Popular Woodworking 2005-12 № 152, страница 70

or the past decade we've been telling you that for woodworking, a 12-volt drill is more than adequate. So why are we testing 14.4v drills here? Because many of the phone calls we field are from woodworkers who also work around the house and on larger projects that may benefit from a little more power. Beyond that, these drills have been getting more powerful and the prices are now very competitive.

So we're tackling 14.4v drills in this issue to determine if there is a benefit to these larger, heavier tools and if the benefit is worth the price. To avoid excluding anyone, we're also testing 15.6v drills from three manufacturers that offer this slightly higher voltage.

Testing Parameters

We test for real-world applications, and this test is no different. We first charged and discharged each drill battery twice to condition the battery before charging them all again for testing.

The testing itself was in two stages. The first was drilling 1'" holes with a standard spade bit through 1³/4" poplar, using a brand new bit for each drill. Because drilling a hole relies on the operator's energy as well as the tool's energy, we performed the hole test twice with different testers averaging the two results (rounding up). Each drill was run at high speed, with the clutch set for drilling.

During this test we noticed significant heat build-up in the drills and recorded the temperature at the motor and at the battery.

The second test was for torque. We recharged the batteries and used a standard ⁷/l6" hex driver to sink V4" x 1V2" lag screws into more 1³/4"-thick poplar boards. The drills were set for the low-speed/high-torque setting for

this phase. We didn't experience the same heat build-up during this phase of the test, so we did not record that information.

Other statistics we recorded were weight, grip girth and the manufacturer's stated torque - as well as other useful information including the battery charge time and revolutions per minute in both high and low gear.

To give us a comparable view of the 14.4v drills, we ran the same two tests using a 12v Panasonic drill (the winner in our previous 12v review) and one of the new 28v lithium ion drills from Milwaukee. The results were interesting, to say the least.

Observations

One thing that surprised us was the relatively low number of 1" holes we could bore on a charge. Upon reflection we realized a 1" hole in fairly thick solid wood isn't a task for wimps. Our 12v baseline test proved that there was indeed an advantage (in most cases) to the 14.4v power.

The heat build-up in the drilling tests was also a surprise. Again, we were tasking these

drills beyond normal use, but some became uncomfortable to hold. Heat can negatively affect both battery life and the life of the motor so we felt it important to include this information.

In general the drills were remarkably similar in amenities, but some have extra features worth mentioning. Two drills offer fuel gauges while another two offer task lights (see photos below).

Also, two of the drills offer three speeds while the rest offer two. Both the Makita and the DeWalt have a third, intermediate gear, offering a balance of torque versus speed. This feature is potentially more valuable than lights and fuel gauges, but to keep things fair the two drills were tested only in high-speed and high-torque settings in the hole test.

During the lag screw test we attempted to use the clutch on each drill to control the depth of drive. We found most of the clutches difficult to fine-tune to seat our screws. The clutches either didn't kick in, or didn't drive the screw. Kudos to the Hitachi, Milwaukee and Porter-Cable drills for clutches that work.

Conclusions

While we concede there are situations where a 14.4v drill will be a better choice than a 12v drill, we're not sure the occasional extra power is worth spending $200. It's the consensus of the staff that buying a corded V2" drill for $100 (to do the heavy work in the shop) might make more sense. You'd be able to drill lots more holes and you'd never have to charge it.

We tended to favor the models that were lighter in weight and better balanced in the hand. This might not matter to you if you're looking for a drill for occasional use only, but if you'll be drilling holes or driving screws for any length of time, it may be the most important factor.

But if we're sticking to the drills tested, the consensus also seems to be that spending a little extra to get a 15.6v drill makes sense.

Finally, we opted for a tie in the 14.4v category, giving equal honors to the Makita and the DeWalt for strong results in both tests, strong features and comfort. We're recognizing the Milwaukee drill as a Best Value opportunity for its balance of performance, comfort and price.

But overall, the Panasonic 15.6v is a no-brainer for best overall in either class, provding superior performace and comfort.

by David Thiel and Robert W. Lang

Comments or questions? Contact David at 513'531'2690 ext. 1255 or david.thiel@fwpubs.com, or Bob at 513-531-2690 ext. 1327 or robert. lang@fwpubs .com.

Skil and Moty-Ko offer fuel gauges to help you determine The Hitachi and Makita drills have multi-position LED how much juice is left in a battery. A nice idea, but we're lights. Both are handy in a dark corner, but neither are a not sure how accurate or useful these gauges are. reason to choose these drills over others in the test.

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