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DRILLS & IMPACT DRIVERS
- FASTEST CORDLESS DRILL
Makita GPH01D $389
This is one of the best power
tools we’ve ever used. It’s the
first one we’ve tried in Makita’s
new 40-volt XGT series, power
tools with 40-volt motors but
batteries that are the same
size as a large 18-volt. It drills
through Douglas fir in a f lash.
Press the trigger, point it, and
a moment later you have a hole,
and then another and another.
But all that power would be use-
less without control. Electronic
speed control maintains motor
speed under load, helping you
be more productive and safer.
That’s helpful drilling wood,
but even more important drill-
ing steel, where it’s difficult
to balance variables of motor
speed, bit diameter, and steel
hardness and thickness. - BEST SAFETY FEATURE
Flex FX1171T $179
Flex, short for Flex Elektro-
werkzeuge, is a German power
tool company muscling its way
into the American market. And
345This pandemic has tested everyone’s mettle. And for many of us,
having a space where we could grind and work away proved nec-
essary. Not just to get away from it all, but to think. We start out
working on a lawnmower and end up repairing ourselves. Every
home and office should have such a shop—a repair facility, if you
will. Get outside, go down to the basement, take the wheel, work
on things, sharpen something. Build something beautiful. We need
our shops, wherever and whatever they may be. There’s a world
out there waiting to be restored. We can start with ourselves and go on from there.IN
PRAISE
OF THE
SHOP
when we say “muscling in,”
we’re not being cute. The Flex
drill blasted out 229 holes in
one battery charge, helped by a
turbo mode setting that bumps
its top speed from 2,000 to
2,500 rpm. It was also aided by
the tool’s circuitry, which has an
anti-kickback feature. Despite
pushing the FX1171T very hard,
we felt no recoil during our time
testing it. Just know that, with
a 5-Ah battery and weight of 5.8
pounds, this is clearly a heavy-
duty tool intended for those who
need maximum power and bat-
tery life to match.- BEST MID-DUTY DRILL
Metabo-HPT DS18DBFL2
$170
Lightweight but not light
on performance. That’s this
Metabo-HPT subcompact drill,
as it punched out 39 holes,
clearing each in an effortless
display of chip-throwing confi-
dence. The small, lightweight
battery (1.5 Ah) means the
whole package weighs just 3.6
pounds. And don’t be fooled by
the relatively modest number
of holes it drilled. It’s efficient,
and it did its job without stall-
ing or overheating.
March/April 2022 77