Drilling and driving are two basic actions that make a simple fastening joint. Along with the drill driver tool comes a wide array of accessories. Drill bits, bit shapeners, bit adapter, pocket hole jig, drill jig, batteries, chargers, dowel jig, etc. They make the drill driver work better, easier, and quicker.

Drill Bits and Screw Bits

The mechanical fasteners have changed the landscape of the working industry. Disappeared are the carpenters who could craft dovetail joint and mortise-tenon joint. In their place are workers who know all about screws and bits, and the cordless drill tool that does the job super speedy.

Consider the boxes and boxes of screws, bolts, nuts, anchors in any hardware store. Aren't they as numerous as the coffee beans in Starbucks? These fasteners have different shapes and sizes, so the bits that drive them must have complementary geometry as well. That's why the accessories for the drill tool are so many.

Besides the drill bits and driver bits, the batteries and chargers are the other major accessories for cordless drills.

DRIVER BITS

Screw Bits
The heads of the screws have several styles: flat (slot), philips, star, hex, are just some of them. The screw bits driving them of course must have the same style. So a varieties of screw bits are often packed in a box set to accommodate the needs.

Double-ended Screw Bits
This bit has a philips head at one end and a flat head at the other end. The philips head screws are common. But the flat head screws are rarely seen or used, except in older doors and cabinets. So it's handy to have a double-ended bit to deal with both, just in case. It saves the aggravation of looking for another bit in the middle of work.

DRILL BITS

Round Twist Bit
With diameters from 1/16" at the smallest to about 1/4" at the largest, the round twist bits come in a set for variable hole sizes. The better drill bit set can go up to 1/2" on the biggest bit. 1/2" is the largest jaw opening capacity of a high-end cordless drill. Many cordless drills can only open up to 3/8". And that is generally adequate because if you want to drill bigger holes, you can utilize spade bit or forstner bit that will fit easily into less than 3/8" opening. But, if you only have round twist bits, then the 1/2" cordless drill is better because it can receive larger bits.

Spade Bit
The spade bit is a less-expensive option to the auger bit or forstner bit. Those types of bits are for drilling holes 3/8" in diameter or more. The spade bit is simple in design but not very efficient in drilling. If drilling large holes are not a frequent task, then the spade bit is adequate. If you use the spade bit too much, the quality of work may suffer.

Forstner Bit
This is a modern big-hole drill bit. The forstner bit can be as big as 3" in diameter on the cutting head. It won't drill as deeply as the auger bit, which is from a time-honored design. A lot of cabinets today use euro-hinges for doors, The hinge sinker bit, which is very similar to the forstner bit, is used to make holes for euro-hinges.

Fuller Bit
The fuller bit tapers from the midpoint to the tip. After been drilled, the tapering hole grips tightly the incoming screw and at the same time allows it to be driven in effortlessly. This is a wonderfully simple design that works wonders. It's a bit costly, though, but well worth it. Other than the problem that the tapered tip breaks off easily from rough handling, the fuller bit is vastly superior to the twist bit in both drilling speed and efficiency.

SDS-shank Bit
The costly SDS hammer drill must use the SDS bit because of the design. The bit has a special shank that goes into the chuck of the SDS hammer drill in a distinctive way. It slides forwards and backwards to create a hammering action while drilling, and so making super quick penetration into hard material like masonry. The SDS hammer drill is like a light-weight jack hammer. It's still heavy though.

ADAPTER

Magnetic Extension Bit Holder
The magnetic bit extension holder has a practical usefulness. A magnet inside the holder makes the attached bit magnetic, which in turn grabs the screw and holds it. This arrangement enables you to drive the screw with one hand only, freeing the other hand to hold something else. If the screw accidently falls into a hard-to-reach place, the magnetized bit tip can even fish it out. A helpful accessory it is.

Quick-Release Bit Holder
This adapter holds a drill or driver bit, and is capable of super fast bit change. Its 1/4" opening accepts any bit with the standard hex shank. The keyless chuck of the cordless drill makes bit changing simple already. This holder makes it even more so. A simple pull or twist, and the bit comes off or locks in place without a fuss. It's really convenient for tasks that keep on switching between driving and drilling.

Batteries and Chargers

Replacement Battery
The power source of the cordless drill is the battery. Sooner or later the battery will no longer hold the charge. When that happens, the battery may need to recharge again and again after driving only a few screws. So it's time to consider a substitute battery. The bad news is that it costs more than half of the price of the cordless drill itself. Isn't that familiar? How about the cost of the replacement printer ink cartridge? Some evil pricing genius is behind all this.

Get a quality replacement battery. Because it lasts much longer than the inferior ones. The extended life span of a quality replacement battery justifies its higher price tag. The generic low-priced replacement battery is not a bargain. It becomes landfill garbage quickly. So, get the replacement battery that is the exact same model battery that comes with the cordless tool. If better quality battery can be obtained, get that if possible.

Battery Charger
The battery charger charges the battery. Typically it cames with the cordless drill in a kit. Most battery chargers are universal chargers, meaning that it can batteries from 7.2v to 18v or even 24v, as long as the batteries have the same physical packaging style. If the charger is not universal, then it will accept only battery with the right voltage level. Also, the physical packaging of Li-ion batteries are different from Ni-Cd or Ni-Mh. So there's no universal charger compatible for both.

Happily, the battery charger rarely requires replacement, not like the battery itself. And the technology of chargers is improving. They have protection circuits built-in to safeguard the battery from over-charging or over-heating during recharge. Many new models can recharge a battery fully in less than an hour. That's much quicker than the older designs where 4 - 6 hours or even overnight of recharge time are not uncommon. With these newer speedy chargers there's hardly any downtime for the cordless drill. If you do need to get a replacement charger, then a newer model is a good choice to get.

Pocket Hole Jig

Pocket hole Jig

The pocket hole joint is popularly used in bookshelves and frames. In bookshelf or frame construction, fastening two boards together to make an L or T joint is not as simple as it seems. This is because, while driving screws is easy, making a tight and strong joint is not.

woodworkers find out from practice that it matters which direction the screw goes in. To go in that direction, they must make "pocket holes" on one board for the screws. That's the reason for the pocket hole jig. Kreg is a famous brand in the pocket-hole jig world. Kind of like Xerox of the copy machines fame. Jessem is another high-end tool company. Their pocket hole jig is showing up in the marketplace to compete with Kreg.

With a pocket hole jig, producing a sturdy screw joint is easy, a little too easy. It's said that the New Yankee Workshop master Norm Abram praised highly of this jig. And he's got a lot of handy dandy tools and accessories.