Cool Yule Tools Hooked On Power Tools? Here’S What You Should Ask Santa For This Christmas…

Cordless drills have been around for centuries.

They used to be called augers, gimlets, braces and push drills. Designed for building everything from violins to sailing vessels, they all relied on the same power source: human muscle.

Well, to paraphrase a popular truism, we’ve come a long way, buddy.

Today’s cordless drills rely on efficient batteries that last longer and recharge faster than those available three decades ago. That’s when Makita introduced the first cordless model.

The new drills also are better balanced, less temperamental and more powerful than their ancestors. (In a recent Consumer Reports test, a cordless drill outperformed a powerful plug-in model for the first time.)

Best of all, cordless-drill prices have dropped, making them ideal holiday gifts for all the hapless do-it-yourselfers still tethered to their wall outlets.

And for those already won over by the convenience of cordless drills, manufacturers have come up with whole families of compatible tools — sanders, flashlights, circular saws, jig saws, reciprocating saws, even miter saws — all powered by the same rechargeable batteries.

If you’re not a power-tool enthusiast, then walking into the cordless-drill section of your nearest home-improvement center or hardware store can be intimidating. Display walls feature dozens of models costing anywhere from $50 to $500.

Don’t be put off. Selecting a good drill isn’t difficult, and sales staff are eager to help. Since most cordless drills offer the same basic features — variable speed, keyless chuck (the ability to swap bits without using a special tool called a “chuck key”), extra battery and carrying case — your choice basically comes down to things: power, brand and price.

“I always think the more tool, the better,” says Keith Goehri, manager of Home Depot’s Spokane Valley store. “I’d rather sell somebody a tool that has more power than they’ll probably need than sell them something that’s less than they may need. In the long run they’ll be happier.”

Drills - or, more accurately, “drill-drivers,” since they all have the capacity to either drill a hole at high speed or drive a screw at low speed - start at 6 volts and go up incrementally to 24 volts. “But the 6-volt and 7.2-volt models are just good for little stuff,” Goehri warns.

He’s more likely to point customers to what he calls the “middle-of-the-road” Black & Decker FireStorm series. “They’re heavy-duty enough to withstand some pretty tough use, yet reasonably priced,” he says. The 18-volt model comes with two batteries, a one-hour charger and hard case. Its price: $118.

“That’s really a great buy,” says Goehri.

The drill he uses at home is an 18-volt DeWalt that can share batteries with his cordless circular saw.

“This summer I built a 144-foot cedar fence for my garden,” Goehri says, “and I never ran any corded tools out there. I used my cordless drill and cordless saw for the whole project.”

As for toughness, Goehri says he’s dropped his drill “15 or 20 times” and it still works fine. The 18-volt DeWalt drill costs $199 at Home Depot; the 18-volt cordless saw goes for $249.

Or you can buy a whole “Fat Boy Pack” - a DeWalt cordless drill, circular saw, reciprocating saw and flexible-neck flashlight, plus two 18-volt batteries, charger and case - all for $469.

For those not demanding top of the line, Black & Decker offers a handy three-in-one tool that drills, cuts or sands, depending on which head is attached. It costs just $99. “I wouldn’t recommend it for the job site,” Goehri says. “But for the homeowner who doesn’t want to go out and buy three different tools, it’s pretty neat.”

Across town at Sears, salesman Tim Snell describes his impressive array of cordless drills as “all pretty much the same in terms of quality. But we can offer a lot better price on Craftsman tools than we can on name-brand competition.”

For instance, a 16.8-volt Craftsman drill with flashlight and two batteries which normally sells for $150 currently is marked down to $100. The sale price is good through Dec. 23.

“We run a lot of specials,” says Snell. “We frequently mark tool prices down 10 percent.”

He describes cordless drills as very popular holiday gifts. If the person on your list already has a drill, Snell recommends spending between $20 and $100 on a speedlock set. These kits allow users to swap bits without having to open and close a drill’s “chuck” - the clamp that holds a bit in place.

Generally, drills and other power tools come with a one-year replacement warranty. Sears will double that warranty for an additional 10 percent fee.

Spokane Power Tool & Hardware and its North Idaho partner, Coeur d’Alene Power Tool & Hardware, offer something unusual: factoryauthorized repair service. And one way the two stores compete with bigger-volume retailers is by automatically doubling their tools’ warranties at no extra cost.

Jeff Standal manages the Coeur d’Alene store, and buys for both. He remembers the original Makita “pistol grip” cordless drills as “notoriously underpowered” and top-heavy.

Things started improving about 15 years ago. In the past decade, manufacturers have introduced “T-handle” grips that better distribute the drill’s weight. “Now, 90 percent of professional-quality drills are T-handle,” says Standal. Some even come with reversible batteries, which permit subtle weight shifts.

Most of Standal’s customers are serious hobbyists or professional contractors. For just about everyone else, he recommends the 9.6-volt Makita he sells for $130. That model comes with the latest battery technology, a flashlight and a $10 rebate.

Consumer Reports recommends serious do-it-yourselfers consider the extra power and endurance of 18- and 24-volt models. Its favorites: the 24-volt Bosch 3960K-CC ($300 at Spokane and Coeur d’Alene Power Tool) and the 18-volt DeWalt DW995K-2 ($260).

DeWalt won top ratings in other categories, including its 14.4-volt DW991K-2 ($184). Also scoring high marks was the 14.4-volt Makita 6233DWAE ($190).

Whatever drill you choose, rest assured it will be appreciated Christmas morning when other gifts arrive bearing those three terrifying words: “Some assembly required.”