Musings on a combi-drill (and a Panasonic purchase)

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cambournepete

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You know the problem; you need to drill holes for fixings in brick walls occasionally, but usually when it’s trying to rain and so a mains drill is a bad idea. You have some cheap heavy cordless you got from B&Q “because it’s got lots of volts and was a bargain”, but it only has one battery which doesn’t hold the charge it takes it 5 hours to get for more than a few days, and it’s always out of charge when you want to use it. You also have a really good drill-driver (Festool C12 ), which you could use, but breaking that just to drill two holes would be an act of sheer vandalism.

So you decide to buy a new drill – one of those cordless combi jobbies, but which one? There’s so many out there, different makes with different voltages (which they all claim equates to power), different battery life, different speeds, different warranties and different numbers of batteries and different freebies etc., etc., etc. It’s all so confusing! To cap it all Festool don’t make one, so you need to pick another make.

There’s also the anguish of any tool purchase – you want to get the best one you can afford for the best price and not miss out on a great deal. Trouble is, once you bought one you’ll never know whether it’s better than the ones you didn’t buy…

Why not a cordless SDS drill? After all, they’re better for brickwork… They’re also very heavy, expensive and not so good for large holes in wood due to their built-in clutches…

Discounting all the DIY and shed own brand models, there seem to be 3 price brackets:
  • Around £100, which are usually 12v, have Nicad batteries with low Ah ratings, feel cheap and have plastic gear boxes.
    Around £200, which are usually14.4v or 18v have Nicads with higher Ah ratings, NiMh or smallish Lithium batteries.
    Well over £200, which are usually 18v or 24v, NiMh or Lithium batteries and heavy.
Obviously there are exceptions, and you might disagree, but that‘s what I’ve found…

So, what to buy then? Not Dewalt, they feel plasticky to me at all prices, Makita don’t seem to have a middle ground drill, Milwaukee are heavy and expensive and Bosch (20% faster than it’s rivals you know) feel clumsy in my smallish mitts (and my Bosch drill-driver is somewhat gutless and now retired). Metabo don’t do one I could find.

This leaves AEG and Panasonic. My local Ridgeons (builders merchant) has the Panasonic 6932GKW for £175 and the AEG BSB18STX for £200. The Panasonic is 15.6V, 2x3.5AH MiMh batteries, with torch and shirt (!); the AEG is 18V, 2x2Ah Nicad batteries, with free drill driver. It’s more highly specced in terms of torques and holes sizes than the Panasonic and also has their lifetime warranty. The guys in the shop rated the Panasonic as the better drill, and as it’s somewhat lighter and feels better in my hands that’s what I picked.

It fits nicely in my hand and is well balanced, so it’s comfortable to use. Drilling holes in bricks is quick with the 2000 RPM top speed. 13mm holes in concrete aren’t a good idea though – I doubt I’d want to do this other than for a test. 35mm hole in MDF? No problem sir. Charging is quick and easy; I’ve not used it long enough to know how long the charge lasts though. Its torque belies its specification - if the AEG or Bosch drills really have 2x the torque this has then I'd be almost afraid of them. It only has 5 clutch settings, but then I who uses all 20 that others provide anyway? I know I don’t on my C12. I like the way it’s built – the bit in front of your hand makes you feel safer. I like the locking chuck – it feels natural. Actually both of these are a bit C12 like.

Am I pleased with it? Yes, at the moment. Do I wish I’d bought the AEG? No; it might be better at the concrete test, but wasn’t as comfortable. Would I recommend it? Yes, after some light use. If you want something for lots of big holes in brick though this probably isn’t your drill. Did I get the best drill? Who knows, not me certainly. Did I get a bargain? Well, I’ve seen it advertised for £100 more than I paid, so I guess I did, not that it matters really, except to make me feel good…

The freebies? Well, the torch is brighter than a bright thing in bright land on a bright day and lights up my living room at night, and with the 3.5 Ah battery should last 5 hours – after that I’ll just go to sleep. The shirt is a bit too trendy in the styling for me, even with the drill “picture” embossed on it.

Do I need a mains SDS drill for big holes in bricks and concrete? Almost certainly, but that can wait until I really do need one. Now Makita do some nice ones of those…

I know I’ve rambled on a bit, and I’m sorry, but I wanted to try and go through my thought processes on this in case it’s of interest to someone else – don’t know what it reveals about me though!
 
Hi cambournepete

I absolutely LOVE the Panasonic cordless gear. I have a drill and impact driver in 12v versions and they are a joy to use, powerful, light and excellent battery life. I got them from the US for the equivalent of £170 for the pair, a real bargain a couple of years ago.
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I also have the 15.6v metal cutting circ saw from ebay for 90 quid. I use a trend wood blade as well for more general use.
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I have been looking at the drill you purchased for some time as you can get it "bare" (no batteries and charger) as I have these already from the circ saw. Your comments have spurred me on to actually get this as I have a huge SDS from Screwfix for the big concrete drilling and breaking.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
 
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