Skil Xtra-Tool Triple Mode Hammer Drill Review & Teardown

[@botsman35]

This drill was the very first power tool that I bought in USA in 1995. Used it on small jobs and never had a problem 30 minutes ago tried to drill 1/4 inch hole in cinder block, mode change ring moved from "hammer drill" to "hammer" position and stuck in there. Can't move it to different mode now. Sad.

[@WiseRuler]

I actually got a #600 with the 1/2 Chuck this week from my neighbor. Unfortunately it doesn't work. I plan to take it apart to see what it is? Maybe just cord shorted or something. But I wonder if its even worth trying to repair it or if it should be sold as parts/repair on ebay? I see working ones sell for $20 to $30 but don't know about non working parts/repair? Is it worth just stripping apart for parts or scrap value? Thanks Ron. Fyi mine is 3.4 Amp Motor.

[@keeganharmon8595]

I got one of these but the chuck is a German made Rohm, came with it stock and it chucks up great. Despite its age and a few shortcomings, its a wonderfully smooth and effective drill. use it at low rpms for steel mostly, seems to be what its good at.

[@ClassicTVMan1981X]

These were produced from about 1974 to 1996. Besides being a drill, it could also be a hammer drill or a power chisel.

[@stinkycheese804]

Did you watch the video? The chisel hardly doesn't anything, just makes it seem fancier but a waste of time trying to use the feature, you'd get more done with a regular chisel and hammer striking it.

[@CatusMaximus]

yes it basically is a noise maker, probably 10x weaker then the weakest rotary hammer in hammer mode.

[@glengrossnickle4985]

I rebuilt a old JC Penny drill that looks exactly like that one. It belonged to my father in law. My son wants all his old tools. Could not find parts so it set for quite a while antill I found an old one at an auction for a 1.00 and used parts from it. At that time I didn't know it was made by Skil. Thanks

[@politicalpotato8383]

👍👍👍 I remember when that drill was retired, and brought home, from the local Union 27 Fort Lauderdale. The construction company called SeaCo. That thing took a beating before she would die out on many concrete Form jobs. Doing Hi Rise jobs during the 80's for the Sky Line of Todays Miami. Loved it and hateded them but they all met the Dumpster in the end. Hello to the Makita 3/4in Hammer Drill

[@billarroo1]

Cool chuck removal trick !! Thanks

[@chreynest]

i couldnt disagree more about your assessment of the xtra-tool, because I worked at that time in Skil engineering (on elston). No not relatively expensive to manufacture and it did not suffer from a 'ton of parts'. Made in 2 chuck models, #599 for 3/8", and #600 for 1/2". It's been almost 50 years and i'm still using mine in the hammer/drill mode

[@WiseRuler]

I actually got a #600 with the 1/2 Chuck this week from my neighbor. Unfortunately it doesn't work. I plan to take it apart to see what it is? Maybe just cord shorted or something. But I wonder if its even worth trying to repair it or if it should be sold as parts/repair on ebay? I see working ones sell for $20 to $30 but don't know about non working parts/repair? Is it worth just stripping apart for parts or scrap value? Thanks Ron. Fyi mine has a 3.4 Amp motor.

[@oscarGutierrez-gx6np]

I have one for 30 years and I myself maintain it is very light and practical, the only drawback is the power, but I do not leave it, nor would I sell it working It is very very complete

[@agentswipe6662]

I'd like to see you do a video specifically on demolition tools, in particular the harbor freight Pittsburgh crowbar im curious to see its quality since im not willing to get another crowbar.

[@larrycroft470]

Nice job Catus!!!

[@G1nger11702]

Do you have any screw removal pliers (vampliers or copies thereof) that you could show off? I've been thinking about getting the ones that knipex just introduced

[@johnnykurplutzo6789]

💯

[@stinkycheese804]

Sometimes you crack me up. You take a properly working drill, destructively tear it apart and point out (better stated criticize) the build, but then save some parts to potentially repair some other drill, when the other drill is the weaker unit for having had a failure and the one that should be thrown away and you keep your whole, working, skill drill to use instead. Did you need another drill? Probably not, at least not a corded one, but in that case, even less reason to cannibalize a working drill just in case some day some other drill fails. This was a good drill for what it was, reasonable durable build for the price point, not meant to be used all day, every day in a trade, and that makes sense. Most people who wouldn't wear a drill out in 50 years of occasional use, don't want to pay a lot more for something overbuilt for their needs. IMO, the better way to assess tool build quality is to stick only to specific observed failure modes, not generalizations that some other something had a similar design but rather the specifics of what fails matter more than a design type, because the devil is in the details. Unfortunately, that is near impossible with tools this old because the (internet) method of reporting wasn't available back when the majority of these were used and had any infant mortalities. Regardless of all this, I do still use corded drills and other tools, because there is no need to wear out the more expensive cordless or their batteries if it doesn't need to be that portable. No way, would I have destroyed a working drill for what little parts you are likely to have a use for later.