Drilling Tips

Drilling holes, screwdriving, hammer, torque settings

As a carpenter drilling different types of holes in all sorts of sizes and materials is an everyday task. These brilliantly versatile tools aren't only used for making holes though, and you'll be expected to know how to use yours for several other tasks as well including screwdriving, plug cutting and some bits can even be used as a sander!

When choosing the right tool to buy you'll obviously want to get as much value and features for your money as possible. Battery powered tools cost more as the cost of the two batteries (expensive) and a charger is added to the price. When buying with the hammer-action a corded one will be much more powerful for less money, if you don't need the portability of a battery powered tool. All decent tools these days will have the power of the motor specified, the size of the batteries and the maximum holes that can be made in each type of material like wood, metal and stone. One thing I would recommend to look for when buying is all metal gearing and a fast charger (30 minutes is perfect). You don't want to be held up at work waiting for the batteries to charge!

There are thousands of different types and sizes of bits available made of all different materials and for countless applications. So, I've written a seperate page with advice about dealing with loads of different types of materials here like wood, glass, porcelain, masonry, and ceramic tiles.

These are a few of the most common types I use and how you can get the most out of them;

These have advanced hugely even in the years i've been using them. Powerful cordless battery powered drills have made drilling tasks easier, quicker and much safer as you don't need to run a cable (tripping hazard) to the place you are working which could be up a ladder or on scaffolding.
A normal cordless battery powered tool like this with the correct bits is great for general and light/small hole drilling like pilot holes and for screwdriving applications. Most of the tools available today have several torque settings which can be set so that the clutch will kick in when a certain amount of pressure is placed on the gearbox. This is a really important feature for large holes as it helps minimise the chance of breaking your wrist! When the torque is met and the clutch kicks in the bit can't 'bite' the material sending the tool spinning (with your hand holding on) instead of the bit. When boring large holes, use the side handle if your tool is provided with one.

It's also common these days to have between one and three speed settings or gears. Selecting the right gear is crucial to get the best results and prevent damaging your screwdriver/drill-bits. For large holes, pellet cutting or screw-driving use a low speed and for small holes in wood or metal a faster speed is better.

A battery powered hammer drill like the one pictured is similar to the last tool but more powerful, and has a hammer action setting added. This is necessary for holes in hard masonry with special masonry bits (carbide tipped are best). The hammer action does just that, as the bit is spinning it is also hammered into the material to help drive the bit forward and break through the tough wall. Sometimes the hammer action can be too much and it will shatter the brick being drilled making it impossible to get a good fixing as the plug just spins inside the hole. I usually try first without the hammer action and if I don't get anywhere fast whack it on hammer and try that instead.

These tools are like those above but are solely designed for making holes and are not used for screwdriving. With a hammer action that can be switched on or off I use my percussion drill when making lots of holes because it's a hell of a lot more powerful and otherwise I'll just knacker my battery drill out. It also saves wasting the time of swapping bits over after every few holes and means i'm not constantly changing/charging batteries too.

Impact drivers are the latest and greatest tool to add to your kit. Used primarily for screwdriving applications, the impact driver works similarly to the hammer action described before but provides rotational torque instead of impacting laterally. The tool spins fast until a certain pressure is met when the impact kicks in providing high torque screwdriving. You need to buy stronger screwdriver bits designed to withstand the added torque because normal screwdriver bits will simply break under the pressure. These tools are really loud and you wouldn't want to use one all day everyday unless you've got good headache tablets or ear-defenders!

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