New drill and impact driver combo suggestions

[shed9]

I'm about to get a new drill driver but looking to get a combo kit of a drill and impact driver. So far I've short listed it to either Panasonic or Fein. Both kits are 18V, come with the two drill units a charger and a couple of 18V Lion batteries. I like the Fein as its German quality and their Multimaster needs no introduction in this department. That said I hear a lot of good stuff on the Panasonics on the web.

Any advice on the better of the two? They are about the same cost at around £370 (around $US600).

I was also looking at Milwaukee and Bosch but ditched Bosch off the list and just not sure on Milwaukee. I have no interest in Makita as I have had too many units fail on my and my confidence is shot. Dewalt is okay but again had a few issues so I'm leaning away from them.

Any advise appreciated.

 

[jimbouk]

In the same situation as you. Have killed 4 makitas and a dewalt on site in 2 years which is pony i think. One of the guys i work with has a bosch impact for a few years that seems still going strong.

Personally im after the panasonic. Really nice feel i think. Very good reviews too.

If festool did a decent 18v impact i would have that instead. Maybe they will base one on the fein?

 

[wrightwoodwork]

Can't give any advice as which to go for. I've looked at the Fien at a trade show. First impression is very solidly made. The rep told me the batteries have the top grade of li. I personally feel tempted to get the Fien

 

[neth27]

If the batteries on the Fein are the same type as on there multi-tool, don't get them.. You need to really give them a hard belt to get them off. They just seem to jam on

John..

 

[shed9]

In the same situation as you. Have killed 4 makitas and a dewalt on site in 2 years which is pony i think. One of the guys i work with has a bosch impact for a few years that seems still going strong.

Personally im after the panasonic. Really nice feel i think. Very good reviews too.

If festool did a decent 18v impact i would have that instead. Maybe they will base one on the fein?

I've not totally discounted the Bosch yet but fairly convinced its the Fein or Panasonic route and must say I think Fein has the edge for me purely based on Fein as a company. The Panasonic component parts seem to be cheaper should I need to replace them and they certainly have a good rep, just not 100% yet.

Can't give any advice as which to go for. I've looked at the Fien at a trade show. First impression is very solidly made. The rep told me the batteries have the top grade of li. I personally feel tempted to get the Fien

I've never seen a Fein in the flesh so that's good to know. I'd heard a similar thing on the batteries as well.

If the batteries on the Fein are the same type as on there multi-tool, don't get them.. You need to really give them a hard belt to get them off. They just seem to jam on

John..

The cordless MM comes in 14v and 18v so that may be a moot point for me as I'm going the 18v route, also its a different tool so not sure that's a show stopper for me. I'll be happy to issue an online Homer Simpson Stylee 'Doh' if this turns out to be the same for the drills if I get it  [smile]

Thanks for the input people, most appreciated. This is the Fein kit I'm currently looking at - 18V drill driver and brushless impact with 160nm torque - FFX have at £367;



Couple of options on the Panasonic I'm still going through but it's a similar spec.

 

[jcpsmallwoodworkershop]

i recently broke my milwaukee v28 drill (a bit old) so i upgraded to bosch
and got rid of the dead mulwaukee m28 batteries as well.

impact driver
amazon.com/gp/product/B00HUCUHN6/
Bosch IDH182-01L 18-volt Brushless Socket Ready Impact Driver with 4.0Ah Batteries, Charger and L-Boxx-2
IDH182 delivers 1,650 in lbs of torque making if the most powerful impact driver in its class.
nothing touches this in the class.

drill
amazon.com/gp/product/B00JNA17G4/
(there is no bosch combo set, so i suggest one of these two tools be a "bare tool" purchase.
Maximum power - 752 in lbs of torque powered by a 4-pole motor
this is not an impact driver, it is a hammer drill. also not brushless.

bosch battery best in class
Bosch BAT621 18-volt 5.0Ah Battery  yep that is 18v*5amp=90 watts of power in same sized battery

which doesnt mean i dont have festool tools, ts55, kapex120, rotex 150, rotex 90, planer hl850, domino 500 and 700 xl and of1400 router.
but i dont like festool drill or impact driver when i compare to competitors.

 

[andyman]

Have the milwaukee they are fine, a mate had a panasonic lasted ages, never seen a fein I'm same with makita batteries don't last, hilti the drills are clumpy, metabo had 2 batteries didn't last long enough, dewalt never wanted 1

 

[neth27]

2 of the people i work with have got the Milwaukee 18v impact and combi drill sets, they both have lasted less than 6 months.

John...

 

[mrboult]

If i was looking for a kit at that price, then I would definitely get the panasonic. 

I have used both the 14.4v combi drill and impact quite a lot as a couple of guys I often work with have them. I find them both light, comfortable and powerful. And both parties say great things about the batteries. Plus panasonic have a few other battery tools that are reasonably priced as standalone units. Incase you suddenly need a cordless Jigsaw, Circular or Recipe' Saw. you already have the batteries.

