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Maker’s toolbox: Hand drills

TUTORIAL

Right

A selection of drill

bits. From left-to-

right: twist, brad

point, masonry,

diamond, Forstner

A basic guide to the DIYer’s hole-maker

f you’ve only used one power tool, the

chances are that it’s a power drill. This

staple of DIYers and makers is now so

commonplace, that it’s hard to imagine life

without it.

At the very basic level, a power drill has

a motor that spins a chuck. In this chuck you can put

almost anything but, most commonly, drill bits are

used to burrow into whatever material you put in front

of them. Despite being fundamentally quite simple,

there’s quite a lot of variation between different

power drills on the market. The basic features you’ll

come across in hobbyist-level drills are:

I

Maker’s Toolbox:

Hand drills

Speed

Faster isn’t always better – you need to match the

speed to the bit and the material being used, but

sometimes more speed means getting a job done

quicker. On modern drills, the speed is usually

variable, but some drills are easier to control than

others. However, depending on the power (see

below), the drill will slow down as you put force on it,

particularly with larger drill bits.

Hammer

This action makes the bit go in and out, as well

as round. It’s mainly used for drilling into masonry

Ben Everard

@ben_everard

Ben loves cutting stuff,

any stuff. There’s no

longer a shelf to store

these tools on (it’s now

two shelves), and the

door’s in danger.

TOOLS

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