Thread: Air drills

They're compact, pretty light and very reliable. My only complaints are the noise (that being said, the only ones I've used are pretty old, the newer ones may be quieter) and the hose hanging off the end.

Air drills are the best drill to use as they don't suffer if stalled and are damned powerful. The compressor is the issue, you need a bit more than the average hobby compressor to run them if you are doing a decent amount of work. Another issue is if you are drilling a lot of holes expect to get cold hands.

Air drills can be a high air consumption device, and to get good torque at low speed from one means you'll need to buy a good one, and be prepared for your compressor to cycle frequently.

Air drills excel at high speeds, but are not so good at "I'mma drill a one-inch hole in this steel plate" type work where you'll be down at 3-600 rpm.

Even carpenters with compressors on a job site don't use air drills, which should tell you something about their applicability in common construction tasks.

TL;DR version. Unless you have specific high speed uses in mind, buy a corded drill.

Originally Posted by Master Splinter

Even carpenters with compressors on a job site don't use air drills, which should tell you something about their applicability in common construction tasks.

Carpenters don't use air tools other than nail guns full stop. I have used air drills for years and yes they do drill at low speeds and that is one of their advantages. They don't overheat and let smoke out of the wires when they are loaded up and operating at low speeds. They are not feasible for most people due to large air requirements and it is not an economic proposition to gear up for just air drills. A corded drill is is for most people a far better investment.

As said above air drills are excelent with a decent compressor, if you think a 18v cordless is too expensive then forget about a air drill

I own an electric drill. This will be mainly used for pilot holes and countersinking. So mainly light work.

So if anyone can help me with the names of good brands and the like it would be much appreciated.

Kind regards, Andrew.

Air drills are great, and excel at production type work at a bench (think sheet metal). The bigger ones have huge amounts of grunt. I can only just stall the little ones (1/2hp~) we have at work with my hand around the chuck collar (OH+S people ignore that - chuck keys are lost way too easily). There is just short of 35 million variations from 300-3000RPM, 1/8-1.5HP etc. Small pilot holes would be fine with a 2600rpm-1/4-1/2HP drill.

With air tools you really get what you pay for. The house brand drill from your local industrial supplier will likely be around $100. It will drill holes just fine, but it will be big, it will be heavy, it will be loud and it probably won't last more than a couple of years in full time use. At the other end of the scale, you can spend $350~ and get something like a Sioux. Small, powerful, ergonomic, quiet and will last forever. They are a joy to use - the better drills have a feathering trigger, which is a blessing.

One tip though should you buy a loud drill - take off the little exhaust cover and jamb in as much scotchbrite as will fit in there. There will be a small sacrifice in power but the noise reduction can be as much as half.

Hope this helps.
Tom

The other thing with air powered tools is you need to keep an oil supply up to them which can contaminate your work.

You will only get oil contamination if you over oil or use a cheap brand, the best way to oil air tools is to set up a in line automatic oiler, and have a separate hose etc for spraying