I'm using a Hilti drill to drill holes into concrete ceilings.
Drilling overhead with a heavy drill and big bit is making it
difficult to keep the hole straight. The Hilti is more than up to the
job ... the problem is when you're applying upward force, the natural
tendency is to pull the drill toward you or away from you, which makes
for a slanted or "crooked" hole. Any tips on how to keep the drill
straight so as to achieve the straightest possible hole?

In article . com,
wrote:

I'm using a Hilti drill to drill holes into concrete ceilings.
Drilling overhead with a heavy drill and big bit is making it
difficult to keep the hole straight. The Hilti is more than up to the
job ... the problem is when you're applying upward force, the natural
tendency is to pull the drill toward you or away from you, which makes
for a slanted or "crooked" hole. Any tips on how to keep the drill
straight so as to achieve the straightest possible hole?

Two helpers. One calls out east/west adjustments, the other north/south.
(or left/right, back/forward.)

On Sep 25, 7:20 pm, Smitty Two wrote:
In article . com,

wrote:
I'm using a Hilti drill to drill holes into concrete ceilings.
Drilling overhead with a heavy drill and big bit is making it
difficult to keep the hole straight. The Hilti is more than up to the
job ... the problem is when you're applying upward force, the natural
tendency is to pull the drill toward you or away from you, which makes
for a slanted or "crooked" hole. Any tips on how to keep the drill
straight so as to achieve the straightest possible hole?

Two helpers. One calls out east/west adjustments, the other north/south.
(or left/right, back/forward.)

Yes, we're doing that to a certain extent ... I always have one helper
who helps me with those adjustments. I guess I was hoping there was
something else ... a tool, device, gadget ... something that would
help us with these holes. We do three of these each week (I know this
is a home repair group, but I couldn't find a group catering to my
profession). Looking for anything that would speed up and help with
efficiency. Thanks for the post.

On Sep 25, 8:53 pm, wrote:
I'm using a Hilti drill to drill holes into concrete ceilings.
Drilling overhead with a heavy drill and big bit is making it
difficult to keep the hole straight. The Hilti is more than up to the
job ... the problem is when you're applying upward force, the natural
tendency is to pull the drill toward you or away from you, which makes
for a slanted or "crooked" hole. Any tips on how to keep the drill
straight so as to achieve the straightest possible hole?

Do what mechanics have done for years: make a drill guide. Many ways
to do it, like use a drill press to drill a straight hole in a 2 x 4
for example. position it on the ceiling supported with a couple of
those screw jack thingies that cabinet installers use, or simply cut
the right length 2 x 4 to wedge under it. If you've got hundreds of
holes, have a machine shop make you a drill guide out of a steel plate
with the welded on guide piece sticking up out of the middle. Again,
support any way that works. Either way your job will go ten times
faster and dead true. HTH

Joe

On Sep 25, 7:48 pm, Joe wrote:
On Sep 25, 8:53 pm, wrote:

I'm using a Hilti drill to drill holes into concrete ceilings.
Drilling overhead with a heavy drill and big bit is making it
difficult to keep the hole straight. The Hilti is more than up to the
job ... the problem is when you're applying upward force, the natural
tendency is to pull the drill toward you or away from you, which makes
for a slanted or "crooked" hole. Any tips on how to keep the drill
straight so as to achieve the straightest possible hole?

Do what mechanics have done for years: make a drill guide. Many ways
to do it, like use a drill press to drill a straight hole in a 2 x 4
for example. position it on the ceiling supported with a couple of
those screw jack thingies that cabinet installers use, or simply cut
the right length 2 x 4 to wedge under it. If you've got hundreds of
holes, have a machine shop make you a drill guide out of a steel plate
with the welded on guide piece sticking up out of the middle. Again,
support any way that works. Either way your job will go ten times
faster and dead true. HTH

Joe

This is way more along the lines of the kind of help I need. I'm an
electrical technician by trade, and this kind of work is a little out
of my field. I've never really worked with this kind of equipment and
processes before. Not much need for drilling holes into cement while
in the Navy! I'm working for a start-up company now and we're feeling
our way along this. Here's the rest of the story ... these holes are
being drilled into concrete ceilings that are normally about three
feet above a drop ceiling (ceiling tiles, etc.) and the concrete is
usually spotted with conduit, ducts, cabling, wiring, etc. So normally
we have very small spaces. I love the idea of a drill guide (kept
thinking there had to be something like that), but will have to find a
machine shop that can work with me on designing one for our specific
needs. Thanks a million for the post, great ideas for a fledgling
"driller."

