Down in price ! Li-Ion battery drill driver with a built in light and a selection of drill bits at a reasonable price with good reviews.Variable speed, Reverse function, 20 torque settings, 2 gears, 13 assorted accessories
16 comments
pcplod
9 Feb 16#16
Maybe it was crap, it happens. Once upon a time, I stuck to the simple maxim , that you get what you pay for, but I've discovered on many occasions since that you can pay good money for tools and still not get what you paid for. Nowadays, I give some thought to how much punishment I am likely to give a tool before buying it.
In the past, I have had the nasty habit of trying to drive a screw in without drilling a suitable pilot hole or one that was too small. I still have the habit of doing it when I know I shouldn't, eg because I don't have the right size/length/type of drill bit.
I used my 10.8 drill recently to drive in 3" self-threading screws, without Rawlplug, into a dual layer of bitumastic and concrete, but I did drill exactly the right pilot hole first. Also, I never drill or drive screws with the clutch slip mechanism locked out. The drill coped without complaining when I couldn't do it with an ordinary screwdriver. I've found that the key to success is to have the right size of good quality drill bit for the pilot hole and to bear in mind the nature of the material you are drilling into. Cement and concrete can end up with a pilot hole wider than the drill bit very easily, wood tends to be less of a problem that way. Another pain in the ass I find is that with small gauge drills, eg, 3/4mm and less, it can be very easy to bend the drill even just a little bit. When that happens, you might as well throw it away because you will never drill an accurate pilot hole again with it, as demonstrated by virtue of the tip describing an arc in the air when you spin the drill up. Asking a drill to drill with a bent, blunt or otherwise useless drill bit is just unrealistic. I always spin up a drill bit before putting it to any material because sometimes you don't know that the drill bit is bent. Sometimes it can be straight but miss-seated in the jaws of the chuck. Some chucks are worse for that than others. It's not the first time I've bought a cheap drill and put another chuck on it.
If you do a bit of research, you can find that the power tool business is as incestuous as other electrical goods sectors. For example, Black & Decker own Porter-Cable and Dewalt and are merged with Stanley Tools (Fatmax drills). If I pay 4 times the price for a Dewalt equivalent of a Black & Decker drill, I sure as hell am not getting a drill that is anywhere near 4 times better and I am sure there are common parts between them. Techtronic Industries (Taiwan) owns Milwaukee, AEG and Ryobi tools. As an aside, AEG white goods, though, are owned by Electrolux of Sweden. Hitachi makes drills but they also own the Metabo brand. Makita seem to be a standalone company. Bosch owns Skil tools and Dremel (as well as RotoZip and Freud). It's impossible to keep up with and it is worth remembering that there is no guarantee that a drill sold under, say, the Bosch brand name, was ever manufactured by Bosch, but instead is outsourced to a Chinese OEM manufacturer. How many branded tools do you or I have that carry that well-recognised label "Made in China"?
julieallen
7 Feb 16#15
why?
banterchicken
7 Feb 16#14
yes
julieallen
7 Feb 161#13
So you don't have one of these, never used one of these, but because you had a one that was rubbish try to rubbish the deal by saying this one is rubbish?
CrazyBob
7 Feb 16#12
I managed to pick one up yesterday.
I didn't need the drill, just another battery for my multi tool from the same range.
I also have a an Aldi Workzone 10.8v drill that has been great for light woodworking jobs and is slightly smaller than the Challenge one.
Anything more serious needs a more serious tool. Definitely worth £15.99 though.
A big thanks to the OP for posting
banterchicken
6 Feb 16#11
Yes I do own one, well I did until the motor died. (not this one) it was useless couldn't drive a screw for love nor money. Maybe mine was particularly crap, either way I now have an adapter that I use on my impact driver
dmaster2000
6 Feb 161#10
valentines sorted for the misses
thomasrykala
6 Feb 16#8
It's a brilliant piece of kit. three years on still running great. assembled every piece of furniture and shelving in my flat from day one.
julieallen
5 Feb 16#5
good price
banterchicken
5 Feb 161#2
10.8v absolutely crap, couldn't take the skin off a rice pudding
Pa1983 to banterchicken
5 Feb 16#3
Depends what you're trying to do. It won't drill 10mm holes into concrete walls, but it'll be perfect for drilling wood or driving any normal sized screws
gazz33 to banterchicken
5 Feb 163#4
4.7 out of 5 of 88 reviews say not and why would you want to take the skin off a rice pudding with a drill !
jonohanson to banterchicken
6 Feb 16#6
There is some decent 10.8 kit out there, I have a makita driver and impact kit, that is more powerful than some 18v drivers!
harlzter to banterchicken
6 Feb 16#7
I have a terratek 10.8v cordless drill that with the right bits will happily drill 6mm holes into brickwork with no strain or a 4mm hole through some 5mm mild steel, its got heaps of torque which is what counts alongside quality bits, for more heavy duty needs I have a mains powered hammer drill and a sds drill (picked up some years ago from wilkos for a whopping £5 reduced from £50 odd!).
pcplod to banterchicken
6 Feb 161#9
Do you own one? Is that why you are so critical? Have you even used one? I somehow suspect not.
