 Usually ships in 24 hours | By Makita | (customer reviews) Special Price! for Makita LXFD01CW 18-Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Cordless 1/2-Inch Driver-Drill Kit With Special Pomotions & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Read More... |
Makita LXFD01CW 18-Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Cordless 1/2-Inch Driver-Drill Kit Feature
- battery powered drills : Makita LXFD01CW 18-Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Cordless 1/2-Inch Driver-Drill Kit Check Product Rating
Customer Reviews
I researched for a very long time when purchasing a new drill/driver after my 14v Craftsman NiCad died after a good 8 year run (!). I own some Dewalt, some Milwaukee and some Bosch tools. After reading a ton of reviews and looking at reviews of certain model's predecessors I narrowed it down to the Makita. This Makita replaces one in it's line up that was very well loved. This is my first Lithium Ion tool and so far have not been disappointed. I have used the drill every day driving 3 inch construction screws into oak supports for a carving commission I am working on and have yet to drain the battery. Have read complaints about the chuck having a "wobble". Yes, there is a bit of a wobble visible on the keyless chuck collar but the chuck jaws themselves are straight and true. All drill bits etc. are perfectly straight coming out of the jaws. So if you are more interested in the chuck collar being straight, you may be disappointed. I for one don't care about the collar just as long as all bits turn straight and true and that is not a problem. I was surprised at how small the tool looks and feels having not owned a "compact" drill driver before. I felt that for the price I should be getting a giant work-horse. But what you do get is a "compact" work-horse...hence the title "Compact Drill Driver" (sorry to be so redundant). The keyless chuck has a ratcheting feature which I know is now standard, but again is new to me. I definitely get a very secure feel on my non-hex bits. The L.E.D light is so bright and focussed I actually use it as a flash light after I turn off the shop lights and head back into the house. And as a side note it has this nice little dimmer feature that instead of just going off, it slowly dims after about 5 seconds of non-use...a simple and non-important feature, but lends to it's coolness and charm. I have read many reviews of Lithium Ion batteries not performing well in cold, and to that I can not speak. I do keep the case and additional battery in the mudroom of our house and do bring the drill in after use so it never sits out in subzero weather. I live in Wisconsin and we are regularly experiencing below freezing temps right now. So, yes, I am taking some precautions as to keeping the batteries in a moderate temp....so if you keep your tools in a truck or worksite that is subjected to freezing temps I can not offer an opinion. The case is sturdy and functional, and the charger does have a series of little tunes it plays when it is done charging....is it important; no, is it a bit cheesy; yes, is it kind of fun to run through the different tunes....sure. But, as someone else stated, they are about as good as a digital watch tune. The initial charge was longer that 15 minutes, but as I was not paying attention I can not say exactly how long. However, before I knew it the charger was playing it's tune. It was probably around 1/2 hour. Makita has always been an industry standard and I am very pleased with my purchase. It has a ton of power in a small light weight tool. If anything changes I will repost, but so far it has met and in some cases exceeded all of my expectations.
Just purchased this drill/driver and since it is so new to the marketplace none of us can really comment of it's longevity or wear characteristics, but based upon it's predecessor and first impressions, it is going to do just fine. It is a small, lightweight powerhouse that does what it says it does and does it better than anything else comparable. Even with Amazons current DeWalt promotion it matches the price with an arguably inferior product, no thanks. But then I have always preferred Makita to DeWalt from construction jobs to Industrial maintenance jobs. I guess the point of this review is that this Makita continues that legacy and does so well.My critiques: A poorly designed but very well made case. (needs more and specific cord space and better compartments for accesories or needs to be smaller).Melody selection on the charger could be at least as good as my daughters jewelry box.The battery cover is weak and poorly fitting.Other than that or perhaps in spite of that, I'm quite pleased.
My friend has an earlier model of this drill and I really fell in love with it while doing a bathroom remodel, so I decided to order the updated model (LXFD01CW).My drill came today and when I tested it with 3 brand new drill bits I did in fact notice a wobble in the chuck like a few other of the reviewers had noticed. Its a small wobble but definitely noticeable and INEXCUSABLE on a $200 dollar drill.I am going to take a chance and send it back to AMAZON and see if I can get a replacement.I will update when I get the replacement.**UPDATE**Received my replacement drill hoping the wobble issue would be solved....not the case. I tried MANY different drill bits however my replacement drill had the same annoying wobble as the first one. Its not a HUGE wobble but enough to notice and shouldn't happen on a $200 dollar drill.Here is what I really like about the drill:Weight...it is very light with very good torqueGrip...this drill feels wonderful in your hand...very balanced and very comfortableBelt Clip...nice featureBattery...very fast charge time (15 minute) however I'm not sure how long a charge would last.Looks...over all this is a very good looking tool.So...with all that said, I am going to return this drill and most likely go with a Bosch or DeWalt (probably a Bosch).I hope this review helped and welcome any comments.
