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I often overtax a tool to test its limits.This tool is a light to medium duty drill. The speed is controlled by a dial, not the trigger.( in hindsight I might have bought this drill instead of the makita) 5 year warranty.4) Milwaukee- Bad rep for weak geartrains.5) Dewalt DW160- No reverse. 4 amps) Has a side handle, but other peoples reviews complained of the slide type switch. It is a 4 amp 3/8ths drill-Much like other 3/8ths drills, I found this drill to be right at home drilling holes that were under an inch in diameter using standard twist bits or paddle bits for boring larger holes. Putting the switch up by the front might have allowed the user to manipulate direction with a thumb.If you are driving screws with this drill, I would recomend predrilling as I foud it difficult to get pressure behind the drill as easily as a standard pistol grip drill.I would have liked to have seen this drill come with a case. It is not a hole hawg or Timberwolf.
Cannot back out a stuck bit.All in all I am happy with the purchase. 3/8th right angle drills or compact drills if you will are misunderstood tools. They are often put to use on jobs the manufacturer never intended them for. The drill has variable speeds of 0-2400 that can be varied by setting a maximum speed control dial on the trigger, or just varying the amount of pressure on the trigger.This drill is reversible, but I found that the reversing switch placement at the rear of the tool made it difficult to access during use.
the chuck grips tight when all 3 holes of the chuck body are tightened with the supplied key.( there is even a holder for the key on the cord)There is an LED light that illuminates the work area when the bar trigger is depressed that is slick for when you are working in a dark area with little ambient lighting. The chuck is a keyed design that requires use of a key to tighten the bit. There are no bits either, if you were wondering. The heating up is something I will have to watch out for and I will update if it leads to tool failure
The side handle screws into either end of the head of the drill.In my decision to buy a compact 3/8 drill, I considered:1) Dewalt 18 volt DW960- Bought it and found when pushed too hard it grenades the gears.2) Bosch 1132 Compact drill- very similar to the makita, but no side handle and a slight bit less compact.3) Hitachi D10yb- Again, similar to the Makita, actually has a bit more power(4.6 amps vs. Under extended heavy useage I found the drill got very hot. You get a cardboard box and a side handle with this tool. I am just as guilty as the next guy of this.
At 200 dollars, that is a feature many look for in a tool purchase. The drill itself is a nice piece of engineering- The head of the drill is only 2&5/8 inches wide, allowing you to get into some tight spots. It will not be able to run augerbits and self feed bits like those drills. But I was pushing it pretty hard by making 3/4 inch holes to run romex through multiple studs.
The Makita is light, easy to handle and the controls are intuitive and simple to adjust. You simply press start, which switches on the light, identify the screw head, and bingo, out comes the screw. I am pleased with this powered version because my several cordless drills are constantly running out of power and I won't have to worry about that with this Makita. I just used my Makita for the first time for disassembling a number of basement storage shelves to move to a new house. Some of the shelves were in dark unlighted lockers and the Makita LED light made a difficult job easy.
The only improvement needed would be a compact Keyless Chuck. Great Tool. Lightweight, compact, totally functional.
As it is, one has to use the chuck key which takes a while, and furthermore the use of the chuck key tends to result in the spindle turning and the chuck key hitting the housing that the LED is mounted into. No big deal, just squeeze the trigger a little more -- but a slight increase in trigger squeeze results in the drill speed jumping to full rated RPM - which causes one to either overdrive the screw, or to twist off the head. If a knurled ring were installed such that one could grip the chuck barrel by hand, one could hand tighten the chuck onto a drill most of the way. The speed control seems to be a two-stage affair - a slow speed low torque range for driving screws (nominally) and another full speed range with high torque for drilling.
I bought this drill for two things: drilling and driving wood screws. In any case, the mounting of tools in the chuck could be improved. Some drill press chucks have this feature. The Makita does not do a good job driving screws because it lacks the speed control necessary for such work.
The transition between the two is very abrupt.I also found the drill's chuck to be clumsy to operate. The lack of a case to store a $200 investment is unfortunate.I liked the removable handle, the very nice fit and finish of the drill, and the generous electrical cord length. When driving a 3" screw into a predrilled hole in douglas-fir, the drill will torque stall with the screw driven about 2/3 of the way home. Either result is not acceptable.
The LED light is very useful and the switch lever works well. The result is that you can strip the screw pretty easily. I thought it would be awkward when in use.
These right angle drills are harder to use when installing screws. You must use more caution, proceed slowly and make sure you don't have a worn bit to get the best results. The small head means it is easier to get "off center" with the screw versus using a standard drill.
I had purchased the Dewalt equivalent but did not like the way the switch worked. One caution. Once you master its use, it will go places no regular drill can touch.
The Makita will fit into a narrower space than the Dewalt. This drill has tons of power even at low rpm.
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