Whats what in the cordless drill catalogue. Confused by some of the terms used? Unsure if you need rotary stop or hammer stop? Read our simple guide to what the brochure means.

 

 

The Ah figure on a battery indicates how many Amps that battery will supply for one hour. Basically the larger the figure the better.

 

Anti-Kick(back)

 

A feature of some drills to stop any recoil on the drill. Enhances user comfort.

 

 

The power source of your cordless sds drill. See our battery guide.

 

 

Any drill that can be used in the drill i.e. 5.5mm sds masonry bit.

 

 

A component of NiCad batteries which is not very "green" and is being taxed heavily in Europe

 

 

The unit which puts the power into the battery.

 

 

The jaws of a standard drill. An SDS drill does not have a chuck in the ordinary sense but an adaptor can be used when you need to drill with straight shank or normal drills

 

 

The clutch allows the torque to be adjusted on the better drills so as not to overload the dill motor.

 

 

An electronic function which stops the drill motor almost instantly when you take your finger off the trigger.

 

 

The function on masonry drills which hammers the drill forward while turning to promote faster drilling. This function can be selected and deselected via a switch on hammer drills.

 

 

The name for when the hammer action is deselected.

 

 

The direction of turning can be reversed. More use on a cordless screw driver where screws need to be driven in and taken out.

 

 

The turning force can be deselected to enable just the hammer action, used for chiselling or chasing.

 

 

The speed of the drill in revolutions per minute This figure is generally quoted as a "No Load Speed" which is when the drill is turning in free air.

 

 

A drill with one speed usually only found on very cheap drills.

 

 

The turning force of the drill. Many drills have variable torque and as a general guide the higher the voltage the greater the torque.

 

 

This means the drill has different speed settings allowing for a greater range of jobs to be done. Speed control may be set via a switch, a turning collar or through the trigger.

 

 

The voltage of the battery practically determines the power and torque of the drill so a 12V drill is ok for small holes in wood or thin metal but you need at least 24V for masonry.