[Amrik Singh]

I have a Bosch Hammer Drill, Made in Sweden, which I had brought from abroad in 1984. Quite heavy and Powerful. Then I have lighter Black & Decker that I brought back home from Dubai. I have used this one extensively without any problem. Now, I needed to Driil / Screw into steel sections - have bought a Bosch exclusively for this purpose only.

[Yieldway17]

Originally Posted by Indian2003

Dont. You seem very insecure about drilling those holes. You just bought the drill and dont know how to use it.
The consequences are just too big if you damage something. You might be looking at big bills.
I would get a professional to do that for you.

I have drilled on spare cinder blocks for learning and couple of 100% sure spots to hang couple of things. I do get nervous around electrical points and potential water pipelines.

The professionals I have hired so far either knew my houses construction plan very well to know all the conduits and pipelines or they just take a guess work. I have been always unsatisfied with the ‘professionals’ sent out by appliance companies and I try to DIY pretty much most things as I don’t trust them very much at all.

[Amrik Singh]

Originally Posted by Yieldway17

I have been always unsatisfied with the ‘professionals’ sent out by appliance companies and I try to DIY pretty much most things as I don’t trust them very much at all.

As a Thumb Rule, I avoid all horizontal runs along wall fixtures like Lights and vertical drops to Switch / Sockets and water Fixtures. Electrical Conduits and Water Pipes are mostly laid vertical or Horizontal. (Pex Pipes are an exception)

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by Amrik Singh

You mentioned the minimum a Drill Machine must have.
Important is the Chuck size - 10 mm or 13 mm Dia ?
Does it have speed controller to be used as Screw / Unscrew mode ?
Bosch, I suppose has a good service back up.

Yes, a bigger chuck size is usually better, but that largely depends on what bits one wants to use.

For simple drilling application, 10mm might suffice, too. 13mm is usually needed for non drilling attachments, like a sanding pad maybe.

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by Yieldway17

I have drilled on spare cinder blocks for learning and couple of 100% sure spots to hang couple of things. I do get nervous around electrical points and potential water pipelines.

The professionals I have hired so far either knew my houses construction plan very well to know all the conduits and pipelines or they just take a guess work. I have been always unsatisfied with the ‘professionals’ sent out by appliance companies and I try to DIY pretty much most things as I don’t trust them very much at all.

As most others have said, common sense should help. Try to visualize the wiring to ensure you try the best to steer clear of the horizontal and vertical wiring.

Also most importantly before drilling, mark the centre point by some sharp tool. An automatic centre punch is the best, but any sharp object would do: a screw, a nail, tip of a knife, anything. Scour a tiny dot on the surface first, and then the drill bit can rest in that and drill away. Don't rely on markings alone.

[Amrik Singh]

Originally Posted by honeybee

Yes, a bigger chuck size is usually better, but that largely depends on what bits one wants to use.

For simple drilling application, 10mm might suffice, too. 13mm is usually needed for non drilling attachments, like a sanding pad maybe.

For drilling into soft material and a good control over drill, i have used 18mm drill with its end turned to 13mm on a Lathe. Of course pre drilled with lower sized Bits.

Real DIY for professionals only.

[Aroy]

Each material has different hardness and the chips formed while drilling are also of different size.

The reason for different drill bits for different materials is as follows

1. Wood and Plastic are soft, so the bit material is just hardened steel. Further the sides of the drill bit that eject the chips are quite wide so that the bit does not clog.

2. Steel is quite hard and the bits are made of High Speed Steel that can drill through steel with less effort. The tips are ground at different angle from wood/plastic bits. You can use these bits for wood/plastic but they will clog up very soon. In fact if the bit heats up while drilling wood/plastic will bond very tightly to the bit and you have a laborious clean up staring at you.

3. Masonry bits are carbide tipped. That is one of the hardest material after diamond. The drill bits are only tipped with a carbide piece.

3. Stone can be a challenge even using carbide tipped bits, hence diamond coated drills are used to cut faster.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Aroy

2. Steel is quite hard and the bits are made of High Speed Steel that can drill through steel with less effort. The tips are ground at different angle from wood/plastic bits. You can use these bits for wood/plastic but they will clog up very soon.

I never had this problem. I never had it when drilling soft(er) non-ferrous metals either.

Not denying that there is a specialist drill for every application (every application: there is a wondrous variety available!) but suggesting that, for the irregular DIYer, a box of HSS drills will get through anything they'd want to drill other than masonry.

