[Closed] cordless drill and impact driver?

10.8v Dewalt or Makita kit around £150
Just replaced my Dewalt after 4 Years of hard graft. The impact driver will put in any screw in your Trade box.
I only replaced after a cockup trying to recharge a 10.8v battery in a 18v charger and thinking the batts were stuffed.
The Makita was on offer at Screwfix.
18v is fine for drilling hard masonary but to heavy for constant use.
Another tip is to get Impact bits because you break loads of standard ones.

I picked up a blue Bosch 18v Combi drill from Plumbcentre / Wolsey half price last month. Worth a look.
Decent size batteries and better than the two cheap things I night before that, both dead on first couple of uses.

Makita lxt stuff here. I’d get both a drill and driver. eBay has 10% off on tools at the moment.

I’m planning on picking up a second drill so I don’t need to faff about with changing bits so often and speed up jobs. I think the 453 can be picked up for sun £50 bare

I got a 10.8V DeWalt set for £150

I think it's widely available. The drill is so-so but the impact driver is excellent

Dare I say most of the big name tools will be pretty good.

I've got 18v Makita. It's fantastic. You might like to add to your kit in future so get something that does what you need.

The 10.8v stuff is very powerful now but there is probably more room for additional cordless bodies in 18v. If you're just doing a bit of diy though then that probably doesn't matter.

I have a 10.8v makita kit (think it was £100 5 years ago), then an sds drill for when I need a hole in some serious masonry. I'd say the portability offsets the power, especially if you have something else if the going gets tough. It's never failed to get a screw in, struggles a little with m10 coach bolts into big bits of wood (just gets a bit slow and hot)

You can still pick up 1.5 or 2Ah batteries for the Makita stuff, makes them much lighter for when you’re not doing hundreds of holes or screws. If lighter duty and you’re not likely to buy more cordless tools (or don’t care about battery sharing) then the 10v stuff is really nice too.

Aldi specials their tools are surprisingly good.

https://www.aldi.co.uk/18v-li-ion-drill-%26-driver-kit/p/085571226226600?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=DIY&dclid=COPNiqL1k98C****zUQodrQYJOw

I got an 18V DeWalt with two batteries for £150, bargain. Hammer thingy copes well with most masonary. DC790 IIRC
Done a whole house renovation with it and it's been excellent. Only time it's really stuggled was with the whisk on it mixing a bucket of concrete, it could do cemete OK but put some lumpy bits in and I had to use the corded drill, other wise no complaints. Shop around and you should be able to get the 18V for a sensible price.

10.8v dewalt here too, the impact driver is incredible.

I've always gone with Makita drills/drivers as mine get a lot of use. Also as mentioned, if you buy the drill with a couple of batteries and a charger, you can then get everything else you need as a bare tool which works out pretty cheap in the long run. I've now got the drill, impact driver, jigsaw, multitool, angle grinder and most importantly.... the DAB radio.

I have a Bosch ixo mini screwdriver jobbie for little jobs. that's great too.

picked up a 1.5mah battery for £20 from wickes a couple of weeks ago to reduce weight when doing plaster board. quite a lot lighter than my 5mahs.

as a beginner with impact drivers I'm still learning not to mash the heads of screws

Makita 18v LXT twin kit can be got for £200 with 2 x 4.0 amp batteries and case (see B&Q). A lot of lads on site seem to be going for Millwaukee so might be worth a look.

Last year I bought for myself a Hitachi DV18DBXL/JX 18V. Incredible piece of kit and batteries last ages. I've done quite a few jobs using it all day long since and I'm impressed.

Trying to post a link to a Screwfix twin drill set at £179. This crappy forum won't let me so just Google Screwfix Drill Set!!!

Just to echo what others have written, the makita system is great to get into. There is a massive range and you can pick up bare tools very cheaply. The drills and impact drivers are excellent, especially if the budget will stretch to brushless. The fast charger works well too, meaning you don't really need a spare battery.

as a beginner with impact drivers I’m still learning not to mash the heads of screws

Don't buy either cheap screws or cheap drive bits - Screwfix tradepack and proper DeWalt PZ2/PZ3 bits will make a huge difference. A nice even pressure on the driver, keep the thing perpendicular to the surface, and you can't go wrong.

