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Dewalt D25323K
by JohnJoeSmith
If you've had the misfortune of drilling holes in concrete then you'll fall into one of two camps; those with the correct tools and those without. Incorrect tools require you to fight with the concrete in a battle of wills until it eventually gives way and allows you to pop in a few rawl-plugs. A proper drill with a good masonry bit and ... you'll zip around the job melting through the concrete as if it was pine.
I would consider myself a serious DIY'er and so have over the years collected a few decent pieces of construction equipment. One of these is my DeWalt D25323 SDS Drill. I'll preface the rest of my review by saying that this piece of technology is complete overkill for the home DIY'er. Completely. Even building a house does not require you to purchase this drill! If you've read that and are still interested then read on my friend and I shall tell you a tale of mechanical wonder.
DeWalt, as any serious DIY enthusiast knows is the upper echelon of the Black & Decker range and graces building sites around the country alongside Makita, Hitachi and Festool. Originally founded in 1936 by Raymond DeWalt, the inventor of the radial arm saw, they branched out beyond saws into other tools, and following their take-over by B&D in 1960 they had expanded to over 200 tools by 1992. Painted in iconic luminous yellow and black their tools tend to be made of high quality plastics and metals, leaving a product more than able for the rough and tumble of the building site. And far more than is needed for the home!
Chances are if you've done any home improvements you've owned or borrowed a corded drill for the heavier tasks. Corded drills run directly from the mains and offer a constant power supply that is usually stronger and allows for more torque than battery driven models. As drill size increases it becomes increasingly difficult to produce a battery that can drive the heavy motor and still offer portability to the user. This typically tops out at about 18v which by all accounts allows for a powerful drill but is simply not up to the task of drilling through mass concrete. This drill is available in both 220V and 110V in case you plan on using it as a building contractor and so will be using a transformer on site. I own the 220V version as even as a power tool yuppie I have yet to succumb to buying my own transformer!
According to the manufacturer this drill weighs 3.4kg and offers 3.4J of impact energy. Now I have no idea what this second number means the first refers to the fact that this is a heavy cumbersome tool. You won't be hanging pictures with this drill, and if you tried you'd quickly snap any bit smaller than 5mm. While the weight is a negative you'll fail to find any other similarly sized or powered drill weighing any less. I'm not sure what the industry standard for impact energies is but believe me, 3.4 of them is more than enough to rip through 3 inches of mass concrete without breaking much of a sweat. The drill can also be used without the hammer action if you plan on drilling info steel or wood. You'll need to get an SDS adapter chuck though if you want to use your regular drill bits, and as I said earlier, you'll probably snap anything smaller than 5mm.
I'd feel I was reinventing the wheel if I went through the use of a power drill. Suffice to say, the handles are very comfortable and you can power the drill on without over stretching your fingers. Vibration is typically an issue with heavy duty drills and this is no exception. While DeWalt claim new anti-vibration technology I found my arms tiring relatively quicker if using the hammer action over the straight drill. Would this be any different with any other device? Hard to say and so probably isn't fair to use as a negative.
Overall I'm very happy with my purchase of this drill. Is it over the top for the home DIY enthusiast? Definitely. Is it a high-quality piece of kit that will make your life easier on occasion? Definitely. At two hundred pounds on Amazon it's a steep but quality purchase. 4 stars, would have been five only the cost may be prohibitive for most.
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B&Q 500W Hammer Drill
by Drewster_Rooster
Introduction
I'm not the "handiest" of people when it comes to DIY and generally struggle to put together anything resembling flat-packed furniture, I'll give things a go though and if I get to the point where I have to admit defeat then I'll call in some help. My recent move into my new home has seen me undertake ... some DIY work and it soon became clear that I would have to buy some essential items to help me complete certain tasks and a power drill along with a set of screwdrivers, a tape measure and other various bits and bobs found their way into my home.
This review is for the drill I bought, I had to have something that would enable me to hang curtain poles and fix carpet door plates and I knew when I was looking around for one that it didn't have to be anything spectacular, at a little under £10.00 for a B&Q branded hammer drill I didn't expect much from this at all in all honesty but with similar products costing four times the amount if not more I decided to give it a go, after all I only needed a few holes drilling so how difficult could that be?
B&Q Hammer Drill
As shown in Dooyoo's accompanying picture the 500W Hammer Drill from B&Q looks just as basic in real life, it would never win any awards for its design and the plain white box it comes packaged in reminded me of Tesco's value range. It's a basic drill packaged in a basic box but it's cheap and that was the most important thing for me when I bought mine. The drill does not have a keyless chuck but you are supplied with one which is weighty enough to feel sturdy when held and easily adjusts the chuck part of the drill to allow you to fix whatever width of bit you want to use. The drill itself weighs a little under 2 kilograms and does feel well made, its weight is reassuring when held and the front and rear handles are comfortable to grip when the drill is in operation. It's a corded power tool with a wire of decent length although I had mine plugged into an extension anyway so I found it easy enough to manoeuvre where I wanted it to be and the drill has a single acceleration trigger which is located where you would expect it to be, on the back handle.
