How to Choose an Electric Drill For Home
In the household there are always classes for the master. Hang a picture on the wall, install a magnetic lock in the cabinet, stretch the antenna cable. In the course of all these works, you need to drill even holes in wood, drywall or plastic. Manual drills were replaced by electric drills: holes are made quickly and accurately. In addition to drilling, a modern power tool can grind, grind and polish materials. How to choose a suitable drill and equipment for the house?
An indispensable tool for the home. An electric drill
An electric drill is a body with a handle in which an electric motor is installed. Gear reducer reduces motor rotation speed. A chuck is installed on the gearbox axis, in which the working tool is clamped. The drill or nozzle rotates and processes the material.
The basis of the drill is a rotating shaft. Additional devices turn the drill into a drilling, grinding or turning machine.
What work does the tool do
The drill performs the following functions:
- Drilling holes in wood, plastic, metal, glass with various drills.
- Grinding surfaces with abrasive nozzles.
- Drilling with hollowing holes in soft building materials (brick, aerated concrete).
- Cutting wood and thin metal with cutting discs.
- Sharpening knives, axes and scythes with abrasive discs.
- Mixing of building mixtures with a whisk-mixer, fixed in the cartridge.
It is interesting. For poultry farmers there is a nozzle that helps to pluck chicken carcasses.
Additional equipment. Racks, supports and clamps expand the capabilities of the drill and even turn it into a machine tool.
A drill fixed in a clamp with a bed. A drilling machine is obtained. The handle gently feeds the tool to the material.
The stand, in which the drill body is clamped, provides drilling holes at any given angle. Perfectly straight or sharp.
Wood Drill Lathe
Clamp for a drill, a bed with guides, a tailstock and a handrail. A simple wood lathe is ready.
How is a drill different from a hammer drill
Almost all modern electric drills have a hammer drilling mode (impact drill). This mode facilitates drilling of bricks, loose stone or foam concrete. However, the drill is not able to compete with the punch in the processing of concrete. The impact power of a drill does not exceed tenths of a joule, while a perforator has units and tens of joules.
The principle of operation of an impact drill is the slipping of gears under load, which is why they jump over each other, creating movement along the axis of the drill. A rotary hammer is a pneumatic tool in which a blow produces air pressure.
What are drills?
Professional and household
Like other power tools, drills are divided into two large classes. Professional and domestic.
Professional drills are required to work for hours without a break, they are made as convenient as possible for long work, and durable materials are used in the construction. The cost of such drills is several times higher than household ones.
Household drills are made of less durable materials, the gears of the gearbox may well be plastic, and a small motor is forced. The instrument weighs less, but work with it must be interrupted every 15 minutes. It will overheat.
In the household, the drill does not work all day, so it makes no sense to overpay for a professional tool.
Unstressed and shock
Pthe simplest drill has one operating mode. The chuck with the drill fixed in it rotates, the drill forms a hole in the material. This mode is the main for 90% of the tasks solved at home or in the country. Such drills are called shockless, they account for 20% of all devices sold.
To increase the attractiveness of household tools, manufacturers have included another mode of operation. Shock. When you press the tool, the drill makes not only rotational, but also reciprocating movements. 80% of household drills switch to shock mode, but its benefits are small. The progressive movement of the drill will help only when drilling light building materials.
If you plan to drill monolithic walls, it is recommended to pay attention to the puncher.
Ac or battery
If the drill motor is powered by an electric network, the master is tied to a power outlet. The radius of the working area of the tool determines the network cable and extension cords available on the farm. It’s not always easy to drill a pole at a country gate or pull a wire out of an apartment shield. But, a network drill always gives the set power to the drill, which is independent of the batteries.
The power drill is tied to a power outlet.
Cordless drills give the wearer an extra degree of freedom. Attaching a loop to the garage door or polishing the weld on the doors is easy. The downside of convenience is the batteries that need to be charged. A discharged tool is reluctant, the drill rotates slowly and gets stuck. Batteries live no more than three years, lose capacity and deteriorate.
A variety of drills. Screwdrivers. Mains and battery are produced. In them, a special gear reduces the speed and increases the torque of the tool. A screw with a length of 100 mm is driven into a pine beam for half a minute. The adjustable clutch will stop rotation when the screw is fully tightened.
