Core Drills Reviews

very strong great features and is made by major manufacturer under skil name a real good buy. I use it at work and home and beats the yellow brand which I use to swear by ...

I have been using this for about six months and have almost retired my 110v drill. With two batteries, I never get a break between jobs and this drill has power to spare. I have been putting up a wooden fence on top of a concrete block wall and this thing outperforms my expensive 110v B&D. After only three 3/8" x 2 1/4" deep holes in the concrete, the AC drill was getting hot. The Skil worked right through without a complaint. The Bosch masonry bit isn't bad either. Additionally, I was drilling 1/2" holes in redwood plate and 1/4" holes in eighth inch metal strap as part of the masonry drilling. When drilling the metal and the bit first pokes through, the drill almost torques out of your hand. I did three battery changes for a day's work. The batteries charge quickly but, as a hint, fully drain the battery before recharging and let it cool off before putting in the charger. This applies to all DC tool batteries. The on-board bit carrier isn't much of a feature but its there if you need it. The drill is lighter than most DC tools costing much more, is well balanced and, at the highest torque setting will drive 3 1/2" screws into studs without maxing the clutch.

I've been using supercheap 18-Volt drills (Power-Craft, Aerotec, etc.) that you can get on other sites for $30. After going through 3 of them, I finally decided to go with a name-brand. The difference in quality is unbelievable, and the price difference isn't that significant when you factor in the extra battery. I'm sure that Skil doen't even compare in quality to Dewalt, Milwalkie, and the other big "professional" names, but those names are twice as much, and for my purposes, this thing is perfect.

As is to be expected from BOSCH Manufacturing, their accessory products do not disappoint. Take your pick. One laborer with a cold chisel and lump hammer spending anywhere from 2 to 4 hours making a less than perfect hole in a solid concrete foundation wall, or 15 minutes with this bit at the end of an SDS-MAX Rotary Hammer drill. A perfect bore in a fraction of the time. These are tough bits to beat.

I have no idea how this unit will actually perform under real working conditions, since I just got it last night. The truth is, I won it in a raffle!

But I have over 30 years' experience working with all sorts of power tools, so I can say this drill looks like it will deliver. It appears to be very well made. Offhand, it looks indestructible, unless you dropped it 15 feet onto a concrete slab.

The controls are simple and very positive, i.e., you get a big "click" each time you move the switches for forward or reverse or high-speed, low-speed operation. You can probably run this tool wearing gloves with no problems.

A couple cool features: 1) The Jacobs Keyless Chuck is handy. I assume it will hold a bit just fine with only hand tightening; 2) There is a torque control feature that is set by simply rotating a barrel-like dial on the front of the unit. I have never used such a thing, but it seems like a good idea if you have ever countersunk a screw unintentionally or snapped the head off one. The torque control combined with the variable speed trigger should give you plenty of fine adjustment; 3) The unit has a built-in clutch mechanism when the maximum preset torque is reached. This clutch mechanism seems directly connected to the barrel dial for setting the torque. When you hit the maximum preset torque, the clutch slips, and the unit just chatters.

The sad thing is that I just finished siding my house last summer. I have no idea how many pilot holes I drilled and how many screws I drove. This cordless unit would have come in handy when working on a ladder.

[Note: If any of this review sounds dumb, remember I said this is my first cordless drill. I gave this drill five stars merely based on a visual inspection and a few holes I drilled into some pine. But it was a pine log for firewood, and the drill did rotate the entire log when the bit bottomed out!]

I drill over 50 holes a day and this is the only bit I have found that will last more then 3 weeks.

Prior to my actual purchase of this tool I did extensive research on other brands that were in the same price range and this one seemed to have better reviews along with better performance. In actual use it performed as expected especially in the hammer/drill mode in drilling holes in concrete. Very quick, smooth and little, if any vibration through the handle. In switching to the hammer only mode with a flat spade bit it did only an adequate job of breaking up concrete thus it is by no means a substitute for a true demolition hammer.

