5 Beginner Tips for using a Power Drill

The power drill is the probably most common power tool used in any project. It's pretty easy to use for the basic projects like hanging pictures and fixing a loose screw. However there are a few tricks when using your power drill to keep your DIY projects clean and tidy and to prevent wrecking that beautiful paint finish to the walls in your new room.

1) Drill 'starter' holes

Whether your hanging a picture, making a picture frame or screwing 2x4's together it's always a good idea to drill a starter hole first (aka pilot hole). Make sure your using a drill bit that is smaller than your screw, this will still allow the teeth of your screw to grip the material. A good rule of thumb is to use a drill bit 1/8 smaller. Once your starter hole is in place, you can go ahead with your screw.

This trick is especially useful for drywall. The pictures below show the drywall 'bubble'.

This drywall 'bubble' happens when the teeth of the screw dig into the drywall and seperate the paint from the wall. The bubble eventually cracks and causes the paint to peel, which is very unattractive to say the least.

2) Use tape when hammering nails

I know this has nothing to drilling holes but it has everything to do with clean holes in your drywall, so I thought I'd include it here.

Scotch tape is very useful to have handy when hanging anything up:

1) you can use it to mark your spot without marking your walls

2) It makes a nice nail hole.

Just be sure your tape peels easily off the wall. Look for the cloudy scotch tape.

3) Drill through with the good side UP

When sewing fabrics we put the good sides together and with wood work we drill through the good side to the bad side.

Depending on what material your using (plywood, drywall, mdf) it will depend on if this rule is applied, but it's a good habit to get into.

Woods like plywood are made up of compressed layers of wood which could causes the wood to splinter when you cut or drill through it. So keep your good side looking nice and drill with it facing up.

4) Ensure your drill bit is straight

When drilling into awkward spaces, your power drill may not fit properly. The picture to the right shows this L-bracket and the location of the screw made it difficult for me to get the drill bit in the right location to drill the screw in straight.

If your having trouble getting the nose of the drill in the space, you should use an extender. This is a great little tool that most tool kits have. The extender with the usual sized drill bit is seen on top and on the bottom is of course a really long drill bit. Both will work in tight spaces where the nose of the drill doesn't fit.

Just a little tip, even though you have an extender make sure your drilling the screw in as straight as possible. I've seen many screws drilled in on an angle because the drill wasn't straight, try to avoid this at all costs.

5) Support thin wood

When drilling through wood it's always good practice to have the piece of wood supported by a table and held down or clamped before drilling your holes. This is good practice for drilling holes through any piece of wood. The problem with thin wood is that the weight of the wood itself and the pressure from the drill could actually cause the wood to bend, crack, snap or break at the point where it hangs over the edge of a table.

A better method is to have a scrap piece of wood under the thin wood and drill straight through both pieces of wood. You can also place a piece of tape on the reverse side of the wood where the hole will puncture through to avoid any splitting. Measure where your hole will go on both side and tape the one side. When in doubt, put more tape than you think you need, just make sure you use tape that you can peel off easily like painters tape.