CORDED DRILL (hilti- makita) or what?

U

ukknifer

Joined
Jan 30, 2010
Messages
424
Hi

I want a hi quality drill and would like some advice. Some friends recommend hilti some makita some Hitachi , Bosch itc.

I want it for concrete , steel and general house use. It must be powerful though.

Who makes the best ones?
 
I've had a cord Makita for general home and shop use for about ten years. It has worked flawlessly, and I prefer it over the cordless one I have.
 
If you are going to drill concrete you need a hammer drill. Most 1/2 chuck drills on the market today should have a hammerdrill option on them. This will make them a little more pricey. Do yourself and your wallet a favor and buy a decent mid grade one (middle of the road cost wise) that way it should not break on you and if it is strictly for homeowner use it "should" last you your lifetime. Just my .02 worth. -chinagreen Hope it helped.
 
There is a big difference between a 1/2" drill with the hammer option and a real hammer drill. I have a Bosch Bulldog and you couldn't ask for a better hammer drill. It will drill 10 holes in the time it takes the DeWalt with hammer setting to drill 1
 
Last edited:
You have to decide how much concrete drilling that you will actually be doing. A dedicated hammer drill will cost a lot more than a drill with the hammer option. If you drill a lot of holes in concrete, the dedicated one will pay for itself quickly. However, it is also heavier.
 
If you have a place near you that rebuilds power tools check there also. I gave 40 bucks for my bullydog with new brushes in it. Someone had dropped it off and never picked it up.
 
As some have said,there is the correct tool for the job,
then there is a "do it all" generic drill....
one will excel at what it was intended for,yet might even fail miserably
at another....
My hilti would suck if I tried to somehow get a wood bit in it
and drill a 4x4,yet it smokes my milwaukee for drilling concrete.
I think we would need more info on exactly what
you were going to do with it before we could recommend
a specific model.
You mentioning drilling concrete is the kicker....
That requires a hammer drill.
I dont really know of any good "general duty" drills that have hammer function.
I have an older version of this,
its good,but too awkward for "general duty",although it does work well.

03-007-128-01.jpg


Hilti for a corded Hammer drill.
Milwaukee for a corded household drill.

I have Milwaukee Hole Hawg's,right angle drills,all great tools
for drilling wood and metal,even mixing plaster,
tons of torque.
(if your not careful,you could break your wrist with it)
Hilti I have for drilling 1/2 holes is high psi slabs for anchor bolts.
 
Last edited:
O lord, right angle drills are evil. I smash something everytime I use one. I have a USA made Milwaukee I picked up at the flea market and nothing comes close.
 
Keep in mind that you don't have to buy in -- literally -- to the idea sold by Home Depot and other such stores that every homeowner needs to own every tool. A good drill is a good tool to own. But a heavy-duty hammer drill can be expensive. If you're only doing one concrete project and don't foresee a lot more in the future, look into renting one for a day or two.
 
Thanks for the info guys.








i want a general use but powerful drill. I dont need to drill concrete at the moment but I want it to be able to because of the type of house i live in. It needs to be able to drill anything like wood, kydex, steel etc.

Thanks
 
ukknifer said:
i want a general use but powerful drill. I dont need to drill concrete at the moment but I want it to be able to because of the type of house i live in. It needs to be able to drill anything like wood, kydex, steel etc.

Thanks
Click to expand...

It seems like you just need a basic power drill, 3/8". My DeWalt has performed marvelously for almost 13 years of general use and sometimes-extreme use. Drilling (metal, wood, etc.), screwing, wire brushing... Mikita is, in my experience, a bit higher quality and a bit more expensive.

If you anticipate regular heavy use, drilling through thick metal for instance, Makita makes a nice 1/2" drill. It's a lot more expensive than a standard 3/8", and a lot heavier. Unless you really need it, you probably don't want it.

I've drilled through concrete blocks and floors with 3/8" drills, both Makita and DeWalt. It works OK with a masonry bit for small jobs. If you're going to do it all the time, go for a hammer drill.

For Kydex or other precision work, maybe you need a drill press?
 
I rented a Hilti to drill holes for anchors in high density concrete and it was like driving the Cadillac of drills. It was so easy that I was looking for more holes to drill!!
 
If you want a general purpose 1/2" drill then Makita/DeWalt/Milwaukee are all good, and there are versions with hammer function. Hilti makes very good products but the price will absolutely scare you. If you make a habit of drilling concrete then you might want to get a separate dedicated drill for that, the terminology is "rotating hammer". It is not useful for general drilling but would be unsurpassed for concrete drilling. Everybody now is buying cordless drills so your local craigslist/pawn shops might be good sources for low priced corded drills, maybe you could find one general purpose and one hammer drill for the price of a new drill.

I don't do a lot of drilling and I like the convenience of cordless drills. I still have an old Craftsman corded drill that I bought new over 40 years ago as well as a relatively new cordless. I needed to drill some small holes in concrete recently and bought the absolute cheapest corded drill with hammer function that I could get at Harbor Freight. It drilled the few holes that I needed very easily, I have no idea how long it would ultimately last but it still looks like new and I may not need to drill concrete again for another 10 years. Buying it was cheaper than renting one from Home Depot for 4 hours.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top