Criteria for choosing a drill for home use
The engine power of modern electric drills varies from 500 to 1500 watts. This important parameter determines the torque of the tool and the ability to process dense materials. A weak motor will not crank the drill in steel, the grinding wheel will be stuck in birch plywood. The greater the power, the greater the weight of the tool. For homework, it is recommended to choose a drill with a motor of 700-800 watts.
The engine speed varies from 2000 to 4000 rpm. For each drill, the manufacturer selects the optimal rotation speed (it is called nominal and is indicated in the characteristics of the model). The higher the speed, the more times the drill passes through the material, giving a cleaner surface. At high speeds, the risk of errors increases. The hand trembled, the drill went to the side, ruining the workpiece.
Infinitely variable speed is an important function of an electric drill. At the beginning of drilling at low speeds, the drill will not lead away, the hole will exit exactly in the right place.
The parameter “Diameter of drilling” defines the largest hole that a drill makes in different materials. Obviously, the density of wood is very different from steel, so the manufacturer sets for his product the maximum diameter of the hole in the tree and separately in steel. If the drill has a shock mode, then the diameter in concrete is also normalized.
What is the smallest hole you can drill with a drill? It depends on the chuck, usually drills less than 0.5 mm are no longer fixed. For micro-drills, there are special chucks with collet clamps.
Video: How to Choose an Electric Drill For Home
The chucks in which the tool is clamped are of two types: with a key and quick-clamping.
The key holder has been known for a long time. In it the cams are compressed by means of a toothed nut rotated by a special key. Advantages: reliable holding of the drill even in the most difficult working conditions. Disadvantage: changing a drill takes a minute, the key is easy to lose.
In recent years, quick-clamping cartridges have appeared. In them, the clamping nut is turned by hand. Advantages and disadvantages are opposite to the key chuck. The tool changes in a dozen seconds, but the strength of the hands is not always enough for a firm grip, for example, at the exit from the metal the drill wedges, the shank slips in the chuck.
The simplest equipment consists of one thing. The drill itself. If the manufacturer offers additional items. This is a big plus. The kit may include:
- A suitcase is an excellent packaging for storage and transportation. The tool and accessories are neatly packed and do not dust.
- Tool kit. A basic set of the most popular drills for wood, metal or concrete.
- Laser level. Attached to an impact drill, needed for marking wall holes.
- Nozzle with nut. Clamps grinding and cutting discs.
- Additional handle. Screwed to the body, for it the master holds the tool with his second hand, for example, when drilling concrete.
- Depth gauge. A pin with a ruler screwed to the housing will prevent the drill from plunging further than measured.
- Spare brushes. The collector motor is powered through movable contacts. Carbon brushes. This part wears out over time. Well, if the manufacturer has prepared a replacement.
It is noted that in recent years, manufacturers have begun to save on a complete set of drills, especially inexpensive ones.
Engineers implement additional functions in electric drills that make work convenient and safe. The most important features:
- Smooth start. The collector motor starts in short circuit mode, which generates inrush currents in the network, the collector brushes burn out. The regulator will smoothly increase the rotation speed to maximum, the tool will last longer.
- Automatic speed control. The electronic circuit maintains a constant speed of rotation of the drill, regardless of the applied load. The drill equally smoothly processes wood and metal.
- Locking circuit breaker. If the drill is operated by a grinder or machine, the motor should be constantly running. The button latch will free the hands of the wizard.
- Reverse engine. A convenient function will help if the drill at the exit from the metal is jammed. The master clicks the lever, the direction of rotation of the drill changes to the opposite (reverse). The tool is released.
- Cartridge brake. When the master removes his finger from the start button, the cartridge continues to rotate by inertia, it is dangerous to touch it. The braking system instantly stops the rotation of the cartridge after turning off the engine.
Other important criteria
When choosing an electric drill, grab it in your hands. In a good drill, the handle is equipped with rubber spacers and fits comfortably in the palm of your hand. Buttons and switches are pressed easily, the cartridge rotates gently, does not dangle in the longitudinal direction.
Rating home electric drill
The cost of a household drill for a home should not exceed 10,000 rubles. The rating is based on this limitation.