I'd suggest (just to avoid the would pun!) a set of spade drills for holes in wood larger than 1/4-inch or so. But the cheap ones are horrific... Speaking of my experience of a "Bosch" set of assorted drills brought here a while back. Bosch should be ashamed that its name appears on that box!

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

...........

I'd suggest (just to avoid the would pun!) a set of spade drills for holes in wood larger than 1/4-inch or so. But the cheap ones are horrific... Speaking of my experience of a "Bosch" set of assorted drills brought here a while back. Bosch should be ashamed that its name appears on that box!

With hole saws available down to 50mm, they are ideal for making holes in decently thick wood.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

. Speaking of my experience of a "Bosch" set of assorted drills brought here a while back. Bosch should be ashamed that its name appears on that box!

Only the normal wood drill bits from Bosch are very high quality IMO. The metal drill bits are downright cheap and break off easily. Their masonry bits are just OK.

[Gannu_1]

If it is drill bits, I ask for Addison bits.

Most reputed tool/hardware shops stock them, perform very well, very very reliable and does not cost a bomb. I've used Bosch branded, Makita branded bits but they seem to be just the brand names slapped onto cheap bits from unknown low-tier bit manufacturers.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

If it is drill bits, I ask for Addison bits.

Wow, Over a thousand parallel-shank twist bits!

Then there's carbide tipped... solid carbide... Now I know where to go next time I get the irresistible urge to spend tens of thousands of Rs on a handful of bits!

Maybe not for the guy putting up his first shelf though.

[manishalive]

Guys,

Need a suggestion - I need a cordless tool and with current pandemic need that to be bought online.

My needs are - occasional DIY work on my 1958 Fiat 1100 (as there is no power socket in parking). The work would be bolting / unbolting in and around the car (would be M4 to M10), drill holes in sheet metal (not more than 10mm). Light duty work in home (electrical and furniture) and also on my work bench.

All together I feel that my work load would be 20 hours in a month.

Keeping all this in mind I pre decided on impact driver with 12V tech. Brushed as those were cheaper.

Makita TD110 was available for 7200 ruppes on amazon but 2 times I got Feb 2019 manufactured ones so Battery is for sure gone (correct me if I am wrong).

I asked Makita and they gave very dumb reply as below -



And then no more Makita available on Amazon (or is that only for me).

I was also looking online searched many sites and comparison. Almost every one is useless (as they do not do proper testing of real world mixed application) and biased (as every one has a different winner).

So I am asking here - What should I get -

1.) Impact drivers or Drill drivers?

2.) 12V or 18V?

3.) Brushed or Brushless.

4.) Single speed vs multiple speed (for the impact drivers).

5.) I like the Matrix system from Black and Decker, how is that one compared to others. Amazon has the drill for 6k, while rest of the accessories are not available but think those can be bought later. This I like as it has a saw, router, sanding attachment which are any way required for DIY jobs.

Hope to have good and economical suggestion here.

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by manishalive

Makita TD110 was available for 7200 ruppes on amazon but 2 times I got Feb 2019 manufactured ones so Battery is for sure gone (correct me if I am wrong).
I asked Makita and they gave very dumb reply as below -

I am not sure what you mean by gone for sure. Do you mean unusable? A key parameter for Li Ion battery is number of charge cycles. This parameter would be fine if the product is new. I bought a DeWalt in 2017 but did not really start doing big DIY projects till the pandemic. I see no noticeable difference in the battery performance.

That said, it is a good idea to have a third bigger battery. Buy a larger battery separately (with remaining charge indicator). If you are going to work on a big project all day, it sucks to have to stop to charge. For this bigger battery, you can look for a more recent date of manufacture.

I too would prefer a battery manufactured within the last year, but if I cant find it, I would be fine with the one from 2019 (- if it means that I can start on my project immediately).

[manishalive]

Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon

I am not sure what you mean by gone for sure. Do you mean unusable?

No the battery and the tool is working fine, but battery do degrade over time and 2 years is a lot of time. I do not know exactly how much would be % drop in useable life but it will certainly be there and with my kind of intermittent usage it will only worsen the battery life.

Also most starter packs come with 2 batteries and for my kind of use will suffice for the moment but yes we can purchase bigger ones later.

But all that is secondary now, I need suggestion as to what would be right product to get.