My Shopping Adventure: Sears and Wiha Tools

[Cyrus]

What are you drilling that you need a handlebar on it?!

Manly stuff that needs manly sized holes in them

 

[wolram]

This spring I tried to get my old John Deere 318 out from under the back deck, and had a hell of a time doing so. What I did late last fall was to back it up onto a pile of slate and set the parking brake, intending to block the wheels and release the brake. Apparently I got busy with something else and did not block the wheels or release the parking brake. This left the left rear brake frozen, and on Memorial Day weekend (when it is pretty tough to find anything open) I found myself looking for an 1-1/2" wrench to remove the retaining nut on that wheel so I could repair the brakes. I ended up spending almost $60 for one wrench useful for only one job. I sold it to a friend for $30 (he repairs and reconditions big rigs) with the understanding that I can borrow it at any time If I have done anything similarly stupid. It saved me a huge repair bill at the local John Deere shop, but it was a big PITA.

I have a 3/4 drive set that i use once in a blue moon, that cost a fortune
£330 i think, i will have to buy a new tool set for the bike, BSW, 1/4 drive socket set spanners, i have not found a good set yet.

 

[Moonbear]

Dad has two electric drills he bought from work, they have aluminum bodies and weigh a ton, they do not allow a bit to snag, a half inch bit will snap like a carott, MoonB that is what the handle bar is for without it the
drill can snatch out of your hand.

I must be doing something wrong, because I haven't found anything that difficult to drill yet. I'll have to keep looking. I have to say, that drill looks really cool, and I'd have a blast bringing it into the farm and telling one of the new students we need to use it for neurosurgery. (I had to give a few of them lessons on how to use screwdrivers so they'd stop snapping all the screws. I've never heard of someone NOT knowing how to use a screwdriver before.) It seems holding a handle off to the side of the drill would be awkward, but I guess it's something you just get used to when you need it.

 

[wolram]

Try putting some 1/2 inch by three inch deep holes in s/steel or brass

 

[Moonbear]

Try putting some 1/2 inch by three inch deep holes in s/steel or brass

Aha! I hand those jobs off to the guy in the shop, who usually comes back and asks, "Are you sure you don't want that made out of acrylic?" :rofl: He's pretty good at turning my descriptions of doohickies and doomaflinkies into actual working parts.

 

[Gokul43201]

Try putting some 1/2 inch by three inch deep holes in s/steel or brass

Yup. Try and drill 1/2" holes in brass with a regular bit, using a high gear setting and at high speeds, you could very easily end up with a dislocated elbow or shoulder! (not because brass is hard, but because it's sticky)

 

[Moonbear]

Yup. Try and drill 1/2" holes in brass with a regular bit, using a high gear setting and at high speeds, you could very easily end up with a dislocated elbow or shoulder! (not because brass is hard, but because it's sticky)

You guys are sounding dangerous! Maybe we need to limit you to one of these:
http://www.woodmagazine.com/wood/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/wood/story/data/bitbraces.xml&catref=wd26

 

[Gokul43201]

You guys are sounding dangerous! Maybe we need to limit you to one of these:
http://www.woodmagazine.com/wood/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/wood/story/data/bitbraces.xml&catref=wd26

I've actually used one of those things. 'Twas incredibly hard to get started, going in square, and not drill out a great, big conical crater. Takes lotsa practise, I'd imagine.

 

[Moonbear]

I've actually used one of those things. 'Twas incredibly hard to get started, going in square, and not drill out a great, big conical crater. Takes lotsa practise, I'd imagine.

I use something very much like the brace in that picture for our neurosurgeries (like this: http://www.medcompare.com/details/21357/Hudson-Downs.html). With that, the key is just getting a good, sharp bit. I'm also still trying to figure out the magic of the one bit that knows to stop the moment you penetrate through the full thickness of the skull so you can't damage the brain beneath. As soon as you punch through, it catches and stops turning, but no matter how long I stare at it, I just don't see what's different about it to make it do that. Whatever it is, I like that magic bit.

But the hand drill always reminds me of the old-fashioned egg-beater my grandmother used to have.

 

[wolram]

I've actually used one of those things. 'Twas incredibly hard to get started, going in square, and not drill out a great, big conical crater. Takes lotsa practise, I'd imagine.

You have to have very sharp bits good ones had a large pad so that you could press with your belly or chest.

 

[Gokul43201]

m also still trying to figure out the magic of the one bit that knows to stop the moment you penetrate through the full thickness of the skull so you can't damage the brain beneath.

Are you talking about a bit or a drill? I can envision a drill with a feedback mechanism that stops when it detects a drop in current draw. But what does it mean for a bit to stop? Does it catch in the bone? That would take some real funky engineering - smart materials, mechatronics and thuslike (that's another one for Chi).

