There’s no shame in putting a bookshelf together using a cordless drill.
Granted, this is a tool made for tough jobs — including actual construction work, which I have never done. I know you can drill holes in sheet metal, finish a room by drilling screws into sheetrock, and go wild with some wood if you have the right drill bits. Yet, here I am, using the Craftsman V20 Cordless Drill so I can store even more books in my house.
Let’s be honest, most of us might be like that. Need to hang a picture in the living room using a screw? Grab a cordless drill and skip the screwdriver. Yes, this is a tool that can handle much more demanding jobs, but if you own a home or live in an apartment, the most common time you’ll need a drill is likely when you have bought something from IKEA.
Of course, I wanted to see if this model — which runs at 340 unit watts of power — was capable of, so I also used one to tighten some screws in my garage, assemble a shelf, and to do some drilling into a wooden door frame.
The drill is “brushless” which means it uses a circuit board to cause the rotation as opposed to the older method that uses tiny brushes and magnets. The motor runs at 32,300 BPM (or “blows per minute”) which tells you the drill has enough power for tough tasks.
Then it met me.
Again, I am not a construction worker, but I do like convenience. I don’t like to work too hard and I like to have the right tool to help. Many of the tasks I have around the house do not qualify as repairs or even real work. Hanging a potted plant using some screws, that’s my most common endeavor.
A few things I liked about the Craftsman V20 Cordless Drill became obvious right away. For starters, it never ran low on battery power during my test period of a few weeks. I hung pictures and plants, used it in the garage, and built a bookshelf and never felt like it was even getting low. (You can press a button on the battery pack to see one, two or three lights to check charge level.) I hate having to re-charge gear constantly — we already do that with our phones and tablets. I wasn’t pushing any extremes in my household tasks, but it did last fine for all of them.
The drill is also light enough for those same tasks, at about 6 pounds. I never felt like it was too heavy to lug around or use when I was tightening screws in my garage. I also liked the light which turns on automatically and helps you locate screws or drill holes in low-light situations.
The drill has some serious power, too. It runs in two modes — one for 0-600 RPM and one that goes from 0-1900 RPM. Another plus is that the V20 battery system works with many other tools, including a tiller I reviewed not long ago.
Overall, the drill helped me do all of the household jobs on my list and then some. Is it ready for a full day of work building a house? That’s probably not the intended use. It did the trick for me, though.
Note: Our reviews are always 100% independent but Gearadical receives a small affiliate amount if you purchase the product on Amazon.