In article . com,
wrote:

On Sep 25, 7:48 pm, Joe wrote:
On Sep 25, 8:53 pm, wrote:

I'm using a Hilti drill to drill holes into concrete ceilings.
Drilling overhead with a heavy drill and big bit is making it
difficult to keep the hole straight. The Hilti is more than up to the
job ... the problem is when you're applying upward force, the natural
tendency is to pull the drill toward you or away from you, which makes
for a slanted or "crooked" hole. Any tips on how to keep the drill
straight so as to achieve the straightest possible hole?

Do what mechanics have done for years: make a drill guide. Many ways
to do it, like use a drill press to drill a straight hole in a 2 x 4
for example. position it on the ceiling supported with a couple of
those screw jack thingies that cabinet installers use, or simply cut
the right length 2 x 4 to wedge under it. If you've got hundreds of
holes, have a machine shop make you a drill guide out of a steel plate
with the welded on guide piece sticking up out of the middle. Again,
support any way that works. Either way your job will go ten times
faster and dead true. HTH

Joe

This is way more along the lines of the kind of help I need. I'm an
electrical technician by trade, and this kind of work is a little out
of my field. I've never really worked with this kind of equipment and
processes before. Not much need for drilling holes into cement while
in the Navy! I'm working for a start-up company now and we're feeling
our way along this. Here's the rest of the story ... these holes are
being drilled into concrete ceilings that are normally about three
feet above a drop ceiling (ceiling tiles, etc.) and the concrete is
usually spotted with conduit, ducts, cabling, wiring, etc. So normally
we have very small spaces. I love the idea of a drill guide (kept
thinking there had to be something like that), but will have to find a
machine shop that can work with me on designing one for our specific
needs. Thanks a million for the post, great ideas for a fledgling
"driller."

A hole in a piece of steel makes a good occasional use drill guide. For
production use, a drill bushing is better. Those are available as stock
items, and are made from hardened tool steel. Take your mild steel
plate, bore a hole in it for the drill bushing, and press fit the
bushing into it. When you get the wobblies, the hardened drill bushing
will resist them better, for longer.

If you get to doing a lot more than three a week, there are a lot of
other tooling options; one would be to mount the drill to a jack affixed
to a mobile platform.

wrote in message
ups.com...
I'm using a Hilti drill to drill holes into concrete ceilings.
Drilling overhead with a heavy drill and big bit is making it
difficult to keep the hole straight. The Hilti is more than up to the
job ... the problem is when you're applying upward force, the natural
tendency is to pull the drill toward you or away from you, which makes
for a slanted or "crooked" hole. Any tips on how to keep the drill
straight so as to achieve the straightest possible hole?


Kinda depends. On how straight it HAS to be, and how much time you have to
drill X many holes in a day, how many of these holes are you going to drill
and how frequently, and how much equipment you have on hand.

If I (underlined I) had to drill some holes for my own use, I'd get a piece
of 4 x 4 and drill a hole in that. Then I'd drill a starter hole in the
concrete, slide the 4 x 4 on the bit, put the 4 x 4 flat on the ceiling, and
drill a reasonably straight hole.

If it had to be EXACT, I'd put the 4 x 4 on a couple of screw jacks.

If I HAD to drill a bunch of holes every day, I'd make a drill holder (I'm a
welder), and could do that cheaply. One could easily be mounted to the top
of a screw jack and moved in a couple of minutes.

If I were a craftsman and had to do this a lot all the time, I'd have a
welder make me a drill guide, and do consistent accurate work.

It really all depends on how accurate you have to be, and how often you have
to drill the holes.

