Makita BDF452HW 18 Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Driver Drill Kit

Makita makes two versions of this tool The Pro version has 100ft lbs. more torque, twice the charge capacity, and includes the bit holder and the belt clip in the kit. This version is targeted at the homeowner and this is why the lower capacity batteries. For most purposes this will not be a problem as the kit comes with two batteries and a fan cooled charging station that can recharge a battery in under 20 minutes.

The chuck is also a DIY grade chuck and not nearly as good as the ones on most other "pro" level cordless drills from DeWalt or Milwaukee. It was also a bit bothersome to find that the bit holder and belt clip were left out of the kit as these are standard items with other Makita, DeWalt, Bosch, and Milwaukee cordless drills. These items are not even in stock at Makita's customer service center so even if you are willing to pay the extra $20 to purchase and have these 2-bit items shipped to you, this is not an option.

The drill performs well and the LCD lights that turn on and off automatically are very helpful in more situations than one might first realize. Having benefited from the lights with a number of projects I would not even consider buying a cordless drill that lacked this feature.

Torque although less than other 18 volt cordless drills is still more than adequate. I easily made 11" holes in my ceiling for in-ceiling mounted speakers for my home theater using the excellent Hole Pro hole cutter.

Hole PRO X-305: 1 7/8" to 12" Adjustable Twin Blade Hole Saw Cutter with Tungsten Carbide Blades 3" 4" 5" 6" 7" 8" 9" 10" 11" Capacity

I really liked certain aspects of the drill, but unfortunately was still forced to return it and get something else.

I'll start with the good stuff. First off, the weight and feel was perfect, exactly what I was looking for. I'm a sculptor, so I need something light and compact when I am working all around a piece, sometimes in hard to reach, uncomfortable positions. The LED light is good in that it stays on for a little while after it is pushed. More manufacturers should add this feature. It doesn't center exactly on the bit tip, but the way it's positioned under the chuck, like all the drills I've seen, I don't think it will ever be perfect. The power is fantastic and it's the only compact I've seen with 450lbs of torque. I doubt I will ever need that much, since I'm not drilling or screwing into concrete or anything like that, but it could be useful for some people. The charger is the fastest I've seen at 15 minutes. I timed it and it really does charge in or under 15 minutes.

Now I have to talk about the reason I returned it for something else and few other negatives. I bought it at Home Depot, I like to get a feel for tools I buy and they had a power tools sale going on at the time. So I picked one of these up and tested it at home for about a day. I noticed instantly that there was some vibration I wasn't used to in drill. When I looked at the chuck I noticed it was wobbling a bit. I put a 1 1/4" spade bit in as I was drilling holes at the time. I spun it and looked at the tip of the bit, man this thing was wobbling all over the place. By my calculations it had a 1/8" wobble. That might not sound like much, but try to drill a big hole in plastic or a small hole through metal and see what happens. I decided to try and drill a hole out with the spade bit since I had it on anyway. I used a scrap piece of hard plastic as that was the material I was working with presently. Now I knew the bit was ok as I had drilled out some nice clean holes in some other plastic using my old corded Ryobi drill. After trying it out with various speeds and settings, the results were uneven holes, some larger than they should be and chipped edges. The drill was shaking and vibrating like you wouldn't believe too. So I take it back and get another one. After I get it home I test it out and guess what, same results. I even try to drill a small 1/16" hole through some sheet metal. After it flew across the metal for a minute it finally caught and started going in. Man, this bit was shaking back and forth, the whole drill shaking like crazy. I was afraid the bit was going to break off and fly into my eye. So back to Home Depot I go. This time I show the hardware guy and see what he has to say. Maybe I've just gone crazy and am being overly critical. He pops in a spade bit and even he can see the wobble and knows this isn't right. I tell him this my second one, so we take a new one off the shelf and open it up. He pops the spade bit in that one and guess what, same wobble. We decide to test out the comparable Milwaukee compact lithium drill to see if this is just something all the cordless compact drills share. He pops the spade bit into the Milwaukee pulls the trigger and no wobble, smooth as butter. He says maybe they got a bad pallet and could check to see if there was a new skid of the Makitas in the back. I decided to not take anymore chances and swapped out for the Milwaukee.

My reasoning is this is a Makita, not a Skil. It's supposed to be a quality product from a quality manufacturer, I should not have to go through 3 different ones to get a good one. I suppose this may be the world we live in now that everything is made in China, but I think I took more than enough chances on this drill.

Also Makita, don't be so cheap to not add a bit holder and belt clip, come on now.

This may be an isolated incident and I don't want to badmouth a good tool, but I can only comment on my experience. To all the people that are happy with the Makita, I'm glad. To anyone looking to buy one, I suggest you test it out in the store first to make sure there aren't any problems like I had.

