Advice on magnetic drills

[Ed.]

Need some advice from the collective on magnetic drills, it's not a must have for me as I have a 16 speed pedestal drill (but which has seen better days as it doesn't handle vibration well, bearings probably need replacing) but a Mag drill would come in handy as I am building an approx 8mx8m steel framed shed and is more portable than lagging around a pedestal drill back and forth from the site on a daily basis on the trailer, and once complete would come in handy afterwards for other projects requiring larger holes. I already have about 7 annular cutters which I could use, largest is 40mm.
Personally I think that the first one is better value and I am leaning towards it, but would really like the 1800W power of the second one, though not sure if I would ever use a drill bit larger than the 16mm because I would then use the annullar cutters.

Has anyone here bought any similar units, and what are your experiences with them?


Looking at some cheap Chinese made units on E-bay, both with some con's and pro's. Not necessarily from these buyers as there are heaps of sellers selling identical units.

1) https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/334760488055

Pro's: Comes complete with a drill chuck and a weldon adaptor, coolant bottle, 11 annular cutters and a few other bits and pieces
Con's: Only can drill to 16mm using twist drill, 1300W

2) https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/144967134116

Pros: 1800W, can use twist drills to 23mm due to lower speed, higher wattage and higher torque.
Cons: No coolant bottle, doesn't have a weldon adaptor, nor does it have the annular cutters, a bit slower RPM

 

[zzr1200]

Remember that you'll need to be drilling at least 6mm thick material minimum (I prefer 8/10mm) for the magnet to hold on to, or you'll have to provide extra backing plate/thickness so the mag drill doesn't skate or fall off.

Unless your building a frame out of steel column and H section, mag drills are great, but sometimes can be a pain...

 

[tom 748]

if doing heavy steel its a no brainer,best thing i ever got

 

[Pete.]

I'm using one of these right now for 22 and 38mm holes in steel up to 1" thick. Comes with through-coolant which vastly extends the life of the cutters.

Rotabroach Commando 40

Rotabroach Commando 40 Magdrill Includes Free cutter kit 14mm cutter 16mm cutter 18mm cutter 20mm cutter 22mm cutter x2 pilots Cuts up to 40mm

www.unitedwelding.co.uk

 

[frank horton]

the only regret with mine it has no reverse.......needed for biggish tapping....

 

[8ob]

Need some advice from the collective on magnetic drills, it's not a must have for me as I have a 16 speed pedestal drill (but which has seen better days as it doesn't handle vibration well, bearings probably need replacing) but a Mag drill would come in handy as I am building an approx 8mx8m steel framed shed and is more portable than lagging around a pedestal drill back and forth from the site on a daily basis on the trailer, and once complete would come in handy afterwards for other projects requiring larger holes. I already have about 7 annular cutters which I could use, largest is 40mm.
Personally I think that the first one is better value and I am leaning towards it, but would really like the 1800W power of the second one, though not sure if I would ever use a drill bit larger than the 16mm because I would then use the annullar cutters.

Has anyone here bought any similar units, and what are your experiences with them?


Looking at some cheap Chinese made units on E-bay, both with some con's and pro's. Not necessarily from these buyers as there are heaps of sellers selling identical units.

1) https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/334760488055

Pro's: Comes complete with a drill chuck and a weldon adaptor, coolant bottle, 11 annular cutters and a few other bits and pieces
Con's: Only can drill to 16mm using twist drill, 1300W

2) https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/144967134116

Pros: 1800W, can use twist drills to 23mm due to lower speed, higher wattage and higher torque.
Cons: No coolant bottle, doesn't have a weldon adaptor, nor does it have the annular cutters, a bit slower RPM

I have a 240v mag drill with a chuck and 110v which takes the cutters, I find the one with the the chuck very handy for times when I dont have exactly the right size cutter. That said if it only needs to use the cutters you dont really need a chuck.

Bob

 

[James1979]

I have a 240v mag drill with a chuck and 110v which takes the cutters, I find the one with the the chuck very handy for times when I dont have exactly the right size cutter. That said if it only needs to use the cutters you dont really need a chuck.

Bob

You can get a chuck with a Weldon shank.

Mine has a MT2 which is really helpful. I have an MT2-Weldon which lives in there but I can fit a chuck or a tapping head if I want.

Tapping head is a faff because you lose so much height but it’s handy for smaller ones. Larger ones go in a chuck fine. Adjustable speed is nice.

There was one for sale on here a while back.

Mine is a Rhur (sp?). Rotabroach is pretty much industry standard in the UK.

 

[Agroshield]

The maximum size given for for twist drills is possibly theoretical rather than practical.

Yes, the chuck in the first one will open up to 16mm dia., but the length of a standard 16mm dia. jobber drill might not fit when the machine is at its highest.

