What do you need in a power drill?

[mollybrown]

I'm determined to become handy, but I am still stuck on a drill purchase. I'm planning to use it for basic things like install child proofing/gates. put up pictures, put together furniture, put up tv mounts, etc. My goal was to buy a basic $20-30 drill, but FIL insists that we need at least 12 volts, and GFIL insists that we need a Skil drill because he's had the same one for 40 years. Using those parameters, the drills we found were more like $80. I'm ready to say eff it and just go back to Target and re-purchase the same basic 8 volt drill I returned. I do not want to spend that much for a drill that will only be used occasionally.

[sjh722]

We have a $200 DeWalt drill, but that's probably overkill for what you need.

I think if you're just going to be doing basic things occasionally, a $30 drill would do the trick. If it breaks and/or you discover you really like constructing things, you can always buy a more expensive one in the future and you're not out much on the $30 purchase.

[mrs.jacinthe]

If you're only using it occasionally, I'd get a corded 12V drill and a cordless screwdriver. Cordless drills are handy, but only if you're using it regularly. Otherwise it's a PITA to remember to charge the dang thing before use. Plus, the batteries don't last forever. I use my cordless screwdriver a LOT more than my drill, plus it's smaller and not as heavy.

[wawa]

I agree with a corded drill if you aren't going to be using it often.

We have an expensive dewalt cordless, but it gets used pretty much daily. When I was an apartment dweller I just had a corded drill and it did me fine.

[kaylie]

We paid $120 for a cordless 18V Dewalt that has a spare battery when they went on sale. It's pretty powerful and H loves it, and because we have the spare battery we never have to worry about it not being charged. We don't use it that often (maybe once a week) or for anything that extreme (yet) but we've had a few too many instances of buying the cheaper version of a tool only to find out down the line that we needed a better one. Since we have a million and one more projects to do in this house, we're trying to buy the high end tool the first time so we don't have to buy more than one.

That said, it doesn't sound like you need to go that route. Tell GFIL that Skil products are not made the same as they were 40 years ago (I've generally heard negative reviews) and get the one you want.

[FoxInFiji]

Another Dewalt 18V cordless drill here. But it gets heavy use around our house so it's needed. I just had to go buy another set of batteries for it because we wore down both of the batteries it came with. A pair of new batteries are over $100!

Corded is a good way to get a nicer drill for cheap. Otherwise a cheap one should be fine for you.

Yeah Skil is not the best brand to be sinking money into...

[kaylie]

FYI - the 18V Dewalt is on sale at Lowes today for $99 www.lowes.com/pd_185475-70-DC970K-2_4294707803__?productId=3108421&cm_mmc=email_promo-_-20121122-_-lm_7060-_-dewalt_18V_drill

[TBM]

Nov 21, 2012 14:40:23 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

If you're only using it occasionally, I'd get a corded 12V drill and a cordless screwdriver. Cordless drills are handy, but only if you're using it regularly. Otherwise it's a PITA to remember to charge the dang thing before use. Plus, the batteries don't last forever. I use my cordless screwdriver a LOT more than my drill, plus it's smaller and not as heavy.

ITA

We use the cordless screwdrivers for most of the things that you mentioned, and DH uses his corded drill as often as his cordless drill...maybe more often for smaller jobs, because he doesn't have to think about whether or not it is charged.

[sillygoosegirl]

I have this set and love it. I didn't know what an impact driver was until my parents bought this for me, but seriously, it's something every woman should have. Having a cordless set is nice because you have two identical batteries, and normally they don't both need to get charged at the same time. It's not super powerful, but I find that it's powerful enough and I like that it's super light weight.

www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005CQ1RGI/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1353592315&sr=8-50&pi=SL75

[Deleted]

Nov 21, 2012 14:39:25 GMT -5 sjh722 said:

We have a $200 DeWalt drill, but that's probably overkill for what you need.

I think if you're just going to be doing basic things occasionally, a $30 drill would do the trick. If it breaks and/or you discover you really like constructing things, you can always buy a more expensive one in the future and you're not out much on the $30 purchase.

Ha! This. Our outside shop must have six corded and cordless high end drills. They all have their purposes. However, unless we're hanging something overly ridiculous, what does H reach for the most in the house? Some no name cordless drill my Mom threw in his stocking one Christmas because she was out of ideas. HE loves that damn thing. And the battery charges in like 30 minutes, so it's no big deal.

So yeah, for your random easy household projects any old drill is probably fine. I do prefer cordless though. I have tendency to want to hang stuff requiring a drill above the steps, above a cabinet or some place it's hard to make a cord reach.

[mollybrown]

Thanks everyone! I totally suspected that we should disregard GFIL's advice. NOTHING these days is built to last 40 years. I'm not looking for a forever drill. I like the idea of starting out with something pretty basic just in case my skills never move past hanging pictures. I don't even know if the drill that I originally bought was corded or not, so this has been helpful.