

I have the 14 volt Dewalt drill and a 12V Dewalt Screw Driver. They both do everything I've ever asked. The 12V screw driver has plenty of torque, it will bury a 2-1/2 " deck screw with ease.

[Christian Aufreiter]

The Milwaukee hammer drill is actually a german drill. Milwaukee bought a german company and some of the line is US made and some is german made. Usually, if its red and gray, that is a US tool. If its red and black, that is a german tool. I have the heavy duty red and black SDS hammer drill and I think its great. I have even used it as a mini jack hammer with an SDS chisel bit. Normally, I use it bore holes in concete. Just like using a spade bit on wood! You will not be disappointed. I also have a hole hawg. I am very pleased with this one as well even with its unorthadox layout. Notice that this one is US made and its colors are red and grey.

I think the story was/is a little bit different.
As far as I know, some while back, Atlas Copco (http://www.atlascopco-group.com/) that also owned AEG (http://www.aeg-pt.de/) bought Milwaukee (http://www.milwaukeetool.com).
In Austria and Germany, AEG power tools (blue, for the DIY market), Atlas Copco power tools (black, for professionals) and Milwaukee power tools (basically the same as Atlas Copco but different colours) were available. Then Atlas Copco decided to sell their professional line exclusively under the Milwaukee brand and stopped offering Atlas Copco power tools. Finally in 2004 Atlas Copco completely stopped its activity in the power tool business and sold AEG and Milwaukee to TTI (http://www.ttigroup.com/).
I'm not sure but I think that Atlas Copco produces "cordless power tools" for industrial applications but IIRC this business has always been separated from the "common" power tools.

As for the drills, if you need to drill more than one hole in concrete I also recommend to contemplate a ROTARY hammer drill (usually with a SDS Plus chuck). A rotary hammer drill works a lot faster, more efficiently and is less exhausting to use. Hilti is certainly an excellent choice, Duss should be as well. But if you don't use it 8 hours/day a Milwaukee, Bosch, Metabo etc. should be fine too.
I second Tony's advice. I don't know why someone should need an 18 V cordless drill for cabinet making or household applications. Hey, I want to use a cordless drill for drilling and driving, not for lifting weight. ;) :rolleyes:

Regards,

Christian

[Jason Roehl]

Dev, there is a big difference in the cordless drills, and it's directly related to price. Batteries are one of the factors, but there's another--the gearing between the motor and the chuck. In the sub-$100 drills, it's plastic. In the name brand drills that cost $150+, the gearing is metal. Also, the speed and torque ranges are much better on the more expensive drills. I just had the opportunity to use several different cordless drills this weekend in helping a friend put up a Yurt. Someone else had latched on to my 5 year old P-C, so I was stuck using a 18V Skil and some other generic one. They didn't hold a candle to mine, even though they were much newer. My old batteries lasted longer than theirs, and the drill provided much more torque, even in its high speed range. I'll just have to rebuild the batteries soon.

As for hammer drills, if you're not using one day in, day out, a Milwaukee is a very good choice. Mine will drill holes in concrete plenty fast for my occasional needs.

[Joe Pelonio]

I do a fair amount of installations in concrete, and have had real good luck with my DeWalt hammer drill. As for cordless, stay away from Skil. Had a recall on mine due to melting chargers, the replacement charger lasted only a year and is now dead.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Corvin, glad to hear that you are okay!

As far as drills go, I have a bosch 18v cordless hammer drill and a milwaukee corded. I can't remember the last time that I used the Milwaukee. I just don't use it because it is a pain to drag the cord to drill a few holes in crete. I just us the cordless. Now if I planned on drilling a lot of holes, I would turn to the milwaukee, but other than that, I do like my bosch.

[Ken Garlock]

Hi Corvin. First off, a hammer drill is NOT the same as a rotary hammer. The rotary hammer will have an SDS chuck and/or at secondary Jacobs chuck. Both will snap in the business end of the drill/hammer.

A couple years ago I bought a Milwaukee rotary hammer from Power Tool Services (http://www.powertoolservices.com/). They are an authorized repair station for Milwaukee tools, and the reconditioned tools carry a full factory warranty.

A corded rotary hammer is a heavy tool and not something you want to carry around to screw down plywood. IMO, it is made to do serious damage to concrete like drilling holes and breaking out old mortar.

As far as regular cordless drills, I am quite happy with my reconditioned DeWalt 12V drill I bought through the Amazon outlet store.

[Corvin Alstot]

So you actually used 3/4 in baltic birch to board up your windows? Ouccch! That hurts! Do you think you can dry it out and salvage it? Dev/ The storm when by on the clean side and we had some wind
but very little rain. I got outside after most of the wind had subsided and took
down all the plywood. Most of the wood is perfectly good except I have to cut
out the screw holes in the corners now.

[Andy Hoyt]

Having never lived in hurricane alley I'm essentially clueless to what makes for good preparedness beyond the obvious - batteries, water, etc.

But if I did live down your way, there's one thing that I would hope to do well in advance. And that is to prebuy, precut, and predrill plywood panels for each door and window. I'd then permanently set some hangar bolts around each opening and leave the nuts prepositioned on them.

Then when the ship hits the spam, it's only a matter of lugging the panels to the opening, setting them, and tightening with a wrench or ratchet, No power tools required.

Sure it's tying up some money in "inventory" and using storage space; but I'd think the peace of mind gained from not having to rush to the borg store with everybody else to pay hurricane prices would be extremely valuable. Not to mention a time saver.

Do folks do this? What am I missing?

[Scott Coffelt]

I've been real pleased with my Dewalt XRP's, I would stay away from the standard models. I also really like my Festool, but mainly use it for cabinets and work requiring the attachment chucks. The quick charge feature is also nice. I do grab my Dewalts first when in the shop for standard drilling needs. I don't have a hammer drill, but they are real handy.

[Corvin Alstot]

Hi Corvin. First off, a hammer drill is NOT the same as a rotary hammer. The rotary hammer will have an SDS chuck and/or at secondary Jacobs chuck. Both will snap in the business end of the drill/hammer. As far as regular cordless drills, I am quite happy with my reconditioned DeWalt 12V drill I bought through the Amazon outlet store.

Ken/ I do not intend to do much work in concrete as I was looking for a corded drill that could do a lot of things and a cordless drill to handle smaller applications and cabinet work, plus those rotary hammers are a bit more expense than a typical hammer drill. Thanks for the heads up, I might have to give them another look if I get an application that requires more than the hammer drill.

[Corvin Alstot]

. . .But if I did live down your way, there's one thing that I would hope to do well in advance. And that is to prebuy, precut, and predrill plywood panels for each door and window. I'd then permanently set some hangar bolts around each opening and leave the nuts prepositioned on them.
Andy/ Probably the best tool to have as a hurricane approaches is a car to get out of town a day prior to land fall. After this last adventure I am planning on stockpiling some plywood cut to size and numbered so that I can just screw it into place. I am not sure I want to have wing nuts or other exposed fasteners as this is only the second event in ten years but I will have to give that more thought. Most of the homes locate in Galveston facing the Gulf are raised ten above the street and all the windows have powered roll down storm shutters (probably overkill for Houston). Of course the next question is 1/4", 1/2" or 3/4" plywood?