Cordless drill torque — inch-pounds, newton-metres, and the clutch
I stripped so many drywall screws before I understood what the numbered collar on my drill actually did. It's a slip clutch, and each number is a torque setting.
That ring of numbers behind the chuck on any cordless drill isn't a speed setting — the speed selector is the separate slider on top. The numbered ring is a torque clutch. It slips (with that distinct ratcheting sound) when the screw hits the set resistance, protecting the screw head, the bit, and the workpiece from being over-driven. Set it low for soft materials, high for hard ones, and put it on the drill-bit icon (highest setting) to bypass the clutch entirely for drilling holes.
The actual torque values behind those numbers vary by drill, but for a typical 18 V compact drill they run roughly from 15 in-lb at position 1 up to 300+ in-lb at max. The steps aren't quite linear — they cluster tighter at the low end and spread out at the top. Manufacturer specs usually only quote the peak number, so figuring out what position 6 means on your particular drill is trial and error.
The rough guide I use
1-4: small brass screws in soft wood, cabinet hinges, hanging picture frame hardware. Anything where over-torquing crushes the material.
5-8: drywall screws (though a real drywall gun with an adjustable depth stop is better). #6 or #8 wood screws in pine.
9-12: deck screws in softwood. Kitchen cabinet installation. Assembling flat-pack furniture without cracking the particle board.
13-18: long structural screws, lag bolts into pilot holes, deck screws in hardwood.
19+: this is where you're really into 'drive it home' territory. GRK trim screws, big timber screws.
Drill icon: hole-drilling only. Clutch is disabled and the drill will happily break your wrist if the bit binds.
Inch-pounds, foot-pounds, newton-metres
American drill specs are in inch-pounds. European specs are in newton-metres. 12 in-lb = 1 ft-lb = 1.36 Nm. A cordless drill rated 400 in-lb is a 45 Nm drill in European marketing, or a 33 ft-lb drill if you're comparing to a torque wrench. Impact drivers use ft-lb because their numbers are much bigger — a decent impact driver delivers 1500-2000 in-lb, which is 125-165 ft-lb, or 170-225 Nm. That's why impacts drive lag bolts a drill can only dream about.
What the clutch can't do
Depth. A clutch stops when torque hits the set value, which happens at different depths depending on wood density and grain. For consistent depth (drywall, trim), you want a driver with a nose cone or a proper drywall gun. The clutch is for protecting the fastener, not for placing it accurately.
Also worth knowing: impact drivers don't have clutches at all. They deliver rotational hammer-blows and rely on the operator to release the trigger at the right moment. This is why impact-driving small brass screws is asking for trouble — the impacts snap the heads off before you can react.
Try the converters mentioned in this article
FAQ
Why does my drill's clutch feel different in reverse?+
Most clutches only engage in forward. Reverse bypasses the clutch so you can back out stuck screws — which is also why you can strip a screw head easily in reverse if it's really stuck.
Are brushless drills more torquey?+
Not automatically. They're more efficient (longer runtime) and hold torque better under load, but a brushed drill and a brushless drill of the same class deliver similar peak numbers.
This article was written by The Turbo Unit Converter engineering desk (Applied metrology & engineering units) and last reviewed on 2026-07-21 against NIST SP 811 and the BIPM SI Brochure. Read our full editorial policy.