I need a cordless driver/drill that’s pretty all around, and been looking at the 12v makita impact driver, which screams with 3′” deck screws, but i don’t know how it would do with drilling/countersinking/etc. as it doesn’t have a regular chuck with clutch. I like the quick change collet? (not really a chuck) and i see they’re making drill bits that pop in and out also. This unit is sooo compact and balanced, but i wonder how it’ll do all around? Any feedback would be appreciated.
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Ive been using the mak impact almost exclusively now. I love it. Yes it does have a jacobs chuck attachment for it so you can use drills ect. ut even if you cant find the attachment you can use drills that have the hex shaft on them anyway. I needed a new driver drill but now that ive been using the mak I dont need anything else. well almost i did pick up a drywall/deck gun but thats another story
Darkworks: The French "Cheese eatin surrender monkies"..Grounds Keeper Willie
i have had the makita 12 volt impact driver for 2 years at least and use it everyday. makita makes ####3/8 keyless chuck and jacobs makes a1/4 keyed chuck.i have both. when the batteries were new they ran spade bits ok. twist bits still work well. i keep a 1/8 bit in my belt for predrillling. a review was in fhb not to long ago. everybody who tries mine loves it. i would not use it to drill lots of large holes , that s what i use the corded drill for. good luck. paul
Pedro,
I have the mak 12v impact driver, Get one, its not good for drilling, but it is the best thing I have ever used for screws, I was driving 5 1/2 " # 10's today, and they went in like butter.
Just a week ago I picked up a mak 12 v drill, just to have around and so I could interchange the batteries. I use the drill so infrequently now, because it was basically used for screws and only the occasional hole.
If you get one make sure you get the one with 2.6ah batteries. Mine came with 1.3 ah batteries and the 2.6 that came with the drill last much longer in my opinion.
Again I can not speak highly enough about this tool
If you need a good solid cordless drill a lot of people really like the 15. v panisonic and it faired real well in the latest FHB test.
How do regular drill bits hold up in the impact driver? I've always (ignorantly) thought the impact part would put extra stress on a bit. I realize it's different from a hammer drill, impact being "revolutionary" vs. inline with the hammer drill. But it would still stress the bit, no?If everything seems to be going well, you've obviously overlooked something.
I dont have a problem when I used the jacobs chuck that is designed for it.
Darkworks: The French "Cheese eatin surrender monkies"..Grounds Keeper Willie
I'm definitely sold on an impact driver. I just demoed the brand new 12v hitachi impact which feels like it has maybe 40-50% more power (torque and speed) than the mak and is even a bit more compact. Only has a 2.0ah battery compared to 2.6ah on the mak, but I think I'll go for it anyway. Thanks a bunch for your input.
been using makita 14.4 drills for some years now, have three of various ages, still cant tell which is which even though the oldest is 5 years at least. i install kitchen cabinets all day everyday so they take a beating
why have three? some guys ask me
well one for drilling, one for screwing and one spare
never change the bits just grab the other drill
and a drill is a lot harder to misplace on a job site than a bit
excellent machines
Funny, I use three drills too, but all different colors. And I still go to pick the wrong one up all the time.
what did you do? paint them?
mine are all the same, therefore i have six identical batteries and three chargers
No, I just have the rainbow coalition of tools. I like the idea of having all of the same batteries, but the last time I did that was when Makita came out with their new style drill, and I got burned with a couple of paperweights.
And I have yet to see a company not change it's batteries by the time I need a new one, so I just give the lamers to the needy and buy another.