Yannis

Cheers Brian, Drill day today, no trigger issues. Managed to overload the drill with some strange pine board that i tried to drill with the kreg jig. Pressure + prolonged burst + battery at 1 bar (out of 3), made the drill to lower the rpm (overheating protection on the battery/drill or something?) for some time. Fresh battery on, rpm back to normal and the pine gave way :).

True Will, intermittent problems are very frustrating in general. The "glitch" appears sometimes if i try to unscrew a screw and the drive bit hasn't properly engaged the screw's head. But as i said, i cannot replicate it.

Hmm, you got me worried a bit. It is not that I get a dead trigger. The trigger locks in a very few cases where I tried to unscrew Philips head screws. I cannot seem to replicate the issue no matter how many times I pull the trigger to test. Today I drilled a few pocket holes without the slightest issue. That is why I am puzzled.

Thanks Brian, I finished dismantling the layout... must have unscrewed a few pounds of screws... the battery performance of the 796 was/is GREAT! Many thanks everyone for the precious advice and help. Much appreciated. Though it seems i must have caught some sort of tool-bug... i am looking at other power tools now :).

@D W True about the brushless special :). It is my first brushless tool so ... To be honest with you, i tried pulling the trigger 100 times yesterday w/o load and it never stuck... go figure a problem i cannot replicate. Ah well i guess it adds to the character of the tool. I haven't tried the hammer action yet. W/o load i cannot understand any difference, and so far i am working only on wood projects. Will do so soon...

Jronman, I ll definitely post up in the woodworking subforum updates of the new layout construction. Woodworking-wise it not something to write home about (some of the woodworking projects i ve seen here are amazing), but should be a fun project anyway.

Thanks for the kind comments! Good to know about Neil Young, i know for sure that Rod Stewart is (his layout has been featured in Model Railroader Magazine, great inspiration). I noticed you are in Aerospace? As you can imagine i really like aircraft (and studied some aerodynamics, finite elements etc...)

Thanks Nordraw, The locomotives yes they are working models (non sound), 1/87 scale. The B-25 is just a static 1/48 scale model.

I have been unscrewing what seems like 100s of screws from my old model railroad layout. The drill does work very nicely as a driver. Out of curiosity, it has some sort of electronic trigger right? I am asking because in very few cases the trigger wont get pressed with the first get-go and needs a second try. Sort of like some safety engaging. Is that normal? I cannot replicate this in some specific condition, it just happens on some particular cases where i tried to unscrew some screws. Many thanks Yannis

True Brian, apart from the extra power, i really liked the way the chuck works and the light! I know it sounds like a detail, but (using old tools up to now) it is my first drill with an LED and makes a lot of difference when trying to drive a screw while working under the model railroad benchwork. I ll definitely keep the 6270D alongside the 796 as a driver. For some reason it's chuck has 0 wobble and is super accurate (all of the tools i saw in the shops had some tiny amount of wobble). I ll be getting some fresh (aftermarket) batteries for it though.

Thanks Mike! I really like Santa Fe trains, especially in southern California.

Thanks Brian! True the chuck is great. The charger was quirky at first (showed batteries as charged). I put it in a different outlet/socket and all good. Then back to the original socket and again all good. Go figure... Opened up a few pocket holes with the fully charged battery using the kreg jig, as you can imagine...the plywood seemed like butter in comparison to the makita 12V i was using.

Just got back home with the 796D2. Awesome piece of gear. I drilled a couple of pocket holes with it and it was night-day in comparison with my old trusty Makita. At the same time though it was just as light and just as compact, so perfect for me. I did try at the shop the 778 and the Metabo SB-18-LT Compact (120$ more expensive than the 796 and brushed). The 796 felt more balanced, lighter and imho more well built than the Metabo. The Metabo was Made in China if i remember correctly. The battery pack on the 796 was made in Japan. Many thanks everyone for the suggestions and the help! Yannis

Thanks Eric, glad you liked it!

