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Drills and Drill press recommendations

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grarad

Joined: 08 Dec 2007
Posts: 2

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 12:17 pm Post subject: Drills and Drill press recommendations

Greetings to all;



Before beginning the construction of the 601 XL horizontal stabilizer kit, I would like to seek your suggestions for drills, and a Drill press.  



According to the Heintz collage, Drills should provide 2500 + RPM.  Is the use of a 2500 RPM drill important to perform proper / clean drilling on the majority of Zodiac parts?  Would a 1500 RPM cordless drill be least desired?



3/8" or 1/4" ?

Electric, cordless, or pneumatic ?

Standard Chuck or Keyless, ?

Sioux, Taylor, Harbor Freight, Central ?



For a bench Drill press, is the Sears 10" adequate for the majority of the 601 XL build?



Many thanks in advance,



Gary

_________________
601 XL / Rudder / Horz

jeffrey_davidson(at)earth
Guest

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 5:41 pm Post subject: Drills and Drill press recommendations

Gary,

	First, I'd recommend going with the RPM ZAC specifies.  Having said

that, I used a 4500 RPM corded drill for the first several parts I built

back in the early 1990s.  I later switched to two 2500 RPM drills, one

corded and one not.  For practical purposes the RPM didn't seem to make any

difference.  Others may have their preferences, but manufacturer brand name

seems to make no real difference either in my experience.  Triangular shaped

holes were a bigger concern.  These, in general, can be avoided by drilling

pilot holes and then drilling to size.  For rivet holes, the rivet will fill

up some of the odd shape.  For bolts, the hole should be more exact.  A

drill press and fixture to hold the parts are needed, particularly for bolt

holes.  Reaming the bolt hole after drilling became my standard practice.

Remember that the reamer makes the hole just slightly oversize.  Not so much

reaming for rivet holes.  A standard household drill of 600-800 RPM did

provide some very unacceptable results, so high speed is what to use.  To

me, corded versus cordless is a matter of convenience.  Not having to charge

the battery was good for me as long as I was working in an edifice with

electrical power.  In the shed, I had to use cordless.  My 2500 RPM drill

has a keyless chuck.  It has been fine even though I didn't have confidence

in it at first.  It certainly is faster changing bits.  I haven't used any

air tools so I can't comment on them.  There is more on this in the archives

and on Mark's 601 web site.  In the HD kit, there are some holes bigger that

1/4 inch, so the chuck size selected may impact the drills you can use.

Several drill attachments are recommended by me:  a 90 degree angle

attachment, reamers for common bolts sizes (3/16, 1/4, 5/16, 3/8, etc.) and

an assortment of Unibit (stepped) drill bits.



Jeff Davidson

CH601-HD w/Jabiru 3300  90 percent done  



<snip>

According to the Heintz collage, Drills should provide 2500 + RPM.  Is the

use of a 2500 RPM drill important to perform proper / clean drilling on the

majority of Zodiac parts?  Would a 1500 RPM cordless drill be least desired?

<snip>

PatrickW

Joined: 27 Oct 2006
Posts: 380
Location: Fort Worth, Texas

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:24 pm Post subject: Re: Drills and Drill press recommendations

 	  grarad wrote: 	
		  I would like to seek your suggestions for drills, and a Drill press. 	




I bought the Sioux air drill, and a good air compressor.  The price seemed steep at first, but I have never regretted buying them.  I'm 100% sold on air tools now, and wish I'd have gone that route years ago.  Of course you are limited to the length of your air hose, but air hose is not expensive.



The Sioux drill has a variable speed.  Most of my drilling is at a fairly slow speed, but for the times that I want to drill at a high speed I am able to do so.  You'll catch on pretty quick and be able to tell what speed works for the particular situation at hand.  And you'll come to appreciate the light weight of the Sioux drill after drilling several hundred holes in an evening...



I also have a cordless drill with two battery packs.  If you do serious drilling, your battery packs and charger will not be able to keep up with you.  Cordless drills are handy for use as powered screwdrivers to take those big wood crates apart.



The Sears 10" drill press is probably better than the one I have now. 



Other handy tools that I have used on my 601 project are a vise, a bench grinder, and infrequently a band saw.  I have found a dremel tool and an air grinder to be very useful tools as well.  Also a Sears laser level.



My advice when it comes to tools is to buy the best quality that you can afford.  I have never regretted buying quality, but I have regretted buying junk (and then having to spend more buying what I should have bought in the first place).



