# Lithium Ion Baby



## gafftaper (May 12, 2007)

I just spotted Lithium Ion powered Cordlesss drills at Lowes and Home Depot in the last couple days. They have been out for a while but only in the big combo kits, now they are in the single drill sales. They are SO COOL!! 

An entire 18 Volt drill and battery weighs about the same as my old 12 Volt cordless. No memory effect. Much more power that lasts longer. SWEET!! 

Lowes has a 18 Volt Hitachi that comes with a free MP3 player for $190. Home Depot has an 18 Volt Makita for $199. 

Check them out next time you're at the store.


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## DarSax (May 16, 2007)

gafftaper said:


> 18 Volt Hitachi that comes with a free MP3 player



Wait...._what?_


And though I don't know if they're Lith/Ion (probably), the new Makitas are pretty much amazing, smaller, more ergonomic, pretty amazing.


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## gafftaper (May 16, 2007)

Yeah free MP3 player... weird huh?
You'll know if it's a lithium Ion, instead of the usual brick, the battery is about 3/4 of an inch thick (maybe less). 

The Makita website says:
-The 18 volt weighs 3.5 pounds WITH the battery. 
-Nearly double the battery power 
-Nearly double the battery recharge cycles
-15 minute recharge
-only 8 inches long
-maintains a charge in storage 5 times longer
-built in LED light to shine on your work
-450 pounds of torque

and it looks cool too... 



but sadly it doesn't come with an MP3 player


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## Hughesie (May 16, 2007)

a light actually on the drill

that's a great idea for screwing things under the set!!!!!!!!!!

i want one


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## len (May 16, 2007)

If you can wait, I think you'll see a rash of these for under $100 at Father's Day, which is in June. And if not then, it will happen by Christmas.


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## avkid (May 16, 2007)

Gotta love the Makita. I'm using a 15 year old 9.6V that I inherited when my grandfather died. If he had one you know had to be good, he was a precision machinist and foreman for 40 years.


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## gafftaper (May 16, 2007)

len said:


> If you can wait, I think you'll see a rash of these for under $100 at Father's Day, which is in June. And if not then, it will happen by Christmas.



Great point. The Lithium Ion's have been out in the expensive combo kit's for a while from the top manufacturers. I wouldn't be surprised to see the cheaper brands like Black and Decker and Craftsman in the market soon bringing the price down. Although $150-$200 is the normal price range for Makita products so I doubt they will drop much in price.


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## gafftaper (Jun 4, 2007)

Just saw a Black and Decker Lithium Ion for $90 at Home Depot... not nearly as nice as the Makita, but still better than most of the things out there.


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## norwintd (Jun 20, 2007)

hi guys 
I have one of the black and white makitas and they are awesome battery life could be longer but at 15 minutes a charge i have never run one down before the next one is ready. I have used it through two show builds and would not trade it for anything. Its light and powerful and the little LED is very very handy


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## DarSax (Jun 24, 2007)

Aw, what about the trademark Makita green/black? I love those colors, when I saw the black/white I was muchachos dissapointed (unless they came out with a glow in the dark/black version. Can someone say, bad-ass?)


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## Charc (Jun 24, 2007)

This thread got me curious, I haven't had the opportunity to work with a variety of screw-guns, but in terms of manufacturers, how do they rank? I've used DeWalt, Makita, and Black & Decker. My understanding is that the quality broke down like this:

DeWalt
Makita
Black & Decker

What other major manufacturers are there? What do you consider when buying a screw-gun?


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## Chaos is Born (Jun 24, 2007)

my personal tools are basically all craftsman. i like dewalt second though


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## soundlight (Jun 24, 2007)

Dewalt and Makita make really good screwguns. I honestly wouldn't buy a screwgun from anyone else other than those two. My dad has a makita 14.4v, and I use Dewalt 14.4v's in the shop, and I can't tell a difference in performance or battery life - they both have long battery life and have alot of torque.


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## DarSax (Jun 25, 2007)

What's a screwgun? Like a cordless impactor, drill, etc.? Or that really awesome thing that Makita makes that we call the machine gun 

If you meant impactor/drill, we had a full stock of Makita impactors at school, they were really rugged, and though we continually buy more, some have lasted for 10 years or so in a high school setting, of all places--not where you'd find people taking the best care of gear.

At the same time though, my sister went to art school, and said that everything in the shop and everything her friends had was Dewalt, and they all swore by it.


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## soundlight (Jun 25, 2007)

The TD at the summer stock that I'm working swears by Dewalt, and gets Dewalt everything when it comes to power tools, corded or cordless. Drills, trim saw, router, jigsaw, just to name a few that he has. As a sidenote, he went to SUNY purchase for Tech Direction and works at a higher-end independent scene shop, so he's probably been through the run of brands enough to know what he wants.

However, my dad has a makita that works great, and he swears by that. Both excellent tools, and both can hold their own in the shop. And yeah, makita's can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'...tis very true.

