Here’s a “bit” of creative advice on how to use your drill and bits.
When you get that Swedish furniture home in its box, all unassembled, you can expect to spend the next couple of hours tightening bolts with a small hex wrench. Here’s a trick. Use a hacksaw to cut the short section off just after the elbow, leaving you with the straight longer section. File off any burrs, and stick this in your drill chuck. You’ve got a power hex wrench.
Sometimes you might want to drill a small “finders hole” through a wall or floor — a small, discrete hole that will show you where to drill the real, larger hole. The problem is, most small diameter bits are too short. Take a wire coat hanger, and cut off the straight bottom section, making one of the cuts on a sharp angle to give it a sharp tip. Stick this in your drill, and you’ll be surprised at how well it works. It will drill though pretty much anything except concrete.
If you have an old 3/32″ bit, you can use it to make a handy, safe scribe. Sharpen it to a point, then put it in a mechanical pencil in place of the lead. Bring it out to mark your line, and retract it to slip it back in your pocket.
Worried about forgetting the diameter of small bits, since they’re too small to have the diameter scribed on them? Paint the shank end with a different color for each size, and keep a chart to help you decode them.
And don’t forget, with Hallowe’en coming up, to have your drill and a few spade bits handy when you carve your pumpkin. They’re great for carving very round eyes, mouths, and nostrils