Corded drill - powerful, accurate but...light

[laura vianello]

Hello, I know it might be difficult to find the perfect drill but I have not found enough information to completely give my search up. So, my hands are very small and I am not very strong. I need a powerful drill (drilling 20mm holes on bench) not too heavy. Based on my research the only LIGHT corded drill is Ryobi. Ryobi does not have a reputation to be very durable and accurate. However it is the lightest of the corded and also the cheapest. I would prefer to go for something durable, precise and powerful but light. Any suggestion? I am moving away from cordless because drilling my type of holes (Kreg Jig, Parf, etc) drain battery way too quickly. Sometimes I have only 1 hour to work on my projects and I need to be sure this hour is well spent producing and not swapping drills. Thanks for your help!! Kitui

[Jim Becker]

I use a very old Black and Decker corded drill for this kind of thing...old as in it's green. :) Corded drills are a lot more difficult to find these days, but they are out there. A quick Google search on "corded drill" brings up suspects from all the major brand names.

[Jim Morgan]

There are some nice small 12V drills available these days - I recently got my daughter a Milwaukee Fuel drill/driver set. Brushless tools have a lot of power and run longer on a charge than the older brush motor models did. If you have two batteries, you can just keep one in the charger and swap when your working battery runs out.

[Nathan Johnson]

I've had a corded ryobi for several years. Bought it to drill holes in metal, and now use it a lot for wire wheels and such.
It's cheap, it's ugly, it's loud, and I have zero complaints.

[Bill Berklich]

I use a very old Black and Decker corded drill for this kind of thing...old as in it's green. :) Corded drills are a lot more difficult to find these days, but they are out there. A quick Google search on "corded drill" brings up suspects from all the major brand names.


My 37 year old 3/8" B&D started spewing parts and pieces just before Christmas. Sad day. It was a great drill motor.

[Roger Nair]

Laura, the type of drill I would suggest is 3/8 right angle close quarters drill with variable speed. Milwaukee, DeWalt and Makita should have suitable models. The reason I am suggesting a right angle drill over a pistol grip is the RA will provide much better control over reaction forces. A pistol grip drill will give a fierce quick snap that will rotate the wrist in a potentially injuring manner. The RA will rotate away from your hand and pull against your arm, if you set up your grip and approach with reaction force in mind. Use a two handed grip and keep the variable speed to half-speed.

[Peter Christensen]

I have a D48C corded Ryobi drill I bought a year ago at the local orange Borg store for about $70Can. I needed a drill driver because my Milwaukee drill and screw gun were packed in a shipping container. I wanted it to drive screws to hold the OSB on the walls of my shop. I put in over 2,500 2" flooring screws putting up the OSB along with drilling holes for the Jigsaw to cut out electrical boxes. Because it is relatively light and handy I reach for it first over the other drill that I've owned for close to 40 years. The only gripe I have is the numbers on the torque setting ring are smudging a little and the cord is a little stiff because the plastic insulation takes a set, but for a near disposable drill I can live with it. It is a 4.5 amp motor so it should be strong enough for your needs and you can set a torque to release before it twists out of your grip for big holes or lock it in drill mode for small holes. It looks outwardly like the battery version of the tool. I'd buy another if it died on me.

[Jim Becker]

My 37 year old 3/8" B&D started spewing parts and pieces just before Christmas. Sad day. It was a great drill motor.

Yea....mine is my second oldest tool. I thought it might go toast a few years ago, but it's still working strong, doing pocket holes and drilling in metal when I can't take something to the drill press. The oldest tool is an orange Black and Decker circular saw that's in really excellent condition...largely because I so rarely use it since my track saw does so much nicer cutting with the majority of material I need to cut with a portable saw. :)

If my corded drill did die, I'd immediately replace it. As much as I love my battery drill/drivers, there are just some times when plug-in does a better job for me.

[Rod Sheridan]

A 1/2 inch Milwaukie corded drill will be one of the best mid range drills, and will have a side handle, which you certainly want if you're not that strong.

Regards, Rod.

[Mac McQuinn]

My corded 1/2" B&D (Grey & Silver) is 45 years old this year, Other than a new chuck and trigger switch about 18 years ago, it's been my go to drill when I need to do serious work.
Mac

[Jim Becker]

Clearly...some tools were made, um...different..."back in the day". It's always interesting to hear about "vintage" portable tools that are still working hard after decades!

