Milwaukee 12V CXS Copy

[egmiii]

The Milwaukee sounded too good to be true.

It's a good drill/driver at a fair price (when you consider the extra 6ah battery), with features that other drills do not have (no offset on the Festool). Yes, the driver chucks wobble a tiny bit. The Jacobs does not (where you actually need zero runout). You are putting screws in by hand. CNC or drill press levels of precision are not required. My hand wobbles 100x more when using a screwdriver. Hopefully Milwaukee improves the build quality going forward, but in real world use, it will have zero impact on the functionality of the tool. I don't want the negativity of this discussion to turn off potential buyers from considering the Milwaukee if it fits their needs. I'll say it again, it's a good tool at a fair price.

 

[HarveyWildes]

I just used the Milwaukee 4-in-1 yesterday to drill, countersink, and drive around 50 screws over 5-6 hours.  I had no issues with the forward/reverse switch or wobbling, and since I'm not a particular fan of Centrotec bits, that wasn't an issue.  The two M12 batteries I used were older 2010-12 vintage, and worked just fine.  The magnetic bit holder turned out to be more useful than I expected.  I can't tell you what kind of sound it made, so it must have sounded normal.  I didn't use the bag at all, so that wasn't a problem.  I preferred the four fingered grip over the three fingered grip for better controlling the torque, but the three fingered grip was good for low torque use.

For my shop, it's a keeper.

 

[vkumar]

Just curious. When driving small screws do you have fine torque control so that you do not overdrive the screw?

 

[xedos]

I think you'll be disappointed in the runout of festool too.  The accessory chucks just aren't as precision in general as a jacobs chuck.

That's my experience with all them from Festool, Metabo, Bosch, and Fein.

 

[HarveyWildes]

Just curious. When driving small screws do you have fine torque control so that you do not overdrive the screw?

Yes.  It has both a torque selector collar and a 2-speed switch.  In addition, the trigger is pressure sensitive variable speed.  The manual includes the torque specifications for the settings of the torque selector collar.  (see https://documents.milwaukeetool.com/58-14-2505d2.pdf.)  I used the torque collar for driving, but the smallest screw I used yesterday was about 3/4" #6.  However, I wasn't even close to the lowest torque setting.

When driving small screws, a lot depends on how you pre-drill, what wood you are using, and the screw size, length, material, and lubricant, if any.  However, the Milwaukee tool has all of the capabilities that I would expect in a driver designed for smaller screws.

 

[FestitaMakool]

Just curious. When driving small screws do you have fine torque control so that you do not overdrive the screw?

Yes.  It has both a torque selector collar and a 2-speed switch.  In addition, the trigger is pressure sensitive variable speed.  The manual includes the torque specifications for the settings of the torque selector collar.  (see https://documents.milwaukeetool.com/58-14-2505d2.pdf.)  I used the torque collar for driving, but the smallest screw I used yesterday was about 3/4" #6.  However, I wasn't even close to the lowest torque setting.

When driving small screws, a lot depends on how you pre-drill, what wood you are using, and the screw size, length, material, and lubricant, if any.  However, the Milwaukee tool has all of the capabilities that I would expect in a driver designed for smaller screws.

I think what [member=163]vkumar[/member] meant was if it has electronic torque compensated speed control.
This differ vastly from variable speed control by the trigger itself.
Electronic compensated speed control works like this:
Imagine you will screw a 5x70mm wood screw into soft wood, without predrilling. Once you press the trigger it starts to rotate at a (presumably) low speed to maintain control at start.
“ETSC” will monitor your trigger switch setting, and continue the speed you started with, the longer the screw is seated deeper in the wood the more resistance it gives, here the “ETSC” comes in, it compensates the force or torque to maintain the almost exact speed. You will then not need to alter more pressure to the trigger, the electronics does this for you.
This gives excellent torque and screw control with both delicate small and large screws.
This is why I chose the Makita drills in the first place, as they also incorporates “ETSC” in their CXT 12V line. Bosch for example, do not in their 12V line, which I had but sold in favour of Makita. I’m not familiar with Festool TSX/CSX if they have this type of electronics, but I have the C18, and this has excellent “ETSC”. I will not buy any screw drill that not have ETSC. The Makita CXT 12V BL is an excellent “fine” tool for delicate work, and it even have enough power to leave my 18V drills behind to only special occasions.

 

[Roachmill]

Well I've given up on the Milwaukee and bought another Flexiclick. I don't know if it's just me, but it has one very anoying trait of not locking in small hex bits and swallowing them in too deep making changing bits a PITA. These kind:

[attachimg=1]

Those with a ball detent are fine but that defeats the purpose of having a small drill to get in to small spaces if you have to use longer bits. The Flexiclick handles all the bits I've thrown at it with no bother at all... as you would kinda expect from a drill/driver!

 

[JimD]

I have a 12V milwaukee drill and impact driver but not the 4 in 1 drill.  My flexi click is my favorite cordless drill, however.  It is the lightest but still has good power.  With the attachments it will go into places the other tools do not.  I feel like the speed control is better than my Milwaukees.  But maybe the CXS copy is better in that regard. 

 

[mawa89]

I also got the Milwaukee Installation Drill Driver, because it is has the offset chuck that I miss on my two CXS. In Europe / Germany the drill is listed as Milwaukee M12 FDDX. Although it is a great device, I immediately missed the Centrotec system. I don't like the Milwaukee bit holder. So I tried to adapt the Centrotec chuck to the Milwaukee screwdriver.

Although the Milwaukee mount looks similar to the Festool mount, it is slightly thicker and shorter. Therefore the Centrotec attachment does not fit by default.

For this reason I had to drill the inner part of the chuck with a 12.5mm diameter drill bit (see picture) and regrind it a little bit for a snug fit. Then I had to shorten the back side with the angle grinder by about 2mm.

The result: It fits well und locking mechanism works! And also the Centrotec bits fit perfectly fine. Unfortunately, I seem to have had a minimal offset when drilling the 12.5mm hole, so that - despite no play in the mounting itself - it comes to a slightly unrounded run/minor "wobbeling" at the drill tip. Totally ok for screwing; for drilling slightly too much (at least for drilling in metal).

I would be happy if my experiment serves you as an inspiration and if an even more precise version of my attempt is made

Regards from Germany

 

[Bob D.]

Interesting, I wonder if the same could be done with the Bosch FlexClic.

 

[FestitaMakool]

Cool mod gerrix1!
I’m having similar in mind, but not with Milwaukee.
Inspiring!

 

[Bob D.]

Interesting, I wonder if the same could be done with the Bosch FlexClic.

Looked into it this afternoon but it won't work on my Bosch FlexClic, the shaft is way too short to even think of grinding down a Centrotec chuck to fit.

 

[FestitaMakool]

Finally this Milwaukee arrived over here, unlike Festool bits which arrives here first.. [wink] [big grin]

Thursday I bought it from a dealer, who was one of the first to order it. (He had nearly sold all of his stock when I arrived) Unfortunately there was the trigger, and electronics as I was afraid I didn’t like. I decided to return it on Friday again, so I did.
But, I really liked the grip on this drill. And the direction switch I liked also - I’ve had numerous times reaching on or into awkward spaces and accidentally changed directions by the traditional lever that most drills have - only to shift over again an trying to avoid pressing this lever.
This Milwaukee eliminates that. (It can be done, but then you’re probably very unlucky)
I could easily reach it with my thumb. Well done Milwaukee.

Soo, after a phone call I learned that Makita has something “in the works” with a solution with interchangeable attachments. I’ll probably wait til then, or jump on a CXS - to come in a shorter brushless version soon??  [wink]