Hammers Reviews

I'm not sure how long I've had this drill, but probably 3-4 years. At the time I write this it has been discontinued, but I'm sure Milwaukee has replaced it with a similar, upgraded model. After going through several lesser drills over a number of years I decided to splurge and spend the money on a REAL piece of equipment. It's been worth every penny. I expect this drill to outlast ME, it's that good. Very powerful, reliable, the batteries charge in about 45 minutes, and it has done everything I've asked of it easily. If I add up what the lesser drills cost me over the years, it would have been cheaper to buy the best the first time.

Whatever your expectations, this drill will probably meet them.

It has been four years since my corded Sears brand 3/8" drill was given to me for Fathers Day. It has faithfully served me for normal use, but after 9/11 I purchased an American Flag and wanted to mount it on our brick facade. I quickly discovered that I needed a hammer drill and after looking at all the major brands, I settled on the Milwaukee 14.4V cordless hammer drill. First, I am not a contractor and I do not need any more power than 14.4V. Second, after handling similar products from Porter Cable and Dewalt, the Milwaukee handle was more slim and fit my hand much better. In addition the Milwaukee weighed less and had a metal chuck and reversible battery. I took it home charged up the battery in one hour and was able to easily drill in hammer mode four holes and then drive the screws in the brick to hold the flag bracket. My flag is proudly displayed and I am happy with my purchase of the Milwaukee 0514-24 14.4V hammer drill.

If you are going to be doing any serious wiring around your house buy one of these drills, don't argue with me, don't cavil and whine that's it's too expensive, just buy the drill. Now Drilling between joists, or up into wall cavities, tasks which are a complete pain in the neck with a standard drill are almost effortless with the 3002. I had to run a bundle of wires through 12 floor joists, with this drill it took me about 15 minutes to drill all of the holes I needed and run the wires. Like every other Milwaukee product the drill is very well built and durable and if taken care of will last forever.

I use this drill at work on a daily bases and it has never let me down. The extra long handle is great when your dilling overhead. This model has a higher rpm than the standard right angle dill kit. The higher rpm's make drilling wood a lot easier. I only wish Milwaukee would have put the Quik-Lok cord on this model. No tool is perfect but this one comes close.

I had spent 6 years procrastinating, using my 18v cordless drill to drill for my wiring jobs. I borrowed my plumbers right angle drill (a beat-up Old Milwaukee)and on my way home that night I stopped at my local home improvement store and bought one. Wow what a time saver. The Old Milmaukee FEELS heavy duty. Great torque. Im sure I'll be passing this one down some day. And this is from a Dewalt user...

This is a very good drill well built and durable.

I had a Milwaukee dual-temp heat gun for over 25 yrs....it only broke after I dropped it several times from over 10 feet onto concrete...I bought another brand and was disappointed...the Milwaukee is much more effective...it concentrates the heat better, and heats things up faster. I do my own car repair work....years ago I saw a mechanic heat a stubborn bolt with a torch to "expand" it enough so he could remove it with a wrench. I 've used this Milwaukee heat gun many times to loosen old rusted bolts...ones that won't budge, even when an air-powered wrench is used. Heat up a nut with this gun and it'll come off. The other major use is paint removal....my son used it to heat up paint on old galvanized gutters, wooden door frames, etc. It's great for removing paint...this job usually is very long and tedious, but the Milwaukee makes it go much faster...since the fan in it runs slower and delivers more heat...instead of blowing the heat away. I've also used it to soften rock-hard caulk, etc. My dad had some vinyl tile on the stairs going down to his basement...and he planned to tile over the stairs....I told him I could remove the old tiles with the heat gun...he didn't believe it could be done...well this heat gun made the job easy, and now the new tile is tightly glued to the stairs...there's a lot of little jobs that you think are very difficult or impossible, but this heat gun can make the difference. I bought this kit since it has the tools....

Great product. I looked far and wide for a heat gun that included attachments. Most do not. This Milwaukee has four of them! And each one of them is very useful. I use mine to melt and shape plastics for furniture grade products. This thing is strong enough to form the toughest plastics I have and the lower setting allowed me to gently shape paper thin Styrene. The attachments aid greatly in diverting the heat from areas that you do not want deformed. Added bonus is the carrying case, another feature that most heatguns do not come with. Just helps keep the shop tidy.

