The Neutral Power Drill as designed by Tim Bennet, combines the look of Modern Art and Industrial Design into this new multi-use cordless drill. The square shaped tool makes you do a double take as you try to mentally figure out what is really going on. On the surface it might like like a three dimensional square but it actually combines a stud finder, laser level and an adjustable depth of drive drill/driver. While we don’t have any hard numbers on the specifications at this point… who cares. Any metrosexual would pay top dollar for a tool like this. Sorry contractors and pros, this drill is not for you. This drill is a lesson in understanding your market and designing a product that fits it.
There is a pistol grip which houses the battery and a trigger control for the drill/driver. The chuck is a quick connect 1/4″ hex drive type. The Neutral Power Drill has a unique feature that allows you to put the flat part of the drill handle guard right against the surface you are drilling into. This flat part also has a built in stud finder. The idea would be that you have a screw already loaded onto the bit, you position the drill against the wall, locate a stud and then commence driving the screw into the already lined up stud. What makes this possible is the chuck is on a movable slide that retracts into the head of the tool that allows bit and screw to fit inside until you are ready to drill. Just to make sure you have things lined up precisely, there is a built in laser too.
Tim Bennet is so sure of this design that he entered it into the iF Concept Design 2011 competition. This is a brutal competition where all kinds of household items duke it out for top honors and the chance to be picked up by a manufacturer. We have to give it to Tim that he took an item that has not really changed much since its advent and gave it a new twist. While it is a little tricky to fully understand and appreciate this tool without actually getting it in for review, we do wish the Neutral Power Drill good luck in the competition.
