My recent post about the new Makita new cordless mud mixer reminded me to follow-up about Dewalt’s new heavy duty FlexVolt mixer.
Resembling a large cordless drill, the new FlexVolt brushless mixer is designed for prepping a variety of common construction materials, from thinset to concrete.
Advertisement
Dewalt says that their FlexVolt cordless mixer can driver more than 2X the power of their corded mixing drill (DW130V). It features an E-Clutch system that stops the motor when binding is detected.
It features a 1/2″ keyed chuck, a chuck key holder, a variable speed trigger switch, an LED worklight, and a rear handle mount that is compatible with an optional spade handle.
No-load speed is 0-600 RPM, tool weight is 6.94 lbs, presumably with battery, and the side handle has 3 positions (left, right, top) for user comfort.
Following are runtime examples for when the Dewalt FlexVolt mixer is powered by a FlexVolt 2.0Ah battery:
- 19 buckets (4.5 gal) of pre-mixed drywall mud per charge
- 17 buckets (5 gal) of tile mortar per charge
- 9 buckets (4.5 gal) of concrete per charge
It can also be used as a heavy duty drill. (But would you?)
Price: $219 for the bare tool (DCD130B), $349 for the kit (DCD130T1)
Advertisement
The kit comes with a 2.0Ah battery, charger, and tool bag.
Buy Now(Bare Tool via Acme Tools)
Buy Now(Kit via Acme Tools)
Buy Now(Kit via Amazon)
Buy Now(Kit via Tool Nut)
Alejandro Renteria
I can see it used as a heavy duty drill and would consider it for such a task.
HILARIO L HERNANDEZ
My thoughts before he said it.
fred
Seems a bit pricey. The Milwaukee is selling for $199 with a 5Ah battery included.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-M18-FUEL-18-Volt-Lithium-Ion-Brushless-Cordless-1-2-in-Mud-Mixer-with-Free-M18-5-0-Ah-Battery-2810-20-48-11-1850/309032440?item_group_id=PG_309032440
Kaman
It’s 2Ah at 60v, but 6Ah at 20v so compared to the Milwaukee your technically getting a bigger battery with the dewalt
fred
Sure – but the Dewalt costs $20 more as a bare tool than the Milwaukee costs with the battery. I’m guessing that the Dewalt is a good tool – just that the Milwaukee might be a cheaper alternative if you happen to be on the M18 platform. Once the “newness” of the Dewalt has faded – maybe SBD will price compete with TTI.
Altan
I agree, it will, always new tools are sold for higher price, but this is a 60V tool not a 18V/20V tool and would work better and it is a drill at the same time.
Chris
I’m fairly sure this has more power then the Milwaukee as well
Will
That’s a great deal but I’m guessing it’s just a promo and regular price would be more inline with the Dewalt.
Casey
Though it’s not practical as a drill, I’d probably succumb to curiosity and try it once. The option is best where you don’t need think a drill will be needed or only for a couple holes, and this is the tool at hand.
My curiosity now has me interested in the option of something like the DCD997 with a keyed chuck.
Wayne R.
Is there available a different sort of chuck, like maybe a bayonet, for paddles & screws? Seems like it’d be obvious & too easy to have such an interface (non-twisting-but-easy-to-remove). Why isn’t that an option?
alex
I wonder why we didn’t get the European style mixer (DCD240X2). Seems more ergonomic to me than a drill with a handle.
Altan
DCD240 is a mixer only, but this one is a drill/mixer.
I liked this drill mixer. It looks very well made.
Nathan
seems like it must be a torque beast. which leads to a question then – if you have to spin a 3/4 inch long auger or something like that would this not be a better option.
I mean most hammer drills with the extra handle would do the same I guess.
but I have been wondering – where is the flexvolt drill. Seems like they would have made one buy now.
3 sp maybe. aux handle – hammer or other – gobs and gobs of available torque due to the motor voltage – same relative size as a 18V class drill body.
JoeM
They have the FlexVOLT right-angle “Hole Dawg” or whatever, and I believe a FlexVOLT SDS Drill and OSHA dust collection system… but you are very, VERY, correct about a dedicated Drill. They don’t have one yet.
