I considered all of the right-angle drills currently available in this class before making my purchase. Here is why I decided against each of the competitors and bought the Makita DA3010F:
THE COMPETITORS:
--Bosch 1132VSR 3/8" Right-Angle Drill
I have many fantastic Bosch tools, but this one does not impress me. It is less powerful than the others in its class, and the bevel gears generate a lot of heat when being worked long or worked hard. It has an awkward power switch, which for safety reasons requires a compound motion to actuate. This unit has no side handle option. It is also expensive.
--Milwaukee 0375-6 3/8" Close-Quarters Drill
This drill is also comparatively underpowered. It too has no side handle. Personally, I don't like the 55-degree angle, and physical shape of this drill. I have no first hand experience with this tool, but it seems as though the shape would preclude use in some tight quarter situations such as a hole close to (and parallel to) the floor in a half-width joist. I respect Milwaukee drills and doubtless this one shines in many respects, but I don't like it.
--DEWALT DW160 3/8" Heavy Duty Right Angle Drill
This is a poor excuse for a drill. It has no side handle, it is severely underpowered, and does not reverse! This is a real surprise from DeWalt. It might not be a bad tool if it were priced at $59 but with a street price of $135 (Amazon) it's abysmal.
--Hitachi D10YB 3/8" Right Angle Drill
This tool really caught my eye. It's powerful, slim, and has a side handle. Being fully $50 cheaper than the Makita, it seemed like a real winner. HOWEVER it has 2 glaring problems. PROBLEM 1: The on-off switch is separate from the speed control. I find it essential to be able to vary the torque of the tool on the fly with my trigger finger rather than having to stop, adjust the speed, then restart. Furthermore, the on-off switch slides, and requires deliberate disengagement to turn the tool off. You are unlikely to be able to deliberately disengage the switch if your drill bit binds up unexpectedly as they often do. What happens is that the drill body begins turning instead of the bit. When this happens, there is a real danger of fingers or other body parts being pinned (read crushed) between the drill and some stationary object nearby. This is especially risky in a close quarter situation where your getting-out-of-the-way options are limited. PROBLEM 2: To make matters worse, the drill has feedback circuitry to maintain a constant RPM no matter what the load is on the motor. Normally that's a good feature in a power tool, but NOT in a compact right-angle drill. This is very dangerous. If your bit binds up as described above, and a body part gets pinned it will be exposed to the MAXIMUM force the drill can produce even if the drill is on the lowest power setting! When the drill notices that it's slowing down (because it's crushing your hand) it cranks up the power as much as possible to keep the chuck from slowing down. (Did I forget to mention that the power switch is still locked on?)
SO I BOUGHT THE MAKITA DA3010F 3/8" Angle Drill with L.E.D. Light
The Makita does not have the dangerous feedback circuitry feature mentioned above. When my bit binds up, the tool either jerks to a stop because it's on a low power setting, or it gets yanked out of my control hand, causing my fingers to release the speed switch, and the drill just stops. No crushed fingers!
The Makita is powerful, it is compact, and it has a nice removable side handle which attaches to EITHER side of the drill. Fit and finish is as good as I have ever seen on a power tool. I was impressed. The variable speed paddle switch has a speed limit dial. It is a excellent design. It lets you take advantage of the precise, light action of the paddle-switch actuator yet it caps your maximum speed to a pre-set limit. It really works well.
If I had to make a wish list, it would include adding an electronic brake and a pushbutton safety switch to this tool. The safety is of secondary importance, because you will quickly learn to turn the speed-limit dial down to zero. This works as well as a having a dedicated safety switch, but it would be nice to leave the speed limit dial set where you want it, and toggle a safety on and off when changing bits etc. I should probably mention that NONE of the other tools reviewed here had these wishlist features either.
The LED work light is a very nice touch. When drilling with spade bits in dark quarters I can even watch the color of the wood change as each layer of the grain is removed. Furthermore, when you lightly touch the paddle switch, the light turns on without actually spinning the chuck so you can use the drill as an impromptu flashlight without brandishing a spinning drill bit! I expect that you'll see LED lights on nearly every tool in the future. I just makes too much sense.
I give this tool my highest recommendation. It smacks of quality, and feels good in your hand. Makita DA3010F 4 Amp 3/8-Inch Right Angle Drill with LED Light
I looked at a lot of right angle drills before choosing this one. My needs are to be able to drill holes for wiring etc, in floor joists, and also being able to access cramped quarters in building cabinetry. Additionally, I needed to have a drill that would not be too powerful for mounting screws. Well this drill uniquely fills that bill exactly. Not only does it have a larger amperage motor than the competition, in medium duty, moderately priced drills, but also it has an adjustable setting for the level of power, so it achieves a certain level of resistance. No stripping or overinserting screw heads. So combining the variable speed feature, with an adjustable default setting, makes it unique in the industry for a medium duty right angle drill. All this while maintaining enough torque according to the owner's manual, to drill a one inch hole in wood. I don't need to drill holes larger than that, if I did, and on a regular basis, I would look into the Hole Hawg. Personally, I am relieved to not be using an overtorqued drill for working in cramped quarters, using spade bits. I have the Milwaukee 110 volt hammer drill, and am always concerned about breaking a wrist when it catches a bit. The Hole Hawg is even more of a concern in that regard. Of course the ultimate is to have both. Back to the Makita: This drill reverses, unlike the Dewalt for a little less money, which also has a lower amperage motor, and other anomalies as reported in the reviews. The Makita having a work light built into it, that they claim will never burn out for the life of the drill, is a nice feature, for those cramped, less than well lit locations. I feel confident with the Makita name. I also looked at the Porter Cable air driven right angle drill, for less than half the price, but I know that air tools do not have the torque of a 110-volt ac model, unless you are buying a monster impact wrench, but it does reverse. I also opted for a corded 110-volt angle drill, since I would be using that for drilling holes in floor joists, and I know that can drain a cordless drill battery fast. One more item is that I like the keyed chuck. My cordless drills have the keyless chuck, and that is convenient for the cordless type applications. Keyed chucks are shorter in distance, than the keyless, which gives you even less head length for extra clearance, and they give you a one-time insertion step. Many times my keyless, needs to be retorqued, because it can come loose. If I need to have the quick speed change of the keyless, I can use one of the popular quick-change bit sets. Their are some very nice heavy-duty right angle drills. Porter Cable makes a heavy duty one, that is larger, and they make the air driven model I mentioned eariler. Milwaukee makes right angle drills with lots of torque, large motors and weight. In a day-to-day heavy-duty construction situation, I would be opting for one of them. But for my needs this Makita can't be beat. It costs a little more but I don't want to have to live without all of the different features it has. So there you have it, this drill is the ultimate niche for my needs. Hope this information is pertinent to yours as well. - Light - Close Quarters Electric Drill - Right Angle Drill - Low Profile'
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