In response to my post about building a chest, Pauly asked, “I am considering making an investment in more power tools. What tools did you need to make it?” I thought that would be a good topic for a post.

If I had to pick just a few basic power tools, I would probably start with an electric circular saw and a battery-powered drill. In this post, I’ll discuss the drill.

When I wrote about circular saws, I recommended an electric one. For drills, I strongly prefer cordless. For whatever the reason, I have found 18v battery-powered drills to have more than enough power and endurance for my tasks. That, combined with the convenience of a cordless tool, mean that I’ve never wished I had a corded drill.

Drills are used for two things: driving screws and drilling holes. For driving screws, the most basic accessory that I use is a modular driver-head with sleeve. The driver-head has interchangeable bits that allow me to easily switch from flat-head to various sizes of phillips to hex-head, without loosening the drill’s chuck. The extended driver shaft makes it easier to get the drill into tight spaces. The sleeve makes it easy to get long screws started.

For drilling holes, I start with a set of bits in various sizes from 1/16″ up to 1/2″, such as Milwaukee 48-89-1105 1/16-to-1/2-Inch Titanium Coated Twist Drill Bit Assortment in Plastic Index, 20-Piece. I love that this set includes doubles of smaller bit-sizes, which are more likely to break. For boring holes of 3/8″ or larger through materials more than about 1/2″ deep, I prefer spade bits, as I find they are easier to handle and keep the hole neat.

For holes larger than 1/2″, of course, traditional drill bits aren’t really even an option, as they pretty much top out at that size. Here’s a decent set of spade bits: DeWalt DW1587 6 Bit 3/8-Inch to 1-Inch Spade Drill Bit Assortment.

Lastly, I have occasionally found a set of hole-saw bits to be useful. For one thing, they’re the easiest and fastest way to cut holes up to about 4″ in diameter. I started using mine when I was making self-watering planters and needed to cut a bunch of holes for 4″ PVC in the tops of plastic containers. I had been drawing the circles and cutting them with a jigsaw, which was slow and messy. When I switched to a hole saw, my life got a lot easier.

Shopping for hole saw sets can give a bit of sticker shock. Basically, a hole saw set consists of two mandrels (one for smaller saws and one for larger) and various sizes of saw. They easily run $50 to $100 depending on how many sizes of saw come with the set. The thing is, if you’ve got a specific project in mind, you can save a lot of money in the short term by buying a mandrel and the exact size of saw you need, but you will pay much more in the long run buying the saws individually compared to a set. For example, this set (Milwaukee 49-22-4095 Electricians Ice Hardened Hole Saw Kit, 10-Piece) has two mandrels and six blades between 7/8″ and 2 1/2″ and costs just under $50. By comparison, a single mandrel and a 3″ blade will run about $25, half the price of the six-piece set. In the end, it’s up to you, but I sucked it up and bought the six-piece set. I bought the 3.5″ blade that I needed separately, because it didn’t come with the set. At the time, I didn’t need any of the smaller blades, but I did need the mandrel. I’ve since used the smaller blades multiple times, and I came out way ahead compared to buying them individually when I needed them.

Oh, and let’s not forget that when you buy the hole saw blades in a set, you get a nice plastic carrying case for them. Now, if only I could figure out how to get the 3.5″ blade that I bought separately into that case. Hmm… maybe I’ll drill a hole in it.

There are lots of different types of drill bits out there, but those are the ones that I use. Actually, after my first big woodworking project, I bought one more set. In soft-wood, it’s a good idea to pre-drill screw and nail-holes, and in hardwood, it’s mandatory. For the best-looking projects, screw heads should be countersunk below the surface. Screws can simply be driven below the surface of soft-wood, but this sometimes results in stripping the screw and/or breaking off its head, which is a mess. I had this happen enough during the building of the chest that I ordered a set of countersink bits. These bits are pre-sized to drill pilot holes for common sizes of wood screw, and have an adjustable collet at the top that bores out a countersink hole at a pre-determined depth. This means that you can easily drill the pilot hole and countersink hole in one step.

Finally, here is one accessory for the drill that I have not yet bought, although I have been sorely tempted.

One of the most basic problems I have with a hand drill is getting it to go in perpendicular to the wood. This is, of course, what a drill press is good at, but you can’t always maneuver a piece under construction over to the drill press’s work surface. This drill guide attachment is designed to ensure that the hole is drilled at a precise and consistent angle. The only problem is that it’s $30 or so, and in addition to that, I’m not convinced that its utility would make up for its unwieldiness. I’m often drilling upside down or sideways into a piece of work that’s under construction, and it can be hard enough to maneuver the drill into place without having this big guide hanging off the front. Finally, reviews on the device and others like it are decidedly lukewarm.

In the next post, I’ll get to some of the real power tools: table saw and miter saw.