Jronman, true the 790/791 would be ideal but unfortunately i cannot get it here, it seems that only the hammer-drills are available in my market (796). Having said that, given that i am happy with the balance/size/weight of my 6270D, and the fact that the 796 has almost identical dimensions/weight, i guess i will be happy with it as well. In a few hours i ll get the chance to try them out and most probably i ll be coming back home with an early Xmas present :). I also suppose that with a (hopefully) new home building project in the future, a hammer drill like the 796 will prove handy when dealing with lots of steel reinforced concrete. Dan, many thanks for the detailed feedback! I think i ll get the chance to try both the 796 and the BS 18 Quick & SB 18 LT Compact today. I suppose the BS 18 Quick you mentioned is not made in Germany? What about the 796? China? (i know the 996 is American made). BTW, the BS 18 Quick is like 40$ more than the 796 here. The BS 18 LT BL is significantly more expensive (2x the price of the 796) so unfortunately out of my budget (circa 300$). Thanks again Yannis

Chris. Mike and Eric thank you very much for the warm welcome! Glad to be on board :). Eric thanks for the interest! Here are a few of pics from models that i have made. (I hope its ok and not out of topic to attach them here, please do let me know).

rdst and Jronman many thanks for the replies. I was under the impression that the 796 is the 2 speed premium brushless from Dewalt (996 the 3 speed, and 785, 778 etc the lower end lines). The Makita 18v ones i have seen (with the exception of the 482) are 1500rpm or less, and from what i read for pocket holes etc, circa 2000 is recommended (right?). The rest of the lineup that i have seen here are 10.8V which have more or less the same specs as my current 12V makita. Currently i am leaning towards the 796D2 (2 x 2Ah batteries). Many thanks for the input! Much appreciated and feel free to comment on the option. Might be a new-drill-day tomorrow Yannis

Many thanks for the warm welcome! Your detailed reply was much appreciated!

Wesley and fm2176 many thanks for your replies! Dewalt is widely available and has excellent value here in Greece as well. The 796D2 has the same price as the Bosch 18-2-Li Plus. The non-hammer 790 and 791 are not available unfortunately. Having said that, the 796 appears to have the same length as my Makita (190mm) which i consider to be ok (compact enough) for my needs. Milwaukee (such as the 2702) are significantly more expensive over here from what i have seen and this is why i have not mentioned them. As it is now, i am leaning towards the 796D2 with the 2x 2Ah batteries. For 60$ i could get the 2x 5Ah version, but i think could use the lighter weight whereas i don't think i need having 5Ah available at home. Having said that, feel free to chime in if i am seeing it all wrong. I suppose i should not worry about chuck wobbles etc with the 796? Many thanks again Yannis

Hello everyone, I have been doing some market research recently about getting a new cordless drill for woodworking mainly and especially for drilling pocket holes using a kreg (pocket) jig. So far i have an old Makita 12v 6270D. It feels underpowered and the batteries are very weak after years of use. I also have an old B&D corded hammer/drill from the 70s / 80s (Made in England) which i tried to use but it is too bulky/heavy and might have some wobble since i felt vibrations on low rpm while trying it out for some pocket holes. The Makita is without any vibrations, wobbles etc, perfectly happy with it during all these years , it is just that i need more power and new batteries :). I ll keep it though as a screwdriver. So to cut a long story short i am looking for something compact, light, powerful and reliable for the above tasks (+ everyday DIY at home). Hammer action is not essential (i got the corded one for this). I am after precise construction (of the tool) with minimum chuck wobble worries. Tasks... model railroad benchwork, furniture etc... So far after doing some online (specs, reviews, discussions) research i narrowed down my list to the following models. Bear in mind that i am in Europe (Greece), so local availability/prices led me to these. Dewalt 796D2 (2x 2Ah, 2000rpm / 70Nm, 1.64kg) Dewalt 790D2 (2x 2Ah, 2000rpm / 60Nm, 1.62kg) Metabo SB 18 LT Compact (2x 2Ah, 1600rpm / 60Nm, 1.7kg) Bosch (Blue) 18-2-Li Plus (3x1.5Ah , 1900rpm / 63Nm, 1.5kg) Makita DHP482 (2x 3Ah, 1900rpm / 62Nm, 1.8kg) I did read about flagship models such as Dewalt 996 and similar but they do seem a bit of an overkill (weight / power) for what i am after. Anyhow, i am looking forward to your input/feedback since i do not have any hands-on experience with any of the above tools. I am very happy with my Makita corded tools (sanders, jigsaws, routers) but they are from another era and my experience with them is irrelevant for choosing a drill today :). Many thanks in advance for your time/replies/help. Yannis

Good day everyone! New member here from Greece. DYI-er (model railroads etc... and scale models). Strong interest in power tools especially for woodworking. While doing market research for a cordless drill i came across this forum, read around a lot, realized the wealth and quality of information/members of the community here and decided to join! Looking forward to learning and contribute. Yannis