Home DIY

I would try and get a combi drill with hammer and impact driver bundle. I prefer to have two batteries, one big battery will last a decent amount of time, but sods law it will always be flat just when you need it. With two batteries you can always have one fully charged. Also if you are drilling and screwing at same time, it is much easier having two batteries to do so.

What brand will come down to budget. I would get 18v though, lower voltage stuff is great if you want lightweight, but reckon you are man enough to hold the weight ;-)

I would just go to screwfix and get the best reviewed one for your budget.

If you are on a really tight budget then Erbauer stuff is better than it should be for the price.

If not there isn't a huge difference between Hitachi, DeWalt and Makita at the lower end of the budget, with a bit of shopping around, you should be able to get a twin pack for sub £200, just check the size of the batteries, as quite often they will save money by putting in cheaper batteries, I have two 4ah batteries, and find that covers most stuff.

Last point... Choose wisely, as if you pick a brand you like, you can then buy bare units in the future without having to buy extra batteries.

well, i am actually trying to work out what a sensible budget is. I dont want to buy twice cause i thought 12V was enough at the time.

which brand has a lot of other tools to combine later?

Yep, 18v is a no brainer as then you can have pretty much every tool in the sun to attach to it...

Most of the big brands;

De Walt
Makita
Hitachi
Milwaukee
Bosch

Are the most common big name brands, with brands like Ryobi (I personally don't rate) and Erbauer (Screwfix own brand pretty much) having a slightly smaller range.

I personally use Makita.

This is what you want really... https://www.screwfix.com/p/makita-dlx6072pt-18v-5-0ah-li-ion-lxt-cordless-6-piece-kit/2467v

all the things!

worryingly I have all of them, I didn't realise I had spent that much money on them though... opps

wow

I would still worry about losing power compared to corded, but that set is something else.

Well true. Everyone needs a massive corded SDS drill in their life too. I actually have a cheap one from Lidl and it does a pretty good job of beating holes in walls.

I have Dewalt - buy them bare, buy 4A 18v Floureon batteries & charger.

The 1.5A batteries in the combi-packs will run out fast.

DCD996 for the drill - is nice drill.

I have the DC something 79 something impact driver. Not as god as the latest iteration, which is a noice bit of kit.

^ Also have a corded SDS with chisel action. For big holes.

I have an 18v De Walt drill which I punished unmercifully for years, one battery has just corked it but the other seems ok. Problem is I have got used to always having one battery on charge whilst using the other and Sod’s law states that I won’t be able to buy a replacement anymore.

@ChainBreaker I have a load of the Bosch green 18v "Power 4all" https://www.bosch-do-it.com/gb/en/diy/power4all.jsp tools as my dad originally bought me the drill for my 30th and I amassed the others since. All work off the same three 18v 1.5ah batteries (one came with the drill and the other two with the impact driver). You can now get higher capacity batteries but having 3 of them and two chargers helps. You are welcome to borrow/test any of them.

I have;

1. Combi Drill
   
2. Impact Driver
   
3. Cordless circular saw
   
4. Strimmer
   
5. Mini vacuum
   
   

I am still to 'collect' the jigsaw, angle grinder, sabre saw, work lamp, orbital sander and detail sander

i got this one for xmas and refit two cupboards with shelving no bother. was nice to use. case is handy too. I have a t-stak compatible bucket to keep all the other gubbins in and it just clips on top.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dcd776s2t-gb-18v-1-5ah-li-ion-cordless-combi-drill/2710p

want this impact driver to go with it as biggest pain was switching between drill and screw bits putting stuff together one fixing at a time.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00D3GWL96/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_24?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2MM3X7K725KZS

could probably get a better deal buying in a set if you were getting both outright.

If I was starting an 18V tool collection now,
I would be willing to pay the (decreasing) premium for brushless tools.

I had a green Bosch 18V 'Power4All' combi drill as mentioned above,
but was dismayed at the slow rate Bosch added other tools.
Offloaded it to a mate, 2 years ago, and went for Ryobi, initially a combi drill with 2x 2.5Ah batteries.
Have added some more (yellow) tools, Aligator saw, tiny circular saw, and the pole hedge trimmer. The Ryobi 18V batteries also fit the older blue Ryobi tools, which are easy to pick up as bargains, (angle grinder, hedge trimmer, combi drill).
Backed up with Bosch (dust collecting) SDS, Draper Breaker and 110V Makita 9 inch angle grinder.

As & when the combi drill gives up/wears out, I will have to think about which brushless brand to move to. Aldi/Lidl recently had a brushless drill / impact driver combination at a very good price, which I'm guessing was also made by Techtronic.

I did this... Decided not to muck about. Slightly more than I planned to spend but I'll be building a shed shortly so I need all the tools.

Buy a fuckoff hammer too, then. None of this ninny framing hammer stuff - a good roofing hammer for smacking in 100mm nails.

Also - shed in parts, or from scratch?

Cos from scratch will mean a loooot more tools.

And buy the impact driver that Hardboard linked (the DCF885) or get the DCF886 for a bit more grunt.

are you just trying to get him to break his thumb. it's ok if you are, just curious.

Probably in parts

I was thinking this

As if it wasn't enough that James has a tractor, an axe, a chainsaw, and a woodchipper, now Iain wants to get a drill. When will I ever be able to sleep again?

I have a mini Bosch 10.8v drill and impact driver that I use every day in the workshop and sometimes at home. They do everything my colleague's 18v Dewalt does, but smaller. Get a corded SDS for concrete / big holes.

Remember to register the warranty when you get it.

Can't remember how long it lasts, but it's only valid if you register it within x days of purchase.