I have been doing a couple of roofing and basement jobs in the past month, so I had some time to play around with the Porter Cable 18V Lithium-ion drill kit. The model number on this kit is PCL 180cdk-2. Lately Porter Cable has been coming out with some pretty cool new tools and they have really surprised us. The tools have been quality and also they include everything you need to get started. Like the grinder and the oscillating tool, both were great and came with loads of accessories.
The kit comes with the drill, 2 LX batteries, half hour charger and a soft case. The drill is a 1/2″ all metal chuck. The are two speeds, hi and low. The low range is from 0-350 and the high range is 0-1500. The drill puts out 424 in/lbs of torque. There are 23 clutch settings plus a drill setting. Enough with the boring stats, let’s get into the drill.
I have been able to use this drill for about a month and have really liked it so far. There are three things I really look for in a drill. Well there is more, but three things are very important to me.
- Balance
- Power
- Chuck
A tool that is well balanced means my little girlie arms will not get tired as fast. This drill has a great balance to it, not to mention it only weighs 3.8 lbs with the battery. I was able to install gutters overhead and my arms did not get fatigued.
The next item is power. I don’t need the worlds most powerful drill, even though that would be fun. However, I do want a drill that won’t bog down on me. I want to be able to power through my everyday stuff like plywood, 2×4 and other building materials. In this area I never really tried to take it to the max and see what it could handle. I did use it day in and day out and it didn’t have a problem keeping up with me, so this was a plus. The OLP never kicked in which always makes me happy. I understand manufacturers put that on the tools to save them, I just don’t like it. So the Porter Cable surpassed my expectations on power.
Last item is the chuck. The only thing I want here is when I put a bit or anything in the chuck, I just want it to stay in place. I don’t want it coming out or falling out until I decide it is time. I have used other drills where the bits come out under a little pressure. Not once did the bits ever fall out.
So for the three things I look at in regards to drills, the Porter Cable was perfect. Porter Cable is really coming a long way with the quality of products they are putting out.
While I probably would have preferred a hard case instead of a soft case, this drill is very nice. The balance and quality are both there. Porter Cable seems like they are making a run at the professional models and this one definitely fits in with the other professional drills we have used.
Looks like a nice drill. For what it has and the price point, it is hard to beat.