I have lots of drills as I make furniture. My impact driver is a cheap Erbauer I picked up a few years back before I knew how much better a driver was than a combi. I haven't felt the need for a better one. The drill I grab most often is the tiny 10.8 Festool which is a beautiful thing to use and has a surprisingly useful right angle attachment. A bit over budget though.
I only ever use Reisser or Spax screws. I also use the De Walt screwdriver bits in the tic-tac boxes. Short pz2 and ph2, long Pz2. Also a box of Bosch assorted bits for all other sizes.

One of these kits by Milwaukee should tick all the boxes. Have used one of their 3/8" impact drivers at work for the last couple of years bolting steelwork together - have been very impressed by robustness.

Any of the major brands are more than adequate for DIY use, just get whatever is on offer when you're buying.

My cordless combi drill (some Makita that was on sale a decade ago) is dying so I've been replacing it with better tools: a cheap corded SDS drill for masonry work (if you've never used SDS it's like the wall is made of butter), a cordless impact driver, and shortly a cordless drill (without hammer). The three-in-one combi is convenient but definitely jack-of-all-trades: SDS is at masonry, impact is lighter/better at screwing, and if you have a drill/driver then you don't have to swap bits if you're drilling/screwing repeatedly.

if you’ve never used SDS it’s like the wall is made of butter

ooh i forgot about SDS. is it only really worth looking at SDS if its corded, so just stick with normal drill bits for cordless? at some point i may have to drill through some floor tiles laid on concrete, to fix wooden battens to floor. do you think an SDS drill would be needed for that?
is 18v a lot heavier than 10.8 then, so if i get SDS drill for masonry then 10.8 would be better for furniture etc?

aldi looks interesting too, im not a brand snob so dont mind buying from there if its good enough to do the job. how does the spec compare for aldi vs the main players?

looks like a decent spread of recommendations across all makes, so ill start googling some of the specific model numbers.

do they all have compatible batteries across the whole range of tools, or are some makes better than others for that. may end up being a consideration altho i dont plan to buy a whole range of tools. yet 😀

thank you.

Trying to post a link to a Screwfix twin drill set at £179. This crappy forum won’t let me so just Google Screwfix Drill Set!!!

There you go.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dcz298s2t-gb-18v-1-5ah-li-ion-cordless-combi-drill-impact-driver-twin-pack/9801T?tc=EB1&ds_kid=92700022882478106&ds_rl=1241687&ds_rl=1245250&ds_rl=1244066&ds_rl=1248184&ds_rl=1245250&ds_rl=1247848&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI15Dw3rCV3wIV5hXTCh0RwwqNEAQYASABEgIOz_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

That's the one. How did you get that link in? Just came up blank for me.

Hitachi twin pack £145, i'm a convert from Makita.

That’s the one. How did you get that link in? Just came up blank for me.

Copied from the address bar then pasted in. Works better than using safari share link.

Was trying the link function. GRRRR.

Personally I'd avoid the Aldi/Lidl stuff. Are they likely to provide spares and support the battery platform as long as the 'proper' tool brands?

Oh, no matter, it's cheap so just throw it away and get another? Nah.. Get something decent and it's a joy to use and will outlast cheap stuff, less cheap electrical in landfill, plus you can add to the family easily down the line.

Regarding the weight of 10.8 versus 18. As mentioned above somewhere, most of the weight is in the battery so if it bothers you, get a 1.5ah battery or something instead of a 5ah and it'll be much lighter. Most impact drivers are teeny tiny anyway. Amazing tools.

I use my 18v stuff all day and find it ok. It's sooooo good having lots of cordless tools I can just pick up and switch batteries. 👍

I also have the lxt sds and it has plenty of grunt. mostly used for chasing and tile removal so far. my house has those horrible solid black breeze block things which are impossible to chase by hand

The Aldi stuff is actually well guaranteed, I just take a photo of my receipt on purchase and email it to myself in case of need. I’ve only sent one item back a leaking generator, they fixed and returned it all at no cost. 3 years warranty..

