The Different Types of Drills & Their Use (A clear Guide)

Drilling is an important and common task in the woodworking workshop. However, not just any drill is suitable for drilling a specific hole in your project. A lot depends on the type of material you want to drill. You can’t just use your screw machine to drill holes in a concrete wall to hang that cabinet. So you need to know which type of drill is suitable for which type of job. But which are the most essential types of drills? Well, you will discover that in this article and to give you an overview, these are the most important types of drills to have in a woodworking workshop.

• Drill driver
• Screwdriver
• Impact screwdriver
• Impact drill
• Drill hammer
• Drill press

In this article, I will go deeper into each of these types of drills so that you can perfectly know what the ideal tool is for your workshop. By finding a drill that really suits your work, you can dose your expenses and save on your budget.

Types of drills #1: Drill driver

The first one in this list of types of drills is the drill driver. This is a classic tool that almost everyone has lying around. Are you going to assemble cabinets or do you have to carry out some light jobs in and around the house? Then a light ‘all-round’ drill driver comes in handy. It has only two functions: drilling and screwing.

An all-round drill driver is suitable for driving screws and drilling in soft materials, such as wood, metal, and plastic. Softer types of stone such as bricks or aerated concrete can also be used with such devices. Of course, you have to use the right drills. However, such machines provide too little power for heavier drilling work.

Types of drills #2: Screwdriver

The screwdriver, also known as an electric screwdriver, is the drill driver’s smaller sibling. Such devices, however, lack the necessary power to drill holes. That doesn’t mean you should disregard them. Because they are so small, you can screw for an extended period of time without having to provide power, as you would with a manual screwdriver, or without the heavier weight of a screw drill.

Types of drills #3: Impact screwdriver

In some cases, you may be screwing and feel that your drill driver has insufficient power to screw the screw in smoothly or completely. Then your device is overloaded, which is bad for the battery. In that case, the best tool to use is an impact screwdriver. This is especially important if you plan on using longer and thicker screws.

Instead of giving constant power to drive a screw, the motor of an impact screwdriver gives short taps or impulses, clearly recognizable by the rattling sound of the machine. Because of these taps, all of the force is always applied briefly to the screw, which is then screwed in little by little.

The impact head thus relieves the motor, preventing it from slowing down. That gives you just enough extra power to screw in that screw more easily.

Impact screwdrivers are ideal for screwing in tight spaces because they do not require you to exert pressure on your wrist. Impact drivers, on the other hand, are not typically equipped with a slip clutch. So be careful not to screw the screws too deeply into the material.

An impact driver is especially useful in woodworking, where larger, wider screws are used. It is also an excellent solution for thin metal sheets. An impact screwdriver is also suitable for self-tapping screws due to its higher speed.

With a small drill (up to 10 mm) you can also drill with an impact screwdriver, in some cases. Drills with a larger diameter are less accurate and will activate the impact mechanism, so you will not get a clean result.

Types of drills #4: Impact drill

A standard drill rotates, and you apply pressure to it to drill deeper. The turning motion of an impact drill is combined with a light tapping movement.

As a result, it works better in stony materials like bricks and aerated concrete, as well as wood, plastic, and metals. However, never drill through concrete with an impact drill because it lacks the necessary power. A hammer drill comes in handy in this situation.

The drill moves back and forth along its length due to the impact function. The tapping function pulverizes the material in this manner, and the rotating movement discharges the pulverized material. A standard impact drill has two mechanical gears for fine-tuning it to the job.

Just remember to turn off the knock or hammer function before beginning to drill in wood or metal.
One gear has a lower speed but a higher torque, making it usable (though not ideal) for driving screws, while the other has a higher speed but a lower torque, allowing you to drill more accurately.

Like most cordless drills, the impact drill has a quick-release drill chuck that allows you to tighten the drill by hand in one movement.

When selecting an impact drill, the maximum drill diameter is also important. Lighter models can drill holes up to 22 mm in diameter; for wider holes, choose a heavier model that can drill up to 30 mm wide.

Types of drills #5: Drill hammer

A drill hammer, also known as a rotary hammer, is the big brother of an impact drill. A rotary hammer’s impact function is much heavier, making it better for drilling through harder stony materials like concrete. If you want to drill in wood, you will have to turn off the hammer function. I go more in detail about this in mij article, can you use a hammer dill on wood.

The rotary hammer can still be equipped with a chisel function, which can be used to remove tiles or make slots in walls, for example. You then attach the drill bits, or chisels, of the hammer drill with an SDS connection. You insert the drill and click it into place. This ensures a better anchorage in your drill head, lowering the likelihood of it slipping and coming loose.

To increase its versatility, a quick-release drill chuck can be attached to the rotary hammer, allowing it to be used with standard drills that do not have an adapted drill shank.
Due to the lack of gears in hammer drills, they can only be used in one position and thus cannot be used to drive screws.

When selecting a rotary hammer, consider the maximum drill diameter. Lighter models can drill holes up to 22 mm in diameter; for wider holes, choose a heavier model that can drill up to 30 mm wide.
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Types of drills #6: Drill press

The last in this list of types of drills is the drill press. A drill press is provided with a foot plate with which it is fixed on a workbench or on the ground. This is extremely useful when you need to accurately drill holes in a workpiece. Place your workpiece on the table and clamp it. By taking the drill down, you can drill perfectly square through the material.

Many column drills have a tilting base, which makes it possible to drill at an angle if necessary.
Do you have to drill holes with the same depth and diameter several times in succession? Then a drill press is also a suitable tool.
The logical disadvantage of all this is that a drill press is not mobile, so you cannot use it to drill into the wall.
I have wrote many articles about the drill press who can be found in this list. I recommend you to see that list and learn about the great tool the drill press is.

Types od rills and their use – overview

	Drill driver	Screwdriver	Impact screwdriver	Impact drill	Drill hammer	Drill press
Screwing	x	x	x
Drilling in wood	x			x	x	x
Drilling in metal	x			x	x	x
Drilling in bricks	x			x	x
Drilling in concrete					x
Chisel function					x