3/8" chuck vs 1/2" chuck drill

[pete6032]

I just bought a 1/2" chuck drill so I could use larger bits. Outside of using the 3/8" as a backup in case the 1/2" fails, is there any reason to keep my 3/8" drill or can I get rid of it?

 

[Jimminy]

For most uses, you'll probably do fine with the 1/2 drill only, especially if it's good quality. The smaller chuck might work better with very fine drills, say much less than 1/16 ". But you'd likely use a smaller lighter device like a dremel for that.

For years I used a 3/8 makita most of the time because it was lighter than my 1/2 drill and had plenty of power for most jobs. Then someone broke into my garage and stole it a few years ago.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

If the half inch is light enough to use one handed and doesn’t bother you, then you don’t need the 3/8”. But a lighter drill is a godsend if you’re going to be drilling a lot of holes or screws and you don’t need the bigger chuck for it.

 

[BoomerD]

Why would you get rid of a perfectly good, working tool?

 

[pete6032]

Why would you get rid of a perfectly good, working tool?

I hate having stuff. I moved into a bigger house and the amount of stuff just keeps multiplying. A 3/8 drill was fine at the old house but now I need a 1/2 so I can use a larger bit for a project. More and more stuff just piling up. Yuck.

 

[BoomerD]

I hate having stuff. I moved into a bigger house and the amount of stuff just keeps multiplying. A 3/8 drill was fine at the old house but now I need a 1/2 so I can use a larger bit for a project. More and more stuff just piling up. Yuck.

Whatever blows up your skirt. There have been many times when I needed one size bit for pilot holes and a second larger bit for whatever the finish hole size was…much easier to change drills than to constantly swap bits.

 

[lxskllr]

Getting too obsessive about decluttering can be counterproductive. I'd never get rid of small tools. Resale value won't match the usefulness of needing it only once.

 

[deadlyapp]

Tools are one of the few things that I never declutter because I'll always find some sort of niche needed. Plus I would love at some point to be able to hand down some of those tools (if not crap) to my boys when they get older.

I have multiple miter saws (one large sliding saw, and then one smaller and more accurate saw), I have multiple drills (a corded drywall screw gun, a corded hammer, a corded SDS hammer, a cordless hammer), a cordless and corded circ saw, etc etc.

Getting too obsessive about decluttering can be counterproductive. I'd never get rid of small tools. Resale value won't match the usefulness of needing it only once.

 

[iRONic]

As a retired aircraft maintenance technician my never ending hand & power tool obsession came to a close… payed off thousands of dollars to the vampires known as Snap-On/Mac/Matco dealers who prowled the parking lots of the airports I worked at.

But noooooo, my tool obsession did not end there. My father was a tractor trailer mechanic back then so I gifted him my rollaway and a lot of the hand tools and air tools. Things that he would definitely need at his shop.

Keeping what was left, I fitted out my home workshop with the things I would need to maintain my home, motorcycles, cars, and yard. And thus continues my obsession… only now I purchase quality stuff, not professional grade stuff.

 

[deadlyapp]

As a retired aircraft maintenance technician my never ending hand & power tool obsession came to a close… payed off thousands of dollars to the vampires known as Snap-On/Mac/Matco dealers who prowled the parking lots of the airports I worked at.

But noooooo, my tool obsession did not end there. My father was a tractor trailer mechanic back then so I gifted him my rollaway and a lot of the hand tools and air tools. Things that he would definitely need at his shop.

Keeping what was left, I fitted out my home workshop with the things I would need to maintain my home, motorcycles, cars, and yard. And thus continues my obsession… only now I purchase quality stuff, not professional grade stuff.

I buy my tools for the job I use them for. No issues buying the cheap as hell harbor freight tools for more niche jobs (only thing I regret so far is buying a HF orbital sander that I definitely overused) but otherwise try to buy slightly higher quality tools that I can expect to last longer when cared for.

Professional grade tools are just overkill for a handy person unless you want to show off the name. When you can buy five replacement tools for the price of one pro grade...yeah.

 

[mindless1]

I hate having stuff. I moved into a bigger house and the amount of stuff just keeps multiplying.

Wait. I thought besides gaining bedrooms for kids, the purpose of moving into a bigger house was to have more storage space for your toys?

Like BoomerD, I find it useful to have two drills, but often how I'm doing it is one drill has a drill bit in it to make a pilot hole, and the other drill has a 1/4" adapter and screw bit in it. Kids today would say that the 2nd tool would be an impact driver instead, but a lot of the time, for lower torque applications I'd rather use a drill because of the clutch settings it has, to prevent damaging a fastener or the work. I imagine there are fancy newer impact drivers that have a clutch today, but it can't be as precise when it depends on impacts, and I don't need one when I already have a (2nd) drill that can do that.