The 4 x 4 idea would be the hobbyist approach, easy, cheap, and reasonably
accurate for a few holes. Plus, you could keep it on a shelf for future
use.

From there, if it has to be accurate, and it's going to make you money, DO
IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME.

Steve

On Sep 25, 8:24 pm, "SteveB" wrote:
wrote in message

ups.com...

I'm using a Hilti drill to drill holes into concrete ceilings.
Drilling overhead with a heavy drill and big bit is making it
difficult to keep the hole straight. The Hilti is more than up to the
job ... the problem is when you're applying upward force, the natural
tendency is to pull the drill toward you or away from you, which makes
for a slanted or "crooked" hole. Any tips on how to keep the drill
straight so as to achieve the straightest possible hole?

Kinda depends. On how straight it HAS to be, and how much time you have to
drill X many holes in a day, how many of these holes are you going to drill
and how frequently, and how much equipment you have on hand.

If I (underlined I) had to drill some holes for my own use, I'd get a piece
of 4 x 4 and drill a hole in that. Then I'd drill a starter hole in the
concrete, slide the 4 x 4 on the bit, put the 4 x 4 flat on the ceiling, and
drill a reasonably straight hole.

If it had to be EXACT, I'd put the 4 x 4 on a couple of screw jacks.

If I HAD to drill a bunch of holes every day, I'd make a drill holder (I'm a
welder), and could do that cheaply. One could easily be mounted to the top
of a screw jack and moved in a couple of minutes.

If I were a craftsman and had to do this a lot all the time, I'd have a
welder make me a drill guide, and do consistent accurate work.

It really all depends on how accurate you have to be, and how often you have
to drill the holes.

The 4 x 4 idea would be the hobbyist approach, easy, cheap, and reasonably
accurate for a few holes. Plus, you could keep it on a shelf for future
use.

From there, if it has to be accurate, and it's going to make you money, DO
IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME.

Steve

Good ideas all, and maybe I'm just dense (well, I'm obviously not well
educated about this type of thing at least), but I'm not seeing how a
screw jack would help me hold the drill guide up against the ceiling.
Would there be another way to hold the 4x4 against the ceiling? I'm up
on a six foot scaffolding set with very little room to work ... I love
the 4x4 idea and think it would work for us .... but I'm stumped by
how to hold it in place.

wrote in message
ups.com...
On Sep 25, 8:24 pm, "SteveB" wrote:
wrote in message

ups.com...

I'm using a Hilti drill to drill holes into concrete ceilings.
Drilling overhead with a heavy drill and big bit is making it
difficult to keep the hole straight. The Hilti is more than up to the
job ... the problem is when you're applying upward force, the natural
tendency is to pull the drill toward you or away from you, which makes
for a slanted or "crooked" hole. Any tips on how to keep the drill
straight so as to achieve the straightest possible hole?

Kinda depends. On how straight it HAS to be, and how much time you have
to
drill X many holes in a day, how many of these holes are you going to
drill
and how frequently, and how much equipment you have on hand.

If I (underlined I) had to drill some holes for my own use, I'd get a
piece
of 4 x 4 and drill a hole in that. Then I'd drill a starter hole in the
concrete, slide the 4 x 4 on the bit, put the 4 x 4 flat on the ceiling,
and
drill a reasonably straight hole.

If it had to be EXACT, I'd put the 4 x 4 on a couple of screw jacks.

If I HAD to drill a bunch of holes every day, I'd make a drill holder
(I'm a
welder), and could do that cheaply. One could easily be mounted to the
top
of a screw jack and moved in a couple of minutes.

If I were a craftsman and had to do this a lot all the time, I'd have a
welder make me a drill guide, and do consistent accurate work.

It really all depends on how accurate you have to be, and how often you
have
to drill the holes.

The 4 x 4 idea would be the hobbyist approach, easy, cheap, and
reasonably
accurate for a few holes. Plus, you could keep it on a shelf for future

use.

From there, if it has to be accurate, and it's going to make you money,
DO
IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME.

