In the market for a new Hex Driver/Drill

[Todd Burch]

My trusty Hitachi 9.6 volt hex head, driver/drill, and its 4 batteries, are coming to the end of their prime. (Circa 1994) 2 of the four batteries (NiCad) are worthless for all but about 6 screws, and the other two are ~OK~.

I'm looking for a new setup that would have the following features:

1) hex head (insty-bit change system) - not a chuck or keyless chuck.

2) variable speed - 0-1750 or faster.

3) Dual power system, with 2 batteries and also a 110v cord for when on the jobsite, and the batteries are spent, I can keep going. (and going, and going - you know - like the pink bunny)

4) A case with enough room to store popular accessories, charger, insty-chuck, hex shank drills, countersink, assortment of screws/fasteners, yada, yada, yada

AND, if I could have my cake and eat it too, I would like to be able to flip a switch and turn it into a real DRILL, capable of 2500 RPM.

Anyone know of such a critter? I like the Milwaukee 18volt screw gun, but no dual power system and no insty-head. It is all metal inside and REALLY powerful though.

Thanks, Todd

[Jack Wood]

Well I have the Dewalt impact driver that is got to be one of the mostversital tools I own. If by insty you mean pull down the collar and drop the bit in and let go then this has it. I don't really use it to drill, though I suppose you could, with but it will take hex and screw bits and you can drop in an adapter shaft and use sockets on it, but you really should use impact rated sockets if you do. I have take a 6" lag bolt and put it all the way into 2 4x4's with no strain on it what so ever. As to the power, well it is battery only but they last long and recharge fast with the charger system that comes with it. And no switch to a regular drill. So while it misses some of your needs it will exceed others. It is also very compact, letting you get it into spaces a regular won't go. And it comes with a nice case. Check it out when your in the tool section next time.

[Rich Konopka]

My trusty Hitachi 9.6 volt hex head, driver/drill, and its 4 batteries, are coming to the end of their prime. (Circa 1994) 2 of the four batteries (NiCad) are worthless for all but about 6 screws, and the other two are ~OK~.

I'm looking for a new setup that would have the following features:

1) hex head (insty-bit change system) - not a chuck or keyless chuck.

2) variable speed - 0-1750 or faster.

3) Dual power system, with 2 batteries and also a 110v cord for when on the jobsite, and the batteries are spent, I can keep going. (and going, and going - you know - like the pink bunny)

4) A case with enough room to store popular accessories, charger, insty-chuck, hex shank drills, countersink, assortment of screws/fasteners, yada, yada, yada

AND, if I could have my cake and eat it too, I would like to be able to flip a switch and turn it into a real DRILL, capable of 2500 RPM.

Anyone know of such a critter? I like the Milwaukee 18volt screw gun, but no dual power system and no insty-head. It is all metal inside and REALLY powerful though.

Thanks, Todd
Todd:

I have the 12v Makita Impact and it is light and powerful. I use this with some McFeeley Square drives and it is awesome. There is also a 14V Makita which is just as light. One thing that I love about the Makita besides the power is it is small enough which makes it perfect for tight squeeze situations such as cabinets .

http://coastaltool.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/a/makita/6916dwde.htm?L+coastest+ynkx3614ff817f81+108597993 1


No affilliation with Coastal. They are a brick and mortar business that has great prices and is just 10 minutes from my house.


I have not seen a dual power driver... Do they really exist? Or am I gullible?

[Jamie Buxton]

Todd --

It certainly seems like you have your heart set on getting newer and bigger tools --- don't we all! However, you might consider just getting your Hitachi's battery packs refurbished. I recently had it done to my circa 1994 DeWalt, and the change is remarkable. The drill has more torque and seems to run forever between charges. The rebuilder (http://primecell.com/) charged me about $25 per pack.

Jamie

[Tyler Howell]

I have the Makita Impact driver 14V. Light weight. compact. fits nice in my hand. Cute little LED to iluminate your work. Great machine.

[Steven Wilson]

Todd,

Except for dual power it sounds like you want a Festool. The shank of the Festool head is a hex head and accepts hex shanked bits directly. That's the unit I'm buying when my Dewalt 14.4v drills finally die. If the Festool price is a bit offputing you can work with the tools for 30 days and return them if you don't like them. You can also test drive them at your local Woodcraft.

[Gene Collison]

Todd,

Makita or Dewalt impact driver period! More than twice the driving power of an 18V drill with 1/2 the weight. The impact drivers unlike a drill, do not slip and chew up the screw head even when driving a phillips. The only downside is a bit of noise.

Gene

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I have the 18v Milwaukee....awesome tool, but it does have a shortcoming. The ratcheting chucks have not been perfected yet and can turn loose just like the old two piece chucks. I would love to have a hex head system installed on it.

I will be getting the Milwaukee 14.4v impact driver soon! I love that little tool. It even drives 1/2" lags just as easily as their 18v impact wrench!

[Jason Roehl]

Todd, it sounds to me like you are describing at least a couple different tools, and with the other comments, maybe 3. I'm one who firmly believes in using the right tool for the job (unless I HAVE to make do with what I've got). Personally, I'm convinced that the way to go on a cordless is a name-brand 14.4V (good combo of weight and power IMO), like DeWalt, PC, or Milwaukee, not the $30-$100 specials you can get from Sears, HF, or even the borg. These are made to drive screws all day long, and if the batteries go south, I've heard alot of good things about primecell.com. If you want the instant-change bit thingy, I'd just chuck one up in a keyless. I've never had good experience with the hex-ended drill bits--they break too easy, so I like to keep my keyless chuck (I've gotten good at using the drill to tighten it, against the manual recommendations). For a little more noise and $$, you might even go the impact driver route.

Then, if you have real drilling tasks, I highly recommend the Milwaukee hammer drill. It is switchable in and out of hammer mode, and even has a 2-speed gearbox to better spin larger holesaws and Forstner bits, which require more torque at low speed than a typical drill can afford.

And, if you're looking at driving large lag screws on a regular basis, nothing beats a compressor and a good impact wrench. I have the PC impact wrench (~$120), and at 600 ft-lbs reverse and 450 ft-lbs forward, I've not yet met anything it couldn't handle (though I have broken some permanently rusted/frozed bolts).

My experience has been that all-in-one type tools just never live up to their billing. They are typically mediocre at many tasks, but never very good at anything.

Hope this helps, Todd!

[Dar Lounsbury]

I have the same unit as Tyler. Tremendous power, light weight and the batteries seem to last a very long time. I have used quite a few different brands/type of drills to drive screws but this one has everything I have tried to date, beaten badly. Only bad thing I have to say about it is that I waited too long to get one.

Dar

[Tony Falotico]

Todd What did you end up with? Or is the jury still out?

I'm looking very seriously at the DeWalt 12V 'stub nose' impact driver. Seems powerful, lightweight, and I like the feel of it in my hand.

[Todd Burch]

Tony, I'm going to take Jamie's suggestion and give a shot at having my bats rebuilt. I contacted Primecell, and they flooded me with information I didn't ask for and didn't answer my questions. I did gleen information from their site though, as far as what can and can't be done. So, I'm am a better informed consumer now!

I know there's a place in Houston that will rebuild them. An internet search didn't pull them up. My next step is to get the trusty dusty yellow pages. I have 4 bats, and I'll get them rebuilt 2-ata-time.

Todd

[Tony Falotico]

Todd, good choice, I've used Primecell before, sent two of mine and two of a friends. Service was quick and friendly, batt's came back better than new. Sent them off, 5 days (including a holiday weekend) later they e-mailed me they were ready, Paypal'ed that night, 3 days later they were in my hand.