Porter-Cable 98xx Series Cordless Drill


A Hall of Fame Tool




98xx drill


99xx drill

Appearances:

  After years of Makita, Elu, Hitachi, and other P-C models, the 98xx series is getting a work out. I can't tell which voltage battery he uses, which is what the xx numbers are in the model #. Not only that, but it is so similar in appearance to the 862 that Norm previously used (and somewhat often during the transition to the 98xx, but probably not after Season 14), I sometimes misidentify it. In some cases, because of a partial or blocked view, you just can't tell—it could be either.

More! I've been aware for some time that in the more recent seasons there seem to be other subtle differences in some of the drills he uses. I took a look at P-C's line and it appears he sneaked a 99xx drill into the mix. Look at the pictures at left. It would be hard enough to tell them apart if you were looking at them by themselves, but in the hand or in a partial view it's more work (if even possible) to sort out than I am going to attempt. Any references at this site to a 98xx drill will imply a high probabilty that it may in fact be a 99xx. I'm not going to try and differentiate appearances.

I'm not a fan of T-handles, but that seems to be all Norm has used in the last several years.
    Episodes
  1. 0106, 0110, 0112, 0113
  2. 1403, 1404, 1405, 1406, 1407, 1408, 1412, 1413
  3. 1501, 1502, 1503, 1504, 1505, 1506, 1507, 1508, 1509, 1510, 1511, 1512
  4. 1601, 1602, 1603, 1604, 1605, 1606, 1608, 1609, 1610, 1611, 1612, 1613
  5. 1701, 1702, 1703, 1704, 1705, 1707, 1708, 1710, 1711, 1712, 1713
  6. 1801, 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805, 1806, 1808, 1809, 1810, 1811, 1812, 1813
  7. 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912

Thanks to my friend Tony Haukup for confirming my observation on the 99xx drills.

Last updated: 14 October 2007