An electric drill is generally the first power tool that people buy. Nowadays you can get a good drill without paying much. Of course, you also need drill bits but also good drills bits are cheap. Here is an overview of different drill types.

First of all, drills can be either cordless or corded. Cordless drills have become powerful, at the same time as prices have gone down. The batteries hold charge much longer than the early models and thanks to fast chargers, many batteries can be recharged in less than half an hour. Most cordless drills have a reversible engine and support low speeds, which makes it possible to use them as a screwdrivers as well. But a corded drill has the advantage that you don’t need to worry about batteries going flat before the job is finished. One thing to remember is that corded drills are typically cheaper than a similar cordless drill.

A hammer drill is a versatile tool. It has a switch which allows you to disable the hammering action, turning it into a normal drill. The hammering action is very useful when drilling in concrete or other hard materials. Some hammer drills can also be used as screwdrivers. If you are going to use the hammering action a lot, you may prefer a corded drill. The hammering action requires a lot of power, draining a battery quickly. Note that you also have powerful hammer drills called rotary hammer drills or SDS hammer drills. They are much more powerful than standard hammer drills and use special bits, generally SDS bits. They are meant for professionals and are seldom necessary for homeowners.

A drill press makes precision drill easy but is generally not necessary for tasks around the house. Most drill presses also have much more powerful motors than handheld drills, making it easier to drill large holes. A drill press can also be used for other tasks than just drilling, making it a very useful tool for many workshops.



A right handle drill is a compact drill for cramped spaces. They are powerful for their size but often relatively expensive. If you are going to drill in cramped spaces, then it makes sense to buy a right handle drill.

Although the great majority of drills used today are electric, hand-powered drills are still used today. Hand drills have been around for centuries but today only two types are still in use, the eggbeater model and the brace model, also known as bit brace or ratchet brace. A hand powered drill gives you full control but they are of course best for small jobs.

Note that although an impact driver looks similar to a drill, it is not meant for drilling. They are meant for driving screws. If you look close at an impact driver, you will see that is has a collet that accepts hex-shanked driver bits, rather than a keyless chuck like a drill.