Drill Buying Guide

Corded or Cordless?
This is your first decision to make. There are advantages and disadvantages to both types of drills:

- Cordless drills tend to be more convenient. They can be used anywhere quickly without having to deal with extension cords; at least, so long as the battery is charged. The advantage of corded drills is that they can be used for extended periods of time so long as power is available. With a corded drill, you will never find yourself in the situation of waiting for batteries to charge.

- It is somewhat counter-intuitive, but cordless drills tend to weigh less than corded drills. However, if you select a high-power cordless drill (18V and 24V), these models are often as heavy or heavier than their corded counterparts.

- Cordless drills are safer as there is no cord dangling about waiting to be tripped over.

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

- Even good batteries have a limited lifetime. Expect that the batteries on your cordless drill will last two to three years at most. Batteries are very expensive to replace; it is usually cheaper to buy a new cordless drill than to buy two new batteries. So if you are buying a cordless drill, expect to be buying another drill in a couple years time. By comparison, if you buy a corded drill you are set for a good 10 years or more.

- If you are going to opt for a cordless drill, make sure to get one with Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) batteries; stay away from Nickel-Metal-Hydride (NiMH) batteries. Li-Ion batteries are more powerful, they have longer lifetimes, they do not have "memory", and they are less harmful to the environment because they contain less harmful metal elements.

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

The standard chuck sizes are 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" with the standard size being 3/8". If you plan on using large diameter drill bits, go with the 1/2" chuck since many larger bits will not fit in a 3/8" drill. But if you do not want or need the capability to use larger bits, the 3/8" chuck is a better option since you typically can get higher bit speeds in these type of drills.

There are two types of chucks: keyed and keyless. With the 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 and powering the drill. The keyed chuck has the advantage of being able to hold bits tighter so there is less chance of your drill bit slipping. The advantage of the keyless chuck is that it is quicker to change bits, and there is no key to be lost or kept track of.

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

- Reverse. Even if you do not plan to use your drill for driving screws, reverse is still a must-have feature for removing drill bits that get stuck. If you are getting a drill with a keyless chuck, it will always have reverse (otherwise there would be know way to get the drill bit out), so you only need to check for this feature if you are buying a drill with a keyed chuck.

- A variable speed trigger. If you plan on driving screws, this is essential. If not, this is still a key feature to have as it makes it much easier to drill holes in materials of different hardnesses.

- Two speed ranges. This is really only needed if you plan on driving screws. If you are, this is critical to have. The lower speed range makes it much, much easier to drive screws without stripping them.

- A clutch. Again, this is only needed if you are driving screws. A clutch allows you to set a maximum torque after which the drill will stop driving. This is great when driving screws so that you do not over-drive the screw into the material. If you are driving large numbers of screws (like on a deck for example), this feature is worth its weight in gold.