Oh yeah, Makita's auto-feed screwgun is AWESOME. I'd love to get my hands on one of those for the shop.


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## Charc (Jun 25, 2007)

DarSax said:


> What's a screwgun? Like a cordless impactor, drill, etc.? Or that really awesome thing that Makita makes that we call the machine gun
> If you meant impactor/drill, we had a full stock of Makita impactors at school, they were really rugged, and though we continually buy more, some have lasted for 10 years or so in a high school setting, of all places--not where you'd find people taking the best care of gear.
> At the same time though, my sister went to art school, and said that everything in the shop and everything her friends had was Dewalt, and they all swore by it.



I dunno. For some reason in my school, it's called a "screwgun". I've heard to separate technical directors call it that. (First one retired). Then I went out to a local equity house, chilled with their ME, and he had me screw a birdie into the set, he said "hold on while I get you a gun"... I guess it's not as common as I believed it to be...


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## gafftaper (Jun 26, 2007)

When it comes to CORDLESS DRILLS You will find the world divided between the Makita and Dewalt camps both make very good equipment. Both cost about the same, and both have VERY loyal followers. 

Personally I have owned 3 Craftsman cordless drills and they were all crap... Dad had this thing about giving me Craftsman drills there for a while. They would be fine for a while and then it was like their motors just got "tired". My current drill is a 18 volt Black and Decker. I'm much happier with it than my previous Craftsman drills, but it's not a Dewalt/Makita. 

For my High School shop, I would hit the Black and Decker factory outlet store and buy drills for less than $40 each... which is important when high school kids are likely to drop or steal your tools. For the college, I just purchased 4 of the new Makita Lithium Ion's... can't wait to use them next year.


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## Logos (Jun 26, 2007)

My very first cordless drill was a Bosch that ran the battery down in about 15 minutes then took all night to recharge. I bought a Makita after the Bosch died and that lasted me years until some b****** stole it. I still have the charger and the second battery though so he would have had to buy a new one. Where I worked then had a deal with the local DeWalt dealer and staff got the same price for personal tools that the shop did so I bought a 14.4 DeWalt and won't use anything else now. The Lithium Ion Battery job sounds interesting though. I haven't seen them here yet. Must go have a look on my next free day.


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## gafftaper (Jun 27, 2007)

Logos said:


> My very first cordless drill was a Bosch that ran the battery down in about 15 minutes then took all night to recharge. I bought a Makita after the Bosch died and that lasted me years until some b****** stole it. I still have the charger and the second battery though so he would have had to buy a new one. Where I worked then had a deal with the local DeWalt dealer and staff got the same price for personal tools that the shop did so I bought a 14.4 DeWalt and won't use anything else now. The Lithium Ion Battery job sounds interesting though. I haven't seen them here yet. Must go have a look on my next free day.



Haven't seen a DeWalt Lithium Ion yet, but you know it's just a matter of time.


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## avkid (Jun 27, 2007)

gafftaper said:


> Haven't seen a DeWalt Lithium Ion yet, but you know it's just a matter of time.


Time is fleeting my friend:
http://www.dewalt.com/36v/
Click on the battery/charger tab after you get through the flash intro nonsense.


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## Logos (Jun 28, 2007)

I shall go and search on my next day off. They proably haven't got here yet though.


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## Charc (Jun 28, 2007)

Logos said:


> I shall go and search on my next day off. They proably haven't got here yet though.



According to their site, the comparison testing was done by a third party, in 2005... I never even heard of these things before yesterday.


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## soundlight (Jun 28, 2007)

Holy Crapmonkeys!!!! I almost forgot my absolute favorite screwgun/drill/driver of all time!

FEIN TOOLS, HandyMaster Cordless Series, I used a 14.4 model.

*Absolutely the best drill/driver that I have ever used.* And I've used quite a few. Beats out DeWalt, Makita, Black & Decker, Ryobi, Bosch, Craftsman, etc. This thing had the most torque, the longest battery life, and smoothest clutch of any drill/driver that I've ever used. And the grip seemed much nicer to hold. I used it for a 5-week program where I worked in the shop in the afternoons, and everyone always wanted to get the Fein. I would sometimes show up early just to get the Fein before anyone else did. Seriously, it's worth the money for those who can afford it.


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## gafftaper (Jun 28, 2007)

avkid said:


> Time is fleeting my friend:
> http://www.dewalt.com/36v/
> Click on the battery/charger tab after you get through the flash intro nonsense.



WOW! 36 Volt Li-Ion!! Dude that hammer drill looks like it could torque your arm off. They certainly picked a big way to break into the Li-Ion market didn't they. I doubt I'll need something that big ever, but that cordless sawzall and skill saw both look very tempting.


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## Charc (Jun 28, 2007)

Quick question, what is a "hammer drill"? Not quite sure what that means? You can quickly screw in a screw, and under seconds later, bash in the nail next to the screw?


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## avkid (Jun 28, 2007)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammer_drill


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