Electric drill purchase

[LadyG]

morning,

I note Screwfix have some battery electric drills , I have managed without, but if I'm going to dock boat, remove some patching of bitumen (1 sq metre), and re-do the two pack epoxy, I could just do it myself, presumable with a wire cup, I don't want anything too heavy. There is no signs of rust in the waterline.

I also have to remove blacking from welldeck which is rusty below, I'd get rid of loose stuff, treat, and re black with bitumen.

[Stilllearning]

In my experience, it comes down to budget, as well as what you need it for.

 

ETA also, make sure that the box includes a spare battery!

Edited March 19, 2021 by Stilllearning

[Hudds Lad]

Screwfix, Toolstation etc. often have competing deals on the DeWalt twin pack of 18v brushless drill and impact driver, just a matter of seeing who has the cheapest deal at the time.

 

whichever brand you go for, make sure it comes with case, battery and charger. there are some cheaper deals that are drill “body” only and it’s not always apparent until you read the fine print if they’ve used the standard model picture  

[LadyG]

Yes, I think I would get one with two batteries, I could even pop in to cashconvertors, but the batteries might well be end of life.

[Hudds Lad]

Just now, LadyG said:

Yes, I think I would get one with two batteries, I could even pop in to cashconvertors, but the batteries might well be end of life.

 

or from some poor tradesman’s van a few nights previously  

[Bee]

Drills etc. seem to be pretty much all the same unless you get really serious and professional. Its the batteries that matter, you really need two, one charging whilst you use the other and cheap batteries and chargers can be disappointing. Having said that if you take a battery apart all that's inside is a bunch of small batteries and I bet most of them come from the same half a dozen makers in China. I recently bought a small cheap drill, a 'Mylek' probably a bit small for you but apart from being slow to charge the thing is brilliant.

[dmr]

A battery drill is a really useful tool on a boat, almost essential, but for the jobs you plan an angle grinder is the right tool, a drill won't really do it. A battery angle grinder is also a lovely boat tool but for heavy work the battery will only last 5 mins.

 

Don't mess with cheap stuff, get either Makita or DeWalt. These have interchangeable batteries so you can build up a little collection of tools. I prefer Makita.  A drill, a multi tool and an angle grinder should be on the list, don't bother with an impact driver.

 

.............Dave

[David Mack]

25 minutes ago, LadyG said:

but if I'm going to dock boat, remove some patching of bitumen (1 sq metre), and re-do the two pack epoxy, I could just do it myself, presumable with a wire cup, I don't want anything too heavy. There is no signs of rust in the waterline.

I also have to remove blacking from welldeck which is rusty below, I'd get rid of loose stuff, treat, and re black with bitumen.

 

For that sort of work I'd be inclined to stick with a mains powered angle grinder with wire cup brush. Drills aren't so good for wire brushing, and you will be forever changing over the batteries.

Edited March 19, 2021 by David Mack

[Higgs]

If there is only a small area, I'd use a battery powered tool, for nothing too major. Anything more, I would use a mains tool. 

 

 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Agree with above on getting one of a "good" range. Makita (I have), DeWalt etc.

If you need spare batteries at any point be very careful to get genuine brand name. There are a lot of knock off batteries that look like Makita etc ones, but are not. They skimp on cell quality and safety electronics inside the plastic. These are Lithium ion batteries and can burn with great fierceness when they go wrong. Buying a spare battery, or two at the same time as you get your drill, or angry grinder, from the likes of Screwfix, or Toolstation should be fine, but beware secondhand and Ebay.

Jen

[dmr]

7 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Agree with above on getting one of a "good" range. Makita (I have), DeWalt etc.

If you need spare batteries at any point be very careful to get genuine brand name. There are a lot of knock off batteries that look like Makita etc ones, but are not. They skimp on cell quality and safety electronics inside the plastic. These are Lithium ion batteries and can burn with great fierceness when they go wrong. Buying a spare battery, or two at the same time as you get your drill, or angry grinder, from the likes of Screwfix, or Toolstation should be fine, but beware secondhand and Ebay.