Sorry, I can't review this wrench.
It and all my other tools were nabbed
by some unscrupled fool.
The case looked good as well as the tool.
They must have needed it more than me!!

I originally purchased the Milwaukee to remove the crankshaft pulley bolt on my Honda, but couldn't get it off the first time. The garage torqued it way too much the last time I had the timing belt changed so I paid a local garage mech ten dollars to break it free. As it turns out, even the garage air impact wrench had a little trouble and that guy could deliver 600 ft-lb or torque. He retorqued it enough to get home and I was able to do everything else just fine.

Everything else went well and the Milwuakee had no trouble removing lug nuts and other nuts/bolts. How much torque applied depends on how hard you push on the tool. The lowest torque is 100 ft-lb and I guessed when torquing the crankshaft bolt to 130 ft-lb. That and a little Medium grade Loktite should keep things nice and tight until the next time.

There are similar models, but there are several things I like about this impact wrench above the others. The first big thing I liked is the variable speed which is nice when you just want to snug-up a nut or bolt. I also like it over the rocker switch since it is similar to working a drill. The second big thing I liked about the wrench is the switch for switching between forward and reverse. Again, this is a directional switch similar to a drill. The last thing I liked about the kit is that it comes with a case and a few sockets. This may be minor, but being that I'm not using the tool all of the time, it's nice to have it nicely packed away and ready to grab when needed. The sockets only add to the value since these can get expensive. With the current $25 discount for purchases over $199, it only makes sense to spend a little more and get a lot more.

I'll be using it again for mounting a tow hitch and other general automotive work. Well worth buying.

I've owned an Occidental for almost three years now, and it shows almost no significant wear. I've never had a set of bags last more than a year and a half before, and those were falling apart at that. I've read reviews about other belts (bucket boss etc.), and they compare themselves to Occi by saying how much less they cost. This is TRULY a case of getting what you payed for. Yup, I swallowed hard when I plunked down for these, but I couldn't be more satisfied. A belt isn't too expensive at twice the cost, when it is sure to last five times as long.

Occidental tool pouches are number one in my book, As compared to craftsman and CLC. They are built to last. Their leather is professional grade, and can withstand a harsh beating without falling apart. Every set of occidental pouches are different, in the wearing of the leather. That means quality in my book, knowing that the leather has been hand stitched, and not some assembly line garbage. As compared with the competitors. This will be my second set of occidental pouches, and the first set lasted three years. When the competitors pouches lasted me a year,if that. Thank you occidental and I look forward to another 3 to 4 years with you around my waist for 8 hours a day.

I have been using this tool pouch for over six months now, and it has been great. I do home remodeling--framing to finish work-- and need a pouch with some versitility. The belt is comfortable even on those long days, with out any slipping. There is plenty of room for carrying all the basic tools and then some --I find myself periodically cleaning out my bags to reduce the weight.

A couple of things I would change:
-The knife holder is not really big enough for larger knives, like those from Stanley (knife doesn't seat fully in the holder) but I kind of like the way the knife stands up a little higher in my pouch.

-The cavernous main pouches (big enough to hold a couple tubes of caulk or a 12V drill with your basic tools) on either side can swallow tools, sometimes leaving you to fish for that set of pliers. A couple of additional loops on the inside of the main pockets for extra pliers or other tools would be nice.

These bags will make you the envy of the site, if only because you are the one to ask because you always have the right tools and more fasteners than everyone else(e.g., hammer tacker in the front loop and 8 coils of roofing nails in the pouches without dropping any basic tools) . Less trips the the truck mean more work done and more $$.

I've worn, and worn out, a lot of bags. They've all been leather - won't wear nylon bags - but nothing has stood up so heroically to the day-in/day-out work-site stresses like this set of bags. Logical placement of tool pouches, supple leather, comfortable belt - for what more could you ask? My only suggestion is a little more realism regarding sizing - I have a 38" waist and the Large, which they suggest should fit my size, doesn't. The XL is perfect however; take home message: if in doubt don't hesitate to order one size up. (Oh, and as to the suspenders, they're absolutely fantastic, or would be if they'd fit a 6'3" guy...One size fits most in this instance...Come on, Occidental, it would only take another inch or two of leather on those straps...)

