Last year we saw the big press event hoopla focused on Milwaukee’s first ever cordless M18 FUEL Mag Drill 2787-22 ($2199) which performed equal to corded and had a ton of awesome new features. At the end of the day however most people can’t justify a price, 2x to 3x what an equivalent corded unit. Since that time Milwaukee quietly replaced their old mag drill 4270-21 with the New Milwaukee 1-5/8” Mag Drill 4272-21 ($899) which shares many of the same innovative features that people loved with the cordless but at a price of their old corded unit. See how this units stacks up to the other popular mag drills.
Annular Cutter to Twist Drill in Seconds Flat
The biggest feature that makes these Milwaukee Mag Drills stand out is how super easy conversion from annular cutters to twist drill bits. It is achieved from a combination of several features including; quick release ¾” Weldon arbor, ½” chuck w/adapter, tool free adjustable slide motor mount and finally the 2-speed gear box (475/730 RPM) which allows you to actually drill at the proper speed. Literally in a few seconds you can make the switch from twist drill bits to cutters and back to twist drill bits. To see this feature go to minute 12:00 in video above.
The new Milwaukee drills have several other nice features including Auto-Stop which is a safety feature that stops the drill when it detects turning, easy on/off button to stop drill faster whenever, LED for better sight of the cutting surface and nicely tucked away exterior cord from motor to base which is the most commonly damage part for many mag drills.
Milwaukee has also launched the 4274-21 ($1499) at the same time which features the same 2-speed 1-5/8” capacity motor as the 4272-21 but uses the permanent magnet base from the M18 FUEL 2787-22. Basically it works without power so this unit will stay fixed in place no matter what. This is a big safety feature and prevents injury or damage to tool when power goes out on the jobsite. Of course a mag drill is always supposed to be fixed in place with a strap or safety chain regardless but that is not always the case. People were very excited about this feature but when they saw the price tag of an additional $600 that excitement very quickly dissipated. At that price this seems to be more of a niche product in our minds and at that point might as well go all the way to cordless.
Mag Drill Competition Heating Up
The magnetic drill options have really expanded in just the last few years. The Hougen HMD904 ($845, with Free Coolant Tank) remains the standard which everyone still compares against and their recent update (see our full post) offers an LED light and several performance upgrades. That being said existing brands are expanding their offerings, new import brands are popping up all the time and big names like Milwaukee are trying to really innovate the category.
Another brand that is very aggressive is CS Unitec mag drills, known for years for their larger high-end German made drills with variable speed, reverse/tapping and large diameter applications up to 6”. They are now going after the entry level mag drills (but still made in Germany) with their single speed 1-1/2” MABasic 200 ($669) and 2-speed 1-1/2” MABasic 400 ($899) which both also come with ½” chucks, very similar to the Milwaukee, and similar experience going back & forth from twist drill bits to cutters.
What’s Next for Milwaukee Mag Drills
In the short time the new Milwaukee 4272-21 mag drill has been available the response has been very impressive. Professionals really like the functionality, value, pretty much everything about this unit and if we know Milwaukee Tool something tells us they are not going to be happy with just a little success here. Milwaukee has a handful of other older, pretty much dinosaurs, mag drills in the 4204-1 ($1199), 4206-1 ($1399), 4208-1 ($1499) and 4209-1 ($1499) which still are very common but weigh more than most small children.
These mag drills either use Morse Tapper shank or larger 3-jaw Jacobs Chuck and use the threaded Steel Hawg Cutters which are somewhat unique. If these units got an overhaul to shed a few lbs, add some features and have the option to either use the Steel Hawgs or larger diameter Weldon Annular Cutters there may be some equal excitement for these larger units. If they aren’t already on it we’d be shocked, but if not what are you waiting on?
If you have any questions on any Mag Drills on Metal Cutters give the pros at Ohio Power Tool a call 800-242-4424. These guys know a lot about a wide variety of drilling applications, material workaround (safely), common problems, repairs, making custom bits, sharpening cutters and about anything else you can think up on the topic.
