You can’t be helpful around the house without a power drill

If you’ve never fixed a loosely hanging cupboard door or shift a drawer handle so it slides right consider yourself lucky. Those of us without the handyman gene are frightened of even the simplest household jobs.

But if you’ve reached the point where that cupboard door has hit you in the head for the last time, then you might need a power drill, both to fix it and to get out your frustration.
Here are some tips when getting one.

Buying a Power Drill

  • Find drills that come in a heavy-duty plastic or aluminium casing, and with reinforced cord, screwdriver attachments and a reverse action switch to remove screws.
  • Test your comfort level with the drill in your hand. There are three types of grips: pistol, t-handle and right angle. The pistol is the traditional style grip. The t-handle evenly distributes the weight of the drill, and the right angle is best for tight spaces.
  • If the store assistant asks if ou prefer a drill with a keyed or keyless chuck, here’s a simple translation. A chuck holds the drill bit or the driver. Some drills come with a key to help you loosen or tighten this attachment. Drills without keys require you to do these actions by hand. This may be a bit difficult to do at times, but a lost key won’t affect a keyless chuck.
  • The chuck size you buy is the same as the drill size and will match all accessories with the same size shaft diameter.
  • For cordless drills the higher the voltage the heavier the drill.
  • Those with cords are better for big jobs like drilling large holes or through bricks, because they get a constant supply of electric power. Cordless drills run on batteries.
  • Buy a drill with varying speeds if you plan on working with different materials. Large bits for hard materials work at low speeds and small bits for soft materials work at high speeds.
  • Get a drill with an adjustable clutch setting that prevents you from drilling a screw in too far by reacting to the resistance of the screw. 

Now that you know perhaps more than you wanted about drills, suck in some air and get started on those home jobs you’ve been meaning to do.