I too had the problem with the bit wobbling. Its not a lot but you can definitely see it - especially with a brad point bit. And you feel it as a vibration in the drill. I have three other cordless drills, one a rather old 10v Makita, an ancient Craftsman and a newer Black and Decker - my new $200 Makita was the only with a wobbling bit. Returned the drill to Amazon and now I'm not sure if I should risk replacing with another Makita - generally the reviews are very good so maybe I just got the lemon.
I did alot of reading on cordless drills looking for something lightweight and powerful, I do cable splicing so weight was an important factor to me and this is the lightest 18V out there (my coworkers DeWalts weigh a ton next to this thing). Today I sent it back to amazon because it quit working, its a great drill in many ways, looks amazing, powerful, battery lasts a long time and charges quickly, lightweight and the belt clip is nice. But after 2 weeks of working outside in MN weather its shot, if I hit the trigger the flashlight comes on (which is useless by the by, it doesnt light the bit it lights right below it). Also it does have chuck wobble, my works not precise enough that it bothered me but forewarning to those of you who need to be right on, apparently some of these wobble and some don't. Thats my 2 cents, hope it can help you decide, I may have gotten a lemon, but I dont think I'll be going with Makita products again anytime soon.
This drill is fine for general DIY projects. Excellent power and lightweight. The light is a pleasant feature that is more handy than I thought. BUT, this drill suffers from "bit wobble" that increases at high speeds. Make a couple of test runs before final use, and you should be fine. I haven't had it long, so I am not sure of its durability or longevity. For serious Woodworking or jobs requiring precision, this tool is unacceptable. Buy a Metabo or Festool for "high-end" work.
I would really like to believe that this is a high quality power tool and it certainly looks and feels the part. It's light and well balanced in the hand. It also seems to have enough torque and power for my purposes, and the batteries charge quickly. The case it came in, isn't half bad either. That's why I give it two stars.But the chuck wobbles noticeably. Obviously, that's what the "CW" in the product ID (LXFD01CW) stands for! I'm surprised this wasn't caught in Makita's quality control, considering the number of reviews that mention this defect.This drill is going back, and I'm going to get another one - probably not a Makita though. A real pity, because outside of the wobble, the drill is a real beauty.** UPDATE 11/15/2011 **Well, Amazon would only replace the drill with another Makita LXFD01CW rather than exchange it. Unfortunately, the replacement also has the same defect. In fact, this time it's bad enough that you don't even need a drill or driver bit in the chuck to see that it's wobbling. This is going right back and I've demoted the two stars to one.
I did a lot of research into the Makita line before I purchased this drill and I expected superior quality. The drill itself felt great. It was light and it felt good in my hands. At the same time, I noticed that my bits were spinning with a slight wobble. I tried resetting my bit and then I tried other bits, but the same thing happened. I then looked at the chuck head on and let it spin. It spinned unevenly. Clearly, something is wrong with the chuck. I decided to return it. I am not sure if I got a defective drill, but I saw some reviews on another Makita drill and a few people complained about the same wobble.
I'm pretty happy with my driver, I did notice a slight chuck wobble that if a fella was doing precision work would be a problem but I use mine for home projects and working on my truck so to me... not a big deal. Like the belt clip, do come in handy OFTEN.
Makita keeps the weight down by using 1/2 size battery packs and although this makes for a much lighter drill it also cuts back the performance significantly. These mini-battery packs do not last as long as the larger ones which is to be expected. What I did not realize until using the drill was that it also provided less power to the drill motor and so it stalled on jobs where my other 18v drills had no problems.My kit lacked the belt clip shown in the picture. When I phoned Makita to ask about this and the bit holder I was quoted a price of over $15 plus shipping for these items and also informed that for "special" orders there was a $25 minimum.The chuck is also mediocre. It is not terrible but any amount of vibration when drilling and it loosens right up and the bit falls out. I got used to having to re-tighten the chuck half way through and hoped that I would not need to do this a third time. Chucks on my Milwaukee and DeWalt drills do a much better job.Charge time is not all that fast either. The charger does a charging operation in 15-20 minutes but then per the manual you are supposed to let it sit for a minimum of an additional 30 minutes to cool down before using the battery in a tool. At 45-50 minute total recharge and ready to use time this is not any faster than the full size battery pack charging on my DeWalt and Milwaukee 18 volt drills.If you are going to spend the money on an 18 volt cordless drill I strongly recommend spending the extra bucks to get one with full size battery packs and if you intend to use it on tough jobs, a drill with a detachable side handle makes a very big difference in the ability to control the drill when the bit or hole saw jams (though better to avoid old fashioned bi-metal hole saws in the first place).
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