How to Choose and Use a Cordless Drill (Aussie Edition)

Photo by benjamin lehman on Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/photos/1645651964715-d200ce0939cc)

By Mick — handyman, Newcastle NSW.

The cordless drill aisle at Bunnings is 10 metres long. Ozito at one end for $79, Ryobi One+ in the middle for $179, Makita LXT and DeWalt down the other end for $300+. Brushless and brushed. 12V and 18V. 2-speed and 3-speed. Hammer-capable and rotary-only. Cheap kits with two batteries, expensive kits with one battery (and the second battery costs $150 alone). Most people walk in, get overwhelmed, grab whatever’s on special and pray.

I’m going to cut through that. There are three specs that actually matter for a homeowner: chuck size, torque, and battery platform. Voltage and brushless are second-order. Brand prestige is third-order. And the single most important decision is the battery platform — because once you buy a Ryobi One+ drill, you’re locked into Ryobi One+ batteries for every other tool you ever buy. Choose carefully.

The Aussie reality: Bunnings is your default supplier and Bunnings stocks three real platforms — Ozito PXC (12V/18V), Ryobi One+ (18V), and Makita LXT (18V). DeWalt and Milwaukee exist at Total Tools and Sydney Tools but they’re a step up in price for a step up in build quality you may or may not need. Pick the platform first, drill second.

What you’ll need (to choose well)

An honest assessment of how often you’ll use it (twice a year vs every weekend)
An honest assessment of what else you’ll buy from the same brand (just a drill, or eventually impact + circular saw + multi-tool + grinder)
30 minutes at Bunnings to handle the contenders
This article

Step 1: Decide your platform — this is the big one

Your battery platform is the lock-in. Think 10 years out, not 1.

Ozito PXC 18V — cheapest, batteries cheapest. Tools are decent for light DIY. Build quality is middling. If you’re a once-a-month-DIYer this is fine. The 18V batteries are cross-compatible with Einhell PXC (same factory, different brand) which is occasionally useful.
Ryobi One+ 18V — the sweet spot for Aussie homeowners. 280+ tools on the platform. Batteries everywhere. Build quality is solid for DIY but won’t survive trade abuse. This is what 80% of Aussie homeowners should buy.
Makita LXT 18V — trade-grade. Heavy, long-life, expensive. If you’re going to use it daily, or you’re handing it to a teenage helper who’ll drop it from a ladder, Makita survives. The drill itself is heavier than Ryobi which actually matters when you’re working overhead.

I run all three for different reasons. For 90% of DIY readers reading this, Ryobi One+ is the right answer. Buy the One+ drill kit and add tools as needed.

Step 2: Chuck size — get 13 mm (1/2 inch)

Drill chucks come in 10 mm and 13 mm sizes. Cheap drills are 10 mm — which limits you to drill bits with a 10 mm shank, and rules out big spade bits, large hole saws, and most masonry bits over 8 mm.

13 mm chuck handles every common bit. The Ryobi One+ R18DD7 is 13 mm. The base-model Ryobi 18V drill is 10 mm — pay the extra $50 and get the 13 mm. Same for Ozito and Makita.

Step 3: Torque — over 50 Nm matters

Torque is the twisting force the drill can deliver. Lower torque = stalls in hardwood, stalls in masonry, can’t drive long screws. Higher torque = rips screws out the other side of soft pine if you’re not careful.

For Aussie homeowner work — driving 65 mm batten screws into structural pine, drilling 25 mm spade-bit holes through joists for cables, occasional masonry — you want at least 50 Nm. The Ryobi One+ HP drill is 80 Nm. The base Ryobi drill is 50 Nm. The Ozito PXC is 50 Nm. Anything under 40 Nm (some cheap Bunnings imports) you’ll outgrow in 6 months.

Step 4: 18V over 12V — even though 12V is cute

12V tools are smaller, lighter, and tempting for “just light jobs.” But 12V drills run out of grunt very quickly. Aussie hardwood (jarrah, blackbutt, spotted gum) eats 12V drills. Pre-drilling a 6 mm hole in jarrah will stall a 12V Ozito.

18V is the right choice unless you’re specifically buying a small tool for a specific reason (cabinet work in tight spaces). Even then, the Makita 12V CXT range is $250+ — once you spend that, you’re in 18V territory anyway.

Step 5: Brushless vs brushed — only matters if you use it daily

Brushless motors are more efficient (longer battery life), more powerful (higher torque), and last 3-5x longer than brushed motors. They also cost $50-100 more per tool.

If you use your drill twice a year, brushed is fine. The motor will outlive the rest of the tool from disuse alone. If you use it weekly, brushless pays back in battery life and motor longevity.

