Drill – How to Fix a Drill Bit Coming Loose on Basic Rotary/Impact/Hammer Drills

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I just received this 21V 350 in-lb impact drill https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088JYH44C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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The 350 in-lb torque rating seemed kinda decent so honestly I expected better results than I am getting. I am wondering is it

  • "user error" (my first impact drill here)
  • expected limitations of this modest tool?
  • different bit extender needed

The tests I did:

With a two inch thick oak board:

  • drive a screw as deep as I can
  • drill out a 3/8 inch hole with a spade bit

In both cases they just gave up at one inch depth. Bits would come loose and wobble, and no further progress could be made.

As far as tightening/locking the bit: I watched a few youtube's and they talked about higher end dewalt/milwaukee etc that have locking mechanisms. This tool does not have a similar mechanism. Even so the instructions mention

The bit is secure when the chuck makes a ratcheting sound and the sleeve can not be rotated any further".

I did not hear any ratcheting sound even though the fit is tight (before drilling).

Based on a comment I will make the implicit goals here explicit:

"What needs to be done (if possible at all) to achieve"

* two inches of screw fastening in oak
* two inches of 3/8 inch spade boring in oak

The answers may be some combination of:

  • drilling type settings: classic vs impact vs hammer (latter not likely..)
  • speed settings: 1 (low speed higher torque) 2 (high speed lower torque)
  • ratcheting settings: 1 to 25

Best Answer

I would think that if you've cranked the chuck down as tight as it goes and the bits still slip, especially hex-shank bits with the chuck jaws on the flats of the shanks, then either there's a problem with the drill, or it's just simply not up to the task of drilling through oak.

Oak is a reasonably hard, dense wood (about 1290-1360 on the Janka scale).It is not, by any means, the hardest stuff out there, though, but it's around twice as hard as SPF (about 650-700 on the Janka), so an off-brand, more entry level tool may not be exactly the right one for that job.

Janka scale and definition. No affiliation, just the first place with a nice listing & definition.

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