I have two. One is 12v (AEG-branded), the other is 10.8v (Aldi/Parkside). As drivers they are perfectly adequate and are more than adequate for light drilling purposes into wood, even light cement or plaster-based material, as long as it has no significant aggregate in it. They are lightweight, so you can keep them held up, particularly above your hea for long periods and they let you drill/drive in restricted spaces where a more conventional drill won't work, eg. between floor/ceiling joists. The AEG is snub-nosed and is particularly suited to such use. It was much more expensive than the Parkside, but then it is more powerful and better quality.
At a glance, this Challenge drill looks very like the Parkside. It would not surprise me if it came from the same source. I paid £30 for the Parkside. If this is basically the same I would say it is probably good value and you can't really lose out for the sake of £16. You won't get spare parts for it, but then any spare part is likely to be more expensive than the cost of the drill in the first place. I would buy it as a secondary driver for another more powerful, maybe mains-powered drill, to drive home screws without having to change bits all the time.
It wouldn't replace my 1500w SDS or 810w hammer drill, but neither of them could replace it either.
As a complete aside, if you are in the market for an SDS drill at any time, consider whether the gear-box on it locks out when you are using it in chisel/breaker mode. The cheaper ones don't (peruse Screwfix for examples of either). If the gear-box can't be locked, then the chisel will rotate, making breaking more difficult. On the other hand, if the gear-box can be locked, if the chisel jams in the material you are breaking, then the gear-box may break.
CrazyBob
5 Feb 16#1
Tempted to get one for a spare battery for my multi tool
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Opening post
16 comments
In the past, I have had the nasty habit of trying to drive a screw in without drilling a suitable pilot hole or one that was too small. I still have the habit of doing it when I know I shouldn't, eg because I don't have the right size/length/type of drill bit.
I used my 10.8 drill recently to drive in 3" self-threading screws, without Rawlplug, into a dual layer of bitumastic and concrete, but I did drill exactly the right pilot hole first. Also, I never drill or drive screws with the clutch slip mechanism locked out. The drill coped without complaining when I couldn't do it with an ordinary screwdriver. I've found that the key to success is to have the right size of good quality drill bit for the pilot hole and to bear in mind the nature of the material you are drilling into. Cement and concrete can end up with a pilot hole wider than the drill bit very easily, wood tends to be less of a problem that way. Another pain in the ass I find is that with small gauge drills, eg, 3/4mm and less, it can be very easy to bend the drill even just a little bit. When that happens, you might as well throw it away because you will never drill an accurate pilot hole again with it, as demonstrated by virtue of the tip describing an arc in the air when you spin the drill up. Asking a drill to drill with a bent, blunt or otherwise useless drill bit is just unrealistic. I always spin up a drill bit before putting it to any material because sometimes you don't know that the drill bit is bent. Sometimes it can be straight but miss-seated in the jaws of the chuck. Some chucks are worse for that than others. It's not the first time I've bought a cheap drill and put another chuck on it.
If you do a bit of research, you can find that the power tool business is as incestuous as other electrical goods sectors. For example, Black & Decker own Porter-Cable and Dewalt and are merged with Stanley Tools (Fatmax drills). If I pay 4 times the price for a Dewalt equivalent of a Black & Decker drill, I sure as hell am not getting a drill that is anywhere near 4 times better and I am sure there are common parts between them. Techtronic Industries (Taiwan) owns Milwaukee, AEG and Ryobi tools. As an aside, AEG white goods, though, are owned by Electrolux of Sweden. Hitachi makes drills but they also own the Metabo brand. Makita seem to be a standalone company. Bosch owns Skil tools and Dremel (as well as RotoZip and Freud). It's impossible to keep up with and it is worth remembering that there is no guarantee that a drill sold under, say, the Bosch brand name, was ever manufactured by Bosch, but instead is outsourced to a Chinese OEM manufacturer. How many branded tools do you or I have that carry that well-recognised label "Made in China"?
I didn't need the drill, just another battery for my multi tool from the same range.
I also have a an Aldi Workzone 10.8v drill that has been great for light woodworking jobs and is slightly smaller than the Challenge one.
Anything more serious needs a more serious tool. Definitely worth £15.99 though.
A big thanks to the OP for posting
I have two. One is 12v (AEG-branded), the other is 10.8v (Aldi/Parkside). As drivers they are perfectly adequate and are more than adequate for light drilling purposes into wood, even light cement or plaster-based material, as long as it has no significant aggregate in it. They are lightweight, so you can keep them held up, particularly above your hea for long periods and they let you drill/drive in restricted spaces where a more conventional drill won't work, eg. between floor/ceiling joists. The AEG is snub-nosed and is particularly suited to such use. It was much more expensive than the Parkside, but then it is more powerful and better quality.
At a glance, this Challenge drill looks very like the Parkside. It would not surprise me if it came from the same source. I paid £30 for the Parkside. If this is basically the same I would say it is probably good value and you can't really lose out for the sake of £16. You won't get spare parts for it, but then any spare part is likely to be more expensive than the cost of the drill in the first place. I would buy it as a secondary driver for another more powerful, maybe mains-powered drill, to drive home screws without having to change bits all the time.
It wouldn't replace my 1500w SDS or 810w hammer drill, but neither of them could replace it either.
As a complete aside, if you are in the market for an SDS drill at any time, consider whether the gear-box on it locks out when you are using it in chisel/breaker mode. The cheaper ones don't (peruse Screwfix for examples of either). If the gear-box can't be locked, then the chisel will rotate, making breaking more difficult. On the other hand, if the gear-box can be locked, if the chisel jams in the material you are breaking, then the gear-box may break.