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Drill Buying Suggestions

1) With Cord or Without?

This is your first significant decision to make. There are advantages and disadvantages to both types of drills:

- Cordless drills are usually more convenient to use. They can be used in any location without having to deal with extension cords and power outlets; so long as the battery stays charged. The significant advantage of corded drills is that there is no limitation on how long they can be used. When using a corded drill, you will never find yourself waiting for batteries to charge.

- It is somewhat counter-intuitive, but cordless drills tend to weigh less than corded drills. But, if you opt for a high-power cordless drill (18V and 24V), they are sometimes as heavy or heavier than their corded counterparts.

- Cordless drills are safer as there is no cord acting as a trip hazard.

- If high torque and power and long usage times are needed, a corded drill will perform better. Although there are many high-power options obtainable for cordless drills, corded drills will always be able to supply more torque, and they will be able to provide it for a longer period of time.

- Even good batteries have a limited lifetime. You should expect that your cordless drill batteries will last two to three years at best. Batteries for cordless drills are very expensive to buy; it's often cheaper to just purchase a new cordless drill than it is to get two new batteries. If you are purchasing a cordless drill, expect to be purchasing a new drill in several years time. By comparison, if you choose a corded drill your drill should last for at least 10 years, if not more.

- If you are planning to buy a cordless drill, be sure to purchase one with Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) batteries; stay away from Nickel-Metal-Hydride (NiMH) batteries. Li-Ion batteries are better; they are more powerful, they have longer lifetimes, they do not have "memory" issues, and they are better for the environment since they contain less harmful metal elements.

2) Pick a Chuck

The chuck is the portion of the drill that holds the bits in place. There are two decisions to make here: size and type.

Standard chuck sizes are 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" with the most common size being 3/8". If you plan on using bigger drill bits, select the 1/2" chuck since many of the bigger bits will not fit in a 3/8" drill. But if you do not need or want the ability to accommodate larger bits, the 3/8" chuck is a good option since you typically can get higher bit speeds in these type of drills.

There are two different types of chucks: keyless and keyed. For drills with a keyed chuck, you use a mechanical key to tighten and loosen the drill bits. With the keyless chuck, you tighten the drill bit into the chuck by holding the chuck with your hand while powering the drill. The keyed chuck has the advantage of being able to hold bits tighter so there is less chance of the drill bit slipping. The advantage of the keyless chuck is that it is quicker to change drill bits, and there is no key to lose or keep track of.

3) Important Features

To get the most out of your new drill, make sure that it has these key features:

- The ability to reverse direction. Even if you do not plan on using your drill for driving screws, reverse is a very important feature to have for removing drill bits that get stuck. If you are purchasing a drill with a keyless chuck, it will already have reverse (you can't remove bits without reverse), you only need to check for the presence of this feature when you are buying a drill with a keyed chuck.

- A variable speed trigger. If you plan on driving screws, this is key feature. If you don't plan to drive screws, this is still a great feature as it makes it much easier to drill clean holes in materials of different hardnesses.

- Two speed ranges. This is really only needed if you plan on driving screws. If you are, this feature is very important to have. Having the lower speed range makes it much easier to drive screws.

- A clutch. As with the speed ranges, this is really only needed if you are driving screws. The clutch allows you to set a maximum torque point after which the drill will stop driving. This is excellent when you are driving screws to guard against over-driving the screw into the material. If you are putting in large numbers of screws (like on a deck for example), this feature is worth its weight in gold.

Article Source: http://www.dummiesguideto.com

William has been working construction for well before they put batteries in tools. You can read his drill reviews at www.drill-reviews.com.

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