In the first in a series of videos sponsored by Admiral Business Insurance – and available to watch now on the ProBuilder YouTube channel – Alex from Errioc Carpentry puts the Makita XGT Combi Drill through its paces
You’d be hard pressed to find anything more common on a building site than a trusty combi-drill and it’s an essential part of any tradies kit, so it’s important to choose carefully.
Built to last
The first feature on the XGT Combi Drill to draw Alex’s eye is the all-metal chuck: “With this drill being very high-powered, you could see yourself in a lot of big, messy, dirty situations. It’s durable. It’s hard wearing, and it’s not going wear and tear like a plastic one . Putting this drill through its paces, on say big timbers, with constant drilling, you want to make sure it’s a good chuck at the front to really keep that drill doing what it’s meant to be doing – heavy duty work.”
Makita have continued that hard-wearing mindset by removing the clutch numbers on the chuck. Adam explains that the digital clutch now sits at the bottom of the drill. With an easy to read display and spinning wheel, the operator can adjust the clutch setting from 1 to 21, with a lock button to keep this set.
“With numbers written on the clutch, over time they could wear away making it a lot more difficult to see what number you need. With a digital read-out, you don’t have that issue anymore.”
The robust nature of Makita’s XGT Combi Drill doesn’t stop there either. The drill is built using XPT (Extreme Protection Technology) – a protective seal inside the tool engineered to provide improved water resistance by channelling water and dust from the tool’s key internal components.
High performance
The use of Makita’s XGT batteries are also a stand out of the Combi Drill in Adam’s eyes. The XGT system is more powerful, offering a maximum of 40V. Indeed, Adam shows off this power by using the drill on a thick piece of C24 treated timber, which it manages with ease. The XGT platform also has a battery protection system, which automatically shuts off the power when the battery level is low, meaning more runtime.
Active feedback is also present in the drill, which will shut off the engine if the drill’s rotation is suddenly stopped. This prevents injury or damage to materials if the drill gets stuck.
Accessories
A grip assembly can also be used with the Combi Drill and Adam shows us how this work. With a rotating handle, the assembly easily attaches to the drill body, providing another handhold for the user. With this, the operator can benefit from greater stability when drilling into tougher substrates. An adjustable stopper pole also attaches onto this, working as a depth gauge for those tricky specific applications. Adam attaches this too and shows how it works with a soft nose so as not to damage the surface.
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You can watch the video below:
