Best Cordless Drill

Milwaukee recently sent me a Milwaukee M12 drill to review, (full disclosure, they sent it free of charge.) I spent quite a while running it through its paces, and then I put together the video below:

Click here to check out the Milwaukee 2410-22 M12 12-Volt Cordless Drill at Amazon

I liked the drill.  Honestly, it’s a good time to be a cordless drill enthusiast.  Rapidly advancing battery technology is making different designs possible and manufacturers are taking advantage of new technology to make some great products.  This is one example.  You’ve seen cordless drills this small and lightweight before, but it’s just been recent lithium-ion advances, and the subsequent drop in prices, that’s made it possible to make a small drill like this that’s as powerful as 18V drills of just a few years ago.

In the video I test out the torque, giving some real world examples of what the drill can and cannot do.  The drill has no problem with wood screws, even up to #14. It handles some lag screws as well and I had to go up to a 3/8″ lag screw to find something I couldn’t drive all the way down.  I also do a real world battery test where I drill 3″ #9 wood screws in and out with one battery.  The battery did 60 screws before giving out. However, with two batteries in the kit if you remember to charge the spare you can switch out batteries and keep going indefinitely (as is the case with most any drill with two batteries).

The drill has all of the things you’d expect: LED light, clutch, 2 speeds, battery indicator.  But it does not have a bit holder, which is something I missed. But the best feature is the size and weight.

I also checked out what people online had to say about the drill. About the only negative comments I could find related to the chuck. Some people had problems with the chuck loosening on its own and their bit falling out. I didn’t run into this problem in my testing. I suspect the people having this problem aren’t tightening the chuck enough.

If you’re in the market for a high quality “home use” drill or even a professional use drill I suggest you check it out. Most people who are use to needing an 18V drill could probably use this drill and be delighted with the reduced size and weight. If you’re concerned about whether the drill has enough torque for you check out the video and hopefully that will answer your questions.

If the video doesn’t answer questions you have about the drill leave a comment and I’ll do my best to answer them. I’d also be happy if you’d leave a comment to tell me what you think about the review and what you’d like to see in future reviews.

UPDATE:  If you want to see all the reviews I have up so far head over to the cordless drill reviews page.

I’ve got a cordless drill in and I’m working on the review for it. So the good news is it should be available fairly soon. But I wanted to give you guys a chance to give some input on things I should test.

Obviously I’m going to test the torque, test the battery runtime, and give my general thoughts on the drill. But I know I can’t think of everything.

What sort of things do you want to see in a cordless drill review?

The holidays are coming up.  Does anyone have any suggestions for gift ideas?  Mostly I’m thinking about under $50 and drill related.

Note:  All of this applies to lithium-ion batteries in general and not just cordless drills.

We develop battery myths.  Generally these myths are based in truth and following them would be good, but we’re making different kinds of batteries with different characteristics now.

I wrote this post because I see many people whose li-ion batteries have died much sooner than they should and I think we haven’t spread the word on how to care for li-ion tools.  So let me set the record straight.

Lithium-ion batteries do not have “memory”

NiCad batteries can exhibit a “memory” effect, where consistently draining the battery to a certain point will cause the battery perform poorly past that point in the future.  So you want to completely drain a NiCad battery regularly.  But lithium-ion batteries do not have this problem.  In fact they have an opposite quality.

Completely draining a li-ion battery may damage it

That’s right.  Instead of trying to drain a li-ion battery you should try to charge it before it’s completely drained, the opposite of what you should do for a NiCad battery.

But I don’t want you to develop a complex where you’re scared to use your drill for more than 5 minutes. Li-ion batteries have circuitry to prevent them from completely draining.  So you can safely use your drill to close to exhaustion.  But

Never store your drill when it’s almost dead

Lithium-ion batteries have low self-discharge (the amount the battery drains when not in use).  But they still have some self-discharge.  And if you put your li-ion battery on the shelf almost dead and leave it there for 3 months, it’s likely to drain enough to cause damage.

