An electric drill -preferably a hammer drill if you are drilling masonary

Drill bits and a level

A handy kit with 3 sizes of wallplug from Fischer is good. (The sizes of drill and screw are marked on each plug).

State of the art Screws in Metal Box

Concept KTX Drive Kit

These tried and trusted KTX screws are a huge hit with the building trade as they have a patented head that looks like posidrive but click fits into its bit for better traction.

The screw thread can also cut its own hole which saves time and gives a firm hold.

This comprehensive kit comes with bits supplied in a robust metal case. refill packs available at Jewsons and other builders merchants.

The drill shown above is an ancient and well used Hitachi cordless drill/druver.. Hitachi drills are renown for their longevity and this one is being used with the "patented fredshed emergency dust collector"

( cut the end of a plastic bottle and drill through it, most of the dust collects inside)

see further down the page for proper Dustbubble info

Electric drills can be purchased from as little as £10 and may be adequate for occasionally drilling onto softwood like pine or even into plasterboard.

The chances are that if you buy a drill you will at some stage want to drill into concrete or brick. For this you will usually need a hammer action or more accurately, a  percussion drill. These "hammer drills" cost more and need much more power than a standard electric drill.

A cordless hammer drill will cost even more than a mains powered one because it requires powerful rechargeable batteries and a charger.Cordless "hammer drills" have  a minimum of 12v volts but most builders prefer 18volts.

Remember - a cordless tool is only as good as its battery, that's why many adverts don't like to tell you the AMP hour of the battery and instead concentrate on the voltage!

 buy replacement batteries for Bosch, Makita, Ryobi, Dewalt and all other makes of powertool

If you cant afford a decent cordless hammer drill then you are better off buying a cheap corded one and a cordless drill driver. to go with it. Even most cheap corded tools have more power that battery driven tools.

Best Value Cordless Drills

The drill shown to the right is the Ryobi CDI 1802M 18v combi drill which is a tough work tool aimed at the serious DIY er to Semi professional user.

This drill can be bought with 5 other cordless powertools for £300 as part of the Ryobi plus 1 range.

The best cordless drills are made by Makita, Hitachi, Bosch and Metabo and are the choice of serious professional, and thieves!

Many builders prefer cheaper ranges like Ryobi for this reason alone.

Buy a complete set of Ryobi cordless power tools

Breaking news!

The Ryobi plus one range of 18v tools can now be powered by new lithium ion batteries!

Serious DIY-  - Tradesmen's Drills

The drill shown right belongs to one of my test team and is the most poplar brand used by tradesmen. DeWalt is the "professional" arm of the American company Black & Decker.

DeWalt tools are very well marketed and appeal to the high end DIY-er because they have a wide range, good spec and are frequently used by every Tommy, Dick and Harriet on TV makeover shows. Dewalt drills still use Nicad or Nimh batteries whilst companies like Bosch,  Makita, Metabo and Hitachi have moved on to superior Lithium Ion batteries.

price and more details on entry level DeWalt Cordless Drill

Best Value Corded Drills

This is a bog standard 500watt corded hammer drill and the most practical, cost effective powertool you can own. It has no fancy gimmicks, is good quality and will do most DIY jobs. Price around £33 - you can't go wrong with  the Bosch PSB 500RE. I used this drill for several years and unlike my cordless drills it was always ready to go.

Whilst this drill will easily handle brick and plaster it may struggle if you try to drill into concrete lintels that are found above some windows. For this type of work you would need a high powered rotary hammer drill that proper builders use.

Credit Crunch Tools!

buy this similar drill, with even more power from my friends at Draper. U can't go wrong at this price

The latest version of this tool now has an LED light incorporated into the side handle and is known as the PSB 500

 RE+S

For general DIY this simple drill has all the features and Bosch reliability at a great price.

If you do a lot of DIY or use your drill for work then the more powerful 700w Bosch blue professional drill for around £70 will make the job that little bit easier and should last longer.

* Green Bosch tools are designed for DIY use

Professional Quality Cordless Combi Drills

This is the Makita MXT 14.4v hammer drill. (known as a combi)  This is the real McCoy, the Rolls Royce of cordless drills and a worthy holder of  my Golden Shed Award.

This is the drill of choice for professional work or will last the DIY enthusiast a lifetime. (As you would expect for a £250 plus tool)

Bosch , Metabo and Dewalt make similar tools, the best now have Lithium ion batteries. If you have the older models these can take Nicad or Nimh, the latter is preferable.

 click for price and more details

The MTX is the professional version of this drill but there is a cheaper version that would suit most DIYers.

 It typically comes with the cheaper Nicad batteries but in time you could replace them with better Nimh ones if the prices drop. Or you never know, Makita might take my advice and do us all a favour  (and the environment) by make retro fitting Li-ion batteries available!

