Lightweight Electric Drill Suggestions?

With a preponderance of non metallic drilling (plastic - circuit boards) I am wondering if the low non variable RPM drills might be an option?

Because of my involvement with stuff electrical I seldom venture past the world of aluminum or sheet steel in the 22 gauge area.

I freaked out when I attempted to use hex bit drills many years ago. They actually bent! Wobbled. Then again I frequently drill for 3.0 and 3.5 mm threads meaning an odd size drill far away from the hex bit realm. Next on the list is a bench top hobby drill like a Wen. But I would love to find a cross axis drill press vise that could be used as a miniature milling machine for making square panel gauge cut outs in plastic.

My weakening hands are unamusing. Yesterday for instance, I could not use a regular can opener on a can of albacore. I had to use needle nose Vise Grips, with the jaws opened parallel to leverage the can opener's large plastic wing nut. I arrived totally naive to the travails of old-age. No I never did get an electric can opener as I am unsure as to how one would get along with a can with a pull top lid -- very common down here. I define weak as needing to use Vise Grips to twist the lid on a plastic beverage bottle. Pain and weak fingers do not make a hobbyist happy :(

With doo-dad helper tools and accessories I do OK working on the bench.

I forgot to mention that the Batteries that come with the tools are Ryobi's smallest 18v lithium batteries. I also purchased a few of the largest batteries on sale at 2/$99, which are 4amp and last much longer. I had to swap batteries once while working on the porches using the 4amp batteries and there were a lot of screws. I also used one of the drill batteries in the saw to cut a couple 2 x 4's after the saw battery started to die. I like the Ryobi better than the B&D Firestorm which had NmHi batteries.

"'m now using a champion 3500 watt non inverter generator, but now I've been buying the green colored Ryobi 18V tools. They make a charger for them that will plug into a cigarette lighter plug and I bought one. No need to worry about damaging the Ryobi batteries or charger. I can now charge them from my truck or the 12v plug inside the trailer.

By the way the Ryobi drill/driver that came with the 5 tool set I bought works great. It's not to heavy and I used it recently putting up hand rails and safety rails around 2 porches and down 3 sets of stairs. Porches we're 6 ft x 4 ft and steps were each about 4 treads high plus last step on to the porch. Drill driver still going strong after it's workout. I cut all the 2 x 4 matl with the 14v 7 inch circular saw."

This sounds interesting. Thanks!!

A lot to ponder
Thanks everyone!

To Mex: Ryobi makes a 4v screw driver that is pistol grip and uses 1/4 inch hex bits. I have used hex bits that have smaller than 1/8 inch drill bits with it to do small holes and starter holes. Might suit your needs. I also have a tiny drill chuck for smaller drill bits somewhere that has a 1/4 inch hex base. Something like that along with the 4v driver might work for you as well.

For everyone: Once on a camping/hunting trip I had some Black & Decker Firestorm 14V tools. I tried to charge a battery for a drill off a 2200/2500 watt Honda non inverter generator. The battery never charged and the charger and battery never worked again. I never tried to charge any more tools of that generator again.

Black & Decker changed the battery style mid production to a slide on battery vs an inserted battery. Never bought any more except the drill I happened to find that was new and still used the old style battery.

I'm now using a champion 3500 watt non inverter generator, but now I've been buying the green colored Ryobi 18V tools. They make a charger for them that will plug into a cigarette lighter plug and I bought one. No need to worry about damaging the Ryobi batteries or charger. I can now charge them from my truck or the 12v plug inside the trailer.

By the way the Ryobi drill/driver that came with the 5 tool set I bought works great. It's not to heavy and I used it recently putting up hand rails and safety rails around 2 porches and down 3 sets of stairs. Porches we're 6 ft x 4 ft and steps were each about 4 treads high plus last step on to the porch. Drill driver still going strong after it's workout. I cut all the 2 x 4 matl with the 14v 7 inch circular saw.

cordless drill chargers are the only issues I have had with MSW inverters.

Not sure whether the makita would have thge same issues, i decided to get a PSW inverter just big enough to run it.

I did a bunch of shopping for small PSW inverters then double checked the Makita specs, and IIRC it was 350 watts.

I got a 400 watt PSW Wagan. The 350 watts is not constant, but vried from 6 to 22 amps DC IIRC throughout the 15 minute battery charge.

My Makita batteries are pretty tired. Never really read anything good from the budget battery replacements and 2 new MaKita batteries are close to the price of a new Drill/driver Kit.

Gdetrailer wrote:

GaryS1953 wrote:
Pardon me for jumping in. I have a Makita 18 volt. Been a great drill. Dont recall if is 1/4 or 3/8, but I'm unable to charge it using my small 300 watt inverter. I don't have any other need for a larger inverter. do any of these 12 volt drills come with a cigarette lighter type plug for the charger?

Not aware of the drills coming with a cig lighter charger, but often they do offer one as a separate accessory item you can buy..

Looks like Makita DC18SE might be what you would need for the LTX 18V batteries.



Pretty pricey to say the least at $93 :E

Can buy it HERE

If that isn't what you need then try searching with "18V Makita automotive charger" which is how I found that one.

I suspect that the problem you have had using an inverter is using one that is MSW (Modified Sine Wave) which often messes with cordless tool chargers and has nothing to do with the wattage size...

I would suggest trying a 300 PSW (Pure Sine Wave) inverter, most likely will work fine with PSW.

Samlex in the past has typically gotten pretty decent reviews of their PSW inverters..

Might be worth checking into since having 120V capability where ever you go can come in handy..

SAMLEX PSW INVERTERS

Hmm, both options seem a little pricy for what I need it for. I hadn't thought of the non-PSW being the problem vs just too low powered. I see there are some less expensive PSW inverters with decent reviews out there. Specifically the Betek 300 watt PSW for $66. What do you think of those?

GaryS1953 wrote:
Pardon me for jumping in. I have a Makita 18 volt. Been a great drill. Dont recall if is 1/4 or 3/8, but I'm unable to charge it using my small 300 watt inverter. I don't have any other need for a larger inverter. do any of these 12 volt drills come with a cigarette lighter type plug for the charger?

Not aware of the drills coming with a cig lighter charger, but often they do offer one as a separate accessory item you can buy..

Looks like Makita DC18SE might be what you would need for the LTX 18V batteries.



Pretty pricey to say the least at $93 :E

Can buy it HERE

If that isn't what you need then try searching with "18V Makita automotive charger" which is how I found that one.

I suspect that the problem you have had using an inverter is using one that is MSW (Modified Sine Wave) which often messes with cordless tool chargers and has nothing to do with the wattage size...

I would suggest trying a 300 PSW (Pure Sine Wave) inverter, most likely will work fine with PSW.

Samlex in the past has typically gotten pretty decent reviews of their PSW inverters..

Might be worth checking into since having 120V capability where ever you go can come in handy..

SAMLEX PSW INVERTERS

Pardon me for jumping in. I have a Makita 18 volt. Been a great drill. Dont recall if is 1/4 or 3/8, but I'm unable to charge it using my small 300 watt inverter. I don't have any other need for a larger inverter. do any of these 12 volt drills come with a cigarette lighter type plug for the charger?

Gtetrailer

Now THAT is an eye-opener

Thank you