Marketing talks brushless like it’s magic. It’s not. It’s an incremental improvement that matters at the margins.

Step 6: Battery capacity — 4Ah is the homeowner sweet spot

Battery capacity is measured in Ah (amp-hours). Bigger Ah = longer runtime, but bigger Ah batteries are heavier and slower to charge.

2Ah — supplied with cheap kits. Half a day of light work. Get a second one fast.
4Ah — homeowner sweet spot. A day of work. Reasonable charge time (about 60 min on a standard charger).
6Ah and 9Ah — overkill for homeowners. Heavy on the drill. Only worth it for heavy tools (chainsaw, mower).

Buy the kit with one 4Ah battery, then buy a second 4Ah battery separately. Two 4Ah batteries beat one 9Ah battery for usability.

Step 7: Set the clutch correctly when driving screws

The numbered ring around the chuck is the clutch. It slips when the screw is fully driven, preventing over-tightening, stripping, or sinking screws past flush.

1-3: small screws into soft material (Gyprock screws, picture-hook screws)
4-8: typical timber screws in pine
9-15: long batten screws in hardwood, large coach screws
“drill” symbol (no clutch): for drilling only, never for driving — turns the clutch off

Most homeowners ignore the clutch and drive everything on “drill” mode. Result: stripped screws, sunk screws past flush, snapped Gyprock screws. Use the clutch.

Step 8: Match the bit to the job

The drill is only as good as the bit. A $300 Makita with a 1990s blunt bit drills worse than a $79 Ozito with a fresh Bosch bit. The bits matter.

Wood: brad-point bits or auger bits. Don’t use HSS bits in wood — they wander.
Metal: HSS or HSS-cobalt. Run slow with cutting oil.
Masonry: tungsten carbide tipped, hammer mode on the drill. Bosch CYL-5 or Makita.
Tile: diamond-coated or tile-specific bits. Never hammer mode — cracks the tile.

Step 9: Care for the drill

Don’t store batteries on the charger 24/7 — modern Li-ion is fine for shelf storage at 40-60% charge. Don’t leave the drill in a hot car (Aussie summers cook batteries). Wipe sawdust off after a job. Check the chuck periodically and tighten if loose.

Drop a Ryobi from a ladder once and it’ll usually survive. Twice and the gearbox starts making noise. Three times and you’re shopping again.

Step 10: Add tools to the platform deliberately

Once you’ve got a drill on a battery platform, the platform becomes the asset. Next purchase: an impact driver on the same platform (different tool, drill drives screws medium-tight, impact drives them rock-tight). Then: oscillating multi-tool. Then: angle grinder. Each new tool reuses the batteries you already own.

Don’t drift across platforms because of a special. The third Ozito tool is great until you discover Ryobi has one Ozito doesn’t, and now you’re juggling two charger plugs.

Step 11: Use the right speed setting

Most 18V drills have a 2-speed gearbox — slider on top, sometimes labelled 1/2 or “lo/hi.” Speed 1 is high torque, low RPM (driving big screws, drilling masonry, drilling large holes in timber). Speed 2 is low torque, high RPM (drilling small holes in soft material, fast pre-drilling).

Wrong gear = wasted battery and inefficient cuts. Driving a 75 mm batten screw on speed 2 stalls the drill. Drilling a 3 mm pilot hole on speed 1 takes forever. Slide the gear switch deliberately for each task.

Step 12: When to upgrade to a corded drill or impact

Cordless does 95% of homeowner jobs. The 5% that needs corded:

Long sustained use (mixing 20 kg of mortar) — battery dies fast, motor overheats
Heavy hammer drilling into concrete (more than 10 holes deeper than 60 mm)
Core drilling for chimney flues or large holes

For these, hire a corded SDS rotary hammer from Bunnings or Kennards for the day. Don’t kill your cordless trying to do work it isn’t designed for.

For driving lots of long screws or fasteners (decking, stud framing), an impact driver is the right tool, not a drill. Same battery platform, different mechanical design — impact drivers hammer the screw into place and won’t twist your wrist when a screw stalls.

The Mick rule

The Mick rule for cordless drills is: pick the platform, get 13 mm chuck and 50+ Nm, buy a second 4Ah battery. Platform is the 10-year decision. Chuck and torque make the drill capable. The second battery turns it from a frustrating tool into a genuinely useful one. Get those right and a $250 Ryobi kit will outlast every flat-pack you assemble for the next decade.

Got a tool platform you’ve stuck with for 10 years (or one you regret)? Send us a write-up.