The benchmark for cordless drills now includes the new Li-ion batteries and I can see the day (in 2-3  years) when all powertools have them. At the moment they are still too expensive for many people and tools with the old type batteries can represent good bargains.

The latest Makita 18v drill with Lithium ion batteries is lighter and more powerful than my old 12v version.

 best deal on Makita 18v drill with Lithium Ion batteries

SECOND-HAND MAKITA BARGAIN

 Used Makita 12 Combi drill and Impact driver for sale

If you already use 12v Makita kit I am selling some tools naked (no batteriers) to keep the shed clear for new products.

I have a Makita 8413D 12v Combi hammer drill with the top of the range marathon motor and metal gears

A 6980PD  Impact driver with that takes normal screwdriver bits

Both are in good condition and come with cases

£100 inc UK delivery

mail me at fred@fredshed.com

.

Professional Quality Corded SDS Drills

(for drilling and chiselling)

If you undertake some serious DIY like drilling into lintels or chiselling away brickwork then you will need a much sturdier drill and unless you want to spend megabucks a corded one is best value.

Most drills calling themselves hammer drills are in fact impact drills and are not the real Mcoy.

A proper Hammer drill can have a "rotary stop" function which then enables the drill to just hammer, not turn. These proper hammer drills take SDS or SDS plus bits which come as drill and chisel bits.

This type of drill costs more and is likely to be quite heavy. However when it comes to serious drilling they will save you a lot of time and effort. There are cheap versions about but these are enormously heavy, (4-6KG) whereas lighter weight versions like the Metabo 2KG metal bodied drill shown right start from about £105 up.

buy the 705w Metabo Hammer Drill

Metabo are a top quality German power tool company with an excellent reputation and large range of professional hammer drills.

I recently tested these 2 Metabo Hammer drills and was very impressed. The silver one is a Metabo/Porsche design but for most people I recommend the standard green one.

The Porsche design version has carbon fibre panels, a full metal body and an interesting design of handle. In some areas the  performance was slightly better than  the standard drill but the extra £100 is the downside and the tool is so pretty that you wont want to get it dirty!

Bosch 100 piece titanium  drill bit set.

I recommend a kit like this for DIY use . It contains the common sizes of drill bit for wood, masonry and metal. It also contains a host of other tools that are useful for drilling holes and fitting wall plugs.

Many sets use poor quality bits but this one is made by Bosch and has top quality titanium drill bits. One thing that does annoy me about some sets is how hard it is to get the bits out.

The drill bits in this Bosch set tip forward in their rack for easy access but the screwdriver bits are harder to get out. and annoy me from time to time, but then I am a grumpy old git sometimes.

 buy cheaper 50 piece Bosch titanium drill bit set

My 100 piece drill bit and screwdriver set

Guide to Masonry Drill Bits

Drill bits for drilling masonry, (brick and concrete) can be identified and distinguished from other drill bits by the blunt wide blade on the tip.

There are many different designs of masonry drill and you usually get what you pay for.

One of the best is the Makita Brickmaster bit. This ingenious design enables you to drill masonry with a conventional drill - not a hammer drill.

Makita Brickmaster bits are usually sold in builders merchants and specialist tool shops.

Cheap plastic Wallplugs

For most DIY jobs a bog standard plastic Wallplug will suffice. They are available everywhere and for the UK market are often colour coded by size. Yellow, Red and Brown.

However you may come across different colours and even brown ones that are a different size. To be on the safe side drill a smaller hole first if the wall plug does not have the drill size marked on it. Then go up a drill size if your plug does not fit.

If you do drill the hole too large or have crumbly masonry then all is not lost, you could use the wet-n-fix to save the job.

NEW ALL PURPOSE WALLPLUG FROM RAWLPLUG!

box of standard plugs with screws - well handy!

Important safety info for using wallplugs

1 The screw should be slightly longer than the wallplug.

2 Blow the dust out of the hole after drilling

3 If in doubt use a longer plug and screw

Colour

Drill diameter

Hole depth

Screw size

yellow

5mm

35mm

nos 4-8

Red

6mm

45mm

nos 6-10

brown

8mm

55mm

nos10-14

General purpose Wallplug

For professionals and serious DIY people a Nylon wallplug is much better.

Fischer  Fixing Systems invented the plastic wallplug in 1958 and still make the best and most innovative wallplugs.

The classic is the Fischer S-Plug. This plug has 2 protruding plastic wings that grip the inside of the hole and stop it rotating.

Fischer SX Wallplug

This pro-quality wall plug has a flange at the top to keep it flush with the surface of the wall. It also has 4 splits for better grip.

These superb plugs  have the required drill bit and screw size marked on the side and can be used in voided material such as aerated concrete.

