Questions about portable drills and Helicoils for wood applications. [View all]

Hi, I have tended to use an electric drill during the few times that I have used tools.

I have a home project where I will be building a holder for heavy rectangle boxes for a relative.

I have done the design, but I have two related questions.

What is the best 18v brushless portable drill on the market. It must take a drill bit up to 1/2 inch? I did some reading this weekend and there seem to be conflicting review information. Bosch, DeWalt and Milwaukee are well known names, but I read a lot of claims that their quality has slipped, people buying expensive drills that either didn’t work, lasted a few uses, or failed after a few months. I generally hate to go through the process of sending a defective item back, typically I just swear off the manufacturer and throw or give the thing away. So, since I need the drill for an immediate project and one later on where I will be doing a gardening construction project, I want to get things right on the first pass.

For those of you that use them regular AND have purchased a drill within the last 2 years, what drill should I buy?

I have used Helicoils before, but there is not a lot of information on ones that work well in wood. The item that I am building for my relative will take a lot of dynamic force. I am concerned that if I use self-piercing screws, over time they will chew up the wood fiber around them and loosen. I found only one video online where a guy inserted Helicoils into wood, but he appeared to have used the same ones that are used for metal and didn’t explain his choice of those particular Helicoils for a wood application.

What are the best Helicoils for inserting into wood? I expect to have some cases where I will be using 1/2 relatively fine thread screws. Should I use the same Helicoils that I would use for metal and put Loctite on them during installation, or would that be a mistake?