Jen

 

I did the inside of the weedhatch access flap yesterday with my angle grinder and went through both batteries (Makita) and its still not 100% done. Thought I might buy some more batteries but they are really expensive, about £70 each for the 5Ah. The "knock off" ones are much much cheaper, about £25, but my children had one explode and could easily have lost the house so they are not a good investment, as you say, I expect they lack the correct monitoring electronics.

 

The interchangeable battery thing is good, you can get a drill and battery then buy more " bare" tools and spare batteries as and when needed (or funds allow) though the starter kits (drill, charger, two batteries etc) can be good value.

 

.............Dave. 

[Higgs]

The amount of force required to do some work will burn out a battery tool, especially the cheaper sorts. Mains tools can provide more torque. 

 

 

Edited March 19, 2021 by Higgs

[dmr]

1 minute ago, Higgs said:

The amount of force required to do some work will burn out a battery tool. Mains tools can provide more torque. 

 

 

 

The Makita angle grinder shuts down if you work it too hard, for smaller lighter jobs a battery grinder really is very convenient, mine gets a lot of use, I think I have not got the mains one out since the last dry-docking.

 

.................Dave

[Hudds Lad]

1 minute ago, dmr said:

 

I did the inside of the weedhatch access flap yesterday with my angle grinder and went through both batteries (Makita) and its still not 100% done. Thought I might buy some more batteries but they are really expensive, about £70 each for the 5Ah. The "knock off" ones are much much cheaper, about £25, but my children had one explode and could easily have lost the house so they are not a good investment, as you say, I expect they lack the correct monitoring electronics.

 

The interchangeable battery thing is good, you can get a drill and battery then buy more " bare" tools and spare batteries as and when needed (or funds allow) though the starter kits (drill, charger, two batteries etc) can be good value.

 

.............Dave. 

 

i get the 4ah batteries for my DeWalt stuff, usually about £40 which isn’t too painful. anything like 5ah and above prices start getting silly, plus the weight and balance on the tool is impacted. obviously being in bricks and mortar makes it easier to shop around t’internet for best deals with no delivery problems. i would never buy second hand, or unbranded.

[pete.i]

If you buyDe Walt, Makita or Milwaukee scam cordless power tools, they generally come without batteries. Some of the cheaper cordless power tool manufactures, such as Workzone and the Lidle brand ones are also going down this scam route. I did manage to buy a Makita angle grinder off Ebay that actually came with two batteries but that was a while back and I haven't seen anything since. The branded batteries for these tools are also stupidly expensive and can nearly double the eventual price of the tool. There are some chinese knock off batteries available on Ebay but whilst I would buy them I wouldn't recomend them. I also do not think that you will get the power or the battery durability from a cordless tool to do stuff like hull grinding/cleaning. I would also point out that Makita tools are well built but that also makes them much heavier than their cheaper rivals. I would think that De Walt and Milwaukee would be much the same. A heavy tool makes a veryvery labour intensive like grinding the junk of a hull a lot harder.

[Higgs]

2 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

The Makita angle grinder shuts down if you work it too hard, for smaller lighter jobs a battery grinder really is very convenient, mine gets a lot of use, I think I have not got the mains one out since the last dry-docking.

 

.................Dave

 

I tend to use a Makita battery drill around the boat, for odd jobs. Almost every other power tool is mains. 

 

 

[Nightwatch]

I have just bought, but not seen yet as it was delivered to my brothers home, a green Bosch PSR1800 with two batteries for £59 delivered.

 

I am not a professional so the green Bosch’s are adequate for my needs. In fact all my power tools are green Bosch’s. Corded drill, jigsaw, detail sander, rectangular sander, and small screwdriver thingy without a Chuck and orbital sander. Had most of em for years.

 

Removing blacking is a pita to be honest. I hired a tool for the job with rotary rubber discs with metal tips on the edge. Can’t remember what they are called. I’ll look it up and get back.

 

We used a Tercoo attachment. Hired the whole tool (angle grinder) from I think HSS. If you go this route ensure you are well and truly covered up. 

 

 

Edited March 19, 2021 by Nightwatch

[LadyG]

Easier to pay someone to do the job with the proper tools, but it's probably quite a small job, and  getting the job done on day 1 might be the most vital , would I be able to use an anglegrinder for prepping paintwork, ie smooth?

Edit, just checked on prices, £300 for angle grinder, that's out the door, better to pay someone to do it for me.

