What drill motors do you recommend?

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Dear Dan,

If you mean 'recommend' in the sense of endorsement, I don't. I don't have
enough experience with the stuff that's presently available. To offer an
opinion that isn't based on actual experience is little more than a lie. Most
of my tools are like me: Old. Most were inhereted or purchased used,
subsidized by WWII and most came from companies that no longer exist.

To drill a clean hole the motor must be capable of spinning the bit at the
proper speed. The chuck has spin reasonably true and the thing should be
durable enough to not break down half-way through the job. But a high
percentage of the mail I get is from guys building on a very tight budget, far
removed from the typical kit assembler. That puts me in something of a bind
with regard to recommending tools because I know a cheap tool is no bargain...
even through their use may be a NECESSITY for some builders.

In the past I've mentioned a high-speed 1/4" drill motor available from Harbor
Freight as being suitable. I did that after buying one and using it for a few
hundred holes. Of course, by the time I mentioned it, that particular
item-number was no longer available and we had to wait for the next boat from
China :-)

These aren't what I consider durable tools, although most will give you at
least one airplane's-worth of service. But if you're doing repair work or
bucking rivets at one of the local RV factories, their price is so low that if
you wait for a sale it makes good sense to buy a batch of them and simply use
the things up.

See if you can find the riveting article I wrote. Or the one on drilling ('The
Hole Story'). They may broaden your perspective on this task. Truth is, you
can use a manually-powered hand-drill if that's all you got (they made special
'high speed' hand-drills just for aircraft work) but there's a bit more to it
than simply turning the crank. Same is true when using an electric or
pneumatic drill-motor. ANY of them can save you some time but some are much
more appropriate for aviation metalsmithing than others.

-R.S.Hoover