| Review by spaids | posted 322 days ago | 460 views | 0 times favorited | 8 comments |  |
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- Milwaukee 2601-22 18V Lithium-ion 1/2" Compact Driver
- Brand: Milwaukee | Category: Drill-Drivers
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I got this drill for Christmas and have been very impressed with everything about it. It does what you expect a drill to do, it has the torque you need. Where it goes beyond that is its light weight and power use. I used this drill extensively for several hours on a single battery. When I finally used up the first battery I was initially afraid that the drill was broken. I thought it was broken because it was behaving as though it had full strength right up to its last drop of battery life and then a very VERY quick dead drill. When this thing runs out it turns off almost like a switch. No more of this good drill for the first 10 minutes of a battery and then a half powered drill and so on as the battery drains. This Milwaukee gives you all its gas right the very end. Also it seems that the chuck is unusually easy to use. You can get a clamp on your bit that is much tighter than the grip you had to squeeze the chuck with. You don’t have to burn your hand with a white knuckle Kung-Fu grip on the chuck and crank the drill to full power. It just takes a mild grip and an easy pull on the trigger and that sucker locks down hard.
Its light, comfortable in your hand, powerful and long working. This drill performs so well that I will now be looking more closely at Milwaukee for every tool purchase.
Oh and one more thing. The batteries have built in meters showing you the life left in the charge. So if your at half juice and your gonna be up on a roof or something then you can just swap out your half dead battery for a fresh one on the charger. There is no damage from topping off a charge and you saved yourself a trip down the ladder. It nice to NOT be surprised by how much life is left in your charge.
-- Wipe the blood stains from your blade before coming in.
8 comments so far
lclashley
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243 posts in 1008 days
posted 322 days ago
I have the same drill and I am very happy with it. I like to add that the batteries charge very quickly, and hold a charge over long periods (i.e. several weeks between projects). My old drill would die after sitting around too long. Also, you can leave the battery on the charger without it over heating, etc. (I think most chargers are like that now, but this was new to me.)
Thanks spaids.
sIKE
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1094 posts in 647 days
posted 321 days ago
Thanks for the great review, I have a small Hitachi whose battery is on its last legs. This seems to be a great solution to my problem.
-- //FC - Round Rock, TX - "Experience is what you get just after you need it"
roman
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1107 posts in 787 days
posted 320 days ago
I have the small Milwaukee lithium ion drill….....................and love it.
-- http://www.furnituremann.ca/
lumberjohn
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18 posts in 320 days
posted 319 days ago
Like you said: Very impressive!
The Beauty and the Beast, in the same machine…
The chuck is ratchet. When you turn it by hand, it actually lock the motor shaft so you can really thighten the bit.
Mule
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9 posts in 400 days
posted 278 days ago
I have this drill and I got mine reconditioned. (needed to save some $$$).
I also have to agree with all of the other owners, this is a great drill.
-- so much to learn and so little time.
MaxS
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46 posts in 87 days
posted 87 days ago
I have this drill and have been using it for about 6 months. Past experience has been with Bosch 14 volts. I love Bosch…but this drill smokes the older models of pretty much any brand name. Size is great. The feel of this drill in your hand is just fantastic and why I chose it over the Makita. Love the two bit holders. Use both of them constantly. Love the belt loop. This drill is just extremely comfortable in the hand and a joy to use. I’ve built decks with it and I’ve also done some final assembly on finished cabinets where a mess-up is really bad…and the drill is both a beast when needed and easy to control when making a screwed up face and not trying to scratch a nice finish. Kick b* drill.
-- Socrates: "I drank what?"
a1Jim
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16695 posts in 470 days
posted 87 days ago
Thanks for the review well done
-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon
Roger Clark
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208 posts in 328 days
posted 87 days ago
Milwaukee makes great tools, but they seem to be overlooked. I have the sub compact litium ion 12v drill/driver which is terrific and hands down better than the Bosch 12v.
I have several Milwaukee tools and each one is a gem and does what it is advertised to do – and then some.
A lot of good words are around for Rigid tools which are DIY versions of the real thing. Guess who makes Rigid?
-- Roger, Rep. of Texas