How to Use a Power Drill

The main thing you need to know about a power drill is that you can swap out the bits (head ends). Most modern power drills tighten by leverage. Here’s how it works:

1. Loosen (remember righty-tighty, lefty-loosy),
2. Put your bit into the chuck (the three-pronged holder thingy)
3. Tighten. Make sure it’s plenty tight. You can tighten it a bit more by holding the big round part just behind the bit, then squeezing the trigger for a quick sec, but don’t come crying to us if you chafe your soft widdle hands. Many household drills use keyless chucks, meaning you can hand-tighten them, however some drills require the use of a “key” to tighten the chuck. The key is usually stored on the drill top, or in the handle.

The power drill has two other important components. There’s a button, near the trigger, that tells the drill whether to go forward (clockwise) or backward. There’s also (in most drills) a torque setting. When torque is set to its lowest (loosest) setting, it will tighten the screw until it feels a little tension, then start clicking rapidly. When torque is on its highest setting, it will keep tightening the screw until it cams out (see the screwdriver article, if you forgot what this means) or until something bad happens (strips the screw, pokes your eye out, etc.). Usually, you should start with a low to medium torque setting. Then, if you need more, adjust accordingly.