Help - Makita or festool Drive / Drivers?

[Jebbidiah]

Should I get a Makita LXT 18v drill and impact driver or change to Festool? General mix of kitchens - general round house building work and sometimes roofs - I would really appreciate any advice that is given.
Thank you.

 

[stvrowe]

I have had the Makita LXT setup for over 4 years now and have used it pretty much as described with no issues at all.  It is a very nice setup, has driven everything asked of it, and has long battery life.  If it matters to you the batteries are made in Japan and the drill and impact drivers are made in China.  I think if a similar setup in Festool had been available at the time I may have gone that route but that said, I see no need to replace the Makita.

 

[Kev]

If you were to go C15 or T15, plus a Ti15 you'd be happy. There's nothing wrong with the Ti15 as an impact driver ... though it's probably not the most powerful on the market, I feel it does a very good job.

Criticism has been made of the Ti15's performance as a drill by a few members. As I have no intention of using my Ti15 as I drill, I have not opinion on this - I am happy with it's performance as impact driver.

Being able to share batteries between the C15, Ti15, Syslite is nice.

The "bare" Ti15 comes in a large systainer that can house two drills - nice way to buy ... wish I'd grabbed it that way!

 

[promhandicam]

Have you also asked this question on a Makita forum as well or just here?  :

 

[duburban]

makita no doubt.

get a festool drill for the shop or installations. you don't want something that your afraid to drop or get dirty.

heres what you do. get the makita set and the circular saw and you'll be in heaven.

 

[Nick C]

I have the Makita driver/drill combo. Ideal for the work you're doing. I also have the flashlight with the articulating head. With these tools I have handled every conceivable kitchen-related drilling requirement without a problem.

 

[Jebbidiah]

Thank you everyone for your responses - I think the general view is Makita.
I have had an 18v Dewalt for years and have used it for everything and now is the time to invest and upgrade and i just wanted to make sure i was choosing the right set up.
Thank you.

 

[lecozthomas]

I don't know if makita has right angle and eccentric chuck but if you want to do cabinet making it's maybe something to considerate. I saved so much time working with the right angle chuck on my T18 in tight spots. I also love swapping between the universal chuck with drill bit for pilot holes and then centrotec to drive the screw.

 

[hhh]

I’ve got all the FTs, several Bosch and Makita drills/drivers.  For my $$, the Bosch is by far the best quality/$$ ratio.  The FT is very good quality, but unless you are into the proprietary chuck system, it’s not the way to go….  The Bosch is on par with the FT, but at a much better price and you can use the bits you have.  The Makita is a bit lower in quality (the shafts/chucks on the Makita set have a bit too much play).  I used to have Dewalt, but eBayed them – simply not in the same class.  I also have some Milwaukee, but their quality has slipped over the past few years…

One thing in favor of FT is during installs – the offset and rt-angle chucks are well worth it and you should lean toward FT if you want offset driving, do installs, etc.

 

[duburban]

I’ve got all the FTs, several Bosch and Makita drills/drivers.  For my $$, the Bosch is by far the best quality/$$ ratio.  The FT is very good quality, but unless you are into the proprietary chuck system, it’s not the way to go….  The Bosch is just about on par with the FT, but at a much better price and you can use the bits you have.  The Makita is a bit lower in quality (the shafts/chucks on the Makita set have a bit too much play).  I used to have Dewalt, but eBayed them – simply not in the same class.  I also have some Milwaukee, but their quality has slipped over the past few years…

One thing in favor of FT is during installs – the offset and rt-angle chucks are well worth it and you should lean toward FT if you want offset driving, do installs, etc.

i also have the newer heavy duty bosch drill/driver and can't say enough good about it. smooth operator

 

[BBuild]

LXT all the way. For the price of a festool drill and impact you could buy a half dozen LXT tools and batteries and still have money for a few systainers. I used the compact drill and impact kit daily for over 3 years without a problem. Everything from hinge screws to 6" lags. I only upgraded so I could get the bigger 3.0 ah batteries. I now have 2 impacts, a compact drill, blower, vacuum, and radio. I suggest you look into the LXT platform, they have sooo many tools its incredible and its pretty nice just swapping batteries on the go.

 

[Kev]

Jebbidiah,

What's your goal ?

You mention kitchens, round house and roofs ... but there are many other factors.

Do you value Systainer storage compatibility? The Centrotec system? The range and flexibility of chucks?

Are you trying to reduce cost? Reuse existing bits?

hhh is on the money with his run down!

 

[Nigel]

Makita LXT has to be best value. I've had great use from my drill/impact combination. The drill is very strong with 3 speeds.

I recently got the battery saw with ali base plate - great little tool and the radio which is good too. You could go on forever with the LXT range, they've got just about everything and naked tools are widely available so you're good to go with 2 or 3 batteries.

 

[green fever]

if money is an issue and you do not want to buy into  festool ownership then perhaps makita may work for you, i know a lot of guys that have festool Panasonic hilti makita and Bosch and dewalt and most are happy with what they have for their respective jobs , maybe you would not feel happy with a £500 + drill up on a roof or on a site where tools can get knocked about a lot, my take is if you want the best buy the best  you can fit into your budget just remember that with festool you are buying into a system which can get expensive over time as many of us know, it's how you intend to use your tools and how you look after them  i have routers that are over fifteen years old and a mitre saw around the same age also my biscuit joiner (elu) but i have to say my biggest indulgence is festool but that's just my personal choice , i do have hilti makita Bosch dewalt paslode feinn, but i  love the green and blue.

 

[Nick C]

One more brand is worth mentioning: Milwaukee. I have several of the 12V tools--the newer M12 models. Very nice. I use the drill almost every day. Compact, light weight, ratcheting chuck, brushless motor, good battery life--a real sweet tool. I also have the M12 right-angle drill (it costs about the same as the Festool RA chuck), for tight spaces. Light weight, and easy to use one-handed. There are quite a few tools in the M12 line--they all use the same batteries. The cost is a fraction of Festool. I still keep a high RPM corded drill for pocket screw holes, but for kitchen and other cabinet work, the M12 is my new favorite. Nice upgrade from my old Makita.

 

[duburban]

if you can wait... hold out for the 4.0 amp hour batteries with a fuel gauge!