Dewalt ?
 

I'm looking for a 1/2 inch 2 speed Hammer drill. Any suggestions on what brand, sears, dewalt, bosch?

I've had nothing but good luck with any of my dewalt tools.

I've never owned anything else, never had one fail yet. I've got 2 12 volters, and an 18 volt set. They do nothing but work, and I use them every day.

I work at Tractor Supply Co and we sell a lot of Dewalt tools. I used to think people were just paying for the name, but over the years I've come to realize that Dewalt really does have a superior product that is worth the extra money.

The Dewalt cordless 1/2" drills we had (past tense) at work had plastic gears that couldn't hold up.
Milwaukee has good stuff, I dont know if they have hammer drills, but most likely they have.

I've got 5 12volt dewalts, and 2 18v sets. I haven't had any problems, and the hammer drill works great.

Coop

I have been loyal to DeWalt for ever but it seems that many guys on the construction and tower climbing side of my business are switching to Rigid and swearing by them. They consider the DeWalt junk in comparison.


BTW DeWalt is going to release 36v tools this year.

IMO milwaukee is a very good drill

We have DeWalt and Milwaukee tools. Both are great. We do have exactly what you are talking about in the 110v, 2 Speed, Hammer in the Milwaukee. It is a beast.

we have a custum home and carpentry business and we have had to drill through 200 yr. old beams and sills and anyone who has done this knows how hard it is to do and how long it can take. we use DeWalt and Milwaukee and you cant stop either. we also have an old bosch (over ten yrs) and that still has good power and it isnt in that good of shape either.

i wouldnt recomend craftsmen unless your not going to do to much with it.
i dont know if your looking for bat. or elec. but we have a bat.(19.0V) and its only a year old and already had to buy a trigger for so in the mean time you have to buy another drill till they get it to you 'cause you have to order everything online.....we bought a DeWalt.......

I have a woodworking shop and have a mixture of Dewalt, Milwaukee, and Bosch. You can't go wrong with any of those 3. Delta and Panasonic are also highly rated.

Anymore,the Craftsman brand is 1 step above junk ... but you get what you pay for. They are cheaper and last accordingly. One other problem with Craftsman is a lot of their power tools are made by Ryobi and don't meet the same standards as industry norms. For example, their 4" belt sander uses a 3" shorter belt that anything else on the market ... guess where you have to buy belts! Their routers do not use the standard size guide bushes or router bases. By standard I mean you can take a Porter, Dewalt, Delta, or any other router beside Craftsman or Ryobi and use the same base plates and guide bushes.

15 years ago I wouldn't buy anything but Craftsman. But not anymore. Last year my tools were at a work site and I desperately needed a cordless drill so went to Sears and bought their 19V version. Used it on and off for a while and then dropped it from the top of a 6 foot ladder. Haven't been able to use it sense that time. Drop a DeWalt, my personal favorite, and it will still be working. Of course that is a $200 drill versus $60.

Mu .02.

my suggestion is Milwaukee or Rigid

I've got a 1/2" Craftsman 2 speed, cord model hammer drill. It works all right but it gets limited use. I lent it to a co-worker once that used it to drill 1/2" holes through some 30 yr old concrete without a pilot hole. He brings it back saying it was leaking grease out of the gearbox. The freakin' moron over-heated it but it didn't seem to harm it any.
If I had to rely on it to make a living, I wouldn't buy a Craftsman drill. My Dewalt and Makita drills just seem to be better made. My electrician and contractor buds both talked me into getting a 3/8" 9.6V Makita. Absolutely no regrets on that purchase. Makita has been making them forever and hasn't changed a thing on them.

Metabo tools http://www.metabousa.com/ , might be overkill, but my dad has been using them for years in the high school weld shop and they hold up very well to those little chuckleheads.

We have both Metabo and a Dewalt hammer drill at home, the Dewalt hasn't been used alot yet, but the Metabo has been around for years, I remember him using it when I was a little kid and that was probably almost 20 years now.

But again there's nothing wrong with the Dewalt's or the Milwaukee hammer drills.

Dewalt
 

I loved my Dewalt drill. When the battery went south after a couple of years I tried to buy a replacement. None available. I called the company and they said that model was discontinued. Batteries Plus couldn't re-cell the old one. Needing one in a hurry, I picked up a Craftsman that I've had for a lot longer, and even got a replacement battery. I'm still aggravated by Dewalt over that.

I have burned up a 110v dewalt drill, but it was my fault. I liked it enuff to buy a replacement. Milwaukee is nice, but a few dollars more. I wouldn't trade my Milwaukee saw for anything. Makita makes good stuff as mentioned. ANother for dewalt is my sawz-all I abuse the heck out of. I cut heavy steel and wood, without a hickup. A word to the wise, stay away from craftsman sawz-all blades too. The only thing by rigid I own is a nice shop vac, been looking at thier table saw, unless I got with a delta. Oh, stay away from the black and decker (although they own Dewalt or something) hammer drill. Mine is worthless.

I currently own a makita which i needed to buy batteries. 100.00 for 2 new batteries another 40.00 could of purchased a new drill with 2 new batteries. WQhat would i do with my old drill so i purchased only the batteries.

At the home depot i seen that rigid has a lifetime warranty on batteries with replacement. You can't beat that. I'm just not sure how good rigid is.

Well I couldn't find a Dewalt hammer instock anywhere so wound up with the Milwaukee 110V 2 speed hammer drill for $139. The price was comparable to the Dewalts and seems to be built pretty well. I'll put it to the test this weekend when I drill 1.5" holes in railroad crossties :)

What kind of bit? Forstner or auger? I use a 2" forstner for mortise and tenons joints for the log furniture I started playing around with. No hammer action though.

I once dropped my dewalt drill 28 FEET onto concrete [eyecrazy] Knock the battery out, split the handle, stripped the screws in the handle, and dislodged the trigger ...Took it apart, glued the handle back, and its worked great ever since....

We use all Milwaukee and Dewalt with our rescue equipment....

my 110v stuff is all Milwaukee... my cordless stuff is all Makita...

Rigid is the best bang for the buck IMHO

We use the 18V dewalt for our cordless stuff, and we now have a 4 1/2" and 7" angle grinders (7" is a mean son of a gun) and a sawzall in 110V. I bought dad a 1/2'' drive 18V impact for christmas, that thing is just plain awesome!! Takes lug nuts off like they ain't hardly there.

dewalt rattle guns are the biggest piece of cattle dung on the market. its not the rattle gun itself but the cheap piece of chinese steel on the end of it. i tore up 2 new ones in an hour. other than that the other tools are great. bosch makes a good hammer-drill thats lite and easy to work with even overhead. will not recommend dewalt rattle guns. [nonono]