The drill is the most common of all power tools. Almost every household has an electric drill. They are cheap and can be used for many tasks around the house. But you have two other types of drills that can be useful as well.
Simple drills have been used for thousands of years. The manual drill is quite useful for small jobs. Today, two types of manual drills are still used. The small hand drill is easy to use. Back in the 19th century the geared hand drill was developed and it quickly became popular. The hand drill is only suitable for small holes. Before the electric drill, larger holes were done using a hand brace, also called a chest brace or a carpenter’s brace. The brace has been around for a long time and was used to drill large holes. Of course, an electric drill is much more comfortable but the manual drills are still useful for some specific tasks.
The electric drill has been very popular for quite some time. It is the first power tool people generally buy. Nowadays, the cordless drill has become the first choice for most people. Thanks to improved batteries, cordless drills can be used for all drilling tasks. The modern cordless drill can also be used as a screwdriver. If your drill has a reverse switch, you can use it as a screwdriver. Note that you need to lower the speed as well.
If you are going to use the drill a lot, a corded version may be a better solution anyway. Modern lithium-ion batteries can be charged quickly, so it is possible to use such a drill, with two battery packs, non-stop. A hammer drill is needed if you are going to drill in hard materials. You have both corded and cordless hammer drills. Since the hammering action quickly drains the battery, a corded hammer drill is the best solution if you are going to use the hammering action a lot.
If you are going to do precision-drilling, a drill press is the right tool. Unlike the other drills, the drill press is a stationary tool. Drill presses are large and expensive so unless you really need one, don’t worry about them. Modern drill presses have lasers that make it very easy to drill accurately. You have a few fairly cheap drill presses on the market so if you want one, you don’t need to be a millionaire to be able to afford a drill press at home.
This drill overview would not be complete if we didn’t mention that an electric drill can also be used as a sander. Of course, it will not be as good as a real sander but for basic sanding tasks you can use an electric drill.