On 20 Oct 2005 08:43:53 -0700, "robo hippy" wrote:

There was a posting about angle drills in August, and Ted mentioned an
angle drill from JM Tools in Riverside, CA. Being totally skeptical (I
mean how could they make a drill that sells for 1/5 the cost) that it
could even come close to the Sioux/Milwaukee angle drills, I figured
that what the heck, for $30, I couldn't go wrong. Worst case scenario
would be that I would get a few days out of it, and it would be fried.
I burn out one or two sets of bearings on my S/M per year. It runs me
$70 or so to get them repaired. I also sand with 3 inch discs which
will put a lot of stress on a 'drill' that isn't intended for use as a
grinder. I am generally hard on my tools, prefering ones that will
stand a lot of use and abuse.

When the drill arrived the first thing that I niticed was that the
joint where the halves of the casing came together showed a slight(1/32
inch) gap. The vent holes on the case are curved rather that straight
as on the S/M drills. The chuck is slightly different. When I plugged
it in and fired it up, I found out that it is the slower speed model,
rather that the high speed model that I normally use. I have, and use
both. I now have about 40 hours on the cheap drill, and it shows no
signs of wearing down. Did I say that I am hard on my tools? With the
way this tool performs, I can see no reason to buy or repair the S/M
drills again. I will post when I finally burn this one up. If it lasts
through Christmas, as I would expect the S/M drills to do, it will be a
super bargain.

This is my opinion only, and I am in no way affiliated with the store
that sells them.

robo hippy

After the same thread, I bought a "1/4 close quarter drill" on ebay...
It's larger than I expected, but I have never used the Milwaukee, so I have
nothing to compare it with..

I also am hard on these, overheating velcro is my specialty and I sand a LOT of
bowls....
I've had it for maybe 3 months now and have done no maintenance to it, except
hitting it with the shop vac hose when I'm cleaning the lathe... it seems to run
as well as ever, not get hot and does the job I need it to...

My thought when buying it was that I could buy 4 of these for the price of a
Milwaukee, and since I don't blow out my drills or sanders or do any
maintenance, a throw-away drill was the way to go... so far, it looks like a
keeper...
Not sure, but I think the total price with shipping (I'm impatient and do "buy
it now") was about 29 or $30 US...


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing