Five great impact drills for home and professional repairs

Despite the apparent simplicity and even some minimalism in appearance, the Stanley SDH700 drill has quite decent characteristics (by the standards of household power tools). Inside the yellow body, made of durable ABS plastic and not decorated with almost anything, except for a small rubberized insert, there is a 700 W electric motor. The case has a lot of holes for effective cooling of the engine during long-term operation and under heavy loads. To hold the snap, an all-metal chuck of a traditional design is used (to tighten or loosen it, you need the key that is included in the kit). Between the sliding jaws of the cartridge, drills with a diameter of 1.5 to 13 mm are securely fixed.

The adjustment wheel, which is located on the start button, allows you to adjust the rotational speed of the cartridge. High speeds are used for drilling, and low speeds are used for working with fasteners ( the manufacturer in the instruction manual approves the use of this drill as a corded screwdriver). A torque of 20 Nm is enough to work with screws of "household" sizes (with a diameter of no more than 5 - 6 mm). The tool also has a reverse button (to remove a jammed drill or unscrew screws) and a key to turn on the impact mode (due to its presence, the drill can drill not only steel, wood and plastic, but also brickwork or concrete). The kit includes an additional handle and a drilling depth gauge.

The Stanley SDH700 is a good, handy and small tool with "normal" power for a household drill and an attractive price. For household chores, such as minor repairs or work on the weekends in the garage or workshop, it is more than enough. Among other Stanley household drills, the slightly less powerful Stanley SDH600(600 W) and Stanley STDR5510C(550 W, non-impact mode) also deserve attention.

The Bosch model line includes several dozen electric drills. Bosch UniversalImpact 700 in this "family" is far from the weakest model, despite the "household" status. This drill is equipped with a 701 W motor (of which 530 W is useful “output” power), which accelerates the chuck to a speed of 3000 rpm. Due to these characteristics, the tool easily and confidently copes with drilling wood, metal and plastic (without shock function), and can also be used to make holes in brick and concrete (when shock mode is on). Thanks to the possibility of pre-selecting the speed of rotation (speed can be "reduced" as much as 50 rpm), the drill can act as a screwdriver or an electric screwdriver. The torque of 17 Nm allows you to work with screws with a diameter of up to 5 mm.

The keyless chuck accepts drills with cylindrical shanks up to 13 mm in diameter and all types of hex bits. For convenient and quick replacement of equipment, a button for fixing the shaft is provided: with one hand, hold the drill by the neck and press the button, and with the other hand, tighten the cartridge or loosen its grip. The mounting of the side handle is also thought out very well and made as convenient as possible. It rotates 360 degrees and is securely fixed in the selected position due to the mechanism with a ledge, a groove and a locking bolt with a “lamb”. The handle has a groove for the drilling depth limiter (included in the delivery set of the tool along with a plastic case).

Thanks to the ability to drill holes and turn fasteners, the Bosch UniversalImpact 700 drill completely "covers" the needs of those who want to buy a good tool for domestic use and work in the home workshop. With it, you can hang a picture, a shelf or a curtain rod, as well as decorate a balcony with clapboard or sheathe a garage with vinyl siding. Of course, to perform these tasks, you will need equipment: drills or bits. They can be bought separately: by the piece or in the form of sets (we recommend Bosch 2607010608 or Bosch 2607019324). Or you can just take the Bosch UniversalImpact 700 060313100F - the same drill, but complete with a small set of the most popular nozzles (15 pcs.).

The Black&Decker BEH550K drill has little power. However, for domestic use, those 550 W that are "available" are quite enough. The tool is compact and light enough (1.7 kg). It is convenient to hold it in your hands (especially since the kit includes an additional side handle, which allows you to rest with both hands when you need to “push” and help the drill). The handles and part of the body are covered with high-quality rubberized material, providing a comfortable grip. The controls are traditional for drills : the start button turns on the motor, the slide reverse switches the direction of rotation of the chuck, and the switch on top of the case allows you to turn on the shock mode necessary for drilling a hole in brick or concrete. Keyless chuck allows you to quickly rearrange the equipment without using a key. The kit includes two drills at once: one is made of high-speed steel (for drilling metal), the second is carbide-tipped (for working on concrete). Both have a diameter of 6 mm - the most popular size in everyday life. But drilling depth limiter, which is considered almost a mandatory accessory for drills, is not included in the kit. But the device comes with a high-quality plastic case for storing tools with drilling equipment.