On a side note, I didn't have the drill long enough to experience the battery problems some people have had. I don't know if that problem has been fixed or not. The batteries seemed good for the time I used it.

I've used this drill for work almost everyday for a year. I bought this drill in January of '07 and have used it almost everyday (light to med duty) as a car audio installer.

I've replaced both original batteries and both replacement batteries as of last week. Luckily I live near a service center and they've discretely replaced my batteries with a simple analysis on their battery dyno. So basically I've been there 4 times. They've never asked for a purchase receipt but on my 2nd to last replacement battery, they engraved the date and some reference number. But the replacement that I got last week wasn't engraved.

I own many lithium-ion tools (including the BDF451 for home use), flashlights (Light & Motion Arc Li-Ion $500 HID bicycling light), camera ($1000 Canon 30D SLR), etc and I know how to care for the batteries. I've never let them run completely out.

I've had Makita check my charger the first two times as well. The batteries are definitely defective. The charger luckily blinks alternately to show that the battery is infact not charging. In otherwords, the charger is working properly.

Otherwise, the drill itself has plenty of power, is definitely light weight, and has a handy LED light too. But the run time is hit and miss. Sometimes I won't need to charge it for a couple of days and sometimes, I'll need to charge it twice a day.

Overall, I'm very dissatified with the battery which is a majory bulk of the price of the drill.

Nice to look at; lightweight; quick battery recharge; however, doesn't have enough torque compared to our old DeWalt even though that's an 18V as well. Wouldn't recommend for those who need to do any heavy-duty construction or who needs that extra power when driving in a screw, etc.

Factory recondition tags on everything, 2 batteries, charger & drill.

1 battery was not in working order, seller replaced promply. No charger

manual, seller sent one with repalcement battery.

Drill worked fine, used it for few prodjects. Time to charge batteries,

DC18RA charger turns on then when battery is put in it goes to a red &

green blinking condition and shuts off. No response yet from seller and

Mikita service has not given a yes or no on charger.

After recieving my new Drill after delivery all the way to Australia, I was disapointed to find the Battery Charger was not Multi Voltage and designed only for the US power supply of 110 volts. I have been told that a replacement charger is more than I paid for the whole drill package. So I would urge anyone with a power supply of 220/240 volts to give this product a wide birth. Hope this helps someone, not make the mistake I made. regards Bryan

I was given two of these for Christmas and LOVE them. I run a small community theater and we are tough on tools, especially cordless drills. Since Christmas these drills have been dropped from ladders, used to drive way to many 3" screws and built 2 full sets and there is not a single complaint. They hold a charge and recharge fast, the torque is great and the raw power is wonderful. The built in light is such a wonderful bonus I now want all of the drills to have them. Simple to say we are buying more of these.

I bought this Drill for my husband on xmas. He is a carpenter plus we are remodeling our home & he simply loves this product & the light on it comes in handy. He just wishes I would of bought the driver also. Great product & he is very critical

I've owned and used a Dewalt cordless 12 volt driver/drill for 5 years and was happy to have gotten a lot of use from it and its batteries. However this Makita 18 volt Lithium driver is a whole new ballgame. The batteries last much longer,the charger is faster and more convenient. It feels like half the weight. The chuck is improved. Of course it's more powerful. And I think the price was virtually the same as my last tool. Highly recommend.

I selected this drill as my prior one was worn out. The drill itself is good, my complaint is that the battery capacity is dissapointing. I wish I had got the high capacity batteries instead. They don't seem to last anywhere near as long as the batteries on my original drill. Maybe an unfair comparison as they could be different capacities, but every weekend I have to swap batteries, my old drill used to keep going for weeks with moderate usage.

This is the first drill I go to for around the house work. It's light and comfortable to use. The chuck is very good. The 1-2 switch on the top feels cheap but works fine. It's a simple drill, and I do miss the bit holder.
I got it with 2 batteries, one of which was dead on arrival. The other one works fine.

My 18 volt lithium battery just purchased doesent hold a charge for very long, and the 15 min. charger doesn't keep the battery charged when not in use. It has good strengh, but doesen't last very long.

This is the most highly rated Lithium Ion drill/driver on the market and it is even better than I imagined it would be. Check the ratings out for yourself. But that is not all - it is a fantastic deal too. The kit comes with two batteries that are charged in 15 minutes. This means you can go pretty much non-stop with your work. This item is light and its compact size makes it easy to use. What is surprising is its torque and its "balls". Worth every penny!

The drill worked perfectly and has been a satisfactory purchase.
The stickers on the case were close to impossible to get off. The refurbisher should looking into labels that can be removed easily by the end user.