The drill isn't complicated to set up, it only has 1 speed setting which is controlled by the trigger and is easy to use, it's simplicity is a plus point as far as I'm concerned as I didn't need anything too fancy instead all I wanted was a drill that would make holes and that's exactly what this does.
In Use
As mentioned I bought this drill specifically to help me with a few jobs I needed to do, I had to put up some curtain poles so once my drill bit was fixed in place and the drill was plugged in it was simply a case of lining up the bit to the marks I had made and set the drill in motion. In use the trigger is very responsive and depending on how much force you put onto it determines the speed of the bits rotation and I found that drilling into the wooden plinth where I was attaching my curtain poles was easily done. The drill is of course noisy, they all are but it feels remarkably powerful in use and I was surprised that it made light work out of making the holes needed, similarly in use on masonry the drill is excellent and my curtain hold backs that I wanted to fix to my walls were put up in no time once my drill had made the holes. Changing the bit from one fit for wood to one suitable for brick proved to be effortless with the chuck key allowing me to change bits over without much thought and very little effort and overall I have been very impressed with my basic drill from B&Q.
It's not going to get a massive amount of use from me, I've used it on my walls and managed to fix my carpet door plates but other than that I can't see me using it very often in the future but for the price I paid I consider it money well spent. I doubt that any serious DIY enthusiast would give this drill a second look in all honesty though, it's perhaps a little too basic for many people and it lacks the features of higher priced drills but for me it was perfect and helped me with the jobs I had to do to set up my new home. If you're looking for something basic but is very well made and works extremely well but don't want to spend a great deal of money then this should be one to consider and it's on that basis that I would recommend this model to other people.
Online this particular drill is available for £12.98 but I paid £9.98 instore at B&Q. It's their cheapest model and looks very basic and unappealing displayed amongst the wide selection of other drills that are available but it's a five star product as far as I'm concerned and that's the rating I'm giving it here, thanks for reading my review.
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Challenge 620W SDS Hammer Drill
by DavyMichelle
I got the Challenge 620W SDS Hammer Drill because it was really good value for money, and offered all of the functions that I needed it for. I didn't just want a normal drill, I also wanted a tool which could chisel if necessary, to make larger holes for things like making room for cables in cabinets. The full retails price of this ... drill from Argos is £29.99, though at present it's available for £20.99 which really is a bit of a bargain.
What I really like about this is how quick and easy to use this is. For a small household where not too many DIY jobs are going to take place, this is the perfect complete tool and the only drill you'll need. If you want a drill that takes care of a wider variety of tasks, obviously you'll need to consider a more professional drill, and probably one that takes standard drill bits too.
For this drill, you can only use the special automatically locking drill bits and chisel heads that are designed for this. That's because when you load up a bit, all you have to do is slot it in and twist it around. There's no need to tighten it into place with a key or anything, like you need to do with most drills. And to release the bit, you just pull down on the head and pull the bit out. How much easier and quicker could it be?!
The downside is that SDS drill bits are quite pricey, with a pack costing around £15. You also need to remember to keep them slightly lubricated with a splash of oil so that they can be smoothly withdrawn from the drill after use. Fortunately, there are all the basic bits you'll need for standard DIY tasks already included in the case. They include two chisel heads, and three drill bits which measure 6mm, 8mm and 10mm. The 6mm bit is the most useful, as it's what you usually want for holes for furniture and wall mounted fixings. I do think a 4mm bit would have been better than a 10mm bit though, as sometimes you want smaller holes for picture hooks and message boards etc.
The other thing I really like about this drill is how sturdy the grip handle is at the front. This is an extremely easy tool to use because of how easy it is to keep steady. I also find that having two hands positioned comfortably on the drill makes it easier for me to apply heavy pressure if necessary. I found this considerably easier to control than the Black & Decker Drill I last had to use for a drilling job.
The only thing I think that could really be improved on is the cord, as it's a little on the short side (about 2m I think). That said, I do prefer a corded drill to a cordless one for the convenience of not having to remember to charge it before each use, and because it's likely to last for longer too. It's not too much of a hardship to use an extension lead when you get this out I guess! For £20, I definitely cannot grumble about a minor gripe like this. I think with the price tag in mind, it really deserves a full five stars.
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