[Peter Christensen]

Laura I put a 1 1/8" cheap forstner bit in the Roybi and it whistled through a piece of softwood, all I had handy, without any problem. Your 20mm bits should do the same.

The big old drills are indeed great but they are heavy and the OP is looking for lightweight options. My Milwaukee 3/8" Hole Shooter is twice as heavy as the Ryobi but being 38+ years old is unlikely going to die. I wouldn't pick it for pocket screws though. ;)

[Geoff Crimmins]

Bosch has a 3/8" corded drill that they say has best-in-class power to weight ratio. I've never used one, but it might be worth seeing how it compares to others that you've been looking at.
https://www.boschtools.com/us/en/boschtools-ocs/corded-drills-1006vsr-34780-p/

--Geoff

[Greg R Bradley]

Drilling Kreg Jig holes well and drilling 20mm holes well can very likely be 2 drills. Kreg Jig done well requires high speed for clean holes. I've never seen anything that does that as well as my 0-4000rpm Milwaukee 1/4" drill. This also has the benefit of being light and small for a corded drill. You can do reasonable Kreg Jig holes at 2500rpm but the drills with the power to do that and drill 20mm well will no longer be small and light.
Cordless drills have the benefit of multiple gears simply because they are designed to be portable and be able to do a variety of jobs. The only two that will do Kreg jig and 20mm well are the Festool PDC and an obscure Fein Drill. This is because that big a range requires a 3-4 speed change and that is rare. The big transmission adds weight and there goes the light weight.
Probably best compromise out there will be a Bosch 1006, which barely goes fast enough for Kreg Jig and barely has enough power to drill your 20mm holes well but is very light weight. The compromise here will be a plastic gear case and shorter life. Should last a long time for hobby use and they are very inexpensive anyway if you have to replace it.

[John M Wilson]

Bosch has a 3/8" corded drill that they say has best-in-class power to weight ratio. I've never used one, but it might be worth seeing how it compares to others that you've been looking at.
https://www.boschtools.com/us/en/boschtools-ocs/corded-drills-1006vsr-34780-p/

--Geoff

I bought this one a few years ago to use with my Kreg jig (I use an array of battery powered drills and drivers for everything else).

After reading a multitude of good reviews (some on this site), I picked up mine from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-1006VSR-8-Inch-Keyless-Chuck/dp/B002ECEDE6

It's been a good tool for me, and I can recommend it.

[Rick Potter]

I second Rod,

Whatever drill you decide on, it should have a side handle, which would really help you control it with the larger 20MM holes.

[Jim Dwight]

I drill pocket screw holes with my Ryobi cordless drills. In high speed mode they work well. I have two DeWalt 3/8 drills but it isn't worth draging them out when the cordless work so well. When I wired my shop I discovered my old Craftsman 1/2 inch drill was not functional and the only low speed high torque drills I had were my Ryobi cordless drills. So I bored through as many as 5 2x4s with it. I was using a Irwin speed bore bit and it torqued pretty good when it bit. I didn't get a hole lot of 2x4s on a battery but it wasn't that bad either. I think I only had 3 little ones at the time. I since bought two of the big 4 amp/hour batteries and these last a really long time in a drill. I use these cordless to bore through solid softwood doors for locksets too. I broke an old one doing it but my current two are still going strong. I wouldn't mind having a decent low speed 1/2 chuck drill but it isn't high on my list of tools I need to buy.

[Brian Tymchak]

..I am moving away from cordless because drilling my type of holes (Kreg Jig, Parf, etc) drain battery way too quickly. Sometimes I have only 1 hour to work on my projects and I need to be sure this hour is well spent producing and not swapping drills. Thanks for your help!! Kitui

I have 2 Dewalt 18v cordless drills with 4 battery packs (2 newer, 2 older) of which 2 are in 2 chargers at all times. Just takes seconds to swap batteries. Maybe a new battery or 2 will solve the problem?

[Mike Wilkins]

I have been using the Porter Cable electric drill purchased from Lowes. Keyless chuck and heavy duty cord. I use it mostly for pocket hole drilling and the occasional wire brush for de-rusting a part. Around $50.00. Weight is not feather-like but light for me (who works out regularly).

[Robert Cherry]

Bosch has a 3/8" corded drill that they say has best-in-class power to weight ratio. I've never used one, but it might be worth seeing how it compares to others that you've been looking at.
https://www.boschtools.com/us/en/boschtools-ocs/corded-drills-1006vsr-34780-p/

--Geoff
I have this drill, and it has a very thin handle which might suit the OPs small hands.

