Black & Decker - 18v Cordless Hammer Drill

I have always been a keen DIYer and have owned many electrical power drills over the years but up until now they have always been corded drills. I was always a bit dubious of purchasing a cordless one thinking that a rechargeable battery just wouldn't be up to the job of drilling into stone and brick walls. But, one day not longer after we moved into our new house, I happened to visit a friend who owns a small building firm and got on to the subject of drilling. He told me that he only ever used cordless drills and offered to lend me one of his Black and Decker 18V models that was fully charged

I was in the process of putting up curtain curtains rails and pelmets and some venetian blinds in the front windows. That meant drilling into the concrete lintels that were very hard and challenging and at that time, I had only done one. I had my doubts about whether this cordless drill would be up to the job, but I couldn't have been more wrong. It was every bit as powerful as my electric corded drill and I got all the other 4 windows and a long patio door curtain rail up and there was still a lot of power left in the battery. As I had a lot of other work to do that required a drill, I went to B & Q and purchased the 18V Black and Decker model for myself.

The kit I purchased was a hammer drill with two 2 batteries all fitted neatly into toughened plastic carry case which has been reduced in price to a few pennies under £80.

The drill has reverse gears, that means you can drill clockwise or anticlockwise by means of a switch at the side of the trigger. The drill has a 24 position clutch that is useful for putting in screws as you can start the machine drilling slowly and increase the speed in increments by gradually squeezing the trigger. There are two speeds, fast or slow.

For drilling into walls and concrete it is easy to select the hammer-action by turning the selection wheel situated behind the chuck around past 30 (torque) stops to the hammer position which is the highest. The lowest is for inserting screws so as to avoid burring the heads of screws.

The chuck itself is keyless, meaning that I never have to hunt around for a key to tighten the drill-bit in the machine. It feels comfortable to grip and turns very easily by hand tightening down well onto the drill-bit without having to exert too much pressure.

Although the batteries can make the drill feel a little heavy, I soon got used to the extra weight, but I guess all cordless drills will feel that way and the fact that there are no trailing wires to worry about and it can be used where there is no electrical supply, this more than compensates for the advantages of going cordless.

I kept my old corded drill just "in case" I didn't get on with, but in the 12 months that I have owned the cordless version, my old one has remained in storage.

The drill has worked well for me since I have owned it and another bonus is that it shares the same model of 18V battery that I used on my Black and Decker pole saw that is the subject of another review, so I have a good supply of batteries.

Can I recommend it?

Yes. Whilst there may be many good drills out there, I feel that the Black and Decker unit is more than up to the job and more reasonably priced that the others. It came with a 2 year guarantee and is a bright orange colour.