Home DIY

If you can afford an impact driver and combi drill pair, you won’t regret it.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/milwaukee-m18-cblpp2a-502c-18v-5-0ah-li-ion-redlithium-brushless-cordless-combi-drill-impact-driver-twin-pack/229hv

That’s a decent pair for the cash for sure.

It’s very much a budget thing tho, and you get what you pay for. How much you use it does make it difficult to justify something decent.

That said, I bought an 18v Makita combi drill a decade ago, and it has survived regular work usage. Think it was £235 with 2 x 3ah batteries (10 years ago), so these things do last.

Thanks for this. Father in law was recommending this as full metal construction and solid but it seemed a bit steep for just the drill: https://www.mytoolshed.co.uk/dewalt-dcd996p2-18v-xr-brushless-combi-drill-5-0ah-kit

In the process of purchasing a Victorian terraced that needs a bit of work but won't be for professional use obvs

Is that not the same one as I mentioned?

Different model - DCD996 vs DCD777. It's a minefield with all the different models.

I found there were an incredible number of really, really similar models.

I basically went DeWalt, 18v, brushless, combi, 2x decent batteries.

If you can get an impact driver for an extra fifty quid or so then do it, even if you think you don't need one.

I just bought a Dewalt 18v hedge trimmer and 18v random orbital sander.

The Dewalt impact driver and combo drill are excellent, but perhaps too powerful for gentle diy jobs.

I have a 12v macallister combi that does flat pack furniture building and small easy jobs.

I see that now. The dearest one has three gears. Both have metal gears though. Not much else different.

There is a DCD796, which was a metal Chuck. Often on discount, as I think it’s one of the most popular trade drills?

It’s the one I have, it’s awesome.

That Milwaukee set looks great.

I bought a Hitachi combi/impact set when it was on offer 5-6 years ago, I've no complaints. I use the impact driver is mainly for garden quality jobs

I'd just look for an offer in your price range with a known brand and go for it.

Metal gears not that important for standard DIY jobs? @TGR

Gears are important. Metal presumably should last longer than plastic, long term it is likely that the batteries will be the limiting factor with lifespan.
I bought the De Walt drill and impact driver from Screwfix recently and am very pleased with them. I got two 4aH batteries in the pack which are brilliant. I just hope the batteries last. I just had a look at the Screwfix app and am struggling to see the set I bought - as mentioned above, there are a lot of variants.

Theres a hundred variants of every drill it would seem, its wild. Ive got milkwaukee stuff and although its pricey its been great for me and my old man over the years.

Found mine using the receipts option on the app.

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The red Makita I have is yet to be stopped by anything at our place.

Probably because our place is made out of Edwardian cheese, mind.

Cheers! Yeah it's hard to understand what's what... And if you go down a brand you have to buy everything from the same brand to be able to use the batteries across presumably?

Thats pretty much what we have done, Ive got 2 drills, impact, grinder and a impact driver for sockets and soon to add a multi tool and like 6 batteries a few being high capacity ones.

Yeah totally they get you.

I bought the De Walt with the intention of adding tools as I need them using the batteries. I have bought a multi tool in the past few weeks too.
Milwaukee would be more robust but that comes with a higher price. My thinking was that De Walt is somewhere close to high midrange and has a lot of options where batteries are concerned. My builder friend uses De Walt too and that affected my choice too.

There’s a weird brand loyalty around power tools.
Some is justifiable (Festo do make nice but pricey kit) but most of it is marketing woo, the effect of which we’re unaware.
I’ve always used Makita - I can’t really justify or explain it. Probably based on their reputation from 30 years ago when I started buying power tools.
First drill I bought was this bad boy, it’s still going strong, no fancy electronics, it’ll break your wrist if the bit jams.

It’s almost a synesthesia thing, I feel they have a personality.

Sad.

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See i think there certainly is but I also think that they have got you by the balls when it comes to cordless stuff, being able to buy them battery less saves money but once your on the system you cant really change. the amount of shite milwaukee make that i see folk buy is wild and the prices are cheap either for the cases and all that nonsense.

I think there are various ‘Makita’ ranges. I bought a Makita drill from
b and q ages ago - I wasn’t impressed with it at all. I’m pretty sure someone here mentioned that b and q were using the Makita name on drills with ‘cheaper’ internals. The guy who fitted our kitchen has a Makita drill which was brilliant - very small and very powerful and very expensive. It was nothing like the drill I had bought.

True.
Once you’ve bought into a platform it’s expensive to get a whole kit from another manufacturer, so it has to be x times better than the bare tool you could be getting.

I had Makita 14v for years - since back in the Ni-Cad days, because of weight. Fitting kitchens etc you don’t need the power, and your drill is in your hand all day!
It was a total pain because I wanted to get bare tools to use with my batteries but all the decent ones were 18v.

I’ve only just changed over to 18v 🙄

I’ve never used the Milwaukee cordless stuff. It seemed way overpriced when it launched in the UK but I hear ok things now.
I had Milwaukee drills in the States, rock solid, indestructible, heavy, dumb tools. Designs that hadn’t changed for 20+ years. Hole Hawgs and drywall guns, Magnum drills.

First warm weekend of the year being spent underground 🙄😒

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I decided to fit a recessed medicine cabinet yesterday.
Was a bit more ag than I was expecting.

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My old man use to have Atlas copco drills and they were fantastic and Milwaukee bought them over so when his atlas packed in he bought a Milwaukee and it’s done will for all the hard work we’ve done that’s more the reason why I bought into it but I totally agree with what your saying

If anyone buying a Milwaukee grinder and doesn’t know between the 115 and 125. I went 125 because I wanted a bigger disk but in reality should have bought the 115 as it was smaller. My only think I don’t like about my tools is the size and shape of that one

Dewalt and Makita make some particularly cheap tools aimed at the DIY market which are definitely of questionable quality. So you can’t necessarily rely on the brands completely.

Makita also now do a DIY range with slightly different batteries, and a range of corded power tools based on older models which are red - and appear to be good value.

I find it funny when people try and argue which manufacturer is best, and then end up comparing a £100 drill to a £350 one. It’s too convoluted a thing to try and compare really.

Usually, there is little difference between the big brands at the same price point.

Also, people love to quote power output figures as if it’s the de facto measurement of how good something is. A good example is the D handle festool vs the Milwaukee. The Milwaukee is a lot more powerful, but has terrible ergonomics, balance and control by comparison - all of which seem a lot more important to me for a tool I’d be buying for delicate and precise work.