A Dependable Skil Cordless Drill

by Jason Dyck
(last updated April 6, 2020)

4

Much to my wife's chagrin, I have been bitten by the home improvement bug. There are so many things to be done, so many more things to be torn out and done better! I have had a number of projects waiting for the right tool for a while now—I had no variable speed drill. Now, with the help of the Skil cordless drill/driver, those jobs have been done. Shelves have been hung, doors replaced and repaired, and many a loose screw set right, and a few more entries on my To-Do list have been scratched off.

Skil is a well known company with a wide variety of great products for both the professional and the weekend warrior. They have a great reputation and their products are generally reasonably priced. The drill I used was the 12V Max Lithium Ion Cordless Drill/Driver, model 2414 (some models have the same name). It has 15 speeds, a high-torque/high-speed switch, and a variable speed trigger. Almost the whole thing is rubberized and I used the back side at one point for some light mallet work on a door. (I wouldn't suggest using the unit as a mallet regularly.)

(For more information on Skil products you can visit their website at http://www.skiltools.com.)

After all the odd jobs I did, here is what I thought:

  • Ease of Use. The Skil Max Lithium Cordless is very handy to use. It is light, quiet, and comfortable to the hand. The rubberizing makes it very easy to grip so you can keep your drilling steady. The variable torque and speed are easy to do and make your work a lot more effective. At low speeds, the drive will ratchet if it can't turn the bit, rather than sticking or burning out, so you have to make sure your speed is set high enough if you want slow, high-torque work. The keyless chuck is easy and comfortable to use and the lighted battery meter on the back makes it easy to see how much juice you have left.
  • Maintenance. The battery life is great. In my initial work session I did a fair bit of work (probably about an hour of actual work) and I didn't have to swap the battery (the drill/driver comes with two batteries and a charger). The batteries charge pretty quickly, and changing the battery pack is very easy.
  • Pros. The power that this thing produces has been more than sufficient for everything I have thrown at it so far, but I have not done any heavy-duty work. The drill/driver is comfortable to handle and use and comes with a handy carrying case for storing or transporting all of the parts.
  • Cons. I could not find anything to complain about with this tool. It handled everything I tried and I loved using it.
  • Overall Experience. This is a great tool. It retails for under a hundred dollars, I really enjoyed using it, and it did everything I needed it to. For a power tool, I don't know what else I could ask.

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Author Bio

Jason Dyck

Jason has been a cook, a hotel clerk, a website developer, a landscaper, a dance instructor, a financial auditor, and the list goes on. He holds Associate degrees in English and Social Science. Jason lives in Utah with his wife and two sons. ...

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Comments

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What is 2 + 8?

2020-09-15 05:48:59

Harold

Thanks David


2020-09-14 04:06:22

David S

@Harold

It looks like you have forgotten to include the secondary sort that Allen refers to. You need to use 'Custom Sort', set 'Sort by' [year column], and add 'Then By' [Serial number column].


2020-09-12 08:31:17

Ed de Jong

Thanks for pointing out the new SORTBY function.


2020-09-12 06:03:21

Harold Druss

My sorted list by date.
SFP/0225/2017
SFP/0215/2017
SFP/0220/2017

User asked to sort by date, then by leading characters.
I would think the list should look like this?
SFP/0215/2017
SFP/0220/2017
SFP/0225/2017


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