Curt Harms
03-13-2007, 7:46 PM
I've been looking at right angle cordless drill/drivers for a while. The Bosch 10.2 volt lithium-ion caught my eye. CPO Bosch had reconditioned ones on Amazon for $99.99. One fell off the brown truck recently, what luck! This one is reconditioned though I'd never have guessed it, no blemishes that I can see. It comes in a padded bag with a second battery and 30 minute charger. Both batteries were charged.
It's bigger than the pictures might lead you to believe, but I knew that. It's about 2" in diameter, about 10" long with the chuck at 90 degrees and 11 1/2" with the chuck straight. When the head is perpendicular to the body, it's 3 5/8" from the front of the chuck to the back of the head. Speaking of chucks, it doesn't have one per say. It uses 1/4" hex tooling. That's fine because I have a mostly 1/4" hex screwdriver bits & drill bits. I also have a 3 jaw chuck with a 1/4" hex drive so that's not a problem for me. Next concern-10.2 volts-wimpy wimpy wimpy? Nope, it'll drive 3" drywall screws throught 1" white oak and 1 1/2" southern yellow pine no problem without a pilot hole. It turns 600 RPM max and worked fine with a 1/4" twist drill bit, wasn't all that slow drilling holes in wood. I didn't buy it to substitute for a Milwaukee 1/2" hole shooter, it should have plenty of power for its intended purposes.
It has an electronic clutch which is different than anything I've seen before. It has a slide switch on the bottom of the handle. It has 7 settings plus a "drill" position. Position the switch, drive the screw and when it reaches the set torque it just quits, doesn't chatter and slip like conventional clutches. Release the trigger to reset the clutch. If I were to change something, I might make the lowest clutch settings lower i.e. stop at lower torque values. The lowest setting would probably be too much for #4 brass screws and such. Durability? Dunno, time will tell. Speaking of torque, it seems to have quite a lot at low RPM, like less than 100. The speed response to trigger movement seems pretty linear. If it has problems, I won't be bashful about letting everyone know. I'm a hobbyist so won't use it much but SWMBO has her eye on a kitchen cabinet project which will probably involve hinges and slides, so the gadget may get an initiation.
Obligatory Pics:
60183
60184
60185
Thanks for looking
Curt
It's bigger than the pictures might lead you to believe, but I knew that. It's about 2" in diameter, about 10" long with the chuck at 90 degrees and 11 1/2" with the chuck straight. When the head is perpendicular to the body, it's 3 5/8" from the front of the chuck to the back of the head. Speaking of chucks, it doesn't have one per say. It uses 1/4" hex tooling. That's fine because I have a mostly 1/4" hex screwdriver bits & drill bits. I also have a 3 jaw chuck with a 1/4" hex drive so that's not a problem for me. Next concern-10.2 volts-wimpy wimpy wimpy? Nope, it'll drive 3" drywall screws throught 1" white oak and 1 1/2" southern yellow pine no problem without a pilot hole. It turns 600 RPM max and worked fine with a 1/4" twist drill bit, wasn't all that slow drilling holes in wood. I didn't buy it to substitute for a Milwaukee 1/2" hole shooter, it should have plenty of power for its intended purposes.
It has an electronic clutch which is different than anything I've seen before. It has a slide switch on the bottom of the handle. It has 7 settings plus a "drill" position. Position the switch, drive the screw and when it reaches the set torque it just quits, doesn't chatter and slip like conventional clutches. Release the trigger to reset the clutch. If I were to change something, I might make the lowest clutch settings lower i.e. stop at lower torque values. The lowest setting would probably be too much for #4 brass screws and such. Durability? Dunno, time will tell. Speaking of torque, it seems to have quite a lot at low RPM, like less than 100. The speed response to trigger movement seems pretty linear. If it has problems, I won't be bashful about letting everyone know. I'm a hobbyist so won't use it much but SWMBO has her eye on a kitchen cabinet project which will probably involve hinges and slides, so the gadget may get an initiation.
Obligatory Pics:
60183
60184
60185
Thanks for looking
Curt