I’ve a few Aldi power tools, as well as Makita, they are great for the money.

Yeah for a home DIY they’ll be spot on.

https://www.toolstoreuk.co.uk/bosch-lsgsbgdr18li-18v-twin-pack-with-2x15ah-batteries/p1479

The other tip for bits (I find the screwfix pz2 own brand impact sets last fine), is to understand the difference between Phillips and pz. Use the wrong one and get instant fail.

If you're trying to use plasterboard fixings avoid using an impact driver, the force is strong enough that it simply chews through fixings (spinning them in the board and making a mess)

As mentioned before, Makita make other equipment that works with their 18v LXT batteries, but they also do 18v non-LXT drills, so beware.

There’s not much to pick between the top brands imo, users of each will still say theirs is the best though. I use dewalt personally.

For diy I’d say something like ryobi or eurbaur would be a good bet a fair bit cheaper

as im finding out..... theres not a lot between the main players. the hitachi suggestion was twice the price of the others tho!

couple of questions if you dont mind while im googling away. as google is fine-tuning my ads now, im seeing ads for 'impact drill bits'. what are they? the way i was understanding it, you use the 'combi-drill' for drilling (and screwing if you so wish) and the impact driver for screws. are these impact drill bits used for drilling with the impact driver only?

The other tip for bits (I find the screwfix pz2 own brand impact sets last fine), is to understand the difference between Phillips and pz. Use the wrong one and get instant fail.

er...... go on then, tell me 😀
ive googled it a bit and do know theres a difference, but its not clear to me. i wouldnt now the difference if i picked up a cross-head screw, so is there a simple rule of thumb?

thanks for all the tips, ive got em all written down and im going through them....

Impact drill bits have a different shank which fits into the driver but you can still use them in a combi drill.
I rarely use my combi drill as now my impact does everything. It’s also lighter and smaller for tight spots.

Second the milwaukee recommendation, have been using impact drivers and drills for two years on site and would not use anything else.
We also use the bigger battery tools like grinders and sabre saws every day and they are spot on.

I have just finished an 18 month project using a pair of Dewalt 18v brushless impact driver/drill driver and they've been fantastic.
Can be bought for around £250 for the pair with charger and batteries. Like many have said, use impact resistant bits in the impact driver. I found the Reisser impact bits with the blue band more durable than the Dewalt impact bits so I'll always go for them instead now.

er…… go on then, tell me

a philips bit, and a philips screw, has 'edges' (that's not the right term, I don't however know what is) at 0, 90, 180 and 270 degrees - ie a simple cross. A pozidrive screw (and bit) has those, plus an extra set of 'smaller' edges at 45, 135, 225 and 315 degrees - ie 8 equally spaced 'ridges', 4 big and 4 small.

the vast majority of screws are pozidrive, the exceptions seem to be places hwere the screwhead is on show, but that's not 100%. if you use a philips head in a pz screw it'll work ok, but chew early, if you use a pz head in a philips screw it'll chew almost immediately

this image seems to show it clearly, with philips on the left and pz on the right, you can see the screw has the extra 'little notches', and the bit has the extra notches as well, the PH bit looks clean in comparison

if you get the bit correct, and use an impact driver, rounding is (in my experience) extremely rare, I used to do it fairly frequently (maybe 1 in 10 screws), since using an impact driver plus paying attention (over the course of ~4 years, 10 bits, and probably over 1,000 screws) I think I've only rounded 1 or 2 - its just not a concern of mine any more. The bits eventually shatter, leaving a little of the bit in the screw head, but its easy to clean up and non-explosive, so not an issue in my opinion.