[Rich Engelhardt]

My 1/4" B&D gave up the ghost a couple years back.
I got that thing when I was in grade school - back in the mid 1960's.
My 3/8" B&D, bought when Nixon was in office, is still running fine.

[Jim Becker]

Rich my B&D is 3/8" from back in that time period or maybe a little later. Built like a tank, too.

[Greg R Bradley]

The Bosch 1006 that I recommended above and was recommended by others weighs 3.4lb. Having a side handle could be a big advantage. If you want to have the speed to do Kreg Jig well and drill 20mm holes and have a side handle it is going to be a very, very short list.

Milwaukee 0233-20 is probably going to be about the only one in a quality drill. 4.0lb.
https://milwaukeetool.com/Products-Repository/North-America/Power-Tools/Corded/Drills/0233-20/0233-20

This is an older design, so you lose the long groove the later Milwaukee drills have that help you "point" the drill. You can see it clearly in my 1/4" 0-4000 drill shown here with my D-Handle 0-500rpm drill.
376127

[Osvaldo Cristo]

I have 2 Dewalt 18v cordless drills with 4 battery packs (2 newer, 2 older) of which 2 are in 2 chargers at all times. Just takes seconds to swap batteries. Maybe a new battery or 2 will solve the problem?

The same here. I have two 4Ah and two 2Ah 20V Dewalt batteries. It has been enough for my needs and I postponed the purchase for two additional batteries (rated at 6Ah each). They are small and light weight. My personal experience is the modern cordless tools are way better than older ones: they offer more power and battery life in a compact and light package.



Both my cordless impact drill and driver are brushless. It is a factor for battery life and power availability
For heavier situations the impact driver can be better than impact driller for two reasons, usually they have more torque and its intermittent rotation helps a lot at difficult situations...
In the case you will use driver for drilling, be aware your drill bits will support much more stress. Some bits that work very well in a drill can break when used in a driver


All the best.

[laura vianello]

Thanks for all the responses! I got a corded Makita on eBay for very little. Let’s see how it does. It is on its way. Worse scenario, I will use it for pocket holes. f it does not work I will look at the corded Bosch may be. I am having hard time to buy another cordless while I have 2 drills and 4 batteries ((hitachi). I would love to buy the suggested Milwaukee but I have purchased few Festool tools and I am broke ;).

[laura vianello]

Thanks for your suggestions!

[laura vianello]

that was funny...thanks!!

[Dan Rude]

I use this model DEWALT DWD115K 8 Amp 3/8-Inch VSR Mid-Handle Grip Drill Kit with Keyless Chuck. I like the mid handle for doing pocket holes. I went back to corded when I broke my HD Kreg bit. They said the Cordless did not have the RPM to drill with it. Kreg was great anyhow, and sent me 2 new bits for the Jig. The issue with key less chucks is they come loose in reverse. I plan on converting it back to a regular chuck or putting in an hex chuck, since all my kreg bits have hex quick change shanks. Dan

[Brandon Speaks]

I never knew you needed a specific speed for Kreg bits. I have probably done 500 ish holes in a kreg jig with my dewalt cordless drill. Only time I ever broke the tip on one was dropping the drill with the bit in it on a concrete floor.

While I do like corded drills for torque etc, battery life on modern cordless drills is pretty great. I have not measured run time, and I am not using a drill all day every day. But I have never had a drill that started with a charged battery die mid project on any drill purchased in the last 5 years. Old drills were a whole different story, but brushless and LI batteries seem to have mostly solved battery life issues.

[laura vianello]

Not with my 2 hitachi. No sure if it is the charger or the batteries. It was not a great buy

[Bill Adamsen]

Makita's LXT sub-compact 18v (2.0ah) brushless DC are very small and light (2.8 lbs), the charge lasts (for my work) all day and tops off very fast. Having a second fast charge battery means you would essentially never run out of power. They accept a wide range of amp hour batteries which is a big factor in weight management. Five years ago I might have possibly thought about using an AC drill ... now, unlikely.

[laura vianello]

I purchased a Ryobi to try but it wobbles and it is not precise enough for my 20mm bench holes. I will return it. Do not waste your money!

[Kelby Van Patten]

My first woodworking tool decades ago was a DeWalt corded drill. Lightweight, strong, precise. I still use it often.