Steve

Good ideas all, and maybe I'm just dense (well, I'm obviously not well
educated about this type of thing at least), but I'm not seeing how a
screw jack would help me hold the drill guide up against the ceiling.
Would there be another way to hold the 4x4 against the ceiling? I'm up
on a six foot scaffolding set with very little room to work ... I love
the 4x4 idea and think it would work for us .... but I'm stumped by
how to hold it in place.


Transmission stand, pipe stand, etc...
Something with a screw adjustment on the top for quick installation/removal.
Any type of stand that would be adjustable for height that would wedge it up
on the ceiling.

Or, have a welder make you a jig that could have a spring action that would
compress as you're drilling.

wrote:
I'm using a Hilti drill to drill holes into concrete ceilings.
Drilling overhead with a heavy drill and big bit is making it
difficult to keep the hole straight. The Hilti is more than up to the
job ... the problem is when you're applying upward force, the natural
tendency is to pull the drill toward you or away from you, which makes
for a slanted or "crooked" hole. Any tips on how to keep the drill
straight so as to achieve the straightest possible hole?


Go to a thrift store and find an old three footed walking
cane. The tripod base would make a very light stable platform
on which to mount your drill guide. A piece of 3/16 aluminum
plate with 2 or 3 steel guide rods for a cobbled together drill
holder mounted to the feet should slide straight. If clearance
around conduit and such would make it a problem for the rubber
footed tripod, simple 3" spikes on the flat plate would suffice
for legs. We had a sheet metal shop here in town who's owner
would give me all sorts of scrap pieces of different metals
from the scrap bin, I really mourned the closing of that shop.
I have a portable drill guide like this one that I use:

http://www.garrettwade.com/jump.jsp?...&itemID=105318

I don't think it would fair well with a hammer drill unless
the chuck was changed out to a hammer drill chuck. It could give
you a good idea on how to build your own heavy duty guide.

TDD

I'm using a Hilti drill to drill holes into concrete ceilings.

You might stabilize the back end of its depth gauge and let it slide
into a hole in a block against the ceiling, with a compressive coil
spring around the forward end to hold the block against the ceiling.

Nick

On Sep 25, 8:53 pm, wrote:
I'm using a Hilti drill to drill holes into concrete ceilings.
Drilling overhead with a heavy drill and big bit is making it
difficult to keep the hole straight. The Hilti is more than up to the
job ... the problem is when you're applying upward force, the natural
tendency is to pull the drill toward you or away from you, which makes
for a slanted or "crooked" hole. Any tips on how to keep the drill
straight so as to achieve the straightest possible hole?

Maybe make a monopod jig, drop a plumb bob from the hole location to
the floor. Put the monopod base on the floor mark. Put a small screw
jack in the middle of the monopod pole and you wont have to sweat.

Glue a couple of cheap bubble levels to the Hilti.

wrote:
I'm using a Hilti drill to drill holes into concrete ceilings.
Drilling overhead with a heavy drill and big bit is making it
difficult to keep the hole straight. The Hilti is more than up to the
job ... the problem is when you're applying upward force, the natural
tendency is to pull the drill toward you or away from you, which makes
for a slanted or "crooked" hole. Any tips on how to keep the drill
straight so as to achieve the straightest possible hole?

wrote:
I'm using a Hilti drill to drill holes into concrete ceilings.
Drilling overhead with a heavy drill and big bit is making it
difficult to keep the hole straight. The Hilti is more than up to the
job ... the problem is when you're applying upward force, the natural
tendency is to pull the drill toward you or away from you, which makes
for a slanted or "crooked" hole. Any tips on how to keep the drill
straight so as to achieve the straightest possible hole?


what are the holes for? maybe easier to 'shoot' a fastener into the
concrete.

"RickH" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Sep 25, 8:53 pm, wrote:
I'm using a Hilti drill to drill holes into concrete ceilings.
Drilling overhead with a heavy drill and big bit is making it
difficult to keep the hole straight. The Hilti is more than up to the
job ... the problem is when you're applying upward force, the natural
tendency is to pull the drill toward you or away from you, which makes
for a slanted or "crooked" hole. Any tips on how to keep the drill
straight so as to achieve the straightest possible hole?

