We have taken delivery of a new 18volts DC727KL percussion drill driver to see how it performs. Leaving the batteries to one side for a moment, because this drill will work with your ni-cad as well, the weight of the drill has been further reduced by the introduction of a new motor. Normally a lighter motor must have less power because the windings have a given power weight ratio. DeWalt has reduced the weight by getting rid of the frame. They also claim to have increased durability of the motor by increasing airflow to reduce heat and allowing for longer brushes. With this model we are down to two gears again in a further effort to reduce weight and keep the drill as short as possible. The drill can be even shorter if you don't have the side handle and percussion option. Do you need percussion? This is a personal opinion but I would say that in many cases if you use a good rotary masonry drill bit rather than a percussion bit you can get through most masonry without any trouble and your chuck last longer and it is a lot quieter. If you come up against something tougher this is really a job for an SDS drill.
I am glad to say that this new drill has the Rohm chuck with the extra grip bronze coloured inserts on the jaws. Some of the previous DeWalt plastic chucks have been disappointing to put it mildly. Having said that I have yet to find a chuck on a cordless drill that could be described as precision and it baffles me that in this age of high tec engineering we still have chucks that wander around so much that they drill an oval hole. This is no real problem for the builder but as a bench mark of engineering standards it would be good to see a good precision chuck that allowed you to pilot drill and drive small screws into expensive plated door furniture with confidence. At the other end of the screwdriving range you can get 41nm of torque out of this drill in first gear which is enough to turn a good size screw and drill a 38mm auger bit. |