Like other Black&Decker tools, this drill is intended for home use only. For professional work or large-scale repairs, you should not buy it. But the Black & Decker BEH550K is perfect for those who want to have an inexpensive impact drill on hand that can make holes in the walls for hanging pictures or mounting shelves. And if you need a more powerful tool, then you should pay attention to the 710-watt model Black & Decker BEH710K, which has the same design and exactly the same package.

The red body of the Makita M8100KX2 drill should not scare or alert. At Makita, red does not mean danger, but the MT series - a line of slightly simplified and cheaper tools designed for everyday use. Makita M8100KX2 has exactly the same technical specifications as the "blue" Makita HP1630 drill (a super popular tool that has been in production for over 10 years and is in demand due to its reliability). The difference between a "progenitor" and a "descendant" is only a few details. When assembling the "red" version, a different motor armature, a different model of a needle bearing in the gearbox and a different rubberized lining on the body are used. There are no other significant differences between them.

The drill motor has a power of 710 watts. Together with a metal gearbox, it is “packed” in a case made of good plastic: durable, not slippery and not easily soiled. The rotation speed of the chuck reaches 3200 rpm (in the shock mode, necessary for drilling concrete and masonry, the rotation is accompanied by continuous "grooving" with a frequency of up to 48000 beats / min). Although the weight of the tool is not very large (2.1 kg), and the drill can be held during operation with one hand, an additional side handle (with a drilling depth limiter) is included in the kit. The key chuck accepts drills with a diameter of 1.5 mm to 13 mm. The two-meter power cable has a thick braid of high-quality rubber that does not tan in the cold (an important detail for those who work outdoors or in an unheated room).

The Makita M8100KX2 drill comes with a case with a set of accessories, decent in quality (it's Makita, after all) and composition. It includes drills (for stone, wood and metal - three pieces of each type, with a diameter of 6, 8 and 10 mm), bits (flat and cross) and a magnetic holder for them, end heads (8, 10, 12 and 13 mm ), as well as a combination screwdriver, pliers, carpenter's hammer and a three-meter tape measure.

If you do not feel the need for this suitcase or want to buy a set of tools separately, then you should pay attention to the Makita M8100 - exactly the same drill, but without a case and "extra" accessories.

The Heavy Duty marking on the body of the Bosch GSB 24-2 Professional drill "hints" that this tool is designed for heavy construction tasks and long work without stopping. A quick look at the technical specifications allows you to verify this. The drill has a powerful 1100-watt motor (of which 630 W is useful output power) with solid torque (40 Nm). The gearbox has two speeds : low (for drilling large holes and tightening fasteners) and high (for drilling holes of small or medium diameter). On each of the "gears" (900 and 3000 rpm), the speed of rotation of the cartridge can be very precisely adjusted using the rotary control, combined with the start button. At low speed, you can make holes up to 16 mm in metal, up to 22 mm in concrete (when switching the drill to impact mode) and up to 40 mm in wood. A disengaging clutch is built between the gearbox and the chuck. It serves as a “fuse” that protects the gears of the gearbox from breakage (and the user from “kickback”) when the equipment is jammed.

The drill is large and rather heavy (2.9 kg), and it is unlikely that it will work with one hand. Therefore, it is equipped with an additional handle, which is attached to the neck of the instrument and can be held in any desired position. The neck has a standard diameter of 43 mm (that is, it will not be difficult to choose a stand if you intend to use this drill as a miniature drilling machine). The chuck is for a keyless tool (there is exactly the same model, but with a key chuck). It is designed for use with drills with shank diameters from 1.5 to 13 mm. For convenient and quick replacement of equipment, the drill is equipped with an automatic spindle lock (the chuck is locked if the start button is not pressed). The set includes a branded case and a metal drilling depth limiter.

The Bosch GSB 24-2 Professional 060119C801 drill is by no means an “amateur” tool (this can be understood not only by its technical characteristics, but also at a fairly high price). Her “audience” is professional builders. For domestic needs, such a tool is worth buying unless a large-scale repair of an apartment or a private house is planned. This is where this drill may well “recapture” its cost, since it can be used to drill holes in walls and ceilings, and cut socket boxes with a crown, and knead building mixtures in a bucket - do everything that is required during repairs, and with what budget and household drills will never be able to cope.