on the subject of impact bits - in my experience it's the material. Impact bits occasionally have a quick-release shank (not always), but are made of tougher stuff. The trend I have noticed is that grey (as above) is for screwing, black (as below) is for impact driving. The vast majority of screws are pz2 - smaller than 3mm (screw width - rare but occasionally used) might be PZ1, bigger than 8mm (typically 100mm long, but technically could be any length) might be PZ3, but PZ2 makes up 90% of what I use. I got a impact bit set with everything in, plus a QR holder, then a set of PZ2 50mm bits on top, they last well (you can use the torx impact bits to drive hex screws, which is handy for ikea furniture, but be careful with the power, again it'll rip right through particleboard if you go ott)

https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-impact-screwdriver-bit-box-pz-2-x-50mm-15-pieces/16649

https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-mixed-impact-screwdriver-bit-set-32-pcs/12492

5lab +1

I bought a £400 Dewalt twin set and I’ll protect the impact driver with my life if I have to! Mine is an all metal brushless model and I am constantly amazed at how long the 2Ah batteries last - I think the brushless motors use less energy.

Mine has 3 torque settings, the lowest I can put platerboard screws in and the impact action works very slowly in that setting so I know 3 clicks and the screw will be in perfectly. The middle setting is what I use most of the time and the highest setting is only for really big stuff.

I’ve renovated a whole house and I know I’ve used over 3000 screws for various applications. I think I’ve cammed out one or two screws in that time. I always use the correct bit size for the screw and always use Screwfix turbo gold or Spax screws. Tried some cheaper ones - never again! I think about 95% of the screws were PZ2 size but I’ve only used about 3 or 4 bits in that time, and only because I lost them - not through wearing out.

thanks for that explanation 5lab, very comprehensive.....

and thanks to the rest of you for your input. my budget has sneaked up a little now as i have been offered a good deal on a milwaukee combo pack.

i have a choice between the M18BLPP2A2-502X and the M18FPP2A2-502X. apparently the only difference is the FUEL technology? theres probably around £100 difference between the two for me.
question is, is the FUEL tech worth £100 more to someone who'll knock up some built in wardrobes, maybe put up a curtain rail or two, the odd DIY project and then not touch the tools for months, or is it mainly for the professional, using them all day long?

obviously even the cheaper option will be better than what i need, but im just curious to know whether you think the FUEL option is worth paying extra in my position. is it a must-have if i can afford it?

thanks

question is, is the FUEL tech worth £100 more to someone who’ll knock up some built in wardrobes, maybe put up a curtain rail or two, the odd DIY project and then not touch the tools for months, or is it mainly for the professional, using them all day long?

The serious answer is just buy the cheapest set from Screfix etc. Anything will be good enough for a bit of DIY. You really don't anything other than the most basic models.

I think you will be over tooled , except for the curtain poles where you are likely to be under tooled.
Corded SDS for the curtain poles and drilling into hard stuff £100 for a main brand - last you a lifetime.
10.8/12v drill driver from a main brand - light and powerful enough for occasional DIY.
get the associated impact driver if you really want one , you almost definitely do not need one.
Thats £250 - spend the rest on a decent tool bag and a ladder.

except for the curtain poles where you are likely to be under tooled.

My basic 18v Bosch brushed drill driver can drill into pretty much anything (inc Eng Bricks). Won't necessarily get many holes per charge, but I only get out my cabled SDS for massive holes (drilling 25mm holes 30cm deep to run pipes / cables through walls).

Its the concrete lintels in older houses that frustrate normal hammer drills corded or cordless , the SDS is perfect for popping a neat hole for a rawl plug , its the difference between should do the job and will do the job.

As above, 18v if you need to drive 100mm screws all day, use big auger bits and hole saws. Otherwise 10.8/12v will be fine, I have Bosch but would look at Makita CXT with the slide on batteries, and a 240v SDS plus. BIL has Milwaukee 12v, sparky who is very hard on tools, heavy duty tools but again overkill for DIY really, not sure what the price comparison is.

OP - Surely there are other tools/things to spend your money on!

I've got cordless and corded sds drills and sometimes even they can't get through some things.
That's when I grab my pneumatic Hitachi sds and I haven't found anything it can't get through. Probably way more than you need though.
As well as my Makita's I've also got the Milwaukee impact driver and it's a great bit of kit.

Over budget and over tooled for your needs, but it might help somebody. YESS electrical have an offer atm with a milwaukee twin kit, 2 5.0ah batteries and charger in a case for £250 ish inc. vat.