 

[wolram]

I use something very much like the brace in that picture for our neurosurgeries (like this: http://www.medcompare.com/details/21357/Hudson-Downs.html). With that, the key is just getting a good, sharp bit. I'm also still trying to figure out the magic of the one bit that knows to stop the moment you penetrate through the full thickness of the skull so you can't damage the brain beneath. As soon as you punch through, it catches and stops turning, but no matter how long I stare at it, I just don't see what's different about it to make it do that. Whatever it is, I like that magic bit.

But the hand drill always reminds me of the old-fashioned egg-beater my grandmother used to have.

It must be a no brainer bit.

 

[Gokul43201]

It must be a no brainer bit.

:rofl: :rofl:

 

[Moonbear]

Are you talking about a bit or a drill? I can envision a drill with a feedback mechanism that stops when it detects a drop in current draw. But what does it mean for a bit to stop? Does it catch in the bone? That would take some real funky engineering - smart materials, mechatronics and thuslike (that's another one for Chi).

It's the bit. The drill is just what's in the picture in my link...hand crank brace style, no electronics, no currents, no plug or batteries, just old-fashioned arm power. But, there's something special about the bit we use that as you get nearly through, you'll feel it start to stick and as soon as you're all the way through, it catches and you'd have to really turn hard to try to go forward any more. It just fascinates me that this bit will drill with ease through a cm of bone (like I said, sheep are thick-skulled), and then suddenly sticks the moment the tip breaks through the bottom. I'm telling you, it's magic! I'd really love to know the secret of how it works, just to impress everyone else I work with who doesn't know either.

 

[Gokul43201]

It's the bit. The drill is just what's in the picture in my link...hand crank brace style, no electronics, no currents, no plug or batteries, just old-fashioned arm power. But, there's something special about the bit we use that as you get nearly through, you'll feel it start to stick and as soon as you're all the way through, it catches and you'd have to really turn hard to try to go forward any more. It just fascinates me that this bit will drill with ease through a cm of bone (like I said, sheep are thick-skulled), and then suddenly sticks the moment the tip breaks through the bottom. I'm telling you, it's magic! I'd really love to know the secret of how it works, just to impress everyone else I work with who doesn't know either.

When you drill through metal (especially sheet metal), you typically end up making burrs on the side of the piece that the bit emerges from (the far side). To get a nice finish, you would deburr and maybe chamfer the hole. Now these burrs often cause the bit to catch as it emerges on the far side. If you use a nice bit (or if you use a gentle progression of increasing bit diameters), you reduce the size of these burrs and prevent this locking.

I guess in your case, you just directly go the the desired bit size (no pre-drilling), so that would make it possible to leave biggish burrs on the exit side. And maybe the bits are designed to maximize, rather than minimize the burrs formed. But I've got no idea what bone machines like, so I can't speak much for the kind of burrs you'd make in drilling through bone.

And it's particularly easy to catch your bit on a burr if you don't have great directional control (like when you're using a hand drill).

 

[Astronuc]

What are you drilling that you need a handlebar on it?!

If a drill produces sufficient torque, and if one is drilling metal, one needs a 'handle bar', but it's usually on larger drills, probably 1/2" and bigger drives (http://www.mytoolstore.com/compare/cpdrill4.html). If seen someone nearly break a wrist when not using the bar - wrist sprain in a real possibility.

 

[turbo]

If a drill produces sufficient torque, and if one is drilling metal, one needs a 'handle bar', but it's usually on larger drills, probably 1/2" and bigger drives (http://www.mytoolstore.com/compare/cpdrill4.html) . If seen someone nearly break a wrist when not using the bar - wrist sprain in a real possibility.

Absolutely. I have a very old heavy-duty Black and Decker 1/2" drill with an aluminum housing. Unfortunately, I do not have the side handle, and I have ended up very sore a number of times when a bit has snagged and I couldn't let off the trigger in time. I don't know what horsepower the motor is or how much amperage it draws under load because the stamped informational plate is worn beyond recognition, but it sure is a handful when a bit snags.

 

[Astronuc]

Absolutely. I have a very old heavy-duty Black and Decker 1/2" drill with an aluminum housing. Unfortunately, I do not have the side handle, and I have ended up very sore a number of times when a bit has snagged and I couldn't let off the trigger in time. I don't know what horsepower the motor is or how much amperage it draws under load because the stamped informational plate is worn beyond recognition, but it sure is a handful when a bit snags.

I would guess up to 3/4 hp (~500-600 W). A good 1-inch drill can wrench a back if one is not careful and the bit get's snagged.