Black & Decker Firestorm 18V 3/8 Drill

[docrowan]

I just purchased a Black & Decker Firestorm 18V 3/8" drill on sale for $45. My brand choice was highly influenced by the fact that there is a Black & Decker factory outlet one mile from my work and that I've already purchased their 18V weedeater, blower, hedge trimmer, handvac, and flashlight, plus a wall mounted three battery charger unit. All 7 of my batteries are interchangeable.

I used the drill this weekend to drill, countersink, and screw about 50 screws in the mobile base I'm making. It had plenty of power. It has a switch to change from high torque to high speed, and a selectable torque setting so I did not overtorque my screws in the MDF. I didn't really pay attention to battery life, but since I already have so many batteries it doesn't really matter to me.

What I really like about it is the chuck that easily detaches and reveals a quick release hex socket underneath. This means I can put a regular twist bit in the 3/8" chuck and a phillips head bit in the quick release socket. Then I can drill the pilot holes, slip off the chuck and screw in the screws in one smooth operation.

In the past I've been using a quick release in the regular chuck and hex shanked drill bits to switch out with the phillips bit. But the hex shanked drill bits are really pricey and the 3/32" drill bit is fairly easy to break. I use #6 screws most often so I've had to replace my 3/32" hex shank bit several times.

On the new drill, the chuck is deeper than normal to accomodate the release mechanism, I found I could easily set the depth of the pilot hole by sliding the bit into the chuck until it exposed only the length that I needed.

I had been eyeing their drills for some time, but I only found the 18V Firestorm with the 3/8" capacity chuck last week. Up until then all they had was the Firestorm with a 1/2" chuck, but it felt too heavy and unbalanced in my hand.

[RAFlorida]

Thanks for that review of the Firestorm.

I have the Firestorm plunge router and it works great for the light duty stuff I do. With you review being in favor of the 3/8 drill, I'm going down the road a couple of miles to get that drill at Lowes if they got it in stock. My Rigid drill is too heavy for my wife to use and the battery usage life is really short. Thanks for the info.

[rcp612]

On the new drill, the chuck is deeper than normal to accomodate the release mechanism, I found I could easily set the depth of the pilot hole by sliding the bit into the chuck until it exposed only the length that I needed.

That is the one feature I discovered (by accident) that I really feel is most useful. They should use that feature as a selling point IMO.

[docrowan]

I have the Firestorm plunge router and it works great for the light duty stuff I do. With you review being in favor of the 3/8 drill, I'm going down the road a couple of miles to get that drill at Lowes if they got it in stock. My Rigid drill is too heavy for my wife to use and the battery usage life is really short. Thanks for the info.

RAF,

Just to let you know, my wife borrowed it before I'd had a chance to use it and told me she felt it was too heavy and powerful for her. She bought me a B&D 7.2V Versapak drill for our first Christmas about 8 years ago and this is more her speed. The 3/8 is slightly lighter and better balanced than the 1/2, but it's still an 18V. The battery by itself weighs almost as much as the 7.2V my wife prefers.

Also, this 3/8 was hard for me to find. I'll try to post a picture tomorrow so you get a better idea of what it looks like along with any model numbers I can find on the housing.

[Texas splinter]

To anyone looking at Lowe's, this is a good time to get the tools, but you must find a source for the batteries. I don't think it is just my local llowe's, but they have all the Firestorm tools on sale because they can't get the batteries from B&D. It was something about changing contracts... I\I asked the manager if they were having any luck selling tools that had no battery and he replied: "Well, yes, we have not sold many of them because the people want a battery to operate the tool..." DUH!
I don't think there is another source locally for the batteries, but I guess I could go over and buy several tools at a deep discount and order the barreties over the internet. :~|

[tribalwind]

eh i guess i must've gotten a dud, i have a firestorm too. gift from folks one xmas i think last year.not sure its the same model,mine doesnt have the silver on one side like i see on the ebay ones.

while the quickchange chuck thing is nice sometimes.it often gets in the way and makes the thing too long. excessive bulkiness and weight makes it difficult to use delicate small diameter drillbits with,i ended up snapping a few now my set is incomplete...i dont know if its also the reason my drill has a terrible amount of runout,i mean like 1/8th" or 3/16" !! i can see it clearly when driving a screw,i dont even use it anymore for any type of work that would be visible,its just a bang around drill and ive been handscrewing anything that shows(what a novel idea eh? LOL)..the battery life has also been kinda sucky..im finally going to bite the bullet n plunk down real $ for a high-quality drill/impact-driver combo set...
the B&D will still have a home as my beater redheaded step-child