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Milwaukee 0824-24 V18 Lithium-Ion Hammer Drill Kit | List Price: $626.00
Discount Price: $199.00
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Brand: Milwaukee
Binding: Tools & Hardware
Features: - 18-volt lithium-ion cordless hammer drill kit; variable speed (0-450 and 0-1,700 rpm)
- Easy drill/drive/hammer mode switches; 550-inch-pounds of torque; reversible battery for tight space options
- All-metal, ratcheting chuck with carbide blades; non-slip, soft-grip handle; plastic housing
- Includes hammer drill, 2 18-volt batteries, charger, Phillips bit
- 10-5/8-inches long; 6.2 pounds; 5-year warranty
The best cordless 18v drill [Posted on 2008-03-21]
I am a perfectionist, so selecting a drill was like everything else...a difficult and arduous task. Two years ago I went through the same process when I bought my umpteenth cordless drill. I selected the best DeWalt 18v drill I could find (DC987KA from Lowes). I am an occasional drill user. Sadly, I learned the hard way that NiCad (XRP) batteries are not suitable for such use, which brought me into the drill market again. I will not be buying any more DeWalt products. I have returned or no longer use almost all of my DeWalt products (belt sander, 2 different vacuums, and now an expensive drill). Thanks to the fine folks who leave Amazon feedback, I now know why...DeWalt is owned by Black & Decker. Once a company is bought and absorbed by a bigger company, it loses its soul. Fortunately, it's not that way with Milwaukee (as far as I know)...and it shows. There were many fine choices, but there is one clear winner. This is THE DRILL. Here's why:
1) Lithium-Ion is much better suited to occasional drill users...batteries should last much longer.
2) quality is head and shoulders above all other drills I have owned. The drill has a substantial and solid feel to it. All of the various settings have a good solid click...unlike the DeWalt which had 3 gears but actually using them was often problematic (if the gears weren't lined up just right, I could not change gears...the switch would just jam until I rotated the chuck a bit).
3) the motor sounds cool...way cooler than a drill should
4) the batteries have LED indicators on them...I just press a button and can see how much juice is left in them...awesome!
5) the batteries have rubber on the bottom...nice attention to detail...nice touch!
6) the batteries can be inserted from front or rear...which will come in handy later.
7) I can actually get the screwdriver bit out of the handy on-board clip without using a pry-bar.
8) The case is HUGE. Biggest drill case I've ever seen. Why is that a good thing? I'll tell you why. Others expect you to re-wind the charger cord like the factory does...into an impossibly small bundle, in order to jam it into a case designed for just such a bundle and no more...so you are always fighting with the case. Not so with Milwaukee...they spent the extra 5 cents to add another 1/4 cup of plastic. There is plenty of room in there for me to put the charger in and even the attached cord too! And it gets better! There's even EXTRA SPACE FOR DRILL BITS. Furthermore, the case is super high quality, which is immediately felt with clasps that are better than some metal toolboxes I own. This case will last as long as the drill, if not longer.
9) judging by looks alone, this drill blows the rest away...I love red and this drill has few curves and a lot of straight lines. A lot of work went into aesthetically designing this drill to be visually appealing...heck even the charger looks cool.
I LOVE THIS DRILL. By the way, my other Milwaukee products have not let me down in any way (Hole Hawg, Orbital Sawzall). I won't be able to give you a review on performance because I will forget.
Oh by the way...my first one came with a problem. One of the red buttons on one of the batteries had no spring tension. Returned for exchange. Second one good. Amazon's return procedure is always quick and efficient.
Milwaukee Power Tools [Posted on 2008-04-03]
Good hammer drill/driver. A bit heavy and tall. The battery does slip slightly front-to-back but this doesn't seem to affect operation. It can be reversed and the drill seems better balanced with the battery in the "reverse" position.