Maybe make a monopod jig, drop a plumb bob from the hole location to
the floor. Put the monopod base on the floor mark. Put a small screw
jack in the middle of the monopod pole and you wont have to sweat.

tripod drill

http://www.technologylk.com/product_...&product_ID=68

you can sometimes get these on ebay for a lot less. i use one for drilling
holes in glass sinks with diamond bits.

regards,
charlie
http://glassartists.org/chaniarts

According to :
I'm using a Hilti drill to drill holes into concrete ceilings.
Drilling overhead with a heavy drill and big bit is making it
difficult to keep the hole straight. The Hilti is more than up to the
job ... the problem is when you're applying upward force, the natural
tendency is to pull the drill toward you or away from you, which makes
for a slanted or "crooked" hole. Any tips on how to keep the drill
straight so as to achieve the straightest possible hole?

Stick-on level vials are a good idea and might work well enough.

Depending on the drill and you, it might be possible to hold the
drill on your shoulder, and provide upwards force with your knees.
Should be much easier to keep straight with a little guidance
from a helper. Might need padding on your shoulder or against
your ears ;-)

Given "hilti" and "big bit" suggests that a guide (such as a
chunk of 4x4) might not be accurate enough.

To hold a guide such as this against the ceiling without timewasting
fuss (eg: drilling other holes), what you need is 2 jackposts of some
sort. Not the "real thing", but things more like telescoping cargo
bars. These are essentially just a spring-loaded shower curtain
rod with a locking mechanism.

If you got a long drill bit extension, it'd be a lot easier to keep
straight.
--
Chris Lewis,

Age and Treachery will Triumph over Youth and Skill
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

On Sep 25, 9:53 pm, wrote:
I'm using a Hilti drill to drill holes into concrete ceilings.
Drilling overhead with a heavy drill and big bit is making it
difficult to keep the hole straight. The Hilti is more than up to the
job ... the problem is when you're applying upward force, the natural
tendency is to pull the drill toward you or away from you, which makes
for a slanted or "crooked" hole. Any tips on how to keep the drill
straight so as to achieve the straightest possible hole?

Do you know any sprinkler fitters? They do this all day every day and
probably could share some tips.

nate

In article . com,
wrote:

I'm using a Hilti drill to drill holes into concrete ceilings.
Drilling overhead with a heavy drill and big bit is making it
difficult to keep the hole straight. The Hilti is more than up to the
job ... the problem is when you're applying upward force, the natural
tendency is to pull the drill toward you or away from you, which makes
for a slanted or "crooked" hole. Any tips on how to keep the drill
straight so as to achieve the straightest possible hole?

Try hanging one or two 'plumb bobs' near the drill, stick them to the
concrete with bubble gum and use the string as guides

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/

wrote:
On Sep 25, 7:20 pm, Smitty Two wrote:
In article . com,

wrote:
I'm using a Hilti drill to drill holes into concrete ceilings.
Drilling overhead with a heavy drill and big bit is making it
difficult to keep the hole straight. The Hilti is more than up to the
job ... the problem is when you're applying upward force, the natural
tendency is to pull the drill toward you or away from you, which makes
for a slanted or "crooked" hole. Any tips on how to keep the drill
straight so as to achieve the straightest possible hole?
Two helpers. One calls out east/west adjustments, the other north/south.
(or left/right, back/forward.)

Yes, we're doing that to a certain extent ... I always have one helper
who helps me with those adjustments. I guess I was hoping there was
something else ... a tool, device, gadget ... something that would
help us with these holes. We do three of these each week (I know this
is a home repair group, but I couldn't find a group catering to my
profession). Looking for anything that would speed up and help with
efficiency. Thanks for the post.


Maybe you could adapt "http://britelite.com/Products/get_one.html" to
fit your needs.

SMS wrote:

Maybe you could adapt "http://britelite.com/Products/get_one.html" to
fit your needs.

Interesting, altho a bit expensive and maybe unsuited for concrete.

We might attach a laser pointer to the drill, aimed exactly backwards,
and mark a spot on the floor with a plumb bob from the hole location,
then drill while keeping the laser aimed at the spot on the floor...

Nick