T i m wrote:
On Sat, 15 May 2004 21:51:21 GMT, Ian Stirling
wrote:

I *do* have a 1m long 25mm SDS bit but I didn't really want to muller
it just for this job when for similar money I could (possibly) make
something more suitable?

Maybe.
I too have a 1m long 25mm SDS bit, but probably don't treasure it as much,
as it only cost me ten quid.

My set of 3 were only 15 quid but I visualise a more 'suitable' home
Ebay, set of three?
made tool only costing a fiver (my time is free) and would probably do
a better / quicker job?

Alternatively, a simple auger worked very well for this sort of thing.
If I could have welded it on a long shaft, it'd have been ideal.
(it was around 1")

Are you talking 'hand brace' here Ian? Well that *is* a thought, would
be easy to extend and would be quiet in use but I don't fancy plugging
through 4.5m of even softish tannalised timber by hand if I can help
it?

Actually, not.

Mains 600W drill, worked fine.

So one of the spiral wood augers with the tip like a woodscrew and the
vertical cutting blades either side of the lifting edges? On an
electric drill? Surely if that 'bit' it would attempt to drill down at
a fair rate, even with a drill set on 'low / slow'?

It does.
It is controllable though.
snip
Well that was the thought re the SDS .. slower / torquier, HS bit
(tough / designed for speed and easy to sharpen) and l o n g
extension so I could possibly work standing up and save my old knees /
back ?

Combined with a slow, high torque SDS drill, I think it'd be a good match.

I think I would avoid working standing up if I could.
Poorer control.
Get a nice thick kneeling mat.

Maybe I'll get one of those wood chewing things for the angle grinder,
lock it on, throw it into the hole and run away! ;-)

Those are fun.
I needed to abrade off the gel-coat from a fiberglass pond, and it
made the job almost trivial, providing a really nice key all over.
(the existing gel-coat was flaking)
At least a hundred times faster than a wire brush in a drill.

I bet! I have used those angle grinder wirse brushes with the
'bristles' made of what looks like 3 twists of coathanger ... nasy bit
of kit but pretty effective on rust ;-) You just don't want it
catching your sweatshirt or finding the hole in your jeans .. ;-(

Wire brushes at high speed are NASTY.
Somehow the sharp end of any falling out bristles lands in exposed flesh
at high speed.
The carbide grit disks are much kinder and gentler, though not
a good idea on metal.