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  • Light/Med Duty cordless drill

    Sears has a Craftsman 14.4V cordless drill (keyless chuck, adjustable clutch, & LED-lit "target" area) with a flashlight, 2 batteries, charger, & carrying case on sale for $48 (original price is $63). Not a bad deal if you're in the market for a decent light/medium duty drill, I think. Sale ends on May 5th. The drill alone is on sale for $45. Spend $3 more and get a few extras.

    The charging curcuit in my 10-year old 7.2V (weak) cordless drill battery cooked itself. A new battery for it is $30 (the charging circuit is built into the battery), and only available online. Spent an extra $20 and hooked myself up.
    Chris

  • #2
    Re: Light/Med Duty cordless drill

    Thanks for the heads-up - I've been spoiled using Jeremy's cordless drill at the autocross events - I'm gonna go pick one up. I got a 60gall air compressor and air tools, but I've never ever owned a *cordless* drill in all my life!
    Toth: "I would sue Duck, but I don't know what I would do with 3 pennies and a hoopty GTO."
    Me: "I never finish anyth..."

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    • #3
      Re: Light/Med Duty cordless drill

      Does this one have the adjustable clutch?

      I noticed recently that Sears has dumbed down their basic line of Craftsman cordless drills. They now have a lower end model (sounds like that one) without a adjustable clutch, but added the LED and kept the old price levels. The clutch is a cricial part for many jobs thrown at a cordless drill...

      Recently I noticed that there is a new "professional" line of Craftsman cordless drills that DOES have the clutch, and it's of course a good bit more money. The new "pro" drill line is sold separately... the drill is one part, the battery and charger is another part, another cordless tool (like a circular saw) using the same battery is another, etc. It's a neat way to sell cordless items, and keeps you from having 5 chargers from 5 cordless tools, but you end up spending more money to get the same cordless tools with a like number of batteries, compared to how they were sold 6 months ago before this "pro" line business. I guess if you don't need 1-2 batteries for each tool, and you were happy to use the same voltage for every cordless toll you bought...

      I am switching to Dewalt for our work tool sets. I bought 6 sets of Craftsman 12V cordless drills in the past 2 years and the batteries didn't last more than about 6-8 months of periodic field use. They were cheap, at $40-50 (on sale for $40) for a 12V clutched drill with 2 batteries and a charger, but the batteries just crapped out too quickly and several of the drill bodies or handles are loose. I found 12V Dewalts for $99 with 2 batteries (usually $119), and you can find replacement batteries anywhere (but they are like $50 each).

      edit: For occasional use, these Craftsman drills are probably fine, and are generally better than the lower end brands like Ryobi and Black&Decker. Don't kid yourself into thinking that not having a clutch is no big deal. This may bug you when zipping lugs on and off. Don't leave the batteries on the chargers for extended periods, either, unless they have "smart" chargers that can go into trickle mode (like the expensive drill sets do - Dewalt, Milwalkee, Bosch, etc).
      Last edited by Fair!; 05-01-2006, 07:05 PM.
      Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
      2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
      EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

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      • #4
        Re: Light/Med Duty cordless drill

        So assuming I have the money (which I don't this second), what should I buy for taking lugs off at the track? The $99 Dewalt?
        -Sean Martin
        2009 Pontiac G8 GT

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        • #5
          Re: Light/Med Duty cordless drill

          *The following has been edited for content and time-compressed*

          Originally posted by Fair!
          Does this one have the adjustable clutch?
          Yes, it ias a 24-position adjustable clutch.

          Originally posted by Fair!
          edit: For occasional use, these Craftsman drills are probably fine, and are generally better than the lower end brands like Ryobi and Black&Decker....
          Exactly why I called it a "light/medium duty" drill. And I agree, Ryobi is garbage. One of the techs at work was forced to buy one when his really old DeWalt crapped out. It was teh suck!
          We use DeWalt drills at work, but they're used to run self-tapping screws, or drill, into into steel cabinets & air handlers all day long. I wouldn't dream of doing that with my little Craftsman.
          Chris

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          • #6
            Re: Light/Med Duty cordless drill

            Personally, I like Makita drills. All of the techs here at the dealership use the 12.5v religiously and have very little trouble out of them. The batteries seem to last a long time too, even without properly draining them completely before recharge. I bought mine on sale at Sears for $114.
            Jason Newman,
            2005 Mustang GT
            1995 Mustang GT 5.0
            York Pump & Equipment, a DXP Company

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            • #7
              Re: Light/Med Duty cordless drill

              Originally posted by Redwood
              So assuming I have the money (which I don't this second), what should I buy for taking lugs off at the track? The $99 Dewalt?
              The 14.4 jobber will be more than enough. I bent several socket adapters with my 14.4 doing wheels and letting it "hit" to start the snug process.

              All you have to do is break the lug loose. The 7.2v pimpy hand drill/driver I got at the gift exchange would then be plenty to undo/redo them at that point. snug with a torque wrench and work your way around it clicks.

              Harbor Freight often has their 12-18v drills on sale for $20-$30. I'd go for the Craftsman $50 deal to get 2 batts and a charger and a sak.

              If your lugs are trashed, you might need more oomph to turn the lugs but I think you sold the C******, right?
              "When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic." - Benjamin Franklin
              http://www.duckfest.net

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              • #8
                Re: Light/Med Duty cordless drill

                Got one yesterday during lunch and now I can see why women shop during lunch. No less than 3 Sears people asking if I needed any help.

                The last person was this 70-80 year old lady and she answered some of my questions and pointed to where they were and helped me find a 3/8" socket adapter for it.

                THEN, she grabbed the drill and proceeded to carry it to the counter about 10 yards away, I was like, nonono I'll get it, I'll get it..but she insisted...so I didn't argue further as to not insult her physical ability. I felt a little bad walking next to her while she's carrying this drill with a good size carrying case! :O hehehe

                This'll be part of my auto-x/time trial arsenal and a standing flashlight can always come in handy for when it's late at night........ and there's wolves!!!!!!!
                Toth: "I would sue Duck, but I don't know what I would do with 3 pennies and a hoopty GTO."
                Me: "I never finish anyth..."

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                • #9
                  Re: Light/Med Duty cordless drill

                  Originally posted by Dean!
                  THEN, she grabbed the drill and proceeded to carry it to the counter about 10 yards away, I was like, nonono I'll get it, I'll get it..but she insisted...so I didn't argue further as to not insult her physical ability. I felt a little bad walking next to her while she's carrying this drill with a good size carrying case! :O hehehe
                  She wasn't being helpful, she was being careful. You're a shiftly looking character and she didn't want that drill walking off, buddy!
                  "When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic." - Benjamin Franklin
                  http://www.duckfest.net

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