This Is Just A Drill

 What's the drill?

There are drills and there are drivers.  Then there are drill/drivers.  There are different kinds of drills for different purposes.  Regular drills, hammer drills, and so on.  Then there are drivers.  Impact drivers, drill/drivers, and others.  What's the difference between a drill and a driver?  It's interesting that you should ask.

A regular drill with a keyless chuck

Impact driver
 
Hammer drill With a keyed chuck


Drill/driver with keyless chuck

Originally, people used a regular drill as a driver by simply changing the bit from a drill bit to a screwdriver style bit.  It was a driver bit powered by a drill and that was that.  But then, some one got a great idea and created the clutch on a drill, essentially creating the drill/driver combo tool.

Why is it a drill (or not)?

It really is the clutch that makes the difference.  It's what allows the power of the drill to be more controlled so as to not overpower the screws being driven.  This engages when it encounters A certain amount of resistance from the material being worked with.

The numbers marked on the clutch start at "1" and go to a higher number.  The lower the number selected, the sooner the brake engages at a lower amount of resistance.  The higher the number, the more it keeps pushing power against increased resistance.

dual bit drill driver clutch set to "5"

Clutch is set to "drill" mode
 

The point is to stop the screw from going too deep into the material or to prevent damage to the screw such as stripping the head of the screw (Yes, we're talking about you, Phillips head screws.)  Usually, the highest selection is the drill bit icon on most drill/drivers.

The drill bit setting is full driving power, and essentially not engaging the clutch at all to stop power to the bit.  This is the setting we use to just use the tool as a drill.  The "driver" functionality is to be able to limit or stop the screw before it goes too deep or to prevent damage.  You'll actually hear a clicking sound when it reaches the point that the resistance level is too much. This is important to keep in mind.

Driving on

Now an impact driver is the one which generally looks cut off at the front.  There is no clutch brake to stop power to the bit.  In fact, the whole point of the impact driver is to make sure there is as much power as possible so that the screw in question goes in deep enough and doesn't stop too soon.  In this case, you can hear the tiny "impacts" within the driver sound not too different from the sound a drill/driver clutch makes.  The impact drill is all about more power as opposed to the limited, controlled power of a drill/driver.

The impact driver is kind of 'snub-nosed'

 

More power!

A hammer drill and an impact driver are similar also by the fact that both of them add a feature which adds extra force to the turning motion.  In the case of the hammer drill, it allows one to drill holes into very hard substances like concrete or dense wood.  The impact driver does something similar but to the effect of turning a screw or bolt into say, a pre-drilled hold in a hard or dense material.  In both circumstances, the idea is to increase power to the bit, not restrain or control it.  Usually there won't be a clutch to slow or impede power like you see on the typical drill/driver setup.

The switch to go from just a drill to hammer drill mode is set to drill in this example

 

Go Speed Racer

Another feature on drills and drivers that can be found, especially on drills, is a speed selector.  On the top of the tool in most cases, or maybe in the front base, there is a switch with two or three positions.  This is the speed selector.  One of these is for higher speeds, especially useful when drilling into wood and similar materials.  You want high speed drilling. In all of my drills, as the number you select gets higher, the speed is faster.  So on a 2 speed option, position marked "1" is slower and position "2" is faster.  Most triggers have a speed control built into them to control how much of that potential speed you apply.  Slower speeds are better for drilling into different materials like metal.

On this drill/driver, the speed selector is set to "1", the slower of the two options

 
dual bit drill/driver speed set to "2", the faster setting

Getting it done

Obviously, all of these tools can be used for basic drilling and driving.  However, by giving them each the features that make them what they are, they become better at drilling or driving in specific circumstances.  For example, you can drill with an impact driver.  It allows the tool to apply more force with less fatigue on the user.  Personally, I'd use a hammer drill, but in small access places or when a hammer drill is just too heavy or awkward, the impact driver can be effective, if not slower.

Wrap it up

So, while we can use any of these different tools to drill or drive, they perform best when they stay in their intended lane.  Drills are made for drilling, there are drivers made just to drive screws and bolts.  Then our combo tools that can do both like the drill/driver is still primarily a drill but has been enhanced to help help drive screws that need to stop at a specific point.  Finish screws that need to stay flush or get countersunk just enough but not over-penetrate would be good examples of best case scenarios there.

Now that we've explored what drills and drivers and drill/drivers are and where they are used, let's explore some other cool tools next time.

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