DEWALTDWD112 8A 3/8" VSR Pistol-Grip Drill

I was recently working on a project that required drilling lots of countersunk pilot holes and drilling pocket holes with a Kreg jig. I had a Black and Decker drill and a Craftsman with two batteries. I was having to constantly rotate between the drills and batteries because they would lose torque once the batteries started to get a little low. The drills would wobble while drilling the countersunk holes, and I thought this was just my unsteady hands. Halfway through the project the Craftsman drill started to spark and pour smoke out of it so I came to Amazon looking for a replacement. I started out looking for another cordless and was looking at the more high end brands like Dewalt, Bosch, Makita, but their cordless drills were all awfully expensive, remembering what a pain waiting on charging batteries was I decided to check out corded drills and found this beauty.This is an incredibly high quality tool for the money. Upon opening the box, the drill feels heavy, but not a make your arms tired heavy, a good solid well built tool heavy. The little details like the all metal chuck, built in level level, long cord, and soft grips are immediately noticeable. I plugged it into an extension cord and went to work. It drilled beautifully with the countersink bit without any wobble at all, to my surprise it wasn't my unsteady hands, it was cheaper inferior drills that had been the problem! Some have mentioned the trigger being a little too responsive, but I found with a little practice I was able to control the speed easily and being able to adjust speed on the fly with a trigger is much more convenient that using those adjustment rings on other drills. The cord was never a problem, it never got in the way, and I never even noticed it once I got in a rhythm. I loved being able to finish the entire project without having to change batteries or take a break while i wait for a charge. I will keep a cordless drill on hand in case of having to drill in an odd location, but for serious projects I'm never going back to a cordless drill again.

A good electric drill is the single most useful power tool any homeowner can own. 28 years ago I bought a nearly identical DeWalt drill and it still works perfectly. I built a front and back decks, shelves, drilled masonry and worked on hundreds of woodworking and repair projects with that bad boy. Unfortunately time (or chemicals?) made the insulation on the old DeWalt cord crumble in hundreds of spots so I decided to splurge on a brand new DeWalt drill.The new DeWalt DWD112 8.0 amp 3/8" drill is almost identical to the old drill with some modest improvements. They've done away with that annoying, time-consuming chuck key and gone with a keyless chuck. I've never used one before and we'll see how it stands the test of time, but right now I like it. I wish it had a LED light on the front, but they still haven't incorporated this feature.The cord is made from a different rubberized material that hopefully won't deteriorate. The drill is still made from the same VERY tough highly-visible plastic though they added some grippy rubberized material on the front and handle. They retained the handy belt clip design and the same useful bubble levels on the top rear. The drill still reverses with a simple switch on the trigger.I noticed was that this new drill seems to have more torque than the old one. Man, when I pull the trigger I really notice a kick, promising lots of working power. Some reviewers seem to have a problem controlling the speed for screws, but mine works fine. If you are a homeowner or even a contractor needing a reliable medium-sized drill, the DeWalt DWD112 earns a solid five stars.

I was a bit hesitant to buy this drill because so many people seemed to think the trigger was way too sensitive. All I have to say to those people is, "have you ever used any sort of remotely sensitive piece of equipment?" I'm no contractor and I'd hardly consider myself even a handyman, but I found the trigger extremely easy to use to manage the speed. It is quite variable, and the speed adjusts smoothly from the fully open position all the way in to fully depressed (ie, the more you squeeze the faster it spins).I just thought that was worth noting, because I thought the trigger response was exceptional and I'm not sure how else you'd design it to have an easier way to manage the rpm's???Other than that, the drill itself is great. It has a ridiculous amount of power, from the cheap-o brand drill that I was used to. Wasn't paying attention and I almost put a screw head all the way through a piece of 3/4" plywood. I was waiting for a little resistance or for the drill to start bogging and when I looked to see if the screw was in all the way it was actually almost all the way through the other side. Very powerful. I think this thing will last for a LONG time. Very happy with it.I've always like traditional locking chucks but I've been happy with this one so far. You can hear it clicking as it ratchets shut, and I haven't had any problems at all with the bit slipping. Drilled a 3/8" hole through over 8" of solid hardwood tonight without so much as a hiccup.Also, for what it's worth, this model (DWD112) DOES have a small bubble level. Played around with it a bit and I'm not sure how useful it actually will be, but it does have one.