Tuesday

5 Popular Power Drill Brands

You recently moved to a new house and are in the gradual process of unpacking all the boxes and moving in all the furniture. It takes time to get settled and in a matter of days you start making a list of things to do.

So what's left on your to-do list?

Without any intentions of trying to know how well you organized your moving to a new place, we simply want to say that for a majority of the people some of the tasks like hanging of curtains and blinds gets postponed for some reason or the other, but most often due non-availability of some tools or accessories needed for the purpose.

On moving into a new place recently, we realized that we needed a power drill the most, for executing quite a few small and the not so small projects that one finds on moving to a new place. It took us sometime to conduct our research and realized that any of the following brands would prove to be an easy to handle product that gives the expected service for long.

Five of the most reputed and popular brands of power drills are:

1. Coleman

2. Dewalt

3. Hitachi

4. Makita

5. Stanley


It’s quite normal for the more reputed brands to charge more than an average brand, but most often that small amount at this stage proves worthwhile in the end. It is not unusual for the cheaper versions to have frequent breakdowns and the accompanied repair bills, or it may not deliver expected results.

It is worth buying machine with a 3/8 inch chuck, rather than those with half inch chuck that you are not likely to need unless you have wide-ranging expansion plans. That way you save money.

It’s becoming increasingly important these days to conduct research for any product or gadget that you want to buy because of the large variety available. And, power drill is no exception. Look for a model that is convenient and comfortable to hold and offers a good grip and capable of undertaking the tasks that you have in mind. In case you are unable to locate suitable tool with the kind of accessories and features you need, feel free to seek the help of the personnel at the hardware store.

Keeping the above tips in mind will help you getting the perfect machine to suit your requirements at competitive price.

Sunday

Reconditioned Power Tools and Cordless Tools

Purchase of power tools is almost a capital expense. Whether you source it from discount power tools, very special tools or from factory-reconditioned tools, you would like getting best value for your money. You may need these tools as a DIY hobbyist or may be your profession demands you to have these; it’s worth looking for reconditioned power tools. Certain tools are easily available, but you may have to look for some specific tools that you need. In any case you really can’t expect one of the recently launched latest models be sold among the reconditioned power tools. But, there is a very good probability of getting the next best model down the line. If you visit a couple of suppliers of reconditioned tools, you’ll get a fairly good idea of what is generally available and at what price.

But, what prompts the users to go for reconditioned cordless tools or any other reconditioned power tools. Very simply, it’s the price and there is a substantial difference in prices. Yet, at times one may be looking for a particular power tool that is not being manufactured anymore or available at eBay.

The words “manufacturer reconditioned tool” or “manufacturer refurbished tools” don’t truly describe the product, as you really wonder if the product had been sent back to the manufacturer for some kind of a renovation. Long ago I had an excellent power drill from
Black & Decker, even the manufacturer’s representative acknowledged it to be a great product. Finally, when the time came I sent it back to the manufacturer for being repaired, reconditioned or refurbished, whatever term you want to use. I believe it certainly is cheaper to buy a new replacement tool from a factory reconditioned tool retailer.

So exactly what is a Manufacturer Reconditioned Tool?

As per the instructions of the manufacturer, in most of the cases a product that is returned to the dealer cannot be sold as a fresh piece and needs to be sent back to the factory, except when the box and packaging of product remained undamaged or unopened. On reaching the factory the product is entirely subjected to rigorous checks to ensure that it qualifies as a new product dispatched from the factory. It is repacked the changed nomenclature printed on its packaging. For all practical purposes it is a new product that visited the factory a second time.

When you buy a power tool as reconditioned power tool, the only difference that you can spot is the word “reconditioned,” printed on the packet. You get the same warranty from the manufacturer as in the case of a new product. Often the factory reconditioned may be termed as factory outlet stock.

Though most of the manufacturers offer reconditioned products, some will have a limited number of dealers or retailers. Some dealers are considered specialist in this kind of business and deal exclusively in such tools. Some manufacturers don’t approve of the idea of their dealers selling reconditioned products along with their brand new products. Even the buyer could be a bit skeptical when required to choose between two identical looking products with a massive difference in price.

If you intend buying a Makita cordless drill, Milwaukee corded power drill, a Paslode nailer, Porter-Cable router, a Bostitch stapler, Bosch reciprocating, an 18v cordless drill or a product from another major manufacturer then just go straight to the factory reconditioned tool suppliers.

Wednesday

Differences Between Hammer Drills And Impact Drills

There are a large variety of power tools available these days but the two most common ones that everybody is required to use at some stage or the other are Hammer Drills and Impact Drills. The two do have some common features, yet each is designed for specific applications of different jobs. Both have their respective advantages and limitations and the choice is largely dependent on the nature of job. But, generally hammer drills have more power whereas impact drills give you more torque. One is required to use different drills for different applications.

There are many manufacturers for such machines and each has many models to offer. They are available in varying capacities as far as speed, size and torque is concerned. Some of the better-known brands are: DeWalt, Hilti, Hitachi, Milwaukee, and Makita.