The ideal charge state for long-term storage is around half capacity.  Leaving the battery in a completely charged state for long periods will slightly but permanently lower the capacity.  But since there is some self-discharge, if you put it away full after a month it won’t be full anymore.  Another minor point is that li-ion batteries are best store cool, but not freezing.

The takeaway here is it’s a bad idea to leave the battery charging all the time.  And it’s a bad idea to store the battery empty or almost empty.

Extreme temperatures degrade performance

If you want your battery to last to its full potential, then you should avoid temperatures, above 120 F and below freezing.  So you shouldn’t leave drill battery out in the truck in the summer or the winter.  If you want to store your spare battery for long periods, take it to half charge and put it in the refrigerator.  It will be safe for years in there.

Help spread the word

If you know people with lithium-ion tools point them to this article.  Share it on Facebook or Twitter or blog about it if you’re into that.  Friends don’t let friends abuse their li-ion tools.

I’m always interested in the unconventional things people do with cordless drills.  And it makes sense when you think about it.  Modern cordless drills provide a substantial amount of torque in a portable package.  There are a lot of applications.

And even though you really only need a motor and battery for most of these other applications, a cordless drill is the format most people will have that motor and battery in.

Enter the Cordless drill ice auger.  This is actually just a cool bit.  But like I said, it’s cool.  You can see one in use at this video on youtube.

I have specific criteria for a cordless drill for home use.  Versatility is most important.  You’re buying a drill to face as many situations as you can cover with one tool.

Power vs. Size

Having more power allows you to do more tasks.  But smaller size allows you into tighter spots.  I think it’s helpful to set a benchmark for power, a task you must be able to accomplish, and then we can consider the sizes of drills that allow you to do that.  My benchmark is driving several 3 inch screws into hard lumber.  Several years ago you would have needed an 18V (or at least 14.4V) cordless to handle that job.  But with the advent of lithium-ion batteries, manufacturers can pack more power into tighter packages.  Makita makes a 10.8V ultra-compact with 200 inch-pounds of torque that will easily handle the benchmark.

So you can have both (small) size and power in the context of home use if you go with a good drill.  Don’t expect a cheap compact drill to handle the job because you need a lithium-ion battery to fit that much power into the compact format.

Always at the ready

Another reason to go with a li-ion battery is the low self discharge.  Both NiCd and NiMH have high self-discharge rates (20%-30% per month).  If your drill has been setting for 2 months it would still be nice to pull it out and go right to work without having to charge the battery first.  Well, as long as you charged the battery after you used it last time (which you should always do with your li-ion batteries), your drill should be good to go because the self-discharge rate is 5%-10% per month.  source

Handy features

Having a built-in light on a cordless drill is about as handy as a pocket on a shirt.  It’s a major plus for a cordless drill used mainly at home.  A bit holder is also nice so you have a place to store your dual phillips/straight driver bit, the bit you’ll be using 90%+ of the time at home.  But since you’ll be using that bit the vast majority of the time a bit holder isn’t an essential feature.

The chuck

Among smaller drills the choice is between a 1/4 inch chuck and a 3/8 inch chuck.  Most of the time the quarter inch will do.  But there’s a good chance the smaller chuck will be a limiting factor for something you need to do.  Everything thing else the same, the 1/4″ drill will be smaller, but I don’t think that justifies the limited versatility.  And of course, a keyless chuck is absolutely required.

Unless you know you only need a 1/4″ chuck, go for the 3/8″.  As for 1/2″ chucks, I don’t consider that to be in the “home use” category.  If you think you need a 1/2 inch look at the 18V drill page.

My Choice

My recommendation for the best cordless drill for home use is the Makita 10.8V ultra-compact.  It has all of the essential features I mentioned and is surprisingly powerful.  Most importantly it is extremely versatile and represents the best package for all-around home use.

Check out the Makita 10.8-Volt Ultra Compact Cordless at Amazon