Hand drilling in metal

[God mode restorations]

I have been looking at investing in a mag drill. Soon as my new pillar drill arrives in will be getting my self one

 

[blenkie1]

I never had a hire one with a safety chain, but we always asked for a clamp or 2.

Surprised a hire company has supplied them without a safety chain. I have 2 and both came with a safety strap and it stipulates in the manual that they must be used. One of them weighs 25kg.

 

[Mr shiney]

How does a mag drill work?

 

[dan.taylor.1]

Big electromagnet on the bottom which holds it against the steel, then pretty much like a pillar drill except the whole body moves rather than a quill. Usually won't drill unless the mag is on.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Surprised a hire company has supplied them without a safety chain. I have 2 and both came with a safety strap and it stipulates in the manual that they must be used. One of them weighs 25kg.

When we hire them, unless we specify, we do not get a retainer.

We have to state if we are using it at height, then we will get a chain or a clamp.

The best one we hire in have an inter lock so the chain locks in.

 

[Mr shiney]

Big electromagnet on the bottom which holds it against the steel, then pretty much like a pillar drill except the whole body moves rather than a quill. Usually won't drill unless the mag is on.

Thanks.

 

[tomsutton529]

99% of the holes I drill in fan blades work fine with a 2.5mm pilot and then up to 8.5 ... Until last month, I was acting as 2nd man so passing the bits and bobs to the lad up top, he kept asking for a new drill bit, all the ones I gave him were new and looked sharp but he kept asking for a new one. After 15 minutes I had a go and it just wouldn't go through so ended up having to drill it in 5 stages. The odd thing is, we went to the fan next to it as this also needed balancing, same manufacturer, installed at the same time, does the same job and is on the same system and it drilled perfectly fine.

On a side note, our boss had an after thought on frame we are making in the workshop for a balancing machine and we had to drill 8x 90mm holes in 3mm steel.. put an afternoon aside for a job like that and buy in the worlds supply of cutting fluid.

 

[Bill Edwards]

How does a mag drill work?

Worth a look.

 

[God mode restorations]

Well I been busy in the shed today sorting out a battery tray for my lorry..so I took your advice guys on drilling and it's a lot easier so thanks for the information. And managed to produce some good swarf..happy days

 

[God mode restorations]

Out of interest guys.can anyone suggest a good quality drill.my little bosch pro just ain't up to the task.

 

[Pete.]

Wolf gutbuster

http://r.ebay.com/3iObDl

 

[Hitch]

For upto 14 i tend to use twist drills, 5/6 pilot, 8/9 then the 13/14

I have a basic weldon shank adaptor to fit in a pistol drill so i can use mag drill cutters, drill a pilot hole the same size as the pin and use it to align the cutter. Invaluable on site when you cant get a hole to line up, no pilot required if theres a plate already there to use as a guide.
Can do 22mm holes with a cordless.

 

[Kent]

Drill the pilot hole slightly bigger than the central none cutting edge of the larger drill. With say a 1/2 " you can go through in one if accuracy isn't paramount if you take a bite out the drill centre with the edge of the grinding wheel on either flute

I use blacksmith drills up to 22 mm and hole saws by starret and irwin but in the straight pitch only - with plenty treflex or other cutting grease

 

[Bill Edwards]

Milwaukee seem to be the best you can buy, though they're probably not Bosch prices. Makita are good and won't disappoint if you aren't looking to spend a fortune.

 

[brightspark]

Milwaukee seem to be the best you can buy, though they're probably not Bosch prices. Makita are good and won't disappoint if you aren't looking to spend a fortune.

over priced for what they are same as dewalt

 

[Bill Edwards]

over priced for what they are same as dewalt

Well it's possible they've changed, but the ones I have had for over ten years and still going strong have been worth every penny of their price plus some.
Dewalt= rubbish, from my limited experience of them. A joiner was using my Makita and a battery was lasting a full day. He had to buy himself a third battery to do the same days work with the dewalt.

 

[God mode restorations]

Hi. A big shout to all the help and information you guys have given me. I can now drill good accurate holes in thick metal with no problems at all. Like these m10 holes in quarter inch thick steel....I can now chuck thick plate on the bench like it's a walk in the park

 

[Pete.]

Nice one Spencer.

 

[Bill Edwards]

Same battery tech and capacity?

For instance, a 3ah lipo will massively outlast a 1.2ah nimh, more so than the numbers would suggest.

Unless it's a direct like-for-like comparison your statement is meaningless - cuz like, y'know, my mains powered black&decker will work all week without being charged

Going back almost a decade here, I know my batteries are nicd and I should think his were too. I certainly wasn't using anything special.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

I never had good experience with Makita, the batteries would fail, or the planetary gears would fail. I junked about 4.
Now at work we have junked all our Makita drills.
They supply Bosch drills to Service Engineers.

My De Walt has lasted since 2004 and still going strong. In that time I replaced the 2 batteries. I dropped one, still worked, but the case was beyond repair. The Other was my fault, I over charged it (Friends after market cheepy charger) and over few months it would not hold a charge.

But Bristol batteries supplied me 2 new ones for about £60.

Don't get me going on the new black and white style Makita drills.