 

[wow]

Thanks for the input people, most appreciated. This is the Fein kit I'm currently looking at - 18V drill driver and brushless impact with 160nm torque - FFX have at £367;


[/quote]

It might just be the photos, but MAN those look like the Milwaukee tools:

[attachimg=#]

M18 18-Volt Lithium-Ion Cordless Drill Driver/Impact Driver Combo Kit @ $199.00

 

[shed9]

WOW, I think the colour in that photo is wrong as the Fein livery is more orange than that.

That's a good deal on the M18 combo kit, unfortunately we don't get them that cheap over here in the UK, in fact the M18 combo is about the same as the Fein.

 

[shed9]

Okay, quick update; I just ordered the Fein combo and a couple of the Festool SysIII attic Systainers - one for each drill.

For info, some of the reasons I went the Fein route were down to the following reasons;

> The drill has a metal chuck and gearbox and the impact has metal casing upfront.
> My focus was a drill and impact set so I wasn't bothered on the ability of adding other tools to the mix which was one of the strengths of the Panasonic range (Although I do intend to get a Supercut in the near future and the possibility of a cordless option is now more tempting).
> Fein's product line concentrates on drills, its core to what they do - hell they developed / invented the hand held electric drill.
> The drills are German made which kind of follows the same process of Festool - something that supports my initial purchase in Festool, i.e. made by people who get paid a proper wage.

Don't get me wrong, I think I would be just as happy with the Panasonics - I couldn't find anyone who had a bad word against the Lion range, just felt the Fein had the edge is all/

I will give some feedback when it arrives.

 

[wrightwoodwork]

Good stuff look forward to your thoughts on the drills. Where I get my tools they sell fien. I think there specialty is metal working

 

[jimbouk]

Yeah im interested to hear your feedback too.

 

[wow]

WOW, I think the colour in that photo is wrong as the Fein livery is more orange than that.

That's a good deal on the M18 combo kit, unfortunately we don't get them that cheap over here in the UK, in fact the M18 combo is about the same as the Fein.

I have a Fein MM so I know what the Fein color is supposed to look like. But other than the color and the name, they sue look like the Milwaukee stuff.

I will be very interested to learn the COO printed on the tools.

 

[shed9]

I have a Fein MM so I know what the Fein color is supposed to look like. But other than the color and the name, they sue look like the Milwaukee stuff.

I will be very interested to learn the COO printed on the tools.

WOW, I wasn't suggesting that you wouldn't know how orange Fein orange is, just commenting that I think the photo up there ^ shows the colour wrong and more like Milwaukee red. I agree the tools look similar (ish)  [smile]

Forgive my ignorance but what's the COO?

 

[wow]

I have a Fein MM so I know what the Fein color is supposed to look like. But other than the color and the name, they sue look like the Milwaukee stuff.

I will be very interested to learn the COO printed on the tools.

WOW, I wasn't suggesting that you wouldn't know how orange Fein orange is, just commenting that I think the photo up there ^ shows the colour wrong and more like Milwaukee red. I agree the tools look similar (ish)  [smile]

Forgive my ignorance but what's the COO?

Not sure how you'd know if/whether I knew about Fein's color unless I told you? It's all good...

COO is Country Of Origin.

 

[shed9]

Not sure how you'd know if/whether I knew about Fein's color unless I told you? It's all good...

That's a fair point.

COO is Country Of Origin.

Ahh, I understand they are built in Germany.

 

[shed9]

Well, update on this one and is not good, in fact its actually quite diabolical in my opinion.

To clarify, I did my research and was led to believe the Fein products were of German manufacture based on their own web literature, official YouTube channel videos and other online content.

Anyhow, the Fein combo kit turned up this time last week. I opened the kit to find the words "made in PRC" on both tools.

I contacted Fein immediately expressing my concern that Fein specific information informed me that Fein tools are of German manufacture. I included links that referenced this including the above YouTube video which states "All Fein tools are made in Germany" on the Fein YouTube channel". I also included a link to this thread to demonstrate that I had researched my purchase.

I heard nothing until yesterday afternoon from Chris Bull (Fein UK MD) with a poor excuse for not getting back to me and confirming that the tools are indeed manufactured in China. No response to my actual communication which pointed out I felt I had been misled. Chris responded to the YouTube video stating it was irrelevant as the tools were manufactured after the video was published???

I responded immediately and asked what options were available to return the tools as I was not happy with the misinformation and the poor customer response. I stated that I did not take this issue up with the original dealer (FFX in the UK) as I felt it was Fein who had misled and not FFX.

Long story short, I got a reply from Chris just now telling me that;

> My issue is with FFX, not Fein.
> That if there is info out there that is misleading I need to refer to it. Despite the fact that I had and he responded.
> That I should have asked all the drill manufacturers where their drills where made - little gem this one as I did.

The real irony here is that I have been approached to write a tool review on the tools from someone responding to this thread. I'm still writing that review but with a slightly different aspect.

Anywho, I'm not a happy camper. Customer service has been shocking and I've got nearly £400's worth of Chinese drills.

 

[wrightwoodwork]

That's a bit rubbish if I'm lead to believe it's made in germany I expect it to be. Why do manufactures try to pull the wool over our eyes. I've got nothing against being made in China as long as open about it and quality control is in place.