Why are you limiting it to 3/8 chuck capacity? Are you looking at corded or cordless? Either way, if the windings are repairable its a good unit. Most all brands will have a cheap "canned" motor version designed to be thrown away rather than fixed.

 

I'm looking for a good corded drill. I've never been satisfied with any cordless ones. I figure I'd just go with a 3/8" 'cause the Tool Shop one seems to have covered most of the jobs. Any other benefits to a 1/2" other than chuck size?

 

I have an old Craftsman 3/8" corded drill motor that has worn out one chuck. I replaced the chuck with a 1/2" chuck. If anything that drill has too much power. It was a top of the line unit when I bought it 25 years ago. I can't use it for sanding jobs because with just the slightest amount of pressure it will rip the paper off the disk. There is no feedback that you are loading it until -rippp!

I have an old Black and Decker 3/8 that I use for sanding that had a bad switch, it is now single speed. It gives you some "feel" or "feedback" with speed when you are putting too much pressure on the sanding disk.

I have an old metal case corded 1/2" Skill single speed 450rpm non-reversible monster for HD work.

I have a Ryobi professional line 3/8" 12V battery powered drill with one of the good locking chucks that has lasted for years. I bought it because I hate those chucks with two rings on them. My hands are too big to get on those little metal rings. The Ryobi was the only cordless drill with the locking chuck at the time. Now all of the other major brand pro-line cordless units have them, and Ryobi does not. Ryobi just makes homeowner grade tools now. If I want to replace it I would buy Milwaukee.

I have used many Milwaukee industrial drill motors at work and you can't kill them.

 

There is really no 1/2" is better than 3/8"; I have small and large hammers, diff jobs want differerent tools. Ideally, you want a 1/2 for bigger work and 3/8 for smaller jobs. However, if I was to have one only, it would be the 1/2... it will mix concrete and use a wider variety of bits, and it is ever so rarely you get into a spot where it where you have to have a 3/8 just for size, control, or operator fatique reasons. When I worked on home construction for years, I noticed virtually every electrician and plumber used Milwaukee. The 18V 1/2" Milwaukee cordless is the finest cordless I have ever owned (wasted about 3 dewalts over the years).

 

Well, after looking around I figure my choices are Tool Shop, Craftsman, Skill, Champion, or Black and Decker. Reason for these being my choices is that these are the cheaper ones that I've seen. Cost is an issue as of now. Still haven't decided on 3/8" or 1/2". I'll decide when I find a good deal.

Thanks for all the info. I'm sure it will serve well in the years to come.

 

Craftsman or Black & Decker.....stay away from the pure junk.

 

i heard a while back that dewalt was manufactured by black and decker. I have owned both and very pleased with both. I recently purchased the bd at walmart for 30 dollars and used it to drill out rivits holding the shackles on my truck worked good.

 

I have an older Black & Decker 3/8" corded, and a 1/2" 18V Ryobi cordless, and I have to tell you, I like my Ryobi better, even if it isn't "Professional Quality." It hasn't let me down yet. I will have to replace the batteries soon, as they are both 5 years old, and well worked.

 

In my shop are Sears Industrial 1/4", Milwaukee Magnum 1/2", Porter-Cable 12V cordless, a Skil, a Black and Decker, and a Sears homeowner 3/8". Just to have the Milwaukee in my hand makes me smile, and when I pull the trigger, I grin. It is fine machinery. The Sears Industrial is good, but not as. Great for tight spaces, tho. Drills are so useful and versatile, it's worth it to spend a bit more to get the quality.

 

Panasonic makes some of the finest cordless drills out there...Porter Cable would be second in my book.

I've never been impressed with DeWalt. Seems they just have a good marketing campaign and people like the color yellow. Milwaukee tools are great, but I've never cared for their cordless stuff.

 

I went looking for a drill today and this is what I came up with for options:

Craftsman 3/8" 4.8Amp 1400 rpm (clearly built cheap, feels cheap, looks cheap) $30

Craftman Professional 3/8" 6Amp 2500 rpm $60

Dewalt 3/8" 6Amp 2500 rpm $60

Dewalt 1/2" 7.8Amp 850 rpm $110

Black and Dekker 3/8" 4Amp 1300 rpm $35

I'm leaning towards the Black and Dekker, but the low Amps bother me some. After the B&D I'd shoot for the Dewalt 1/2" or the Craftsman Professional (which seems to be the same thing as the Dewalt 3/8").

The Black and Dekker comes with 2 year warranty and from a good store in town. The drills from Sears get you with the one year warranty and the "but for only $XX more you can get the Sears 2 year warranty".

Decisions, decisions.

 

Honestly if you are willing to spend $60 than spend the $60 and you will be happier in the long run.

 

I really have to put in my two cents worth for the Milwaukee...

Milwaukee makes a 3/8" angle head drill that has the speed control right behind the chuck. That makes this drill balanced in your hand and you will find it unbelivable the tight spots you are able to get into with this design. The uses for this drill with that angle head far outweigh the addtional cost for Milwaukee Tools.

I would rather save up until I could buy this one, as you will get a lifetime of use out of it.

 

Of those listed definitely get one of the DeWalts. They are professional quality and will far exceed the performance of the others....more amps is always better. If you're going to spend $100+, get a 1/2" hammer/drill combo. Good ones (Bosch, DeWalt, Milwaukee, etc.) start around $140 and they are very versatile. Stay away from cheap chinese crap.

 

I'll 7th the Milwaukee?

If you had the money, Milwaukee, is pretty good. I have used all sorts of them, back to the 1980s, including the big impact hammers and they last. Even their metal sawzall blades seem to last longer. I just used them to cut through a 1" plate someone welded to my truck frame, that completely ate other bi-metal blades.

Otherwise, DeWalt is okay, though I have to fix my boss's DeWalt 1/2" electric impact for him this week ... like I have fixed the DeWalt circular saws too.