On Tue, 14 Feb 2006 02:26:43 GMT, "Charlie S."
wrote:
I have an electric corded drill and a 12-V cordless Black and Decker -
Firestorm. I use both drills for occasional household repairs. I mostly
use the cordless.
From time to time I break bits because the materials I am going through
might be too difficult to get through. I generally replace with Black oxide
bits. The 1/8" drill bit package I have indicates it's good for wood,
plastic and soft metal.
I"m just a homeowner with a few projects -- I don't use the drill that
often.
I have high-speed steel bits for metals, and because I'm lazy, I end
up using them for everything. On bits that are big enough, they have
HSS on the shank.
I'd like to know what types of bits I should be buying. Sometimes I do need
to go through a piece of metal. Most times I work with wood. Should I have
two sets of bits... one for metal the other for wood? Or, is there one type
I think a lot of people would say yes.
of bit that is good for both?
Anything that is good for metal will drill wood, but there are wood
bits that can do a better job if a better job is needed. Either they
go faster or they leave a nicer hole or something else, but for most
of my uses, none of that matters.
If you don't lose your tools, it's worth buying a few more tools such
as drill bits up front, I don't lose my tools. I still have some
from my Handy Andy tool set that I got when I was 8.
In fact I still have the carpenter's pencil and it's never been used.
how do you sharpen that thing, with a knife? Somewhere I was given
the impression that one shouldn't sharpen a pencil with a knife. And
it's hard to get a good point. Sandpaper?
Another question. This one about my cordless drill. It's a cheap model,
but serves my purposes. I find that even though I hand tighten the bit
receptor, occasionally the bit stops spinning as the receptor losses its
grip. It most often happens when I am going through denser materials. Is
this a drill flaw? I don't remember it happening to my electric drill with
the key tightening system. I doubt I can do anything about it, but thought
I pose the question anyway. Do better cordless drills have the same
problem?
Don't know. I got a couple B&D keyless chucks for free, and I put
them on drills I already had, and I like them. These are full-size
chucks and may be better than the one you have. I like them becasue I
don't have to keep looking for the key, even though it was taped to
the cord, and because the chucks I had didn't go down to the smallest
bit in the box (1/64th?) but the keyless chuck does.
My big bits from 3/8 to 1/2, cut down to work in 1/4 inch drills (even
though my drills were 3/8", they don't
afaik make 1/2 drills cut down
to 3/8") had flutes on the shaft so they wouldn't spin. But because
I didn't tighen the keyed chuck tight enough, I ground off most of the
fluting. (Once it started to spin, it didn't take long to grind it
off.) I don't know if I would have done better with the keyless
chuck, but I think so.
Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.