Customer Reviews

Bare-Tool Milwaukee 0856-20 18-Volt Cordless Compact SDS Rotary Hammer Drill (Tool Only, No Battery)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is one incredible tool. Mine came with a adjustable stop rod that is not shown in the picture. It is built into the side handle and requires no tools to adjust its length, just press on the spring loaded release and adjust the rod to the desired position or remove it if it is in the way. I use this tool to replace a much heavier corded model for doing overhead work. I am installing new drywall in a very old house that had plaster over plaster board wall construction. I have removed the plaster and plaster board on the exterior walls to facilitate the installation of insulation and modern wiring. The underlying structure wasn't exactly designed for drywall. For instance the top plates were not aligned. The top 2x4 plate protruded into the room ½ to ¾ of an inch in some areas making it impossible to install the drywall with a square corner. I used a sharpened flat chisel blade and the hammer mode to quickly cut off the excess material using the lower top plate as a guide. Other than a flush cutting circular saw I can't think of a tool that would have done this job any better, and it is probably safer than using a flush cutting circular saw overhead.

I love this tool. It is strong and compact. It uses my old ni-cad 18 volt batteries as well as my new V-18 Lithium batteries. I bought mine from Tool King at a compettive price and it arrived in the original Milwaukee "bare tool" box along with the product registration paperwork.

One vendor shipped the last tool Milwaukee tool I bought from them in a plain brown box, no Milwaukee packaging and didn't include the operational part of the tool (the metal cutting blade) even though the product description stated it was included, and when I asked them to send it they just said no, ship it back at my expense if I wasn't happy and pay the restocking fee. The entire process set my building project back several weeks. You can read my review of the Milwaukee metal cutting circular saws to get the full story (and be sure to look at the pictures), Amazon did compensate me some of my cost of returning the item but not all of it. Perhaps your results may be better but it has been my experience that some of these vendors are just a little better than others. It cost me a couple of bucks to figure out that the lowest priced vendor isn't always the best choice. I have purchased a lot of tools from many vendors and have always had exceptional service except for my one bad experience. I will pay a couple of dollars more for the product and a couple of dollars less for the shipping and buy from a Vendor like Tool King to get the genuine original Milwaukee packaging and first rate customer service. When I purchased my Milwaukee SDS cordless drill from Took King the total cost of the product and shipping was less than $5 more than the lowest priced vendor.

I have uploaded a picture showing the adjustable stop rod that came with my drill.

Please take the time to vote if you find this review helpfull.

This might well be the neatest battery operated drill one could ever own. This drill from Milwaukee might be as useful to the end user as it is hard to find. The drill is one of many in the Milwaukee line that are seemingly being sold off at discount prices to clear the shelves of their older 18volt technology. I found it quite cool that this tool would not only operate with the newer 18 volt lithium batteries but also with the older nicad batteries. It has a clutch that allows for drilling, hammer drilling, and hammer only. I must say that when I first took it out of the box, I installed one of my SDS chisels from an electric chipping hammer that I own. I noticed that the bit was sitting off center. Only then did I consult the directions and found that there is a setting on the clutch that allows you to turn the chuck 360 degrees until it is in the location that you want...To me, that is quite cool!! Using the drill in hammer mode was impressive to me considering that it is a cordless tool. Granted it is not going to challenge the performance of my Hitachi or similar electric hammers, but for light chipping, etc. it works very nicely indeed. Also, the bits used are of the SDS variety. Not everyone has this type of bit, but for heavy duty chiseling and hammer drilling it is hard to beat. I do believe Milwaukee sells a conversion chuck that allows you to use regular drill bits in an SDS drill like this one. On top of that for [...] dollars from [...] , boy what a bargain for quite the big tool! I have about six 18volt nicad batteries at home and love the opportunity to pick up these tools "only". Next is the 18volt impact wrench for [...] bucks!! Also, for those contractors that want to use these bigger tools, get the three bay charger that Milwaukee sells. It keeps three batteries charging at once and even takes batteries that I removed from my job's recycling bin and brought them back to life! Worth every penny!! But I digress....You will not be disappointed by this purchase for sure.....

The Amazon vendor shipped it in a plain box without the usual red Milwaukee box and no warranty card included either. Ok no big deal, wish they let me know before purchase.

Anyway, very nice and works well, it fits both SDS and SDS plus bits. 20x faster than the 18V Milwaukee hammer drill. I guess the high quality SDS bit has something to do with it too as compared with a good carbide masonry bit. Also as compared with my 1" corded roto hammers, its 3x slower - as expected.

i bought it for the incredible price of 59.00 and it works better than i could of hoped for,i just wish the li-ion battery prices would come down

Not much good with a Ni-Cad battery, but with a Lithium Ion it really does the job. Solid and durable.

Great tool at a great price. This tool sets concrete anchors very fast. I will be purchasing more from RFB Direct. Thanks Amazon, for showing me this store, Mike

Including a carry case would have made this a totally sweet deal, but such a great tool for such a great price, I can't complain. Rugged, heavy-duty like all Milwaukee tools, this rotary hammer (paired with Bosch bits) bores through brick, concrete, cinder blocks and everything else like a laser. Like a good ranch dog it never stops working, feels good to the touch and doesn't ask for any special treatment. Love this tool. RK

I bought this to go with the rest of my Milwaukee 18V tools amd boy was I surprised! It has a lot of power and is easy on the batteries. It even out performs my 18V Milwaukee hammer drill! It's a great value for the money and I'm glad I bought it. Like they say...."Red Tools Rock"!

I bought into the Milwaukee 18 volt line of tools to go completely cordless for my business needs. The Compact Rotary Hammer drill looks like it should twist your wrists off if it were get hooked up. Here is the problem. The 18 volt lithium ion batteries do not deliver the power needed to run this drill. I have not been able to drill simple holes without the battery's safety protection kicking in. It gets much worse as the weather gets colder. Milwaukee's tech answer is to return the drill for a refund. I am including MILWAUKEE'S e-mail response to my problems.
" Dennis, If you own the 48-11-1830 V18 Li-ion Battery, it offers over load protection, so if too much pressure is applied to the tool while drilling, it may spike the amps and the battery will shut down to protect the battery and tool from damage."

I can literally hold this drill with one hand while cutting a 2" hole in wood. Every time I apply even the slightest pressure the drill chuggles and stops. Forget about core drilling masonry, I have not been able to drill a hole. FYI, all of my four batteries are new, purchased at different times, and all poorly perform the same. End result is I have to buy a 115 volt powered drill to do the job this drill is suppose to do!! All my other Milwaukee tools work fine, but not this rotary hammer drill!!

I bought this drill to use for drilling anchors in cement and light chipping. works great but... it doesn't work with my 18v xc batteries...but it does work with my v28 batteries...i'm not sure if i'm gonna mess it up by giving it 28 volts but it's been 3 months so far and for the price..i think i got it at $70... can't go wrong