Drills Reviews

Great saw, great service, great price. Couldn't have found a better deal anywhere, and couldn't have found a better saw. The tremendous service and delivery from the Amazon.com people is unbelievable.

I have the entire 24V kit, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I like the AC/DC converter feature, so that when the uncommon dead battery situation happens, you're not left without power. DeWalt: How about a 24V jig saw, plate jointer, miter saw and handheld planer? I'll buy them whenever they come out.

I cut a 3.5" solid hardened steel blower shaft in half with this saw with one blade, faster than if I hauled a oxy/act rig up to the roof, or ran around trying to tap off power somewhere for a corded saw. This saw never stalled once and still had plenty of power left in it. This is one heck of a time and energy saver for me. Believe it from me, I'm a Commercial Air Conditioning Repairman.

First let me say that 97% of my portable electric tools and air staplers/nailers are from Porter Cable. They and Delta remain my standards for comparison. I broke my old PC 348 jigsaw and nearly cried when I was told that most critical parts are no longer availabe. But then, I purchased it back in the late 70's so it has been a true workhorse. So what to replace it with? After much research and hands on at various tool stores I settled on the DeWalt DW331 and let me tell you that this is one fine machine in every way and that the yellow D can be very proud of this product. I rate it a full 10. Wonder if I can get 20+ years out of this one - I think perhaps. Best feature - the ability to flush cut to the wall. WOW!! The vibration is minimal, the adjustments are rock solid, the grip is as good as gets for a top handle, and jeesh there is gobs of power. Buy this one if you want to own the current standard for corded jigsaws. Oh, the yellow means it can't hide in the pile - it's like its saying "I'm over here, silly".

Over the years, I have used jig's from others companies, and by far this is a sweet saw, the blade changer is great. and it just flows thur wood. I would buy another, and wonder why it took me so long to buy this one.

I work in a car audio install bay. We use and abuse a jig saw on a daily basis. I bought this Dewalt to replace a Bosch that our shop has used for years. The Dewalt outperforms any other jig saw that we've used in our shop. A+

I bought this unit to get into a small space in the rear of my engine compartment and it fit the bill. I was drilling out some broken bolts in an exhaust manifold. Using the diamond point tool and the tungsten carbide bit I was able to dimple the bolt enough to use a right angle Ryobi cordless to do the real drilling. Be careful using real drills as the speed is excessive to drill in steel. Cutting using drills in steel requires much slower speeds, and while the Dremel can go slower, it does not develop enough torque at those settings. Be sure to use the collar lock in the attachment and not the spindle lock in the Dremel tool itself or it will break the internal shaft.

I also used it for cutting off the stub of the bolt, and found the right angle attachment allowed me into spaces that the tool would not go otherwise.

All-in-all a good Dremel attachment but with the same limitations of the basic tool. Use for smaller jobs.

The attachment is great. I use my Dremel with it on more than off. It makes the job easier.
You can get it for $19.99 at The Home Depot. Call Amazon before you order and they will lower their price.

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This should prove to be a first class item. When working in cramped areas this is better then the Flex Shaft since you can get the whole tool in where you need it. Plus the quick installation is so useful.

I recently compared the Energizer with the Duracell Ultra which is more or less in the same price class. We are busy developing a new electronic gadget for monitoring pressure of truck tyres. I connected both the Energizer and the Duracell Ultra to a 1.64mA constant resistance load. I found that the Energizer was behind the Duracell all the way on my Voltage-Time graphs. I found it interesting to see that the Energizer tend to loose more power under low temperatures (zero degrees Celcius), but tend to stay near the Duracell in near room temperatures. Well thats my remark. I only want to say this, its after all not a bad buy...

who would right a review about batteries well i think that energizers are better than so and so who cares about batteries by the way i like energizer batteries

I have to say... Isn't it rather strange to review batteries? But hey, here I am, reviewing the batteries. They're, well, batteries. Put them on your tongue, and they tingle. If you throw them in water, ... well, just don't do that. But, um, well, uh, they're...Energizer batteries! Yeah, buy some today...I think.

I purchased this drill to help build my new home and it has been a real work horse. Forget about the half inch drill, when you want to go through wood, this is the real thing. Throw a self feeding bit on the front and hold on tight. This cuts holes as big as you want fast. Just pray that your dentist never gets ahold of one of these....

As a plumbing contractor for 25 years we started using this model when it first came out in the early 80's. Compact, quick and powerful. We tried the makita copy of the milwaukee when it came out in the late 80's but it had a clutch that activated too easily, so you couldn't finish a tough hole with it. Very frustrating with the Makita. the Milwaukee has no clutch so you have to be careful about the torque. We throw away both the t handle and pipe handle extensions as we have never used them. The trick to controlling the torque is to snuggle up to the drill and keep it close to your body. That way if it jams your body soaks up the torque not just your arms. Also, we drill large holes [toilet flanges etc.] on high speed using hole saws. The drill has less torgue to whack you with at high speed. We wear them out mostly drilling toilet flanges when they jam on deep cuts, resulting in gear rebuilds, but it takes several years of brutal use to get to that point. very compact for the power.

I have used these drills for over 15 years installing plumbing in new construction and have tried just about every other type and brand of drill. None of them comes close to the "Hole Hawg". Beware that this drill is very powerful and should be operated with extreme caution.