Patrick

XL/Corvair

kmccune

Joined: 22 Sep 2007
Posts: 577
Location: Wisconsin, USA

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 6:12 am Post subject: Re: Drills and Drill press recommendations

Just general personal experience below:

 A slower drill bit rpm has more chance of breaking though the material without having completely cut the diameter away. This will pull the material up the drill bit and can cause stitches... yes I'm sure about this one. :^(    The other thing a higher speed does is to allow you to put less pressure on the drill, the bit "bites" a smaller amount each revolution lessening the above situation, results in a smaller burr and still allows a short drill time. This also allows you to control the break through and subsequent "bumping" of the material with the chuck better. But you really should have a rubber bumper on the chuck for this reason anyway.



Air drill if you can, on thin material. On bigger holes/thicker material or harder material slower is better. Always make sure that you are in control of the material, see stitches above.

_________________
“Always do what you are afraid to do.”
R.W. Emerson (1803-1882)

"Real freedom is the sustained act of being an individual." WW - 2009

"Life is a good deal...it's worth it" Feb 1969
Dorothy McCune

Tim Juhl

Joined: 21 Mar 2006
Posts: 488
Location: "Thumb" of Michigan

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 9:49 am Post subject: Re: Drills and Drill press recommendations

You are going to be drilling a lot of holes so I recommend that you go with something light, small and high speed.  I chose the Sioux 3600 rpm palm drill (pneumatic).  If you shop around you can find one for under $200.  Everybody who has seen it has wanted to walk away with it     Obviously you will need a compressor, but then you'll need one for a rivet puller unless you use a manual puller and want to end up with arms like Popeye.



I bought a sears bench mount drill press that so far has met my needs very well.  You can change the speed fairly easily from something like 640 rpm up to around 3200.



You didn't ask but be sure to invest in some good drill bits.  When they start getting dull or show any tendancy to wander, pitch them!



Good luck!

Tim

_________________
______________
CFII
Champ L16A flying
Zodiac XL - Jabiru 3300A
Almost done! It'll fly in spring!

agustafson(at)chartermi.n
Guest

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 10:48 am Post subject: Drills and Drill press recommendations

I made two of these http://www.matronics.com/photoshare/agustafson(at)chartermi.net.03.08.2003/ 

 One 1/8" and one 5/32" and used them almost  exclusively to scratch build my 601HD. I used a computer backup battery (throw  aways from a friends computer business for power). The motors came from a  Ford dealer I worked for and were warranty take outs, almost new and of course  free to me. These work very well for drilling aluminum. Better than the 5 or 6  cordless and 10 or 12 corded drills I have. So see what you can  scrounge.

  

 Aaron Gustafson

   [quote][b]

Dave Nixon

Joined: 20 Sep 2007
Posts: 25

Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:23 pm Post subject: Re: Drills and Drill press recommendations

I bought bulk packages of 3/32", 1/8" and 5/32" drill bits from Harbor Freight. I bought 60 of the 3/32" (10 bits per pack) for less than $2.00 per pack. When they go dull, I chuck it and get another one.  At that price it was a good bargain for me. Hope this helps. 

Dave Nixon

CH601 XL Jabiru 3300

planecrazydld(at)yahoo.co
Guest

Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 6:52 am Post subject: Drills and Drill press recommendations

put a short piece of model airplane fuel hose on the shank of the bits and the chuck marks go away to a massive degree. The hose is available in many sizes so fit to the particular drill bit is not a problem.



I am a biiiiig fan of high RPM drills with fine teasing triggers. The control they allow is second to none and the drilled holes show it. The minimal burrs, as noted, are a benefit as well as they are much easier to remove without taking structure along...



kmccune <kmccune(at)somtel.net> wrote:[quote] --> Zenith-List message posted by: "kmccune" 



Just general personal experience below:

 A slower drill bit rpm has more chance of breaking though the material without having completely cut the diameter away. This will pull the material up the drill bit and can cause stitches... yes I'm sure about this one.    [quote][b]

grs-pms(at)comcast.net
Guest

Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 11:54 am Post subject: Drills and Drill press recommendations

On a #40 bit, a length of plastic tubing from a  household product spray bottle works well.  It can also serve as a  depth gage.  Chuck up the bit, then snip a length of tubing a little  shorter than the exposed length of the bit.

  

 George

  

  

 [quote]   ---

grarad

Joined: 08 Dec 2007
Posts: 2

Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 11:02 am Post subject: Re: Drills and Drill press recommendations

Many thanks to all who responded by Forum and directly.  Also, thanks to those who provided their insights to the Drill Bits recommendations.

-

A very Happy New Year to all!!



Thanks again,



Gary

_________________
601 XL / Rudder / Horz

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