Similarly, with the second one, the 23mm would only be achieved with a Morse taper drill bit and you would still have to check the height is there.

 

[Agroshield]

Tapping head is a faff because you lose so much height

I wonder if anyone has ever produced a riser block for mag drills.

Like on a power tool hoover/extractor, you could have a socket outlet on the main drill into which you plug the magnet on the riser. Maybe even a manual magnet on the riser.

 

[James1979]

I wonder if anyone has ever produced a riser block for mag drills.

Like on a power tool hoover/extractor, you could have a socket outlet on the main drill into which you plug the magnet on the riser. Maybe even a manual magnet on the riser.

There’s a couple of ideas of gaztube along that line.

One guy on a plasma forum I’m on made a base that went on a cantilever arm thing over a welding table. He got a bit of extra height but it didn’t need to have ferrous workpiece either.

It’s actually a bit better than I’ve explained. I’ll see if it’ll let me link it

 

[tom 748]

I'm using one of these right now for 22 and 38mm holes in steel up to 1" thick. Comes with through-coolant which vastly extends the life of the cutters.

Rotabroach Commando 40

Rotabroach Commando 40 Magdrill Includes Free cutter kit 14mm cutter 16mm cutter 18mm cutter 20mm cutter 22mm cutter x2 pilots Cuts up to 40mm

www.unitedwelding.co.uk

same as mine

 

[Rrobson]

It’s a tough call, because they’re both cheap Chinese drills. And although one comes with cutters, what are the chances of them being any good?
Having used quality mag base drills for many years you just can’t compare the two. If I could, I’d increase my budget and get a big named brand, be it a rotabroach, jei, or my personal favourites a unibor or g&j Hall. Variable speeds are the ones to have if you’re considering using twist drills. And with the unibor and g&j hall drills, their rated twist drill capacity is 32mm (morse taper 3) but on many occasions I’ve used drills up to 45mm with them. I have a large drill at home, and every now and again I need to put an inch hole in something that I can’t get under the mag base. Only having morse taper drills you can understand the versatility of a decent sized mag drill

 

[Ed.]

Thanks for your input guys, one of the eBay sellers said he would get back to me as he was going to ask his supplier if there are any other different models available, but I don't hold much hope, it basically means he has no other models in stock and will most likely have to order a few to get a decent price, which could take forever to get here. I will wait a few days and if no luck I will order the first choice.

Thinking about my requirements, realistically, I will probably not use anything larger than a 16mm twist drill so better off getting the 1300W model and get all those other bits and pieces. My shed is going to be built out of 100x50mmx3mm SHS so it won't be clamped to that but need a drill to put in holes for the gussets and the strap plates which are out of 10mm flat plate. I will clamp down a piece of heavy plate to the trailer tail gate for the mag clamp. Eventually once the shed is built I will order a 16-20mm plate for the top of my small welding bench frame I have partially built and use that mag drill to clamp to that, I had to sell my big bench for the house move. That bench weighed over a ton and was 3mx1.2m x25mm, and whist I would have like to have kept it, I really don't need one that big, it would also have been too much of a logistical nightmare to move it 300km into my current house rental whilst we wait for our house to be built and then move it again.

I can't justify spending a lot on a good drill as I am retired now so probably will only use it once in a blue moon afterwards so hopefully the Chinese unit will last a while, it is certainly cheap enough.

 

[8ob]

You can get a chuck with a Weldon shank.

Mine has a MT2 which is really helpful. I have an MT2-Weldon which lives in there but I can fit a chuck or a tapping head if I want.

Tapping head is a faff because you lose so much height but it’s handy for smaller ones. Larger ones go in a chuck fine. Adjustable speed is nice.

There was one for sale on here a while back.

Mine is a Rhur (sp?). Rotabroach is pretty much industry standard in the UK.

I bough a small chuck to go with the smaller mag drill but there really isn't enough height under the chuck for anything other than reclaimed snapped drills . The big one takes MT2 drills and with the chuck in place can still use blacksmith drills.

Bob

 

[GRW]

The Fabricator in work uses a Mag Drill - not sure what maje/type. I repaired damaged leads and replaced worn brushes a couple of times, & helped him out by drilling plates with it for a Gantry/Walkway thing.
Good bits of kit (no chuck on this one, he uses cutter bits maybe 16mm to 40mm or so).

It's been known to get pulled off the steel more than once, with the Magnetic not being strong enough (hence the need for repaired leads).... he now tends to add a Bessey Clamp for additional security to the Mag Drill (one fits nicely behind the cutter on the foot where the magnetic base is).

Really good, effective bit of kit if you need accurate, straight largeish holes in thick steel plate!

 

[Ed.]

