Thread: A good 240V hand drill?

Originally Posted by TEEJAY

Now that is interesting.

Do you use cutting compound with it?

Can it be re-sharpened? Looks like i can free-hand on a grinder.

One other thing too - it is great for sheet metal as you say. How about 3.5mm thick RHS steel that is likely to be 350MPa steel (higher strength than thin sheet metal 250MPa)

I have never used cutting compound with it but it would certainly improve its performance and help to maintain the cutting edge

As far as sharpening goes you would likely have to give to a professional. The shed erectors used to use them until the they wouldn't cut any more probably a couple of thousand holes then buy a new one.

We used to drill hi-tensile purlins with the up to 3.5mm in thickness and they are between G450 and G550 in hardness

All good tips and worth a try Bazza as your info is based upon tried and true personal experience - thanks.

I do however find your disclaimer at the base of your posts good too. Have you been chased by anyone after giving advice

I haven't seen them before. Thanks for the tip Barry et al. Looks like a handy tool that could have saved me some time in the past.
I reckon you could have a go at sharpening them on a grinder. I'm sure a sharpening service could do it for less than replacement value as well.

If you are still going down the new machine road...have a look at trade tools.... they have some generic industrial hand drills that don't break the bank.

Regarding step drills.
For working on thin material like sheet aluminium they are just wonderfull.
They are sooo much better than using a hole saw particulary on aluminium and plastics, they clear the waste sooo much better.

there are some considerably cheaper ones available. jaycar have two in their cataloge. I can lay may hands on some from " my sources" if necessary.

I've never tried them on heavier harder stuff.

Sharpening them isnt hard. you need a fine wheel on the bench grinder that has been dressed flat and square with a sharp corner.
there is a vertical trench (or two) runs up the cutter.
You simply grind the face of the trench on wheel. Carefully and with light touch. you may find using the side of the wheel easier.
Do not grind any of the profile.


On another note it occurs to me that you are using too big a pilot hole.
The pilot hole should only be big enough to easily acomodate the centre web of the final drill. So a pilot of somewhere arround 3/16 ( 4mm) is probaly more appropriate.
The drill will then cut properly over the full width of the cutter and break thru should be more controlled.

You may also wish to increase the cutting angle of the flutes so you are cutting a pointier cone..... if the drill doctor will do that.
Or flatten out the relief angle of the edge which will tend to chip limit the cutter and it will grab less.

cheers

Call me lazy and maybe the pilot hole is too big, but when i drill the hole it is to be used in a steel stud fence butting up to a 75mm RHS galvanised post and this is to be clad with blueboard and rendered - hence a pool fence.

So the benefit of using the larger drill bit is it is long enough to drill in one side of the post through the steel stud section then straight through the other side of the post and the steel section and instantly a hole for a bolt - just needs to be the right size. If I use a 4mm or 6mm drill I cannot drill through this post and the frame in one go and have to measure and line up etc etc - room for error. Straight through from one side and then resizing is the best method for me.

I did visit bunnies yesterday and am now the proud owner of a $69 Ozito 900W drill and a $24 packet with not one, not two but three step drills in it. I did look for a (perhaps) more expensive one that may be better but none were on display so will see how the Chinese tungsten carbide wonder step drill goes in the fantastic Ozito (very heavy) drill - hopefully the weight is gears and motor.

The B&D drill was returned for warantee repair as the gearbox is in many small pieces inside.

Thanks for the help guys - it is going to be both interesting to see how this new drill and new drill bit works.

Come on weekend

My son (Electrician ) has a Hilti. That is one straight forward powerful drill. Talking about putting holes in stuff, that is a workhorse of a drill.

As for going through the SHS that you have you can get long series drills which will go through 200mm SQ SHS in one pass.
We do a fair bit of this sort of drilling and we mainly use a magnetic base drill or if we are doing by hand we use a 1000 watt Metabo. They are i think still the only full wave electronic drill on the market. You can shut the revs right down to save 60 rpm and still have full torque. And if you can apply enough pressure when drilling you can hand drill 25mm holes with a step shank by hand. Plenty of cutting compund and its not a major drama.
Step drills as everyone has already said are a wonderful tool for thin wall.

Originally Posted by Hickory

My son (Electrician ) has a Hilti. That is one straight forward powerful drill. Talking about putting holes in stuff, that is a workhorse of a drill.

Hickory I think you and Bob are right on the money for the best drills, and they are priced accordingly.

Our work buys quite a bit of Hilti gear - coring machines, kanga hammer drills and their rechargeable drills and for sure they are tough and durable but out of my price league - thanks for the tip though.

First I have an Ozito to kill and and a B&D coming back from warantee repairs with a new gearbox.

I would say perhaps the next step up for me will more likely be a metabo or trade grade makita?

Originally Posted by TEEJAY

I do however find your disclaimer at the base of your posts good too. Have you been chased by anyone after giving advice

I haven't had anyone chase me yet but they would have trouble finding me anyway. Even when I tell people how to find me they end up ringing me and ask how to find me.

Okay I got the Ozito 950W drill for $69 from bunnys and it has awesome torque really drives home a screw into hardwood.

I also got the $30 step drill and it was c r a p absolute rubbish. Cut the first piece or two of sheet metal and I thought wow - impressive. Then came up against the RHS and died real fast - didn't even succeed in one hole . Well as I got a set of three variations I thought maybe the others would be okay if they only run at thin soft sheet metal - lasted a few holes before dying - one got pretty hot and left blisters and a lot of swearing when I removed it.

So the moral is get the drill it is cheap and great (not industrial of course) and don't bother with the step drill unless you are prepared to get the proper $60 or so model as the cheaper stuff is a waste of money.

I'm not surprised that the step drill didn't like the RHS, particularly if it was starting with a large pilot.

There is also the cheap junk V's the better sort of cheap junk factor to be considered too.

Did the step drill you had specificaly state that they were "high speed steel"

I have seeen quit a bit of stuff comming out of china at unbelievable prices..... look closer and find that it is high carbon steel.
I was keen on some tap & die sets that I could have sold for under $30 and made good margin..... till I noticed they were "high carbon steel"

I have several step drills.... both good brands and low cost items.... they all seem to do well...... the cheapest was $16.

I use them mostly in plastics and aluminium.... but have worked sheet metal.

I obseve that they have a different cutting arrangement to a twist drill.
They have more of a scraping cut with a very high cutting angle and not very much relief.
It occurs to me that anything with this geometry is not intended for heavy work and will heat up and blunten very quickly when used for heavy work.

The high cutting angle is most effective in plastics and aluminium though and leaves a very smooth finish.

on a whole they are far better in light sheet that a hole saw.

I see them as a very competitive replacement for a hole saw particularly on thin material. As an alternative to a conventional twist drill....... I would have to be convinced.

cheers

You can buy long series drills...say 6mm drill in 150mm long.

You can buy long series drills...say 6mm drill in 165mm long i just measured one