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Cordless Power Tools... 12V or 18V?

S

Slim

Guest
To simplify this for you: Light duty or heavy duty?

If you're going to use a drill, etc a once a month on average to hang curtain rods or the like go with the lighter duty 12v. If you're going to put the thing through its paces and build a deck, sheet rock a basement, and install a privacy fence then go heavy duty 18v.

Also, your 12v kit says it's a hammer drill. Do you need a hammer drill? Otherwise there should be another kit with a compact drill.
 
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Picklz

Picklz

SUDO Make me a SAMCH
I agree with what Tim (slim) said. If it's going to see frequent heavy use, spring for the 18v, if its occasional use or even one larger project then occasional use the 12v should be fine. On a side note the impact drills are BAD ASS, I built my last deer stand with them and its unreal how much power they have.
 
dmention7

dmention7

Hater
Are the hammer drills easier to use when driving long screws without stripping the head? I have a cheap cordless driver and it rarely seems to be lacking in torque, but it's sometimes a struggle to keep the driver tip in the head without rounding it out.
 
Picklz

Picklz

SUDO Make me a SAMCH
Get the torx screws - never had a problem with those, even 3-4" going through 2x6's and plywood. I was driving those backhand with very little leverage through 2x4's and into oak trees with no problem at all. It's quite amazing how much power they have.
 
D

DrWebster

Guest
Torx or square drive FTW.

To answer the original question, I'd go 18v without hesitation. If not for power, but for flexibility -- there are a lot of manufacturers who offer 18v kits where the batteries are interchangeable between a ton of different tools. I haven't seen many/any 12v systems like that. If you're just going to use the tools occasionally and not try to build a house with them or whatever, I think the Ryobi kits are a good deal, mine have served me very well so far, and I've had them for 4 years. If I had unlimited money I'd go DeWalt or Bosch.
 
mndsm

mndsm

I'M OFFENDED!
DrWebster said:
Torx or square drive FTW.

To answer the original question, I'd go 18v without hesitation. If not for power, but for flexibility -- there are a lot of manufacturers who offer 18v kits where the batteries are interchangeable between a ton of different tools. I haven't seen many/any 12v systems like that. If you're just going to use the tools occasionally and not try to build a house with them or whatever, I think the Ryobi kits are a good deal, mine have served me very well so far, and I've had them for 4 years. If I had unlimited money I'd go DeWalt or Bosch.
Click to expand...
This. I have an 18v Porter Cable kit I got on sale at LowesDepot for like 200$. 2 batteries, drill, 1/4" impact driver (can be used as an impact wrench with an adapter) flashlight(!) and an 18v sawzall. I sprang for the li-ion stuff, and lemme tell ya, that shit works awesome. We pegboarded Eriks garage one summer night out of boredom, and while everyone else was blasting batteries and having torque issues, I had the power to punch 2 inch screws all night with no problem.

One other thing, look for a keyless chuck made of metal. The plastic ones tend to get screwed up and you can't clamp em down on the bits good enough a lot of the time.
 
YSOSLO

YSOSLO

is the word, beotch
If you can wait around for a good sale, Home Depot has a few different sets they put on sale from time to time. I got an 18v Makita impact driver and 1/2" drill combo with charger for nearly $100 off what they sell for regularly. HD also has a lighterweight Makita on sale here and there (Blue version is heavy-duty, gray version is lighter-duty) and they have deals on Bosch and Dewalt too. If you aren't in a rush, we can keep an eye out for good deals for you.

P.S. If you're shopping for a good set of bits to go with your new drill, I highly recommend Dewalt cobalt bits. I paid about $90 for a good-sized set of bits, but those fuckers go through everything without dulling....crazy-sharp bits!
 
dmention7

dmention7

Hater
Yar, I've wasted enough money on cheap sets of drill bits that go dull after a couple of projects, that I'm just going to go straight for the good stuff next time I need to replace them.
 
mndsm

mndsm

I'M OFFENDED!
I break em before I can dull em..... I got a starter set of every kinda bit ever for like 35$ at LowesDepot when I bought my drill- Black and Decker. Screw bits work great, and I know that the drill bits themselves do an admirable job punching post holes in an r/c car body. IDK about durability yet though.
 
M

micahlarson

Guest
I ended up getting the porter cable set based on the specs. the impact that I found has 1600 lbs/in of torque.

I used them to set up the stuff amy bought from IKEA and it was a really nice set, and I didn't even run out of juice on a single charge.
 
M

micahlarson

Guest
yeah most of them do.

So far I've had the tools since the day I wrote the forum, and the only downside that I have so far about them is that on the number 2 setting for the drill the clutch grabs so hard that it torques the whole drill a little bit.
 
mndsm

mndsm

I'M OFFENDED!
Yeah, i've never had a problem with mine. I can usually hit the torque limit just holding onto to the chuck, to the point the clutch for the torque setting kicks in at that level. lrn2manup perhaps?
 
Z

ZoomZoom Diva

New Member
I'm actually going to vote the 12v, for purposes of lighter weight. While the higher power is good for heavier-duty jobs, the added weight can be very fatiguing on the hands and wrists for doing lots of a lighter duty task. I would play with them in the store to see how they feel.

...I also have horrible issues with the screw head giving out without turning the bloody screw. I normally go through 2 screws to have 1 usable.

I generally find it easier to use hand tools for many jobs than to try to fight with the powered ones.
 
YSOSLO

YSOSLO

is the word, beotch
Sounds like you might want to visit the world of square-drive screws James. Those things never strip out on you like philips-head screws do.
 
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