Two-speed drills

Roger Tulk

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3,018
Location
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
I have two lovely Ryobi rechargeable drills, that both have two speed ranges. One range, obviously is slower than the other. I figured, less speed, more power, and tended to use the low range for larger spade bits. However, I was recently drilling 3/4" holes in spruce, and found that the work went faster at high speed (go figure!:huh:) The low speed is still too fast to be useful for driving screws. Also, I have a 4 speed drill press that I tend to leave on the second highest speed and just work away.

So I wondered, are there any sort of guidelines for when to use high speed and when to use low speed when drilling material?
 
As shown there are a lot of guidelines.
I keep my drill press at about 550 rpm and in nine years believe I have reset the speed less than six times. Works for me.
On the rechargable hand drills I have the trigger is the main speed control for screws and such. My DeWalt does have a shifter. I have to admit using the trigger to control speed for screws is tricky. Batteries are shot for my B&D screwdriver and I miss it. Replacement batteries are more than the screwdriver cost new and I'm too stubborn to buy more. :mad:
 
Thank you! That's very useful and complete. I'll have to put it on the wall near my drill press. :thumb:

You're welcome. I find the speeds a little bit on the aggressive side for the bigger bits. I have a 16-speed and tend to use 1 speed lower than recommended by the chart for big stuff... forstners mostly. My tinkering also involves a lot of metal, so I have a machinist's handbook listing for different speeds in different metals.
 
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