The 1/2 inch bit blunted on the first use while trying to make it through an inch of maple. Not a little bit blunted, but to the point where I discarded the bit - all the edges were absolutely round. Go for carbide. - revised 3/8/02 - I was running the damn thing backwards in the drill, and burned it! Stupid move. However, I'd still recommend carbide. HSS bits can lose temper, carbide - not so much. These bad boys can get pretty hot in a drill press, and if you turn 'em blue, you burned it.

I HAVE USED THE BITS ON ALL KINDS OF WOOD AND THEY MAKE A VERY CLEAN HOLE FROM THE CUT AT THE TOP OF THE HOLE TO THE BOTTOM AND THE SIZE RANGE IT PERFECT. THE DIAMETER OF THE CUT IS ALSO GREAT.

I'm not really sure what foozleface was talking about. I had a project where I needed to bore a 3/4" hole through the end-grain of hard maple, which is significantly harder on a bit than edge grain. Upon the recommendation of a 30-year master woodworker, I purchased the Freud forstner bits. He told me that Freud was the best and I haven't been able to prove him wrong. I drilled through that maple like butter. Freud sold me.

We bought our 3 year old one of those inflateable "fun center" pools, and within an hour one of accessory pieces ripped. We left it set up over night and an animal punctured a hole in it, so we now have a bunch useless pool accessories. In putting them away in our garden shed, my husband discovered this snapset pool, left behind by the previous owner. We set it up, filled it with water and were happily surprised at our unexpected find. Not only is it more durable than the inflateable pool, but much easier and faster to empty. Since you don't have to keep deflating and re-inflating it, changing the water each day isn't a big hassel. The added bonus is that it folds up for easy storage and doesn't take up a lot of room. The pool needs to be filled up to capacity to keep it sturdy, and the sides of the pool are a little too high for small kids to climb into by themselves, which is good. For this reason children under 3 cannot get in and out of the pool on their own and should NOT be left unattended in it. Its big enough for several kids to play in at once, and deep enough for Mom and Dad to relax in after the little ones have gone to bed. Throw in some effervescent bath tablets and you have yourself a nice little hot tub!

Good value, very durable, much better than those inflatable pools. We purchased our first one when our children were 1 and 3. Now they are 9, 7, and 3, and they still have fun in it. I seem to remember a pool cover sized just for this pool, but I haven't seen one in a while. It was nice to keep the leaves and bugs out of it overnight.

We have bought our daugeter one of these pools for the last 4 years (shes 4 now). These pools are nice because they ar enot too difficult to put up and when summer is over they can be easily thrown away. they are not so [costly] that it is a big loss to buy one each year. We rent our home and cannot build a pool and it is not feasible for ust to set up a bigger pool at this point. Our daughter and her 4 cousins can play in this pool with plenty of room. Its not so deep that she must wear floaties, but i do advist that you watch your child because it is dep enough to cause problems if your child is not closely supervised...

it's one of the best instrument I bought and plety of use

Pretty cool tool, and a lot handier than the conventional rafter square, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't have and use both. Out of the box it needs some attention with a smooth file to tame the sharp edges, but that is perhaps just this particular speciman. Recommended.

jb

I like this large version even better than the small one I had used previously. It is better as a saw guide and for doing layout work. There are a series of notches that allow you to firmly seat a pencil as you drag the square along a board, using it as a marking guage. This is great for laying out rip cuts - pencil doesn't blow away like a chalk line when your saw blade is spinning. There are scales on both sides of the square for rafter angles. This tool works great on larger 2x lumber, without being as bulky as a 16" x 24" framing square.

Buy it, you'll like it!

Great size and light power..I use flashlights for work and this 3 C battery model has been my favorite for years.

Mag lite flashlights to me are the best that are on the market today for the money. This 3 "C" cell flashlight is alot more lightweight than its heavier counterparts and is very bright, don't let its size fool you this is a very powerful flashlight and it is also constructed from high quality aircraft aluminum and is waterproof. I give it my full endorsement to anyone who is interested.

I keep one of these flashlights in both of my vehicles. They provide a lot of light from a fairly small package. Buying the "C" battery version allows you all of the benefits of a Maglight - brightness, durability, etc. but its light weight makes it less cumbersome to carry. You won't find a better flashlight that this.

I've had this tool for five years now.

Everything still works like new, though I'm wondering if the batteries might be loosing their charge a little quicker... probably not, I'm just using them more.

Anyhow, I just purchased the 14.4v set to compliment this old tool so my staff doesn't have to fight over the one Makita.

As a professional contractor, I've used it bore 1" holes through studs to run electrical, drive deck screws, and even to assemble corporate cube-land (where you don't want to be rounding out Phillips screws!

Either I've been real lucky with Makita's products, or the just make quality stuff - you judge.

the only reason I hesitate giving this a 5 star is because the batteries don't last forever. But I've had this for the last 6 years or so, and I love it. I only use it occasionally for light work around the house - I imagine if I was constantly remodeling my house, then I'd need something with a touch more power or battery life. I am certainly keeping this until it dies, and don't expect to replace it any time soon (I'm just visiting this page to say I own it and like it, so I can get recommendations in hardware). The version I bought came with 2 batteries.

When I hired on with an elite interior trim company some years back, I asked what was the first tool I should buy. My foreman told me to get a cordless drill, because all the drills on the crew were so busy that my chances of borrowing one were next to nothing. As a framer I had seen Makita drills keep going thru years of hideous abuse (the 9.6 types are incredibly robust). Anyway I went with a Makita 12 volt. I'll stick with Makita, but I've tried most others and like Panasonic and Millwaukee as well.