I finally bought a Mag drill, 2 days after I finished my shed build (doh) and 1.5 years after I first looked into getting one, talk about procrastination, but it will come in handy for some project or other in the future. It is a cheap VEVOR Magnetic Drill (AU390 delivered) 1450W 12800N 800rpm with variable speed and Left/Right function, 6 annular cutters, (apparently it is supposed to be capable of drilling up to 50mm wide holes) a Weldon and Jacobs chuck, the Weldon chuck is a quick release type so makes chuck swapping a couple of seconds job. I don't thinks that it can take a m2 or m3 taper inside the spindle.

I have since found out that I might be able to get a clutched tapping head to fit the mag drill, never having used a mag drill or any sort of tapping head I am just wondering if the tapping head requires individual specific sized collets to hold all the different sized taps in it or does it have some sort of universal end to take what ever sized tap I put in it?

Does anyone here use a clutched tapping head and what brand do they use? Thanks

 

[Agroshield]

I am just wondering if the tapping head requires individual specific sized collets to hold all the different sized taps

Yes. And there are different standards for tap shanks and the square ends thereon to contend with also (so not all M12 taps will have the same top end).

Look for some past posts by kram as he investigated it thoroughly and his thread will give you an idea of the situation.

Tapping collets

Want to get some collets for powered tapping with a floating holder, seems there are many different types and generally all expensive including chinese imports. Anyone used them? There are ISO, DIN and JIS standards covering the shank diameter and square for each metric tap, each slightly...

www.mig-welding.co.uk

 

[Ed.]

My first impression, the mag drill finally arrived so I did a couple of drill holes to try it out and to find out if there are any problems with it. I fitted a 27mm annular cutter to it and proceeded to drill, turns out that the selector for right and left appear to be marked the wrong way, I had assumed the the "R" position would mean it turns clockwise and the "L" would be counter clockwise. Apparently not, for normal drilling you have to select the "L" position, so either I am wrong in assuming that or that the wiring in the unit is wired incorrectly or the label is printed the wrong way. It came packed in an extremely thick and strong cardboard box so no damage on arrival. It also requires a 15A plug which isn't a problem as I will have a heap of those sockets wired up in the shed next week.

Anyway It's a minor detail, now that I know what it does I can work around it, it cut through the 10mm flat bar with the 27mm cutter like butter. No effort, chatter in the cut or vibration on the handle and nice straight holes. The coolant bottle drips a little bit where the tube connects in and out, but a bit of Teflon tape or sealant should fix it. So overall it does what it is supposed to. As I will only use it very rarely I expect it should last me a very long time. Only thing I would have liked is a M2 or M3 shank in the spindle but that isn't that big a deal for me and for the AU$390 I paid for it, I think it is well worth it. It came with a 6.34mm locator pin which suits the supplied cutters but I also need to get a 8mm one to fit my other existing cutters I have.

 

[bourbon]

Top Tip. make sure no one turns the electricity off!

 

[Memmeddu]

I bough a small chuck to go with the smaller mag drill but there really isn't enough height under the chuck for anything other than reclaimed snapped drills . The big one takes MT2 drills and with the chuck in place can still use blacksmith drills.

Bob

View attachment 389635

The bigger one looks like it uses a Bosch 1103 power head.
I've restored one recently to fit it on a stand but not have had the time for.
Now I have a Fein DSK 672 too but I'd need a BUX or LFT mag base for it as it's an huge Mt3 hand held drill.

I finally bought a Mag drill, 2 days after I finished my shed build (doh) and 1.5 years after I first looked into getting one, talk about procrastination, but it will come in handy for some project or other in the future. It is a cheap VEVOR Magnetic Drill (AU390 delivered) 1450W 12800N 800rpm with variable speed and Left/Right function, 6 annular cutters, (apparently it is supposed to be capable of drilling up to 50mm wide holes) a Weldon and Jacobs chuck, the Weldon chuck is a quick release type so makes chuck swapping a couple of seconds job. I don't thinks that it can take a m2 or m3 taper inside the spindle.

I have since found out that I might be able to get a clutched tapping head to fit the mag drill, never having used a mag drill or any sort of tapping head I am just wondering if the tapping head requires individual specific sized collets to hold all the different sized taps in it or does it have some sort of universal end to take what ever sized tap I put in it?

Does anyone here use a clutched tapping head and what brand do they use? Thanks

View attachment 474472

I do have the older version of it not even sure if vevor most likely morphon.
Got mine for free during the lockdown, paid for the shipping only.
It has broken gear housing, I've encapsulated it with steel plates and and an epoxy casting.
Working ever since.
Be aware your model won't take regular anular cutters but it will take Fein quick in style ones

Top Tip. make sure no one turns the electricity off!

Top tip ratchet strap it in place