Re: Drills for ~$100
 

We picked up two of these Dewalt's on Black Friday.

We used both to build some shelving and they worked great!

They come with a charger, two batteries, and a carrying bag. They have a built in light which can come in handy.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_506283-70-DCD771C2_4294607728%2B4294926871__?productId=50040 962&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentUR L=%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&facetInfo=D EWALT

Re: Drills for ~$100
 

You might want to cross shop on http://www.cpooutlets.com/drills/drills,default,sc.html (refurbished and new) to see which has the lower cost.

The top brands (Milwaukee, Makita, Dewalt) are pretty much comparable in quality. One construction pro has said the Rigid line should be avoided.

I can't see any need for a hammerdrill in FRC unless you are doing masonry work. While they are good for light duty work (drilling into mortar for instance), they really don't work well at all for any "real" projects and should be replaced with a rotary hammer.

Lion batteries are better than NiCd. There are a few top tier suppliers for each of the batteries and the major brands will source from the same companies.

Re: Drills for ~$100
 

We use these 18V dewalt drills:

http://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DC970K-...s=dewalt+drill


I don't know how they compare to the others people have mentioned but they work great for us. We have 3 drills so with a total of 6 batteries we can run them nonstop. They have good power(probably not as much as the 20V li-ion) but seems to be sufficient for FRC related tasks.

They will put a few 1.125" holes using a uni-bit into quarter inch aluminum on a full charge but after that you'll need to put in a new battery. we're very happy with them so far.

Re: Drills for ~$100
 

The Li-ion drills marked "20V MAX" are a bit of a scam. Li-ion cells of the type used in drills have a nominal voltage of 3.6V. 5 cells in series gives 18V. So 20V isn't really possible. More investigation was needed.

I took a long hard look at one of the DeWalt 20V Max drills at Home Depot. In tiny letters on one face of the box read something like:

BATTERIES ARE 20V MAX WITH NO LOAD AND WHEN FIRST REMOVED FROM CHARGER. NOMINAL IS 18V

So Engineering says it's an 18V drill. Marketing says it's 20V MAX.

Re: Drills for ~$100
 

We also have the Dewalt DC970K and are considering buying two more on Amazon. $89 for me today.

For corded drills, the Black and Decker DR560 has been fine for us.

Large drilling projects on our team are done using drill presses in the shop.

Re: Drills for ~$100
 

About two years ago Ridgid moved to a purely online registration process. It is no longer necessary to send in paperwork. You just enter the serial numbers of the tools and the barcode on your receipt.

If you really want to get into the weeds, you can probably track down a woodworking magazine with an exhaustive comparison review article comparing the performance of all the major brands. Yes, there are tiny differences in performance and weight between the various models. But, for a typical robotics team, it doesn't matter that one drill will drive 575 screws on a charge, and another one does 525.

Construction professionals will hotly debate between the top brands (Milwaukee, Makita, Dewalt, Bosch, Porter Cable). The next tier down is Hitachi, Ridgid, Ryobi, Craftsman. Black and Decker and Skil are the bottom of the barrel. Like any other consumer product, most people will be happy, and a few will end up with lemons. Personally, I've just decided to go with Ridgid because they stand behind their products with a lifetime warranty. I figure I'll go with the company that puts their money where their mouth is. If any of the others decides to do likewise, I'll consider their stuff, too. I just got tired of throwing perfectly good drills in the dumpster because their expensive batteries died.

We bought two of these sets yesterday. Registered them this morning.

Re: Drills for ~$100
 

Do you really put Hitachi and Rigid on the same level as Ryobi? If so, why don't you buy Ryobi's? They used to cost a quarter of the others you listed, but for what used to be very good reasons. I haven't tried them since they switched to being neon green and upped their prices. They do look a lot fancier than their old dark blue counterparts, but are they really on the same level as Hitachi?

Re: Drills for ~$100
 

I'm asking mainly because we have three drills right now; two do almost everything we need, and one is close to worthless. It simply stalls when given difficult tasks where the other two won't given they have enough battery.
I want to know if there are indicators that I can use to avoid getting another worthless one. If all I need to look at is brand, then that's good to know. I was going under the impression that a 12V Black and Decker would be a better investment than a 7.2V DeWalt, but it looks like everyone has just recommended that I look at brand over specs. I'm also assuming that Amperage is the most reliable factor when looking at corded drills, but if I should ignore that and focus on brand instead that makes things easier. A 4Amp Makita is a lot cheaper than a 10Amp Skil.

Re: Drills for ~$100
 

I would look at performance over brand if I was you. But brand does have a lot to do with construction. Dewalts have really nice and strong clutches and great batteries, but they have a price tag to match. Our Milwaukee's were still pricey, less than dewalts, but they have done everything we have asked and more. Plus the batteries can be found online for less than $50. I had hitachi's at home for a long time because they seemed like they could do anything. But the clutch gave out on both of my drills and now I have paperweights. Granted, they did last for five years of heavy use. I also had a black and decker that I got as a gift, I would almost pay someone to take it out of my garage. In my experience, Craftsman stuff works great but for some reason is really bulky and heavy.

Go to the store and put your hands on them, how they feel is a great indicator of quality.

Re: Drills for ~$100
 

I might catch some for saying this but we use Dewalt and Ryobi. That said, I find myself picking up our Ryobi stuff more often. They are the 18v lithium-ion with the larger batteries. I find the battery life to be very good and have not found a single job at the shop it couldn't do; can't beat the price either. Some people will probably say the quality is low but we have had great luck with them so I can not hate on them. That being said, I own Dewalt and Makita at home and love them to, just way more money invested. I really find myself using the hand drills/drivers less and less. We have a couple nice drill presses, and using rivets, we do not need a driver as much. I would strongly recommend getting one of the nice 12V sets and then investing in a very nice vise for your drill press. If you can use the drill press, use it over the drill.
-Ronnie

Re: Drills for ~$100
 

My current Ryobi stuff has lasted longer than my previous DeWalt stuff ever did. The 18V One+ Lithium batteries are great in the two sizes (light or heavy based on what the tool is and the draw during use) and seem to last forever in between charges. It is so nice not having to leave the batteries on a charger all the time. My personal experience so your mileage may vary.

Re: Drills for ~$100
 

We have a few of these DeWalt Cordless Drills which we got just before the 2014 build season and they've lasted us all season through heavy use and abuse without failing. As others have said this is just our experience and your milage may vary.

Re: Drills for ~$100
 

Yeah, I just don't know what indicates good performance vs. bad performance. I have been thinking that 18V is going to be significantly superior to 12V, but a lot of people have recommended the latter here. I was also hoping to use stats like stall torque or horsepower to make a decision on, but those are only listed on certain drills from certain manufacturers.

I guess I could always get the same DeWalt that we have now and an extra battery. That way we can always have a battery charging.

Re: Drills for ~$100
 

That's a good plan. If your present drills still work, having more of the same tool and battery will work well.

My personal advice would be to dull the cutting edge of your drill bits as well. It will make them safer since they will not grab thin material.

Re: Drills for ~$100
 

Are you serious?

Edit: took a minute, but I found a thread VERY relevant to the topic of dull drill bits: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...?postid=935748

Much, much easier to teach proper techniques for drilling and/or getting the right bits than to dull the bits and hope nothing like this happens to a student or mentor.