If you are a true craftsman and proud of your work, this plug won't let you down. (or your shelves)

Fischer Universal Plug UX

for plasterboard AND concrete

This ingenious wallplug works like a conventional wallplug but can also work in plasterboard.

It works by "scrunching up" and twisting into a ball when the screw passes through the plug and plasterboard.. The "scrunched up part then pulls against the back of the plasterboard to form a secure fixing.

The UX Universal Plug  saves you having to carry 2 types of wallplug in your toolbox.

Fischer wallplug kits

If you do a lot of wallplug work then it is worth buying a kit containing a range of sizes. Fischer also supply refill boxes and the most comprehensive range of wallplugs and wallbolts available.

This kit has the standard 5, 6 and 8mm drill size wallplugs.

Being  perfectionist decorator this would p*** me off. So I just grind the top 5mm of the plastic wallplug down with a cone shaped grinding stone on my cordless Dremel. the I only need a small amount of filler that will not shrink back

You can also "bodge" this technique by cutting the top edge of the wallplug away with a Stanley knife - be careful not to slip and cut your finger or eye!

You know the story, your putting up shelves, drill a hole, go to push in the wall plug and dam!, the hole is too big and the wall plug is wobbly.

Then  you have to drill another hole, and move the shelves up an inch and get out the filler to repair the other hole.

This problem usually occurs because you are either crap at DIY or-  you have soft plaster that crumbles when drilled.

I have found this product to be extremely useful when repairing other peoples bodges (like loose curtain rails and collapsing shelves) Obviously I I have  never bodged a job myself but keep some available just in case.

Buy a pack of 50 Wet-n-fix

Best Cordless Screwdriver

Golden Shed winner improved further!

The truly excellent Bosch IXO cordless screwdriver has been improved further with the addition of a LED work light and improved switches and accessories.

I gave the IXO a coveted Golden Shed Award as it was the first power tool to have the unbeatable Lithium Ion battery.

The IXO is one of my favourite tools and the IXO 2 is totally fantastic! Use this and you will never want to be without it! This is the smallest cordless screwdriver available and has been copied by many manufacturers.

Now Available IXO 3 - with angled head!.

 buy similar tool in the USA

UK READERS - use the  link below to get the latest IXO at the best price.

  Impact Drivers For Easier Screwing

If you are driving in or removing a lot of screws or you have old rusted screws then a powered impact driver is the tool you need.

The difference between this and a powered screwdriver it that this tool "pumps and twists" whereas a screwdriver only twists and its performance largely depends on your arm strength.

I have used this 12v Makita Impact driver for 3 years and it has impressed me and many builders who have used it.

Another good make is Hitachi, both companies now make versions with the superior Lithium Ion batteries.

  Impact Drivers

Makita 12v Impact Driver

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK!

NEW PROFESSIONAL QUALITY TOOLS TAKE ON THE BIG NAMES

I love it when some new players enter the market and raise the game with new tools at great prices.

This new 10.8 volt impact driver is such a tool as it has the latest lithium ion battery that can be fully recharged in 15 minutes!

This tough looking tool has all the features you would expect from a professional quality tool and costs a reasonable £119 plus vat which includes 2 batteries, a proper strong box and some drill and screwdriver bits.

As this is a professional tool designed for heavy use you also get a spare set of motor brushes that can be easily changed without opening the body.

My testers preferred this new lightweight tool to the more expensive Makita one featured above.

The new Durofix powertools are brought to us by Concept Distribution who also market the fantastic range of KTX screws and collated screw feed systems.

As well as the impact driver there is also a drill driver which uses the same batteries.

Lightweight but Powerful Impact Driver

Lightweight impact driver with 10.8v lithium ion battery and 15 minute recharge

mail fred@fredshed.com for details (UK)

 buy similar tool in the USA

New Dustcatching Device For Drilling Holes

Karcher DDC 50

This superb gadget is powered by one AA battery makes it stick to the wall so you have your hands free for drilling. You drill though a hole with little brushes behind it and all the dust drops down into the dustcatching containers ready for emptying.

The clear plastic container is washable so everything is re-usable.

Avoiding Dust when drilling holes

Use the Amazing Dustbubble

Some years back I met the Nick Noble, the Inventor of this little gadget and I have championed it ever since.

Over the years the product has developed and evolved into a range for use on different surfaces. Wood and plaster, wallpaper and painted surfaces, tiles and now the new Industrial Dust bubble!

 This fantastic invention collects the dust when you drill and is basically a little plastic bag that opens up and sticks to the wall. As it is see-through you can drill you hole and 99% of the dust collects in the bag.

A pack of 12 costs about £3. This is a brilliant product and a must  for tradesmen working in offices with electrical equipment or in  posh houses. Available at B&Q.

© Fred Walden 2008