Air Drills

What drill motors do you recommend?

--
Dan D.



..
"Veeduber" wrote in message ...
I love my Sioux drill. Great trigger. Mine only goes 2600 RPM. Seems
to do just fine at that speed.

-------------------------------------------------

Dear Scott,

I don' t want to bust up your romance but I suggest you borrow a drill-motor
that turns at a higher speed and shoot a few holes. You really don't know what
you're missing.

I usta have a B&D 'aviation' drill motor, turned something like 4000 rpm. Wore
it out. Had it rebuilt. Twenty years later it needed another rebuild but the
bull-gear was not available at a price I could afford. Since then I've been
using those cheap Chinee imports that turn 3600 rpm, last just about long
enough for one airplane's-worth of holes, throw it away when it gets noisy.
Air tools are nice but compressing air to drive a drill puts you on the wrong
side of the economic equation here in southern California.

That's a point a lot of newbies miss. Pneumatic drill is a real air hog; takes
a pretty good compresser to keep you working. (On the other hand, pneumatic
riveting hammers or squeezers don't use much air.) If a guy doesn't already
have a big compressor, when you add the acquisition cost to the operating cost
and divide by the number of holes, it represents a significant increase in cost
when compared to using throw-away electric drill motors.

-R.S.Hoover

"Blueskies" wrote in message
news
What drill motors do you recommend?

He does not recommend any. He just wants everyone to know they do not know
****.



--
Dan D.



.
"Veeduber" wrote in message
...

"B.H. Lazard" wrote
He does not recommend any. He just wants everyone to know they do not know
****.

You are real off on that comment. He is one of the most worthwhile reads on
RAH.

I think you need to stick around for a while, before you snap to such
judgements.

For now, PLONK.
--
Jim in NC


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
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He does not recommend any. He just wants everyone to know they do not know
****.


Hmmm u bash someone but u cant sign it.
chris

What drill motors do you recommend?

----------------------------------------------------------

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

Thanks, I was wondering what electric motor type is around. I have seen quite a few air drills for a reasonable cost
with the speed we need, but as stated earlier you need a good hi-flow compressor which I don't have. Hmmmm...

--
Dan D.



..
"Veeduber" wrote in message ...
What drill motors do you recommend?

----------------------------------------------------------

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

I have a 60 gallon upright air compressor and it seems to run the air
drill fine. I've never seen an electric drill that turned RPMs in the
thousands. My Makita cordless at work might do a few HUNDRED RPM. When
I bought my Sioux, it was the highest speed air drill I found at an
aviation tool supply. Oh well, that's life...

Scott


Veeduber wrote:
I love my Sioux drill. Great trigger. Mine only goes 2600 RPM. Seems
to do just fine at that speed.


-------------------------------------------------

Dear Scott,

I don' t want to bust up your romance but I suggest you borrow a drill-motor
that turns at a higher speed and shoot a few holes. You really don't know what
you're missing.

I usta have a B&D 'aviation' drill motor, turned something like 4000 rpm. Wore
it out. Had it rebuilt. Twenty years later it needed another rebuild but the
bull-gear was not available at a price I could afford. Since then I've been
using those cheap Chinee imports that turn 3600 rpm, last just about long
enough for one airplane's-worth of holes, throw it away when it gets noisy.
Air tools are nice but compressing air to drive a drill puts you on the wrong
side of the economic equation here in southern California.

That's a point a lot of newbies miss. Pneumatic drill is a real air hog; takes
a pretty good compresser to keep you working. (On the other hand, pneumatic
riveting hammers or squeezers don't use much air.) If a guy doesn't already
have a big compressor, when you add the acquisition cost to the operating cost
and divide by the number of holes, it represents a significant increase in cost
when compared to using throw-away electric drill motors.

-R.S.Hoover

A Dremel turns fast enough, but I don't think it has the oomph...

--
Dan D.



..
"acepilot" wrote in message ...
I have a 60 gallon upright air compressor and it seems to run the air
drill fine. I've never seen an electric drill that turned RPMs in the
thousands. My Makita cordless at work might do a few HUNDRED RPM. When
I bought my Sioux, it was the highest speed air drill I found at an
aviation tool supply. Oh well, that's life...

Scott


Veeduber wrote:
I love my Sioux drill. Great trigger. Mine only goes 2600 RPM. Seems
to do just fine at that speed.


-------------------------------------------------

Dear Scott,

I don' t want to bust up your romance but I suggest you borrow a drill-motor
that turns at a higher speed and shoot a few holes. You really don't know what
you're missing.

I usta have a B&D 'aviation' drill motor, turned something like 4000 rpm. Wore
it out. Had it rebuilt. Twenty years later it needed another rebuild but the
bull-gear was not available at a price I could afford. Since then I've been
using those cheap Chinee imports that turn 3600 rpm, last just about long
enough for one airplane's-worth of holes, throw it away when it gets noisy.
Air tools are nice but compressing air to drive a drill puts you on the wrong
side of the economic equation here in southern California.

That's a point a lot of newbies miss. Pneumatic drill is a real air hog; takes
a pretty good compresser to keep you working. (On the other hand, pneumatic
riveting hammers or squeezers don't use much air.) If a guy doesn't already
have a big compressor, when you add the acquisition cost to the operating cost
and divide by the number of holes, it represents a significant increase in cost
when compared to using throw-away electric drill motors.

-R.S.Hoover

acepilot wrote in message ...
I have a 60 gallon upright air compressor and it seems to run the air
drill fine. I've never seen an electric drill that turned RPMs in the
thousands. My Makita cordless at work might do a few HUNDRED RPM. When
I bought my Sioux, it was the highest speed air drill I found at an
aviation tool supply. Oh well, that's life...

Scott

I have an ancient direct-drive air drill I found at a Princess
Auto here in Canada. No gears in it, and it turns at some insane speed
like an air die-grinder, maybe 15 or 20,000 RPM. It sure does a nice
job on small holes in aluminum, very little tendency to skid.
I wonder if it might be worthwhile to make a threaded adapter for a
1/4" chuck and clamp it into the collet of a 90-degree die grinder? Or
are there any pistol-grip die grinders?

Dan

Actually there is a 3/32, 1/8, 1/4? set of collets available from
Princess Auto that seem to work fine with #30 and #40 bits in their
cheap 90 degree die grinder. It gets into tighter places that way than
it could with a chuck. I find that it turns too fast though and needs a
steady hand or it will cut sideways like a router ;( It will make a
hole real quick though if you don't have anything else that can get
access to where you are working
Ken

I have an ancient direct-drive air drill I found at a Princess
Auto here in Canada. No gears in it, and it turns at some insane speed
like an air die-grinder, maybe 15 or 20,000 RPM. It sure does a nice
job on small holes in aluminum, very little tendency to skid.
I wonder if it might be worthwhile to make a threaded adapter for a
1/4" chuck and clamp it into the collet of a 90-degree die grinder? Or
are there any pistol-grip die grinders?

Dan