THAT said… Considering the amount of power available on a FlexVOLT tool… it’s a little hard to imagine what benefits the 60 Volt version would have over the 20 Volt XR Premium version. Higher torque? Faster speed? I get the electrical potential is higher, but we’re talking 3 times the voltage jump. They’ve had a 36 Volt NiCD in the past, and I believe there was a Drill there… but this is a rather large jump in power. What does one need that for? I’m not trying to say it’s bad, I’m genuinely curious. What does it do that the 20 Volt XR Premium can’t? Or are we thinking a chuck that can go a full inch for the shaft of the bit, kind of thing?
Altan
Here is the DeWALT 36V Hammer Drill with Lion batteries:
https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Dewalt-Dc901M2-5035048462829-36V-Hammer-Drill-Driver-2-X-4.0Ah-Li-Ion
JoeM
Okay, the 36 Volt was also Lithium Ion… one of the first generation ones, before the Max series. I stand corrected, quite happily. They’ve tried drills up in this power range already, so… it has existed.
But what I DON’T get is… what benefits does it have over the 20 Volt XR? 13-16mm is not a big chuck. That’s a 5/8″ chuck if my horrible Imperial conversion is correct. And the Hammer function is there, even in the compact series of DeWALT drills. Is it runtime? Torque? A straight-up DRILL in FlexVOLT 60V mode would have what benefits, exactly? Power to run a 3/4″ to 1″ Chuck is all I can think of. The Premium drills in the 20V series are already capable of 22 torque settings, and the ability to drill through Hardwoods like Oak and Maple.
In all seriousness, this is going to itch at my brain forever if I can’t figure it out. Without needing to use a different tool AS a Drill, what does a dedicated drill actually serve in the FlexVOLT 60V Range? Granite? Diamond? Powering a Truck in a pinch? I don’t get it, beyond “Toy” status. That usually means there’s some nook, hidden in one of the trades, where I can’t see the use. I’d love to be enlightened on this one.
Altan
No, I think that is a 1/2″ (13mm) chuck as it is for metal drilling, but when it comes to masonry it is 16mm because masonry bits have wider tips and thinner shanks. I think.
Dillon Corr
Totally agree. I can’t think of anything that a flexvolt 60V frill could do that either a) the 20v can do or b) the joist drill is better suited for… except core drilling. Not that it’s the same, but why haven’t they put together a 60V battery core drill? Seems like a very simple conversion?
Sam
I’m thinking as an earth auger maybe. I would really like to dig post holes with a drill instead of those big machines or by hand. Seems the flexvolt line could supply the power
Rob
I have the DCD470 Right Angle (a beast) and the DCD130 (a different beast). The mixing drill motor is designed for long runs at the 600RPM top speed against unrelenting high resistance. The DCD130 makes a great drill, too, for a variety of reasons. But mixing a few dozen buckets of mud or cement in a day is a different animal than drilling a lot of holes. It may take about 10 minutes of fairly steady runtime to produce a Homer Bucket of cement. That will burnout the DCD470, billed as Dewalt’s most powerful drill. Dewalt does NOT recommend the DCD470 for mixing because of that. Plus, it’s heavy, requires two hands to operate, and will wear you out for mixing. The DCD130 is a one-hander, good ergonomics, and you’ll love it with a lightweight Hyde 43440 Whip Mixer Stir, 18″. Especially for mixing 5-gal buckets of mud or paint without taking off the lid. Seriously.
Chris
That would be great for planting flowers.
JoeM
Could probably till a cornfield too. With the right tool on the end, it could stir, paddle, or chew up a lot of things really easy.
Corey Moore
I’m under the assumption that this odd shape it’s the result of practically in accommodating the ridiculous gearing that must be at play to achieve such an amazing amount of torque. That being, whenever I do inevitably buy on, I really hope that bind protection is equally impressive because I’m positive that it’s drill like profile is going to cause many folks to use it in drill/driver capacity for tasks it may well simply be far too much for lol Too heavy a load or failure of bind protection while mixing, would hopefully just result in a knocked over mixing container, rather than hurling the operator from, say an 18″ x 1¼” nail eater through triple plate, or maybe even just destroying something like a spade bit or stubby auger or speed bore, or whatever you can imagine a user might shrug about chucking up in this monster because, “well it’s already here and it looks like a drill.” I feel like I’m rambling, but I’m just incredibly curious to see/hear how this lands in common use outside of mixing duties, which I’m sure there will be no shortage of opportunities to try.
