Drill without breaking your wrist

[chim]

It may have been mentioned before, but just in case.............

My 1/4" DeWalt with a Quick-Connect impact chuck is often my go-to tool for hand drilling when it looks like a situation where the bit will catch. Today I was in a hurry and grabbed a Milwaukee M18 that was sitting nearby and went to work. For about 2 seconds. No go. The quickie job was enlarging the holes for the linchpins on the tops of the stems for the gauge wheels on the one RFM. It was one of those situations where the existing holes were way too large for a proper pilot.

The impact simply hammers away as though it is driving a drywall screw. No twisting of the wrist. It also works great with holesaws.

Oh, and it wasn't really surgery and the wheels didn't have Covid. The gloves were because everything was full of grease

 

[Trimley]

No VISE?

 

[chim]

No VISE?

Nope. Can hold drill in one hand and piece in the other. The impact hammers instead of twisting. To drill these holes I just laid them on a nearby transformer.

Should also note that so far I haven't chipped or broke any bits using the impact.

 

[mcmxi]

It may have been mentioned before, but just in case.............

My 1/4" DeWalt with a Quick-Connect impact chuck is often my go-to tool for hand drilling when it looks like a situation where the bit will catch. Today I was in a hurry and grabbed a Milwaukee M18 that was sitting nearby and went to work. For about 2 seconds. No go. The quickie job was enlarging the holes for the linchpins on the tops of the stems for the gauge wheels on the one RFM. It was one of those situations where the existing holes were way too large for a proper pilot.

The impact simply hammers away as though it is driving a drywall screw. No twisting of the wrist. It also works great with holesaws.

Oh, and it wasn't really surgery and the wheels didn't have Covid. The gloves were because everything was full of grease

That's a neat trick. I have one of those little impact DeWalts but not that Quick-Connect impact chuck. I'll have to order one those. I try to use the Hougen mag drill whenever possible but there are times when I'll grab the bigger DeWalt cordless drill, and as you say, almost break my wrist. That drill is on its last legs. I've had it for 15 to 20 years now and it's time for an upgrade.

 

[Showmedata]

IMO the impact is not friendly to most drill bits and is more likely to chip the cutting edge. But if it works, it works, and yay not getting beat up by the power tools.

 

[chim]

................. I try to use the Hougen mag drill whenever possible ...................................

Great tool. We had some real deal Hougen tools at work, and they were quite pricey. My mag drill is the "Oriental Version" of the Hougen. It uses the Weldon shank annular cutters and came with a 3-jaw chuck that has a Weldon end to work with the mag drill. A recent small project required a 1" diameter hole in a 1" thick plate. It took less than 1/2 a minute to drill. Here's a pic with the plug it spit out:

 

[GrizBota]

A drill/driver will protect your wrists too, adjust the torque setting to about 75% the capacity of the operator’s dominant wrist. But I’d want to use a vise (sans white glove).

I had a new set of 1/4” hex drill bits gifted to me. They had some sort of high zut titanium coating on them. Garbage! Used them on various projects, various bit sizes up to 1/2”. Not sure if they were dull out of the box (looked ok) and/or brittle, but I’m sort of surprised I haven’t tossed the whole kit.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Oh, and it wasn't really surgery and the wheels didn't have Covid.

Well mister, I hope you had your mask on just in case, cause you know, all the studies done from 1968 and beyond show that dust masks are an excellent filter and prevent you from getting airborne diseases.

 

[RichardAaronlx2610]

I love the electrical box work bench

 

[mikester]

Put a dap of palmolive on those drill bits. Cutting oils work too.

 

[chim]

The pad-mounted transformer was handy. I wasn't worried about poing a hole in it, but did work on the dry side. I'm guessing that the paint on the transformer has been shown to cause cancer in CA.

One benefit of the impact over a D/D is the real lack of torque when the bit sticks. A child could handle it. Just keep pressing the trigger and it keeps plowing through, where a D/D comes to a halt when the bit is challenged.

Never knew Madge could help Generally, it's Tap Magic for small stuff and Stick Kut for large bits, annular cutters and hole saws. Years ago when using a 7/8" hole saw on a thick piece of steel I used a slow stream of water from a garden hose with a battery drill.

 

[mcmxi]

Great tool. We had some real deal Hougen tools at work, and they were quite pricey. My mag drill is the "Oriental Version" of the Hougen. It uses the Weldon shank annular cutters and came with a 3-jaw chuck that has a Weldon end to work with the mag drill. A recent small project required a 1" diameter hole in a 1" thick plate. It took less than 1/2 a minute to drill. Here's a pic with the plug it spit out:

I should have bought a mag drill decades ago but finally got one around two years ago, maybe three. When it was time to drill 11 holes in the M6060 bucket to bolt on the factory cutting edge that I took off the MX6000 bucket, it took me longer to mark out and center punch the holes than to actually cut them. That would be a brutal job with a hand drill and good luck keeping the holes perpendicular to the surface of the bucket edge. The plate I had to drill through was at least 5/8" thick and I think the bolts were 5/8" too or maybe 9/16".

I also bought a standard drill chuck that Hougen sells so that I can run their cutters or regular drill bits. The only downside to the Hougen cutterrs is the limited sizing. That's why a standard chuck is a good addition.

 

[jyoutz]

That's a neat trick. I have one of those little impact DeWalts but not that Quick-Connect impact chuck. I'll have to order one those. I try to use the Hougen mag drill whenever possible but there are times when I'll grab the bigger DeWalt cordless drill, and as you say, almost break my wrist. That drill is on its last legs. I've had it for 15 to 20 years now and it's time for an upgrade.

For serious drilling I love my Milwaukee 1/2” corded hammer drill. Most of the time I’m using my DeWalt cordless drill, but the corded model is a beast for drilligthick steel or concrete. It will twist your wrist when not in hammer function if you’re not careful.