About Cordless Drills - How Do You Choose

Drills are an essential part of a construction workers arsenal and many of weekend warriors are buying the same tools the pro's swear by. Having a cordless drill means that you are able to drill holes and drive screws with the same tool and in areas that once required that you purchase a generator to supply you with electricity.

There is good news and bad news in this search, the good is that you have a large field of cordless drills to choose form the bad being that you will not always know how to choose a good one.

Cordless drills today are more powerful and capable of doing amazing things in a fraction of the time its predecessors took. Just think of what the carpenters of old could have done with such tools. We have antique stores with carpentry masterpieces and houses that are on preservation lists, because of the carpentry work and nothing more. Cordless drills would have given them time to make even more wondrous items. If you had to explain to them how to choose a good cordless drill what would you tell them.


The battery voltage measures power in a cordless drill. The higher the number of volts the more spinning power the drill has to withstand resistance. Just in the last 10 years the voltage has seen an increase from the standard 9.6 to 18V all the way up to 36volts in some models. This is important to know when choosing a cordless drill. The types of jobs you plan to use your drill on will determine how much torque you need. it is better to have a high torque drill with speed settings than have a drill that just won't cut it.

Before there were cordless drills that doubled also as drivers almost all of them were made with the pistol grips introduced in the early 1900's by Black & Decker. These drills had the handle seated squarely behind the motor. Though a good design today's cordless drills are being made more and more using a T-handle. The design of the base prevents hand slippage and can easily hold the battery. The battery is centered under the weight and bulk of the motor using a T-handle provides better balance, this is needed with the heavier drill models. The T also allows you to get into much tighter spots because your hands are securely out of the way. The pistol grip is good for jobs that require you to add additional pressure as you drill. The type of handle would be one of the items you discuss with your visitor from the past.


You would also want to decide on the clutch, the adjustable clutch on a cordless drill is the thing that separates the standard electric corded drill from the cordless. The clutching mechanism allows you to stop the turning motion of the bit with the motor running. This gives you more control over the action. It prevents you from stripping screws or driving one in too far. The most you can purchase on a cordless drill is 24 clutch settings. Not everyone needs this many but it will allow you to fine tune each job to its fullest.


You will also need to show him about the different speed settings on these new cordless drills. Remember they really only had one back then and that was as much as human could put out. You can find less expensive drills can be found with only a single speed and some with maybe two. They range from 300rpm to 800rpm. Though great on light duty jobs they are not suited for really tough work. You use the low to drive in the screws and the high to make holes. for larger and harder tasks you may want that has a two speed switch and a trigger that lets you with even more variable speeds. You can get some with speeds up to 1000rpm's.


Cordless drills are using two types of Batteries these days. The potentially environmentally harmful Nickel-Cadmium batteries and the new Lithium-Ion varieties. The lithium-Ion batteries cost a little more but in the long run the savings show up in less down time for you r cordless drill and not having to constantly replace your battery packs.