Altan
Are you saying this tool is not a toy for kids to play with?! :)))
fred
Probably not a “toy” for unaware, ill-informed and poorly trained adults to “play” with either. Accidents and injuries are probably associated more with misuse of tools like table saws – but a torque-reaction from a stuck big selfeed bit chucked in a powerful drill can do damage as well. I am often amazed when asked by wannabe woodworkers about what cheap table saw is best to purchase. My suggestion is to get some training in table saw use – then make an informed buying decision.
Altan
Table saw is a very problematic tool, you have to do regular maintenance on it to keep it safe, recently one of my friends (who is a professional cabinet maker for more than 20 years) cut four of his fingers and doctors could glue 3 of them back but not the last one.
I completely agree with you, people should get training for each tool before using.
Adam
Completely agreed. I’ve seen a Milwaukee right angle drill bind up, and the operator was really lucky to only end up with major bruises and a sprained wrist, rather than a broken arm.
OhioHead
The clutch system on the old DW (corded) RA drill is legit……DW used the clutch system as a way to get MKE folks over from the Holehawg via talking about accidents users had from bind ups.
I do not work for DW, I am guessing the e-clutch on this drill is legit!
Just my $.02 from my past experience w/ DW and clutches on the RA still.
Randy
Reminds me. Brainchild neighbor tried mixing paint on his deck with a long 1-1/2” spade bit. In an instant, the screw tip grabbed, thru the can, into the deck, paint everywhere. Dripped all through the deck slats onto everything underneath.
Adam
Yikes! I bet that was fun to clean up, and even more fun to explain to his SO.
carlos
I have used this mixer last weekend and was very impressed with it’s power. Used to mix 1 bucket of cement and used very little power and did the job in minutes. Saved my back and arms over the manual process of the labor.
I would like to see more of these Flex volts tools in the market, like a larger fan for my shop.
Robert
This drill is no comparison to the Milwaukee mud mixer drill in torque. Where they failed is in the max rpms.
I have the Milwaukee mud mixer and it cannot handle concrete. It works for drywall mud but it only spins up to 600 RPM (just like this one) and that just doesn’t cut it compared to my corded Bosch mud mixer. The extra hundred RPMs on the Bosch really makes a difference.
If they had made this spin up to 700 I would buy it. Since my main uses are for mortar, mud and grout I’m not going to buy something that gives me the same rpms. Time is where cordless save money, and I buy tools that speed things up, this won’t speed anything up, just give someone that mixes up half a bag of cement the ability to do so…
Corey Moore
… To do so much faster than without a power tool, and minus the metric ton of physical work compared to using a shovel lol
Axeman
If your Milwaukee Mixer can’t handle concrete, it’s due to a lack of torque not RPM’s. Concrete bags should be mixed at low RPM’s anyways. Additionally, I suspect that Milwaukee may have programmed torque limits into that Mixer’s CPU to reduce warranty claims. If you think about it, mixing concrete daily is going to cause significant wear and tear on the tool’s gearing. If any type of abrasive contaminants or water get inside that Mixer, it will destroy it
Altan
I have the corded version of this from DeWALT and it is working well.
The What?
Take it from me this should never be used as a drill. I found out the hard way when I thought it was a good idea to use one of these (Dewalt corded mud mixer) with a 3″ hole saw bit to drill thru the band joists underneath a deck that had 12″ oc floor joists so I could run some plumbing. I was young and stupid and inexperienced. This was almost 20 years ago. I found out what torque is and how much power these things have when my bit snagged the nail. Luckily it only sprained my wrist but it never healed correctly and l still have trouble holding something without my hand going completely numb. I can’t hold onto a pencil or something in similar diameter for more than 7 seconds. I have to literally slap something to get the sensation back in my hand. Needless to say don’t ever use one of these for anything other than mixing.
Travis
This FlexVolt mud mixer is perfectly fine to use as a drill. It has E-CLUTCH which rapidly shuts the drill down in the event of a bind up. You can easily activate the E-CLUTCH just be rapidly spinning the drill by hand. Its a great safety feature.
Boggsy
Bring out the 60v impact driver already… I want to put robots out of business.
RLES
Some really good feedback here. I find that the handle of my 20V max DCD996 will twist apart under its capable power. Side handles are somewhat of a consumable with that much torque also. So it is the build quality I have ordered this mixer/drill for mainly, and to give the DCD996 a rest from using a very sharp 32mm auger through 4-5 stud thick cyprus tasks (often not dry). I prefer this design over the joist drill for electrical work, and the mixer/drill is significantly lighter than the joist drills. It won’t be an every day drill, but a DCD996 saver/misc mixer for jobs around the home.