I don't know whether they still make them as robust as the one I have.

[Marshall Harrison]

Yea....mine is my second oldest tool. I thought it might go toast a few years ago, but it's still working strong, doing pocket holes and drilling in metal when I can't take something to the drill press. The oldest tool is an orange Black and Decker circular saw that's in really excellent condition...largely because I so rarely use it since my track saw does so much nicer cutting with the majority of material I need to cut with a portable saw. :)

If my corded drill did die, I'd immediately replace it. As much as I love my battery drill/drivers, there are just some times when plug-in does a better job for me.

I got a 37+ year old corded Craftsman that still runs well. It was my Dad's and he passed in December of 1980 but I'm not sure exactly what year he bought it. I also have his Craftsman circular saw and a bunch of his mechanic tools.

I'm not a fn of modern Craftsman but the old stuff was built like a tank and just seems to last and last.

[Greg R Bradley]

I purchased a Ryobi to try but it wobbles and it is not precise enough for my 20mm bench holes. I will return it. Do not waste your money!
Did "drilling 20mm holes on bench" become drilling a bunch of accurate 20mm holes in a benchtop?

[laura vianello]

Not sure what you mean. The drill wobbles and the cut is not accurate enough for my bench dog.

[Greg R Bradley]

Not sure what you mean. The drill wobbles and the cut is not accurate enough for my bench dog.
I mean that I/we interpreted your original question to mean that you want a hand held drill to drill the occasional hole in wood up to 20mm. If you are thinking that you are going to buy a "powerful, accurate, light" drill to drill a bunch of 20mm holes to make a bench with accurately holes in large quantity, then you may need a different plan. If you want to drill large quantities of accurate 20mm holes that are spaced accurately then a plunge router and a boring bit are probably in order. OR possibly a jig that guides the bit. Or sub it out for CNC work. Or ????

We can help with a general purpose drill but can you be specific for the need for 20mm holes? Is it one project?

[Peter Christensen]

Since I have the same drill and have no problems. I wonder if there is a problem with the bit being bent or if there is a bad chuck on it. I would put a straight rod in it and see if the rod spins true. If it does then the bit may be at fault. If it spins and the tip “wobbles” then the jaws of the chuck may be bad or the shaft is bent. In that case return it for another and have them show you the new one is good before you leave.

I’m assuming you are using a Forstner bit and not a spade bit or similar. The latter won’t make a benchdog worthy hole.

If you have already ruled out these things then,,,,,,,,,,,,,never mind. ;)

[Ray Newman]

"Hows" about utilizing a drill guide like the one linked below with the corded drill that you purchased from e-bay?

https://www.garrettwade.com/portable-drill-guide-jig.html

To bore the bench dog holes the same distance from the edge, fabricate a sub base with a cleat and then utilize a clamp to hold it securely to the bench while boring??

Addendum: 1/28 -- Milescraft also has a similar and more economical portable drill stand . See: https://www.milescraft.com/product/accudrillmate/

[johnny means]

If you want to drill accurate 20mm holes with a handheld drill, you need to drill pilot holes first. A forstner or even a spade bit will easily follow an eighth inch pilot hole.

[laura vianello]

I have the jig (PARF guide (https://www.axminster.co.uk/ujk-technology-parf-guide-system-102278)) but I feel that my Hitachi Cordless 18v does not stay straight in the channel guide. I mean...it does but it vibrate too much and it has the hard time to drill all the way the 20mm hole with the Forstner bit. I feel like is moving and I think a corded drill would do good. I tried the 29$ Ryobi and it is light but not really stable. I have no way to try the Bosch Electric drill because the Lowes close by does not have it. I hope it clarify what I meant. Thanks

[Greg R Bradley]

That bit & guide are going to make that bit run accurately in the wood. If you are feeling lots of movement in the drill, it will be because the drill or chuck is not accurate. Chucks are horrible on low end drills. Even the typical $100 corded drill usually has a marginal chuck. You have to check each one to make sure it runs accurately.

Are you drilling MDF like the video for the PARF guide? If so, you will be able to get by with less drill than I was assuming before. MDF is easy to drill and has no grain. Also, MDF and the guide system will mean a side handle will not be important. If you are drilling hardwood, particularly if it is thick, then you are going to want some power and a side handle.

[glenn bradley]

I crave this same thing. I have some fine corded drills but, wish I had one with a smaller form factor.