drills and bits

Can you guys please recommend me a good drill to use for DIY stuff, such as drilling holes for pedal enclosures and stuff? It would be nice to find one that is very versatile for around the house apps and if maybe for future projects (DIY guitars, amps, and cabs projects...).

If you are working with metal enclosures then you may want to check out a small cheap ($50) drill press too. But that isn't usually used for household for other things but would work great for guitar building for getting really perpendicular holes to reduce tear out with screws.

More practical is a regular hand drill. Battery powered ones are the most popular, DeWalt, Ryobi, Makita, Bocsh, Porter cable are a few that have good quility that I can remember. I use Black n Decker and they are fine for all of the around the house stuff...only wish I had a spirit level on the top or side. The cheaper Black n Decker is adequate for almost everything from drilling the metal that is holding together part of this office chair that I am sitting on to the wall I drywalled and the window I installed after framing. SO...if you have the cash then go for a cool brand name (my mony is on the Ryobi with the built in level or a DeWalt.) Moeny isn't everything when it comes to drills and Black n Decker are ok. DeWalt will give you a bit better durability...but I have used the cheap one so much I could never justify the cost of one now.

Besides the brand names try to find one with a good balance, a spirit level built in and a good slow speed on the trigger for those small tricky jobs and old screws that have worn screw heads. 14.4 volts or more is great. You also want an assortment of bits so you use the right size bit for the right size screw heads as to not strip them and be left shaking your head while using a hacksaw blade to try and cut a new flat head onto the stripped head. FLexable shafts helped me out in the attic when I installed some cieling fan wiring boxes, those are cool if you are home remodelling, but buying those when you need them is better because you may never use them.

The other alternative is to hit the Pawn Shops and maybe even Thrift stores and get a plugin the wall type of drill, the battery power ones run out and you can find a barely used Skil or DeWalt plugin the wall type drill that will help you out with bigger jobs. They are cheap ($7-$15) and don't run out of battery power, make shure you get the chuck key (to tighten the bits in) though! This will help you drill down through two 2x4 s when you need to drill with a 1/2+ auger bit to run wiring for electrical plugs and Ethernet cable. Besides, no batteries to charge and will last a long long time. But be sure to find one with a reverse and an adjustable speed.

+1.

Cordless drills are nice and all, but for pedalbuilding I'd go for a corded drill. Drilling holes in enclosures requires quite a bit of torque, and in my experience rechargables just don't cut it. Unless you are the type of person who can let a project sit while your drill recharges. That's not me, so went out and bought a corded drill on sale at Target. Dewalt for $50 and it works great.

DougH gives some great and practical advice there, I went for quite some time doing pedals with an old Makita 12v cordless.

I'll expand on the drill press idea and the bits. One of a pedal builders most invaluable assets is a stepped bit, also called a Unibit. Its worth getting a good one. Makes CLEAN holes in aluminum. Although the drill press made drilling boxes easier, the main reason I went with a press was for drilling pcb's. The tiny bits are strong going straight down, but any side to side tweaking would snap the bits off, so hand drilling was always precarious and usually ended in a few broken bits every batch of boards. If you decide that you're drilling enough pcb's and boxes to merit it, Harbor Freight, or similar tool outlet will most likely have a drill press for less than $100. I got mine for $49 and its great. I get my PCB bits from drillbitcity.

Nothing wrong with owning a good corded drill,but I disagree on your take on cordless gear.

In my experience, over 20 years now in construction, a good cordless has plenty of power and can rival a corded drill in torque.

You need 2 batterys, 1 to use and 1 in the charger.

That said, a good cordless setup will cost more than a basic corded drill.

$uperpuma makes a great suggestion for the Uni bit / stepped bit, they are very handy.

check out harbor freight they also sell online for cheap stepped bits, knock outs, and regular hole saws. if it wears out and you use it enough rather buy another from HF or buy better. But for casual use there stuff works.

I'm surprised that nobody mentioned Craftsman, you can get 'em at any Sears. IF any tool gets broken, return and replace no questions asked. Good power tools at reasonable prices. FYI, In the past few years tho, Sears has started importing cheaper tools out of China under the Champion brand.

Cool, thanks guys for all your responses! I'll probably take a look around at Target, Home Depot, and maybe Sears.

My big concern was for making holes in guitar pedal enclosures. I don't want o buy a drill that'll break on me just because I was drilling a hole for a volume knob or something...

For accuracy and cleanly drilled holes I would use brad-tipped bits. The point allows you to hit the mark every time and they start and stop clean if you take your time.

Stew-Mac is the place to go, but today I was drilling the bridge and tailpiece holes in a Destroyer and when I got ready to drill the 1/2" holes for the tailpiece inserts I found that my brand new bit was defective from the factory. I called Stew-Mac and they sent me another one immediately. I bought them months ago, but never used the 1/2" until today; all the others in the set were perfect.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Drill_bits/Drill_Bits,_Brad_Point.html

I'll put in my 2 cents and a big AMEN to a drill press and a unibit (step drill bit), especially if you're drilling large holes, like for a footswitch or an XLR. I've done all this with hand drills and files, but it's SOOOOOO much easier with a drill press and a unibit. I don't know if they have them where you live, but Harbor Freight is hard to beat for the money. They've got a set of 3 step bits on sale for about $10 right now. I think their drill presses start at about $70, but they could be less on a sale. No, I don't work there or own stock.