Types of Cordless Drill Driver Tools
Choosing a right kind of battery-operated drill tool can be confusing. There are numerous products on the market: impact driver, impact wrench, hammer drill, cordless screwdriver, and cordless drill. What are they and how are they different from each another? Which one is suitable for what project?
Simply put, they are all tools that work with mechanical fasteners such as screws, bolts, and nuts. The cordless drill driver is a general-purpose tool, capable of both drilling and driving. The other tools are specialized version of the cordless drill. They are designed to perform better in certain work situations, but not in others.
The Right Tool For The Job
The most common one sold in the store is the cordless drill driver. It's simple to operate and can be used on an extensive range of applications. Home owners looking for a jack-of-all-trades tool to do diverse, general jobs will be happy with this one.
The cordless impact drivers has a singular impacting mechanism that produces ultra high torque. It specializes in driving big bolts and long screws. That's highly desirable in cabinet work because it saves the step of pilot holes pre-drill. Although small in size, its strength is indirectly revealed by its high price tag. A sticker shock will hit you if you are not familiar with it. A goliath killer, this small giant breezes through construction projects like fencing, cupboards, deck, gates with perfect ease.
The cordless impact wrench is very similar to the impact driver. The main physical dissimilarity is that the impact driver has a standard 1/4" hex socket head, while the impact wrench has a square stem head. The stem head can connect with various sockets for auto tire work - removing or installing lug nuts, for example. That's its specialty.
A hammer drill uses an unique clutch to drive the drill bit back and forth while it spins. It specializes in drilling holes in stone and masonry. The hammering action on most of these drills can be switched off, returning it to standard drilling. So a hammer drill is basically a cordless drill driver with an added hammering setting.
These are specialist's cordless hammer drill. Bosch introduced the SDS hammer drills to the market in 1975. SDS stands for Special Direct System. They require special SDS drill bits to operate. These bits are more robust than the regular bits, and have a slip-reducing feature for better safety.
The body shape of a right angle drill is interesting. It's basically a cordless drill with its head bent at 90 degrees to the body. This geometry reduces the work-space clearance and allows this tool to work in some cramped quarters that other tools can't. For instance, inside a cabinet there may be an area with only 10 inches of space. The right-angle drill can get in there and drill/drive. Other tools may not work because they are too big to get in.
Compact drill drivers are mini version of the regular drill drivers. Not all projects are heavy constructions. They can be small stuff. Maybe you are to add a video card to a computer, fix a door lock, or replace the battery of an overhead smoke alarm,. In that case the compact or pocket screwdriver is the tool of choice. It is powerful enough for the job and is feather-weight, very comfortable to operate. The normal drill driver is too bulky by comparison. At present the price-tag of some cordless screwdrivers may be a bit high. But they are loved by professionals who use them all the time.
Which Tool Is The Best Choice?
If you wonder which brand is better than the others, you may find people have their favorites and testify their superior quality loyally. It's actually not much of problem in terms of quality because most of the name-brand drill tools are rated good to excellent. Meaning that they are capable to handle most jobs that non-professionals throw at them. Another way to look at this is by checking out its price. Price is a reflection of quality. Expensive tools are usually of better quality. But some exceptions can be found. In general, you can't go wrong with Japanese or German tools, if budget allows.
As a new buyer with no idea what to choose, I would get a compact or pocket drill driver to start. They are easy to use and can do most general work problem-free. Same choice if I were a DIY hobbist.
For the serious home-improvement enthusiasts, my recommendation would be to get a cordless drill driver. If budget allows then I would have a hammer drill. If money is no object, then I'll also get an impact driver.
