For small holes in concrete—wall anchors, cable clips, Tapcon-style screws, and plastic plugs—a cordless hammer drill is usually the better buy. It is lighter, cheaper, and easier to control than a rotary hammer. A rotary…
For a curtain rod in hollow drywall, the right anchor depends on the load, the rod’s leverage, and whether you can reach a stud. A light sheer curtain is an easy job; heavy lined curtains…
For most ordinary wood-screw jobs, a cordless drill is easier to control and can do the work well. An impact driver is more useful when screws are long, the wood is dense, or you have…
Why battery choice matters on a long fastening day A drill battery that feels fine for a few holes can become a nuisance when you’re driving hundreds of screws or moving between rooms all day.…
Maple is hard, dense, and unforgiving of a weak drill. An auger bit can bore through it cleanly, but only if the drill has enough low-speed torque, the bit is sharp, and you control the…
Old brick often looks hard from the outside but can be fragile, soft, or uneven inside. For small holes, a cordless hammer drill is usually a better choice than a rotary hammer: it is lighter,…
Melamine-coated MDF is easy to drill through and easy to chip. The coating is hard and brittle; the MDF underneath is soft and fibrous. A general-purpose twist bit can push through cleanly, but it may…
Cabinet screws are small enough to drive quickly and large enough to split a face frame or bury their heads in an instant. An impact driver can make installation faster, but the best choice is…
Assembling a metal shelving frame is mostly a fastening job, not a heavy drilling job. The best cordless drill is compact, controllable, and supplied with a clutch that prevents stripped screw heads and crushed sheet…
Why two batteries matter A second battery does not make a drill more powerful, but it can keep a job moving while the first pack charges. That matters when you are drilling dozens of holes,…