Power Drill Kit Recommendations for a Newbie

Lhermonski on 16/02/2017 - 11:28

Hi everyone,

It's time for me to join the ranks of adults and purchase some powertools. I need a couple of drills (one for wood, one for masonry), and am looking at the kits at Bunnings here. Any recommendations? I'm looking to spend under $300, with use cases such as mounting shelves (my apartment has brick/masonry walls), assemble furniture, screw together wood pieces, install and hang sliding doors.

I'm completely out of my depth, but was wondering about this one, or maybe this one, or this one. Or about 20 others on that page at the first link.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • Nugs on 16/02/2017 - 11:36

    some might laugh, but for what you are doing, this $22 one is fine (plus an extension cord if you don't have one). I have had similar last 8 years plus.

    I only bought my first cordless a year ago after 20 plus years of home handyman duties because it is more convenient to have cordless. it sucks when you need 50m of cord to do something.

    https://www.bunnings.com.au/xu1-500w-13mm-corded-hammer-dril…

  • brownbag on 16/02/2017 - 11:47
    -1

    If you want it to last buy Metabo, Hitachi, Panasonic or Makita. AEG is not what it used to be.

    • memphisraynz on 16/02/2017 - 12:15

      I have a few pieces of AEG kit and Im impressed.
      One thing they doe have going for them is the 6 year warranty.

  • Euphemistic on 16/02/2017 - 11:50
    +2

    Unless you are looking to do some serious work major renovation I wouldn't bother shelling out the extra for Makita. The ozito should be fine for little DIY jobs. I have Ryobi and have been happy with it having bought the drill and two battery kit about 5 years ago and added a lot to my arsenal since. One advantage of Ryobi is that you can get gardening gear too like line trimmer, hedge trimmer and blower (don't know about other brands).

    If you are considering doing some serious renovation stuff then it might be worth spending more to start with and then being able to access a larger range of skins (tool without battery). I've got about 15 different skins for my 4 batteries now and the majority of them are good enough to do away with corded tools most of the time. So much easier than dragging a cord through a construction site. They've all been good enough for a major renovation at home, including moving and rebuilding walls etc. Picking up skins cheaper on gumtree is good too, I got most of mine from a builder who was going to a premium brand, cost under $200 for about 12 items by the time I sold off a few duplicates.

  • syousef on 16/02/2017 - 12:20
    +1

    Disclaimer: I'm no expert!

    Spend some money on the drill bits. Do a bit of research. Nothing exotic. Just don't buy the cheapest trash you can get. If the whole set costs <$10 you can bet they'll break in no time. Cheap drills are fine for occasional use. Cheap drill bits are not.

    I would have one corded drill for power, and one cordless drill for screwing things in and very light drilling.

    • Euphemistic on 16/02/2017 - 16:32

      +1 for decent drill bits. Cheap ones are ok (just) for timber. Not for metal or masonry. I bought a cheap kit to get most sizes in one hit - have snapped quite a few of them and the metal ones won't last more than a couple of holes in metal.

      • syousef on 16/02/2017 - 16:37

        Yeah I don't do a heck of a lot of drilling but I've never burnt out a drill. Snapped plenty of cheap bits though. It gets frustrating and it can even ruin the job for delicate stuff with small bits. Use to do a bit with remote control planes made of wood including balsa.

  • dazweeja on 16/02/2017 - 13:30
    +3

    Buy the Ozito corded hammer drill, Ozito cordless drill and some good quality drill bits (I have both drills and they are fine). Then spend the rest of the money on beer. Take care to drink the beer after drilling.

  • quebeck on 16/02/2017 - 13:53

    I have the Ozito kit you linked to, and it is surprisingly good quality for the price (I have better quality branded drills to compare it to, so I've been able to compare them side by side). As well you have 5 years tool/3 year battery warranty which is pretty much no hassle at Bunnings (I actually just got one of my batteries replaced yesterday at Bunnings).

    For the stuff you listed as wanting to do, the impact driver will probably be too overpowered, especially since it doesn't have the 3 torque settings like the more expensive brushless ones (I would suggest to only use the impact when dealing with 8 or 10g and thicker fasteners, otherwise you can very easily snap the screws or overdrive and ruin the workpiece)

    Having said all that, for drilling into masonry/brick, you NEED either a hammer drill (for smaller holes) or a rotary SDS hammer drill (required for larger holes). Only the makita kit you've linked has a hammer drill, and not just a normal drill without hammer function.

    If you're only going to be mounting shelves onto your brick wall, and it's only going to be a couple of times, I'd consider getting a cheap corded hammer or rotary SDS drill, because you'll have power nearby and you won't be using it much after your shelves go in. (But to do stuff like furniture assembly, the cord will get in the way so you'll still probably want to get a cordless drill).

  • slow on 16/02/2017 - 14:32
    +3

    I would not buy a kit - you don;t need an impact driver. Get a cheap cordless for light work and a separate corded hammer drill for drilling into walls. From my experience a cheap corded hammer drill still kicks all over an expensive cordless when it comes to drilling into masonry.