We buy our tools for concrete construction and use corded rotary hammers on an almost daily basis for dowels and anchors as well as fastening bracing for stairs and tapcons for forming.
There was some reluctance spending ... [so much] for a cordless tool but we tested ours first at Berlands House of Tools here in the Chicago suburbs before purchasing.
The Panasonic performs as well as our corded Milwaukee SDS pistol grip hammer drill.
The battery life is long, about 100# 3/16" holes, 1 1/2" deep
or about 15# 5/8" holes for dowel rods.
Charging takes around 40 minutes or so.
The kit comes with 2 batteries, some of the competitors only provide 1. The charger also works with the smaller batteries on the other Panasonic tools.
The corded tools still have the edge but the gap is narrowing.
If you are looking to drill into concrete get an SDS, the bits are easy to find at Home Depot or Lowes and they outperform the regular chuck by a wide margin.
This drill isn't cheap, but the convenience it provides was worth the expense.
If you were to purchase one rotary hammer you would be happy with this one!

It's well known Panasonic manufactures high quality cordless tools but this rotary hammer is in a class by itself. Block walls aren't even a challange. Structural concrete is nearly as easy. This hammer's light weight and compact size allow it to fit where corded tools can't. Holes can be started with one hand--particularly useful when on a ladder and trying to drill from an awkward position. It isn't cheap, but when compared to a cordless Hilti rotary hammer, it's a bargin. If you work on construction sites before power is readily available, and you need to drill multiple holes (7/8" solid bit capacity), this is the tool for you. Mine has replaced all my corded and cordless hammer drills and rotary hammers (1" and under capacity) that I carried on the truck. Frequent uses are: rigging TV mounts, bolting data racks to walls and floors, hanging A/V components to structural concrete, attaching various brackets and speakers to block walls, drilling penetrations for conduit, etc.

If you invest in this tool, you'll be glad you did.

I have used many cordless drills and this one is by far the best. It has excellent power and battery life. I would highly recommend this tool to anyone.

I took a stab at panasonic cordless tools 3 years ago based soley on the nimh battery capassity.What i ended up with was a superior drill that lasts 6+ hours.I am a contractor and i have used this drill every day for the past three years ive owned it.Ive had to send my drill out for a tune up recently,(it diddnt break whatsoever)its nice having a drill that can be used on a daily basis for three years without a single issue. The battery charger it comes with is a fast 45 min charger, so your never without a uncharged battery(if you play your cards right). Now the downside, this drill is heavy but thats what you give up with an 18v drill that has to be understood i wouldnt buy this drill for its weight but if you want the best ,a heavy tool is what you end up with. If you want something lite get an inpact wrench.
In conclusion this drill i believe is the best out there for lite masonairy apps like tapcons,the torque is way overboard (it can tackle things most other drills cant like drilling through steel)so you dont have to think twice about corded tools across the jobsite, or out in the box truck.Even though this tool is heavy i still gave it five stars because to me its worth its weight in gold. Dan G, W.R.C CT.

I've used this set every day for over a month now, they are powerful and well built tools.
They run and feel like corded tools and the batteries last for days even with constant use.
I charge about every 2 or 3 days, a full charge takes less than an hour but the battery will recover in about 10 or 15 minutes so you can finish that last screw or cut.
The sawsall is a real Jewel with its quick release blade, the hammer drill just"WORKS", the saw rips plywood and hardwood with ease and the flashlight has never dimmed and run down on me.

Time to throw out your old cordless tools and replace them all with this superb set. I built a dog house the first week I had the set and used both saws and the drill. Went through one battery pack and maybe 10 minutes on the back-up battery, so there's a lot of charge in the batteries. And 18V gives you a lot of torque. The drill is the most impressive of the three basic tools (I don't really consider the flashlight to be one of the tools - they probably could have left that one out). The drill is even better than my corded Milwuakee 1/2" hammer drill, and that's saying a lot - it's soooo smooth. The circular saw has a lot of torque, but can still bind in situations when a corded saw probably wouldn't, but that's not really a fair comparison. I ripped through 24 ft of 1/2" ply with no real problem. The plastic carrying case is wonderful, and all of the tools are of very fine quality. My only hope is that Panasonic keeps making replacement batteries and doesn't leave me in the lurch with a non-supported discontinued battery (as did Hitachi and Makita). All of the tools are very well designed from an ergonomic standpoint, and the battery is not at all intrusive. It is an absolute joy to use these tools.