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Electric drills are jolly useful indeed

Power Drills and Drill - Drivers
(powered screwdrivers)

See all power drills at Screwfix
Power tools at Screwfix

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A power drill is the most useful and versatile tool in the tool kit. I have a cordless drill that I use in almost every job that I do around the house and garden and a mains corded drill that steps in for jobs where extra muscle is required or it is convenient to have one bit in one drill and one in another.

Cordless power drills

The archetypal tool that fits into the "I can't imagine how I ever got by without one" category. The freedom of use without a trailing cord is incredibly handy, and when used as a power screwdriver with readily available quality cheap screws makes this method of fixing more convenient, more accurate and sometimes cheaper than using nails.

Size and voltage - The power of a cordless drill is proportional to the voltage (approximately), the voltage is also proportional to the weight (approximately). It is not always the best solution therefore to go for the highest voltage and most powerful drill, the weight of it may well limit its usefulness in a multitude of other jobs where it would otherwise be used if it weren't such a strain on the wrist and arm.

It's like only having one pair of shoes and choosing a heavy pair of walking boots because you go to the Lake District once a year. The rest of the time you'll have to clump around in them even though a much lighter pair will do.

For the majority of household and garden tasks, a 12v or 14.4v drill / driver is ideal. I have a 14.4v Bosch professional quality hammer drill / driver with NiMH batteries and find this quite capable of driving screws up to 90mm x 6mm into softwood and drilling many (I've never counted how many)  holes into brick work before needing a re-charge. It will also drive small screws into fine wood slowly with a torque setting such that it will stop long before the work piece is damaged. It is perhaps a little on the heavy side to be perfect, but for my purposes it can't really be bettered.

Anything larger than this would be too heavy to be comfortable. For larger heavier jobs, I use my corded drill.

Batteries - Cordless drills come with either NiCd - nickel cadmium, or Ni-MH - nickel metal hydride batteries. Ni-MH are more expensive and hold nearly double the energy of the NiCd equivalent, they can't be damaged by partial charging and are lighter in weight. A drill with two batteries and a one hour charge means that you can use it intensively almost without pause. There is a disadvantage though in that NiMH batteries don't last as long as the NiCd equivalent, they will wear out and need to be replaced sooner - though not that soon.

Chucks - the vast majority of cordless drill come with a keyless chuck, a single twist to lock the bit in place or two rings that lock against each other. make sure your drill has this feature, much of the convenience of a cordless drill is lost if it doesn't.

Professional or DIY

Power drills come in two types, DIY quality or professional quality. Professional quality are designed to be used every day by a tradesman whereas DIY quality aren't. As well as the huge difference in longevity is a large difference in quality of the tool. If you can afford it always go for professional quality. It will more than repay the additional expense by extra life and also the intangible pleasure of using of a well-built quality item.

Professional quality brands - Bosch, DeWalt, Erbauer, Hitachi, Makita
(not an exhaustive list)

 

Corded (mains) Power Drills

If you only have one drill then go for a quality corded (mains) hammer drill. Cheaper DIY drills are available sometimes for silly prices, (around £10) but they are basic to say the least and the quality leaves much to be desired meaning that you'll need a new one soon anyway. Many mains drills have variable speed and so can be used for power screw-driving - although they are never very happy doing this and a cordless or proper mains screwdriver is better for this function.

Mains drills are considerably cheaper than the equivalent cordless. My own cordless 14.4v drill for instance cost me £199.99 (several years ago now) and develops about 350W of power, whereas a professional quality 550W mains drill can be had for about £50.

Larger more powerful SDS drills can be had for £100 upwards, these have a more effective hammer action but are unnecessary for most DIY'ers and are used mainly for regular drilling of large holes into masonry or even for demolition purposes.

Make sure you get a hammer or percussion drill, they are essential for drilling holes into brick work with the appropriate bit. Again weight is proportional to power, there's little need to go beyond 650W for most purposes and 500-550W is adequate for many.

 

 

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