It only has to drill 4mm holes in ally. I'm fed up with cordless as the batteries never last long (either each charge or life span), and they don't turn very fast.
So I want a cheapish, small, light, variable speed mains electric drill, that I can hang from the roof on a spring like in a real factory. Obviously I don't need a hammer drill!
Any recommendations?
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Ally? Do you mean aluminium? I'd have thought any drill would work. My old cordless drills turn very fast when the battery has some charge.
The variable speed bit you're after tends to be easier and therefore cheaper with a battery powered drill. What voltage is your cordless drill?
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My local B&Q had 900w Skill corded drills for £30 in the clearance sale. They looked decent quality and am tempted to buy one myself.
It has two gears too.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Sun 20 Mar 11 at 23:24
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I have an old Bosch mains for faster work. I really only use it with a wire brush now as I've got 4 Ryobi drills, all 14.4 volts, which do everything I want of them.
I've just finished a project which needed a lot of wood screws and battery life has been no problem. I keep the chargers powered through a timer giving 15 minutes every day.
Heavy work is entrusted to the drill press, I've got to do some 8mm holes in 1/4 inch plate this week but I'll do the pilot holes with a Ryobi. If you're just making holes in sheet ally prior to assembly, a drill press might be a better bet.
The Bosch is all or nothing and has a hair trigger...all good fun to set it off while your still fiddling with the chuck key ! You don't want anything too fast for ally...it can jam, being soft, and snap the drill-bit or distort the work.
Ted
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Yes, holes in aluminium.
I've got a couple of cordless, 14 volt I think. But I really need 3 drills on the go with different bits. The biggest use is the 4mm for pop rivets, so thought I'd go mains. There's a lot of holes on each job, and the rechargeables just don't last for production work. After a year the batteries have about had it (maybe 250 charges) and cost a ridiculous amount to replace. Plus the max speed is only 1400rpm, which is a bit slow.
I've used a windy drill, but my mickey mouse compressor isn't really up to it.
I've got a small drill press which works really well, but it's a bit awkward getting some of the assemblies under it, plus I don't want to mark the ally.
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I always thought that being very soft, aluminium required a slow speed?
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How about a small bench pillar drill with adjustable speeds or you can alter this by switching over the belts.
You can get them for peanuts on the e bay used and are ideal for jobs of this nature on the work bench.
Failing that Bosch is mid price range anything less is not worth it.
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>> How about a small bench pillar drill ?
Says he's already got a small drill press, which presumably is the same thing.
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I think the best speed is somewhere around 3000rpm. I did a rough calculation from an old college book, and it came out as either 3000 or 30,000.
Drill press is an old fashioned name for a pillar drill, at least in my mind.
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A reasonably conservative cutting speed for HSS tools in aluminium is 40 metres per minute.
For 4mm diameter, this is equivalent to;
v = omega x r
40/60 m/s = omega x 0.002 m
omega = 333.3 radians per second
converting to rpm gives;
rpm = omega *60/(2*pi)
rpm ~ 3200 rpm
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In more practical terms, if you are using something really well built like a CNC machine, and using tipped tools of reasonable diameter, when cutting aluminium, you simply run the spindle at maximum speed.
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So my calculation wasn't too far out.
I had a look around the shops today, and found a little Hitachi jobby, but it didn't have variable speed. And at nearly £100, it was staying on the shelf. No way am I paying that much for chinese rubbish. I have a Hitachi cordless drill that knocked the front bearing out after a few months. For fun I had a look inside before I took it back, and wished I hadn't. Rubbish quality chinese bearings.
I don'tmind buying cheap chinese rubbish, but refuse to pay top quality prices for dressed up rubbish.
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Do you use compressed air in your workshop?
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>> Do you use compressed air in your workshop?
A few posts up Dave said "I've used a windy drill, but my mickey mouse compressor isn't really up to it. "
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I'd wait for the Aldi and Lidl specials if you can. My last mains drill was from Aldi at £9.50 I think - it's fine. Needs a chuck key though.
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>> I'd wait for the Aldi and Lidl specials if you can
What are the specials like for Aldi and Lidl in Scandinavian countries? Is there one near Dave? I think he's in Sweden but could have remembered wrong.
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Well there's a couple of power tool offers on the LIDL site at the moment:-
www.lidl.se/cps/rde/xchg//SID-89F4ED01-4DE0CD68/lidl_se/hs.xsl/offerdate.htm?offerdate=15114&ar2=
Don't recall seeing Aldi, in Stockholm at least.
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Excelent
Can you send me 5 hållare för ordningssam förvaring please Dave
thanks
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>>A few posts up Dave said
Thanks DD - I miseed that.
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The windy works really well actually, as it's fast and light. But they really gobble the air, and they get cold!
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Recommend me an electric drill - rtj70