The one thing that I didn't appreciate is that Hitachi has too many models that appear to be very similar in appearance and in the same price range. It made it difficult to actually determine exactly which model I really wanted to purchase

The Milwaukke hawk is a great rotary hammer. It is light weight and easy on your hands when using it just about all day. This drill has lots of power and the power transfer from the drill to the bit is great hardly no effort to start a hole the bits do not walk. This is a GREAT drill for mid size hole.

In limited use, I have found this to be a great product. I have done some drilling and driving with it and it seems to be up to the task. The little light is an added bonus in those tight spots.

Drill endurance is terrible. 5 year old Panasonic 15.6 volt and 3 year old Ryobi 18 volt beat it up everyday. Protocol is 3 battery swaps in an 8 hour work day. It's only 6 months old. Bottom line, A RYOBI OUT-PERFORMS IT! My co-worker calls it a yellow Ryobi and laughs at me everytime it dies in action.
I will continue to use it because it cost 199 dollars and I cannot afford to try my luck with something else right now. Service center was dissapointing as there is no recourse for a sub par product. You live, you learn.

This is a very good product, and you can get it, along with any other products on Amazon up to $500 Free! Participate in this special promotion and get a free $500 Amazon Gift Card at this web site: awesomestufffree.com/amazon

I got this for my husband's birthday and he was thrilled. The first time he used it, he was helping our neighbor drill out some stumps and he said the torque was so strong it nearly ripped off his arm. (Slight exaggeration there, I hope.) Anyway. He loves it and highly recommends it.

I bought this drill to replace an older 12 volt DeWalt 945 drill. The older one still works, but batteries are very hard to find. This one's batteries are a joke. There is no trigger guard. This makes putting it in a nail belt interesting. To do any screw driving both batteries are needed to last almost as long as the one in the older DeWalt.
This is a very bad replacement for the 945. You will have to go to 18 or 24 volt to get the same performance.
In my opinion this is a toy designed for tightening screws around the house.

This is a 12v drill. and that is why I bought it so I would have a smaller lighter drill for those 75% of things that don't need a 18v brick. I have not had trouble with the batteries. But it is not made for doing rooms of drywall or decks. It has enough muscle for many common jobs and will drive a 3' screw with out much fuss. Great light weight drill As far as fussing about needing more torque, well get the right tool for the job. As far as temp of the batteries just let them cool before you recharge them. Do you need a charger to tell you this?

I have a bunch of drills and I find that the Dewalt 927 is the drill I grab. It is reasonably small,light,and powerful. It is meant for medium duty,not for big bits or big hole saws.
I also have Dewalts 9.6v 926, which is a few ounces lighter,but in my opinion,the 927 is a far superior drill. I like the ratcheting chuck,even though it has 2 sleeves.
For most people,a drill like the 927 is all the drill they will ever need.

The flashlight is okay (no diffuser for the beam), but the drill is crap. I bought it to get a new charger and two new batteries. If you have a good drill/driver and need some batteries and a charger, this is a good buy. I have a twenty year old Makita drill (jacob's chuck) that is better than the one in this "anniversary edition."

We've owned several of this type of Makita 9.6v cordless for as long as 20 years and aside from a few minor glitches from time to time they're all still running fine. The NiMi batteries are an improvement over the old NiCad. Since we own several of them we've stayed with the 9.6v so we never run out of batteries as well as the fact that their performance is more than adequate for most of our needs. Considering that you can buy this whole package for nearly the price of a pair of batteries, it makes it a no brainer. I needed more batteries so I just bought another package. If you're a first time buyer of Makitas, you might want to go for the other models that allow the convenience of standing the drills upright, are slightly more compact and have a more power if you need it.

I'm a general contractor and have owned Makita tools for a very long time. I still have the first cordless drill I ever purchased and its still working. This kit is great, up to date cordless drill with better batteries than before, holds the charge longer. The flashlight always comes in handy. I use these tools every day at work and home and wouldn't leave home without them.

Larry Hobson