Makita LXFD01CW 18 Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Cordless 1/2-Inch Driver-Drill Kit Review

The Makita LXFD01CW 18 Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Cordless 1/2 Inch Driver-Drill Kit is a good compact drill driver. It’s one of the shortest and lightest drill drivers in its competitive class, yet it provides plenty of power and battery longevity, and it’s a Makita. You probably won’t go wrong with this drill driver, although there is a concern about a wobble in the chuck. Also note that this Makita drill is white instead of the usual teal color.

Table of Contents
1. Power
2. Torque
3. Chuck
4. Clutch
5. Speed Settings
6. Battery, Charger and Recharge Time
7. Grip/Handle
8. Reverse Switch
9. Built-in LED Work Light
10. Carrying Case and Belt Clip
11. Shortcomings
12. What Others Are Saying
13. Bottom Line
14. Price

Power

The Makita LXFD01CW is an 18 volt cordless drill. It has enough power for up to most heavy duty jobs like drilling into hardwoods.

Torque

This drill provides 480 inch-pounds of torque and 290 inch-pounds of PTI torque. PTI torque is torque as measured by the Power Tool Institute. PTI does the torque test in a low humidity, cool indoor environment. They use a battery that’s been charged and discharged 5 times. The clutch is set in the full lock position and the speed set to that which provides the greatest torque. An electronic torque tester from CDI Torque Products is used for the test. The drill being tested is clamped into place. 25 total samples are taken and statistically analyzed to get generate the result. More details on PTI testing can be found at their website – http://www.powertoolinstitute.com/pti_pdfs/TorqueLTP.pdf.

Chuck

The chuck is 1/2″, a heavy duty chuck. It is keyless. We’ve read a number of reviews about a wobble in the chuck. See the shortcomings section for more details.

Clutch

The adjustable clutch has 17 stops. There are 16 stops for driving screws/fasteners and 1 stop for drilling that never disengages the bit.

Speed Settings

The Makita LXFD01CW has two speed settings. Setting 2, the high speed setting for drilling, runs from 0 – 1,500 RPM. Setting 1, the low speed setting for driving, runs from 0 – 400 RPM. The drill has a variable speed trigger. It features an all metal transmission.

Battery, Charger and Recharge Time

The lithium-ion battery stats say it has 1.5 amp-hours of electric charge. Two batteries are provided in the kit. The smart charger can charge the battery in as little as 15 minutes. The charger has a built in fan to cool the battery after charging. You can use a Makita LXT battery (should be the model BL1830), which has 3.0 amp-hours of electrice charge and is sold separately, with this drill.

Grip/Handle

Like most cordless drills, this one features a T-style grip. The handle is rubberized making it easy to grip.

Reverse Switch

This drill has an easy to use reverse switch.

Built-in LED Work Light

The LED light on this drill is very bright with a strong beam and has an afterglow (light stays on for a few seconds after the trigger is depressed).

Carrying Case and Belt Clip

This drill comes with a hard plastic carrying case and a belt clip.

Shortcomings

Okay, we have read an admittedly small number of reviews that say that the chuck on this drill really wobbles. Some say that the wobble is only in the collar of the chuck and doesn’t effect the use of the drill, but there are plenty of one star reviews online that say the wobble is a real problem that throws off drilling with a bit. Usually we’re not too concerned by seeing a couple of bad reviews when the tool has a large number of glowing reviews. In this case, we found a video of the problem, which you can see here – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaKQ3E809QM#t=2m49s This wobble concern is enough to make us take a pause from wholeheartedly recommending this drill.

What Others Are Saying

See the shortcomings section above for a potential large concern about this drill. Most of the reviews we’ve seen on Amazon and Home Depot are laudatory, especially about the fast charging time.

Bottom Line

We can’t give the Makita LXFD01CW 18 Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Cordless 1/2 Inch Driver-Drill Kit a higher recommendation because of the potential issue with a wobble in the chuck. You’ll want to hands on test this drill before you buy. 3.5 out of 5.

Price

Amazon puts a lot of effort into keeping their pricing competitive. As of the date of this review, the price was very attractive and they offered free or discounted shipping. Click to check today’s price and see if that’s still the case: