Tools, Sharpening and Power Machinery - Craftsman 19.2V tools

I am thinking about buying a craftsman 19.2V kit with drill , right angel drill and two batteries. The kit is less than 100 bucks witch sounds good but pops always told me you get what you pay for. Just wondering if anyone has used these tools and if their any good or not. Right now I am using the old 9.6V makita tools but one by one my batteries are giving out. I would love to buy the dewalt 18V kit but it is very pricey. Should I keep nursing the 15 year old makita till I can afford dewalt or just buy the craftsman kit. thanks in advance for any input. Mike

Hi Mike,

What are you going to use the drill for? Unless you need very high torque for drilling 2" holes or driving 6" or larger screws, I would go for a 14v drill. One I particularly like is the Firestorm (Lowes) because it has a quick removal chuck with the screwdriver bit underneath in a hex socket. IOW, you can switch between drilling & driving in about 2 seconds. It comes with 2 rechargeable batteries and a charger.

14v is 2 steps up from 9.6v but it won't twist your arm off if the drill bit gets stuck. 18v is 2 steps higher than that. The 18v drills are also pretty heavy.

BTW, I just bought a Dewalt 18v high torque drill but it's for a specific purpose - I'm building a Log Home Addition and have to drive hundreds of 3/16" x 11" Log Screws to fasten the logs securely together. This drill has an addition handle to allow you to brace it against the twisting power. Otherwise, you could very easily sprain/strain your wrist.

hth, Joe

our student theater group recently acquired the 19.2v craftsman combo tool kit and we made extensive use of the drill alongside the two 14.4v dewalts we already had. The craftsman seemed to perform fine and drove 3" screws plenty well, but it drained its battery much quicker than the dewalts, which are each several years old and have undoubtedly been abused by legions of amateur student carpenters. The torque seemed a little weaker than the dewalt 14.4v drills, but should be enough for basic drilling/screwing as long as its not abused too much.

The craftsman drills will definitely be a step up from the Makitas power-wise and unless you're jumping into some really heavy duty stuff you probably will not regret purchasing them. Hope that helps.

In my humble opinion, the Craftsman battery is undersized when it comes to amp/hour ratings. You will have to charge it twice as often as other brands. Smaller capacity battery means lower price.

I've been quite satisfied with my Craftsman 19.2 volt drills. I have three of them. Two came with lights and one came with a small cordless screwdriver. I have six batteries and three one hour chargers. I never seem to run short on batteries. Of course, time will tell how long the batteries last. Sure hard to beat the price. I gave $70 for each kit.

THANKS for the input. I bought the craftsman I couldn't resist the price. So far there working fine but they do eat batteries. Thanks again MIKE