Makita drills

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Mark A

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Hi chaps,

I'm after a lightweight cordless drill which is compatible with my 5ah batteries. I already have a heavy duty DHP481, so something a bit smaller for things like pilot drilling. I'm tired of lugging round an SDS with a wobbly chuck adaptor, or otherwise using a single drill and repeatedly swapping from pilot drill, to countersink, to screwdriver bit (I know I can buy pilot drilling countersinking bits, but that's besides the point).

Has anyone used the following:

Combi drills
DHP459
DHP483
DHP484

Drill/drivers
DDF459
DDF483
DDF484

Cheers,
Mark
 
I have the DHP484 which I use as my main drill, and the black and white driver (482 I think) which I use for driving screws.

The 484 is quite heavy - I wouldn't really advise it for pilot holes, I'd go for something more lightweight like the 482 (or whatever the newer brushless equivalent is).

Another alternative (and the one I often use myself for pilot holes) is to use the small 10v drill - very small and lightweight and perfect for pilot holes. However I understand you might not want the hassle of different batteries / charger, so that might not be an option
 
Agree with Matt, the main weight you have to contend with is the 5Ah battery, that's huge to lug around just for pilot holes, I would get a small 10v or even smaller if its just for pilots, I have a small 3.6volt Hitachi that is meant to be just a screwdriver, but gets used as a drill quite a lot, good for getting into small space's that my bigger drills wont.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hitachi-DB3DL2 ... B004Y74AU6

Mike
 
Thanks for the replies, chaps.

As much as I like the idea of a 10.8v drill, I've begun investing in Makita's 18v range. I currently have a combi drill, angle drill, SDS, impact driver and circular saw - apart from the angle drill they're all brushless. As and when my corded tools die I plan to replace them with cordless.

According to the Makita website the DHP484 is 1.8kg excluding battery.
The weight isn't really an issue for me, though buying a light, compact drill and attaching a chunky 5ah battery does defeats the purpose. Two of my batteries are eBay fakes and I honestly can't tell the difference in run time, so assuming they're compatible with my other tools I may order a couple 2ah batteries in the future.

I'll check out the drills mentioned tonight.

Cheers,
Mark
 
I have the DHP481Z brushless, only been in action for around a month but very happy with it so far. Lighter than the old one, not a big but a lot more power. Use it with 3 amp batteries and quite well balanced. Paid £145 body only.

Austin
 
I have the DHP459 with 4.0ah batteries. It hasn't seen a huge amount of use, batteries last an age and in comparison to a number of company issue Dewalts I favour the Makita.

It does irritate me that there is no driver bit holder though.
 
Hi chaps,

I've settled on a DDF483 drill driver as it's a similar size and weight of the little 10.8v drills but run off an 18v battery - 1.5kg and a touch over 6" long. As I already have the big DHP481 this seems the sensible option. £106.51 delivered from Lawson HIS

Cheers for advice, it's always much appreciated!

Mark

https://www.lawson-his.co.uk/makita-ddf ... gLZyPD_BwE
 
MattRoberts":2joqbjws said:
Nice one. If only makita tools weren't such an ugly colour (IMO)!

They did do then in pink for a while, do not think they sold too well for some reason.....
 
Hi chaps

The DDF483 drill was delivered last week and I've had a chance to try it out.

As with all new things, only time will tell if it's reliable, but it feels nice and solid. The drill is quite torquey and seems to handle long screws and largish forstner bits with no problems, as you'd expect from a drill, but what makes it stand out is the size - it's tiny! With a 2ah battery it's lower and narrower than an impact driver, and only a touch longer overall, despite having a full size 1/2" keyless chuck. Compared to my DHP481 it's about half the weight.

My only minor complaint is the torque setting ring adjuster dial thing. To make the drill so compact it's built into the body, as apposed to protruding out the front, which makes it slightly awkward to change. In all honesty that's a very insignificant problem for me as I tend to keep it set to drill anyway.

Verdict - good.

Mark
 
I just got the Ddf083z which I think is the same drill apart from it has a hex bit holder instead of a normal drill chuck and yes it really is tiny, the photos don't do justice as to how small they are, think Makita call them sub compact and I can see why. It's even shorter then my Festool CXS without it's chuck on.

Gave it a good workout yesterday and amazed at the power for it's size, only downside is I am going to have to buy some smaller batteries, smallest I have are 3ah and they just look wrong on such a small drill.

https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Mak ... F0QAvD_BwE

Doug
 
Doug - I bought a single 2ah battery from eBay (seller called Buyaparcel) for £39.99 delivered. The balance is just about perfect now; the larger 5ah battery made the drill bottom-heavy. One very minor issue I've found with using a smaller battery is how the belt hook now protrudes too far down, making the drill slightly unstable.

Two pictures to compare size of the little DDF483 and the larger DHP481:

Mark
6b3f0b5e461449a7e2f801cc96cf25f2.jpg
d9f7386d6b52583013d443c74d591c55.jpg
 
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