It should be noted that Milwaukee Tools is now owned by Techtronic Industries who also own AEG, Ryobi, Stilleto, Homelite, Hoover, Dirt Devil, and Vax. They are registered in Hong Kong and their stock is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
According to Techtronic's web site the company is currently undergoing a "Repositioning". They have transfered all Milwaukee cordless tool production to the PRC. Their corded tool production will be transfered to the PRC by the end of 2008 and they will close their two factories here in the USA by the end of 2008. Even their highly rated Sawsalls will be soon made in China.
Awesome Hammer Drill!!!!!!!! [Posted on 2008-04-19]
I researched other hammer drills on Amazon and this was the best rated hands down! I couldn't be happier with the purchase and it has the best chuck I've ever used. I had two Makita's and a Dewalt in the past and there's no comparison. If you're looking for a Lithium Ion hammer or drill driver - Go with a Milwaukee - there's nothing better on the market according to my research.Milwaukee 0824-24 V18 Lithium-Ion Hammer Drill Kit
Milwaukee ain't Milwaukee no more! [Posted on 2008-08-06]
This kit was purchased mostly for the lithium battery upgrade because the price was only a little more than the batteries and charger alone, and who can't use an extra drill, right? The only problem is that I would never want to use this one after having used my older one, the Lok-Tor Hammer drill model 0624-20. Whereas the Lok-Tor is smooth as silk and the fit, finish, ergonomics, and feel of the drill just ooze quality, this one is very loud and heavy with below-average ergonomics and a tawdry look obviously designed to be as flashy as possible for marketing reasons. Trouble is, it's all hat and no cattle. Yes, it's a powerful drill, and yes, it will definitely get the job done. But the reason I bought Milwaukee tools at their premium price is not simply because they get the job done, but because they made the highest quality tools and using them was truly enjoyable. They always felt a step above anything from Dewalt, Makita, or even Bosch, and their slogan, "Nothing but heavy duty," seemed to be a real mantra of the company that its employees took pride in rather than simply a catchy but empty marketing line. I also appreciated the fact that they were one of the only power tool companies to make most of their stuff in the USA (although the Lok-Tor drill is from the Czech Republic - still, I'd much rather have that than one from China). This drill was made in China with the goal of minimizing costs, and it shows.
It's not that China can't make good stuff, but when companies move their production there, that's generally a sign that they put the making of money, by whatever means, ahead of pride in the product that actually creates the wealth. And once that attitude takes root, the company starts cutting corners wherever it can to minimize costs while generating a huge marketing push to sell products based purely on flashy images and slogans rather than substance, which no longer exists. Despite what the brand loyalists might say, this drill is no better than the offerings from Dewalt, Makita, or Hitachi, yet it is much heavier than the other brands.
It's a shame what the company has become since I bought my first Milwaukee tool, a magnum hole-shooter, 12 years ago. The changes began when they were bought out a few years ago by the same China-based company that makes Ryobi and Ridgid, and now Milwaukee is pretty much just Ridgid in red instead of orange. They still make a few tools in the USA that have remained unchanged, such as their corded circular saws, sawzalls, and I believe the magnum drills. If you need them, you better get them while you can, because slowly but surely I see more and more Milwaukee tools showing up that are made in China, and it's only a matter of time before it happens to these old standbys. In cordless tools, nothing about Milwaukee stands out from other brands except the weight. If you aren't too concerned with weight, I'd say Bosch is now probably the most consistently high quality of the main brands. For the weight conscious, Makita or Hitachi are your best bet.
On the plus side, the lithium batteries are terrific and make my old tools just a bit more powerful than fully charged nicads, and believe it or not, they are made in Canada (yeah, I'm scratching my head on that one, since the vast majority of our electronics have been made in China for a long time already). But if Milwaukee were to maintain the honesty of the slogan regarding their actual tools, it should be changed from "Nothing but heavy duty" to "Nothing but heavy, period."
Milwaukee Hammer Drill [Posted on 2008-08-29]
After carefull evaluation of half a dozen cordless drills available and having used a Milwaukee drill of a friend of mind in the field, the Milwaukee drill out performed all of them. It had much more power and the battery lasted much longer than all the others I observed.
Rich
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