Edited March 19, 2021 by LadyG

[dmr]

2 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Easier to pay someone to do the job with the proper tools, but it's probably quite a small job, and  getting the job done on day 1 might be the most vital , would I be able to use an anglegrinder for prepping paintwork, ie smooth?

 

Do you mean the cabin sides? With care and skill a wire cup brush in an angle grinder can be used but do NOT use sanding discs, they will leave circular scars that will show right through the paint (you will notice a few boats like this). For small local repairs on an older boat the cup brush is ok but for a bigger repaint on a shiny boat its probably not the way to go.

 

..............Dave

[LadyG]

6 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

Do you mean the cabin sides? With care and skill a wire cup brush in an angle grinder can be used but do NOT use sanding discs, they will leave circular scars that will show right through the paint (you will notice a few boats like this). For small local repairs on an older boat the cup brush is ok but for a bigger repaint on a shiny boat its probably not the way to go.

 

..............Dave

No, I've done the cabin sides, but I'd now like to do a decent job on the rear, and the bowdeck, and the top of the hull sides, they were just lightly sanded and overcoated as I recall. '

I'm not expecting perfection, but I think they could be a lot better. There is also a bit of rust on the roof that needs to go back to bare steel.

Edited March 19, 2021 by LadyG

[David Mack]

I used flap discs (from Toolstation) in an angle grinder to strip Belfast's roof back to bare metal. Rather slow and laborious but effective. It did leave fine scratches on the steel, but they don't show through the subsequent paint.

[Alan de Enfield]

 

Each tool has a specific job.

 

A drill for drilling holes,

A grinder for grinding

A sander for sanding / smoothing.

 

 

[blackrose]

2 hours ago, David Mack said:

 

For that sort of work I'd be inclined to stick with a mains powered angle grinder with wire cup brush. Drills aren't so good for wire brushing, and you will be forever changing over the batteries.

 

Agreed. A drill will be useless for steel prep. You need an angle grinder and not a battery one.

 

1 hour ago, David Mack said:

I used flap discs (from Toolstation) in an angle grinder to strip Belfast's roof back to bare metal. Rather slow and laborious but effective. It did leave fine scratches on the steel, but they don't show through the subsequent paint.

 

Flap discs are good, but avoid using them below the waterline as they will take good steel off too - surprisingly quickly!

 

To remove rust from below water line areas of the hull use these. 4x Twist Knot Wire Wheel Disc & Cup Brush Set Kit for Angle Grinder 75mm 105mm 741870483721 | eBay

 

And these: 2X Safety Goggles Glasses Eye Protection Anti Fog Clear Vent Unisex Lab Work | eBay

Edited March 19, 2021 by blackrose

[BEngo]

2 hours ago, LadyG said:

Easier to pay someone to do the job with the proper tools, but it's probably quite a small job, and  getting the job done on day 1 might be the most vital , would I be able to use an anglegrinder for prepping paintwork, ie smooth?

Edit, just checked on prices, £300 for angle grinder, that's out the door, better to pay someone to do it for me.

You should be able to find a decent, but not top brand,  4 1/2 inch angle grinder in either 240 or 110 volt for about £50.  Try MSC industrial supply as a starter. They sometimes have Makita at that sort of money.

 

Alternatively a DIY shed one at about £30 will usually  last long enough, and you can take it back and get your money back if it packs up within a year.

 

Wire brushes to suit are about a fiver.  You will want crimped wire, twist knot cup and twist knot saucer  styles to get into every corner, but on a simple job either of the twist knot shapes will be OK. ,again MSC usually havd them on offer.

[ditchcrawler]

3 minutes ago, BEngo said:

You should be able to find a decent, but not top brand,  4 1/2 inch angle grinder in either 240 or 110 volt for about £50.  Try MSC industrial supply as a starter. They sometimes have Makita at that sort of money.

 

Alternatively a DIY shed one at about £30 will usually  last long enough, and you can take it back and get your money back if it packs up within a year.

 

Wire brushes to suit are about a fiver.  You will want crimped wire, twist knot cup and twist knot saucer  styles to get into every corner, but on a simple job either of the twist knot shapes will be OK. ,again MSC usually havd them on offer.

You could even cut a 30mm ring spanner to make a gas spanner with it. ?