  • Thrifty not Cheap on 16/02/2017 - 15:11
    +1

    Also, no expert, but my experience is this. Started with Black & Decker, didn't last. Tried AEG, had nothing but trouble with the batteries. May be better now?
    Ended up with Ryobi One+, had it for over 5 years now. Never an issue. Plus have bought a few add ons, blower, radio, vac, cordless sander that use the same battery (That's what the advantage is of buying the Ryobi One+ range).
    Only thing to note if you are considering the Ryobi, if you plan to get the blower and/or other tools that require a bit of grunt, then may be worth spending a little extra now and getting the Brushless kit that comes with a 5.0 aH battery (That is why the price varies on the Kits, the battery sizes are different) I only have the smaller batteries and they don't last long on the blower vac. Then just buy the corded XU1 hammer drill for masonry for $21.97, and if my calculations are correct you will have $9.13 change out of your $300 bucks! Then, as mentioned previously, spend balance on beer. Plus, also as mentioned, spend the extra on half decent Drill bits. Saves a lot of swearing and rush trips back to Bunnings!

  • Fergy1987 on 16/02/2017 - 15:28

    I have the Ryobi One+ brushless……I only got it because I had the mower so didn't want to buy more batteries. It goes alright its pretty good and does the job. I had never used a drill before so all its different settings and speeds etc are confusing at first but you slowly work it out

    . But I have heard the Ozito Power X stuff does the job nicely. And when you are picking up a brushless drill for $79 bucks with that warranty on it, you cant complain.

  • syousef on 16/02/2017 - 16:57
    +1

    $49 - https://www.bunnings.com.au/ozito-710w-13mm-hammer-drill_p62…
    $59 - https://www.bunnings.com.au/ozito-power-x-change-18v-compact…
    $31.46 - https://www.bunnings.com.au/sutton-tools-13-piece-viper-impe…
    $39.93 - https://www.bunnings.com.au/sutton-tools-10-piece-viper-metr…
    $49.90 - https://www.bunnings.com.au/kango-8-piece-sds-plus-k2-breake…
    $21.87 - https://www.bunnings.com.au/irwin-impact-screwdriver-set-14-…

    One corded, one cordless, and you're still under your $300 budget. Perhaps you can add a corded screwdriver.
    $29.97 - https://www.bunnings.com.au/ozito-3-6v-screwdriver-torch-wit…

    Still under $300. Sutton and Ozito are known brands, though Ozito isn't top end.

    Someone with more experience can tell you if any of the above is junk for even occasional use.

    Or you can blow it all on a single high powered drill you'll never make use of.

    • Euphemistic on 17/02/2017 - 08:31

      You are going to need a battery ad charger on top of your $59 ozito hammer drill. there's another $60-100 depending on the battery and charger speed.

      • syousef on 17/02/2017 - 09:27
        +1

        You're right that you need a charger but it's only $25 for the fast charger.
        https://www.bunnings.com.au/ozito-power-x-change-18v-fast-ch…

        And the eco charger is $18
        https://www.bunnings.com.au/ozito-power-x-change-18v-eco-bat…

        So if you want that screwdriver and the fast charger you're up to $306.13.

        $6.13 is not a huge blowout….and if you don't want that you can get a cheaper corderless screwdriver.
        $17.98 - https://www.bunnings.com.au/xu1-3-6v-li-ion-cordless-screwdr…
        But if it were me I'd stick with the Ozito.

        I wouldn't skimp on the charger either just to stay under an arbitrary number. Being able to charge up fast is the difference between getting to a job on the weekend and not because you weren't thinking about it on Friday.

        • Euphemistic on 17/02/2017 - 11:37

          and a battery… Cheapest is $35, but I'd recoment getting the bigger one for a hammer drill. Will give more power IME.

        • syousef on 17/02/2017 - 13:48
          +1

          @Euphemistic:

          Here you go. 2 batteries, drill and charger. Buy this instead of the $59 drill. Not Power X though.
          $89 - https://www.bunnings.com.au/ozito-18v-ni-cad-hammer-drill-wi…

          Saves you buying the $25 charger. So we're up to $291.16 without the screwdriver or $321.13 with the Ozito screwdriver.

          My point is you can set yourself up nicely for roughly $300 if you're after occasional use, or you can blow it all on the drill and still need all the extras.

        • Euphemistic on 17/02/2017 - 13:56
          +1

          @syousef: absolutely you can get it under $300, but be mindful what you are recommending. If you went with your first shopping list you'd be pretty disappointed when you got home and still needed a battery and charger.

          I don't recommend buying anything with ni-cad batteries. Lithium is sooooo much better for power tools. You get almost full power until the battery is drained, the memory effect is minimal and they hold their charge much better too. Ni-cad is not really suitable for small DIY projects with a long time to the next one.

        • syousef on 17/02/2017 - 15:08

          @Euphemistic:

          Sure I don't have a problem with it being reviewed as stated in my very first message above.
          syousef on 16/02/2017 - 12:20 Disclaimer: "I'm no expert!"
          And again when I recommend this set: "Someone with more experience can tell you if any of the above is junk for even occasional use."

          I agree about Nicad vs Lithium. But OP said $300 budget. If he has $350 to spend, going with the Power X setup would be better. All my tools are old and NiCd or NiMH so I should probably take some of my own advice (though my drill bits, similar to those recommended) are most still intact. I don't do much drilling.

  • hermonski on 22/02/2017 - 15:03

    So much great advice in this thread. Thanks so much guys. I'll let you know what i end up getting.

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