I was at the orange store the other day and was seized with tool lust for a Makita 18v drill with the lithium ion battery.

I'm in the market for some cordless tools, and as you know, buying one sort of commits you to the whole line, whether Bosch or DeWalt or Makita or whatever. Sounds like the Lithium Ion technology is a bit better (power/weight ratio) than NiMh and NiCad technologies.

This seemed like a really nice drill with lotsa torque and good balance.

Anybody have any experience with the other Makita tools in this line?

If you were starting out buying a set of cordless tools today, what would you go with? I'll be using them over the next several months as we redo a kitchen.

I don't mind paying $$$ if it's a good value for the dollar spent, but I don't want to buy a rolls royce when a honda would do.

I'm of the "right tool for the job" mindset -- I don't see much sense lugging around an 18v drill when a 9.6v will do. But I also get to deduct tools on my taxes.

The best approach, rather than buying some "set" of tools is to determine exactly what you're needs are and then buy the tools that meet those needs. Maybe that's a set, maybe not.

Mike

chris

The drill is smaller and lighter than my old 12v drill, yet has much more power. I think it was a great buy. Also, if I buy any tools that use the 3.0 Ah 18v batteries, they also work in this drill.

If you are using NiCad stuff, you may want a 9.6 and an 18 for different uses. But with this drill, I don't see the need for two.

Gemfire

Rockwell sold the tool divisions and they had to be renamed. B&D picked it up, renamed it Dewault (after purchasing the radial arm saw company and shutting it down) and have proceeded to do about the same thing as they did to their original name.
Rockwell also sold other tool lines to Pentair, and Delta & Porter-Cable came back to life.
Pentair has now sold off the lines again, and B&D picked up Porter-Cable and Delta.
Look for those lines to head for the dirt pretty quickly.
Porter-Cable had already stated to produce a separate line of 'homeowner' tools at a lower price that had started to spoil the name.
The homeowner market is viewed as larger than the professional market, and since any business not growing in market share is a failure out comes the cheaper junk.
Delta has a line of stationary tools (like the portable planers) made overseas now. The large industrials are still OK, but expect cost cutting even on those to catch up.

A motor for a Rockwell/Delta Unisaw runs a couple hundred $$. Baldor made them for many years.
You can purchase a homeowner tool for the price of one of these motors.
B&D will probably decide it is not worth the capital they have tied up to continue supplying the industrial tools and lower the quality and price in a run for more market share.
Luckily most of these tools last darn near forever (some new bearings once in a while, and maybe a motor) so at least the existing ones will still be floating around.
A Unisaw still runs $1000-$1500 depending on motor type and options, so they have never been a typical homeowner tool, but the quality is outstanding.
The import tools still cannot get there, but the $500 price tag for a 10 inch cabinet saw attracts a lot of buyers.

I have some Paslode nailers that run on butane, but those are the only cordless tools.
The battery ones just do not have the long term durability in heavy use even though batteries have gotten better than the old nickel cadmiums.
Chuck quality remains pretty poor, and the added weight of the batteries does nothing to improve handling.

Makita stuff is OK.
Their drills tend to have poor chucks, but for homeowner use they are a decent choice.

I have Porter-Cable tools that predate their purchase by Rockwell. Still going strong after over 60 years.
There are only a few companies that are making anything that good anymore.
The worm drive circular saws might go that long, but not the ones with plastic motor cases.
They routinely run ~$200. A little high for an occasional weekend job.