Lithium ion drill

Roger,
I’m not one for fancy cordless equipment. Maybe because I don’t have to use it everyday and don’t put tremendous demands on the tools. Maybe it’s because I’m cheap … I mean frugal. Maybe because we know they have a finite life expectancy regardless of how well we take care of them so why make a huge investment. That said, I find the Ryobi 18V LI tools to be a great value. They are very affordable and have proven very reliable for years. I started with a 14V drill. When I wanted a circular saw and then impact driver, they were not available in 14V and had to upgrade to 18 which was using the LI batteries. That had to be nearly 8-10 years ago. Each of those tools are still working and I’ve only had to replace one battery in that time. I could have spent 3X that for a Dewalt or PC but aside from an occasional slipping chuck, they have performed to my expectations. Happy shopping.

Hi Roger,

I like using my cordless drill(s) and find I use them far more times than I would have thought before I had them. For me, and the sort of work I do, I don’t need a drill greater than 12V. For those absolutely big jobs, I have a cheap, corded Harbor Freight monster that I take out every 5 years or so.

Back to cordless. My every day, go to, don’t care if I beat it up is a Craftsman. Bought as a kit maybe 6 or 7 years ago (from Costco) and it continues to perform flawlessly. I like it so much, I bought one for my son and one for my grandson and they have have similar good experiences.

Maybe two or three years ago, Milwaukee had a special price on a 12V drill set at Christmas time. I really like their tools and this was a great deal. I have a drill, a driver and a hammer drill and two batteries. I added their right angle drill which has come in handy on a few occasions.

All-in-all, I feel Milwaukee makes excellent tools and, if I were to have only one drill, it would be that one. But, for day-to-day value on a drill that isn’t too expensive and just won’t quit, I have my 12V Craftsman.

I don’t want to sound snobby, but I will now avoid Ryobi and Black & Decker. Actually, if I was really a snob, I would avoid Craftsman….but, there you go. 🙂

Great time to be shopping.

Bill