John Martin wrote:
Mike Marlow wrote:

#24 I'd have to check into. Off the top of my head I do not know what that
size is. I have though used my drill motor well beyond #10, and in other
than pine. Likewise, not just wood screws, but machine screws.


#14 slot - can't speak to that one. #3 Phillips - I have several tips right
in my drawer. They are quite common.


Well, it would be interesting to see. I'm not about to say that a drill
motor can drive anything that a brace can - hell, like I said, I don't even
know off the top of my head what a #24 screw looks like. I have to say that
I'd be surprised if it proved that the drill motor couldn't. But then
again, I've been surprised before.

--



heck, I even have a #4 phillips insert tip. I've even used it once...
-Mike-


You probably won't find any #24 screws around, nor even any #18s or
#16s. They are for really heavy jobs, like mounting bench vises.
Don't understand the part about machine screws, though. Are you using
them in tapped holes in metal? That shouldn't require much torque. Or
are you for some reason using them in wood?

You are right about the #3 Phillips bits - they do make them. I'm sure
you know the importance of fitting a screwdriver to a slotted screw,
and I've never seen a 1/4" hex bit large enough for, say, a #14 screw.
I was wrong about the #3 Phillips, though.

It sounds like the drill motor is the perfect tool for you. Horses for
courses.

John Martin

Mike Marlow wrote:
"John Martin" wrote in message
oups.com...


Mike, you've just about convinced me. Especially as I get older, I
realize that I shouldn't be taxing myself with hand tools when I can
use power ones.

Rugh-Roh, that wasn't my intent. I was enjoying the dialog and
understanding why people use what they use, compared to why I use what I
use. Something of an academic exercise to make usenet both useful to me and
enjoyable.


What sort of drill motor and bits should I be considering?


I just have a 3/8 DeWalt variable speed drill motor. I think mine is a 6A
motor. I retrofitted a 1/2" chuck to it a long time ago just to handle a
couple of bigger things that I put in it. It has plenty of power to handle
the things I use it for so putting the 1/2" chuck on never concerned me.
Like you, I don't want to be hauling out the wheel barrel just to move my
drill around, so big enough to do what I need, is big enough for me. I
chuck up pretty much what ever I need to do the job. I've got things like
ground down 3/8" socket wrench extensions that I can chuck into it for
running nuts and bolts as might be required. Beats grabbing an impact gun
sometimes and is much faster than an air ratchet. Of course I have #2 and
#3 Phillips tips. What I like about it over my cordless gun is that for
jobs that might be similar to what the OP posted that got this thread going,
it has the power to lay into it and very slowly try to work a screw. You
don't have to hit the trigger and develop too much speed right off the bat,
only to eat up a screw head.

But I will say this John - I was a long time getting into grabbing a hand
plane, tuning it up and putting it seriously to a piece of work. I don't
get into it like some of the guys here, but once I got my plane tuned up and
sharp, I was so impressed with every aspect of using it that I haven't
grabbed my power planer since. It works extremely well, is easier to grab
and "setup" than my power planer (don't have to move crap away from the
outlet to plug it in), and most important - it's so much more fun to use. I
still get a thrill out of watching a curl grow out of it, and love the sound
of it moving across a piece of wood. Simple minds, simple pleasures. All
that to say that so many of the old tools are indeed much cooler to use. I
wouldn't want to dissuade anyone from going that route - even if being
cooler was the only reason, and sometimes there's other reasons to stick
with them.

As for drill motors, I believe in small tools with lots of power. Big tools
are hard to maneuver, sometimes hard to use accurately. I like a 3/8" motor
with a rating like mine (6A) or thereabouts, and a good trigger. I like to
be able to creep the motor up from a dead stop to just barely trying to
turn. And of course - it just wouldn't be right unless it really whizzed
too. For me, the DeWalt has served that well. But... don't you go putting
that brace and bit up in the attic.

--

-Mike-


I took a look at those drills, Mike, and noticed that they don't have
side handles. How do you handle the torque that they produce? That
short pistol grip handle wouldn't seem to give you much leverage.

John Martin

"Mike Marlow" writes:

"John Martin" wrote in message
oups.com...

I took a look at those drills, Mike, and noticed that they don't have
side handles. How do you handle the torque that they produce? That
short pistol grip handle wouldn't seem to give you much leverage.


I just hold it firmly John. Sometimes I'll hold it sideways so the grip is
off to a side instead of straight down and I can get a bit more feel of
control that way. I've never had the need for a side handle. I have

.... which shows that such drills are limited in torque: If it had the
necessary torque for example to tighten (or loosen) a cars wheel nut
(above 100 Nm) you could not hold it without a long side handle.

[...]

I usually don't just squeeze the trigger to full speed either, and that
helps with the torque thing. Running a speed bore into a floor joist is one
thing - I'll just hog right into that, but for most other things I generally
attack the work with less torque. I'm one of those guys that you'll never
see running a drill motor up to high speed with a metal cutting bit in it,
or with a tech adapter chucked in, so again - the torque thing isn't as big
a problem as you might think.

Do not confuse torque with speed. Unfortunately most (all?) the
cordless screw drivers with a torque control arre uncalibrated, in
other words they just show some numbers without any unit.

--
Dr. Juergen Hannappel http://lisa2.physik.uni-bonn.de/~hannappe
Phone: +49 228 73 2447 FAX ... 7869
Physikalisches Institut der Uni Bonn Nussallee 12, D-53115 Bonn, Germany
CERN: Phone: +412276 76461 Fax: ..77930 Bat. 892-R-A13 CH-1211 Geneve 23

Mike Marlow wrote:
"John Martin" wrote in message
oups.com...

I took a look at those drills, Mike, and noticed that they don't have
side handles. How do you handle the torque that they produce? That
short pistol grip handle wouldn't seem to give you much leverage.


I just hold it firmly John. Sometimes I'll hold it sideways so the grip is
off to a side instead of straight down and I can get a bit more feel of
control that way. I've never had the need for a side handle. I have
grabbed right around the body of the motor before, again - to get the feel
of more control. Don't know if it actually provided much more control, or
was just a feel thing. I guess I just don't find a drill motor to be very
unsteady feeling in my hand, so as to need something like the side handle.

I usually don't just squeeze the trigger to full speed either, and that
helps with the torque thing. Running a speed bore into a floor joist is one
thing - I'll just hog right into that, but for most other things I generally
attack the work with less torque. I'm one of those guys that you'll never
see running a drill motor up to high speed with a metal cutting bit in it,
or with a tech adapter chucked in, so again - the torque thing isn't as big
a problem as you might think.

--

-Mike-



Thanks, Mike. Knowing your concern about being able to apply enough
torque with a bit brace, I wondered how a drill motor without a great
big side handle would do.

John Martin

The solution is simple buy a used wood cutting auger bit that fits your bit brace ( four sided with a taper) and weld it to the cut off blade of the screwdriver size and type you need. These old drill bits are around for cheap.
A screw driver in a bit brace is the very best way to set large screws into hard wood with force and great control.

--
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