DIY: What to know when buying and using a cordless drill

Your first experience with a drill and driver will increase your confidence in using a variety of small power tools around your home and garden. Direct drivers are a different tool; be advised. File picture

Unholstering and putting the mechanical purr on a drill has a ridiculous influence on my fragile sense of self. Many readers are leery of power tools. That reticence is what has kept your walls from looking like they were sprayed by an AK47.

Still, a modest drill and a jigsaw can get you through hundreds of decorating and maintenance jobs. Don’t confuse acknowledging that you don’t know what you’re doing with the inability to do it.

Let’s start by drilling holes and using your drill as a powered screwdriver — skills that will allow you to do everything from hanging blinds to erecting impressive, light shelving systems.

Choose from a drill driver to do both jobs in one tool, or a drill and a separate cordless screwdriver if you want to double your money but save on twiddling around with bit changes.

Ikea Fixa

Let’s look at two suitable appropriate domestic drill drivers. First up is the Ikea Fixa drill — part of Ikea's laughingly cheap stable of DIY tools.

This is powered by lithium-ion batteries, which can be recharged about 500 times. That's equal to recharging a power tool every other week for around 20 years.

At €45, it can handle not only drilling but acts as a cordless screwdriver with 19 speed/torque settings. The Fixa is bare bones, but it has a pleasing 14.4V and a small set of bits, ideal for shuffling pictures or assembling flat-pack furniture.

Black & Decker 18V

The Black & Decker 18V drill driver looks a lot more serious, but it’s a superb, lightweight choice, with two gears, 10 torque settings and variable speed. It holds over 80% of its charge over 90 days, so you can leave it around for quite a while before a spontaneous grab-and-go.

I really like the palm-loving soft grip and LED work light. This drill driver is part of Black & Decker's 18V PowerConnect range, meaning the battery and charger can be swapped out to other tools; €54.99 from various suppliers. Direct drivers are a different tool; be advised.

Larger drills

Expect to be faced with 12V to 20V drills. If you buy a more expensive cordless drill (prices are increasingly comparable), the shocker will be the cost of replacing a battery. To bring the point home; this can match the original price of the bundle.

Larger drills can be heavy in the hand, a real problem when you cannot easily get the drill perfectly perpendicular to the wall. Putting in some sweat equity regularly around the house, a corded drill may well last longer and is easy to manoeuvre, even dragging a cord behind you.

Separate or sets?

Coming with the drill or purchased separately, a set of drill bits in their own case will likely include dozens of mysterious widgets you will never need (I have never touched my spade bits). It’s worth getting to know what everything is for.

The bits are engineered for either masonry, wood or metal. You will develop your go-to favourites and will inevitably destroy them. Replace cheaper everyday bits with better-quality branding over time.

Bits should include a screw-driver attachment and dedicated bit, and those are put together into the drill to use that function.

Controls

Going over the controls of a typical keyless drill with variable speed. Small drills/screwdrivers typically have two dominant gears or speeds. Number one is slower but more powerful than Number two. For most jobs, you will be set on two.

The speed of the drill may also be altered by pulling the trigger with a little more pressure — termed variable speed. Take this for a dry run as it can feel like the drill is running away with you when you’re not used to the sensation.

The numbers around the head of a cordless drill are a clutch that controls torque for setting screws. For smaller to medium screws we need relatively low torque settings. For 90% of heavier drilling your jobs can be covered by just setting the drill to the drill symbol in the functions.

Functions

Now, to the job. There are three functions represented in icons on the drill. Drilling (to make a hole with full torque power), driving (to send in screws finessed with the clutch ring settings) and a hammer setting if you’ve paid for it.

Hammer settings are not as terrifying as they sound and allow more percussive welly to penetrate masonry or brick. If you have a drill driver, it’s really important not to use any hammer setting to drive screws. The drill may twist in your hand, leaving you with a painful sprain.

To take screws out of something, look for the forward/reverse toggle which is located under the trigger in most drills. With screws, it’s handy to remember: “Righty tighty, lefty loosey”.

Hack

Starting with drilling. A brilliant hack for choosing the right bit is to check the figures impressed on the plastic packing that comes with most wall plugs for wood, plaster and plasterboard. This will not only tell you which screw size to use but will have a hole to thread your drill bit through to ensure it’s a matching size.

To load your drill bit, we need to spread open the chuck just a bit, that’s those petals at the top of the drill. DIY drills will have what is termed a “keyless chuck”.

With the drill turned off, hold and turn the collar surrounding the chuck anti-clockwise, and presto — those blunt pincers will open like a flower. Set your bit into the chuck (you’ll feel it when it’s home) and turn the chuck back clockwise to lock it in place. Never ever grasp or glance off a running drill bit. Easily done.

Practice makes perfect

Getting a sense of control takes practice. Execute a few drill holes on an old block outdoors and drive a screw home on an off-cut of timber. If the motor disengages and stops, don’t panic. You just need to increase the torque by turning the number up on the head of the drill with a couple of clicks.

Mark up and neurotically check levels, but only after you have ensured there are no electrical or power-cabling embedded in the surface. Then take a little painter’s tape and place the screw up against the end of the bit, marking its depth directly on the bit. Use this marker as you drill into the wall to avoid going too deep.

If you are working alone, painter’s-tape an open envelope under the working position to catch the dust. Give the drill a little rev’ to stir your confidence. You’ve got this.

Level the drill on the bottom of your breath and drill out your hole. Ensure you use the right wall plug for the material you’re working on and tap it in lightly before changing the drill bit to a screwdriver bit and finishing with the appropriate screw. Start on a low torque to avoid sending the screw too deep (sometimes we’ll want to leave it proud to manoeuvre a panel, hinge or shelf bracket).

Setting the torque too high can also chew up the head of your screws — annoying with speciality screws. Keep in mind you can always put down the power tool and use a hand-held screwdriver for those last twists. Well done — make tea.

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