Cordless Right Angle Drill?

[Scott K]

I'm curious why other manufacturers, other than Milwaukee, haven't yet attempted a cordless right angle drill?

I have a Milwaukee V28 right angle drill and it kicks arse.  When I elected to buy my V28 cordless 4 pc set 2 1/2 years ago, it was because I knew Milwaukee had a cordless right angle drill around the corner to come out and I finally added it to my V28 reportoire last year and it kicks arse!! This thing rocks for drilling water lines, and it'll hold it's own turning reasonable sized hole saws and big hawg/one tooth bits for drainage applications as well.  This thing is as heavy duty as the corded versions and almost as powerful.  It is an excellent tool for Plumbers and Electricians especially, but would also benefit guys who run control wires, central vacuum, sprinklers, etc.  I would imagine manufactuers like DeWalt, or Bosch with their 36 volts could make a very powerful RA drill too....Is it too much of a niche for DeWalt despite the fact they probably sell more tools than Milwaukee?

I can tell you every Plumber who I work with, and even electricians I see on sites, have oohed  and aahed at my V28 right angle drill.

[qadsan]

Hello Scott and welcome to the forum.

I don't know why DeWALT doesn't have a 36 volt cordless tool to compete with the Milwaukee V28 right angle drill, but I've used that V28 right angle drill and it's a great tool!  All the V28 tools I've used definitely have some serious power.

I know this isn't exactly what you're looking for, but I recently seen this video on DeWALT's web site about their DWD460 heavy duty right angle stud and joist drill and thought you might want to check it out.  It's not cordless, but it's one heck of a tool that offers bind-up control which is a feature that adjusts the motors torque to a manageable level in the event the bit binds, otherwise the tool could severely twist your arm or smash your hand into a stud, etc.  When you posted about the V28 right angle drill, I was thinking how nice it would have been if the V28 right angle drill had this bind up control because it too can be a monster if the bit binds.

Here's the link.  Just move your cursor over the DWW460 and click on it to start the video.

http://www.dewalt.com/us/gtp/default.asp

If you're a plumber, have your tried Milwaukee's M12 copper tubing cutter?  I don't know how it would hold up for a plumber who needs to cuts lots of tubing day in and day out, but it's been a convenient and helpful tool for us for the residential work we do.  We use it for copper, pvc, etc.  We also have Milwaukee's M12 hackzall and it's another cool tool that we're very happy with for all kinds of uses.

One thing's for sure and that is we''ll be seeing some pretty cool tools in the not too distant future as more complex electronics are integrated into our tools and as battery technology continues to advance. 

[Scott K]

Qadsan,

I've never used the DeWalt version of their Heavy Duty Joist driller, but the company I work for has quite a few Milwaukee Super Hawgs and for big bits and holesaws they are the cats arse and have a clutch that works relatively well if the drill binds. The issue is the Milwaukee Super hawgs are quite readily available at our wholesaler, at a decent price, so it's what we buy, plus we've never had much in the way of problems with them.

As for the lack of clutch on my V28 right angle drill, I've never had a problem with the drill binding, yet. It's pretty predictable being a right angle drill though.

They had a few demo's of those 12 Volt Milwaukee tube cutters at the wholesalers and I tried them. Might not be a bad idea but right now I'm happy with my Ridgid 118 Mini, 151, and 153 Tube cutters. The nice thing about my manual cutters (118, 151, and 153) is they all use the exact same cutting wheel which means I only need to stock up on one replacement wheel type for copper and one replacement wheel type for plastic (e.g. PVC, ABS), and this allows me to target pipe from 1/4" up to 3."

[qadsan]

I've got the same Ridgid cutters and their mini tubing cutter for those tight spots.  But we don't do much over 1" except for a couple times a year, so the Milwaukee M12 cutter is quick and perfect for our small jobs.  I've heard where some people have had problems with this tool dying after it got wet from being sprayed with water when they accidentally cut a pipe under pressure.  Supposedly this tool is designed to have a water resistant head, but I don't plan to test its limits.  We got to use it again today for a small job when some kids smashed into the main water line with their power-wheels jeeps.  The poor lady didn't know how to shut off the water, so it was still spewing when we got there.  She's going to enjoy her water bill next month!  Somebody connected galvanized to the copper without an insulator and it was just a matter of time before it leaked / broke on its own.  The ugly wretched looking copper stub we had to work with came up against cement, so there wasn't much room to work with it unless we demo'd part of their entry / walkway to make more room.  Normally we'd use the Ridgid mini knuckle buster (which I hate) or a saw if space permitted (which it did not, but we had just enough room to get the M12 cutter on it which did the job in a few seconds.  It's a nice tool and it works well for us, but it's not a product that everybody will find value in.  It definitely takes up more room than a couple manual cutters in the tool bag and you don't have to worry about the battery going dead in your manual cutters, but I like it enough that I'd buy it again.