Many of the drills are not battery-operated and necessarily need to be plugged into the mains. They operate on different voltages, varying from 12 volts to 120 volts. The specifications very from one manufacturer to another, and the differences between a hammer drill and an impact drill are not difficult to spot.

Hammer drills come with a large spectrum of specifications and one has to judge, which would best suit the job at hand or what is the nature of job that frequently calls for its application. Be it drilling a hole in the wall or in the ground, there is a suitable drill available for that. As already said, it is the nature of job and the quantum of work that decides an appropriate drill for you. There are many drills available that offer a choice of bit-sizes varying from small to medium to big. You have to choose the required size to suitably drill a hole. Any operating tools needs to be handled carefully, with certain precautions to be followed for the safety of the operator, and drills are no exceptions. It is advisable to get familiarized with the machine or entrust the job to an experienced worker.

Likewise, impact drills are also available in a number of designs with varying specifications and one needs to assess the nature and volume of work before hand rather than going in for one randomly. It is interesting to know that a vast majority of users employ an impact drill for jobs that were so far being done with the aid of a simple screwdriver. The reason is simply that the use of an impact drill saves you from straining your wrists and shoulders. These are quite versatile machines and can be used at project sites for handling big jobs to as mundane a job at home as tightening of screw of any of your household equipment. Its ease of operation is encouraging people to its frequent use. Impact drills are also available with varying bit sizes as well with spade bits that enable one to undertake any drilling operation without the use of a hammer drill.

Howsoever big or small a job may be there is always a suitable power drill available for its execution. You have to make a judicious choice of the drill. Shall it be a hammer drill or an impact drill? That largely depends on the nature and size of the job at hand.

Saturday

Milwaukee V28 Combo Kit 0928-92

Techtronic Industries took over Milwaukee in January 2005. It has been three years now that the bought over was completed; time enough to check if the new company has been successful in offering any new tools with new designs, and find out the level of quality So we decided to check the tools through a new set of power tool tests to find if their quality has changed. This article covers what’s in the package and gives a quick overview of each power tool. In the forthcoming reviews of power tools we will cover each Milwaukee V28 in detail.

The Milwaukee V28 combo kit offers a good assortment of professional power tools. Here is a list of the power tools which comprise a Milwaukee's V28 Combo kit.

Hammer Drill

The first that we noticed on picking up the Milwaukee Hammer Drill was that it was perfectly balanced with the chuck and battery. This helps to keep at bay the weariness of your hand and arm and you won't feel exhausted even after long hours of use. As is usual with the rest of the power tools from Milwaukee, the chuck is good and has carbide jaws for extraordinary long life and is provided with a lock to keep the job in tact. The drill has a rated torque of 600lbs. Its no load speed is 0-600 and 0-1800RPM with a bare load BPM of 0-9000 and 0-27000. With a weight of just 4.4lbs, it is as light to pick up as cotton.

Circular Saw

Its weight of just 7.1 lbs makes it one of the lightest saws. Such a low weight facilitates easy maneuverability and convenience of use. On picking it up, we could feel it was well balanced equipment. The machine works at 4200RPM

Sawzall

As you know we all find the Sawzall so irresistible and this model is no exception. Milwaukee incorporated all the good feature of the corded Sawzalls into the V28 Sawzall. There is provision for quick-lock blade arrangement. Here we may share with you this bit of information that we compared and tested it against the corded variety of the Sawzall and the results were very really impressive. For more of the story, please wait a while to read our coming up V28 Sawzall power tool review

Work Light

A very functional and effective light has been included in the kit. It offers running time of five hours with one battery. Its head is pivoted for 140 degrees. It involves no LED’s, as a result of which the light is slightly yellowish but on the whole the brightness is great and will illuminate any part of the working area. A noticeable feature of the battery is the on-off switch. It is provided with a cut looking button that you have to move for turning the light on. We find it much better than the traditional push button switches that tend to turn off most of the time when you drop them or move them; else they would get turned on as you just toss them into your bag and unnecessarily consume battery.

Charger

The charger is again very good. It has the capacity to charge not only the 28V Lithium batteries, but can charge 18V lithium and 18V Nicd batteries too. Now, that may not sound too good, but the convenience it offers shouldn’t be overlooked. All too often we have experienced that at times we have a number of chargers plugged in and there is no room left for anything else. We may continue to use multiple Milwaukee tools, but there is no need for too many chargers. Just this one charge will charge all the batteries that you would normally be using. This charger takes about an hour to charge Lithium batteries and just around forty minutes for charging of Nicd batteries.

2 V28 Lithium Ion Batteries – Another thoughtful feature of this combo fit includes two Lithium Ion batteries, and we all know that such batteries are expensive. For a long time we have ad adverse reports about such batteries, be those from any manufacturer. Lithium batteries are notoriously bad starters in cold climatic conditions. We are looking forward to a confirmation of this characteristic of the batteries being offered by Milwaukee. We intend testing that feature by leaving one of the batteries in the fridge overnight and then watch its behavior.