3 ms·

Hand powered drilling tools and machines (2010)

56 points by bane 11y ago

WalterBright 11y ago
I use a hand drill for quick holes in soft material, because it is faster than dealing with the electric drill, extension cord, etc. Not mentioned are air powered drills. Those tend to be powerful and very small, meaning they work great in tight spaces.
- maxerickson 11y ago
  Lithium ion powered drills are very competitive in the convenience niche. The battery stays usefully charged for months at a time (an issue with other types of cordless drill batteries). The smaller ones aren't even all that expensive. (Not that I'm down on the hand powered ones, their batteries never get stale...)
  - WalterBright 11y ago
    I gave up on battery drills. The battery would always run down with the screw halfway in. Then it's go get the corded drill anyway. Might as well start with the corded one.
    - phyllostachys 11y ago
      You need to try one of these[1]. I finally bought one and everyone who has used it loves it, so far. I suppose it isn't really the best for putting in screws but it works wonders on any sort of drilling (bit or spade). [1] - http://www.gemplers.com/img/dewalt-cordless-impact-WEB163363.jpg http://www.gemplers.com/img/dewalt-cordless-impact-WEB163363...
gchpaco 11y ago
Bit braces (the C shaped tools) are also the finest Phillips screwdrivers available, I've found. The design makes it easy to exert a lot of force to prevent the bit from camming out, and the amount of torque one can generate is astounding. Braces are measured by the diameter of the rotation; most good ones are in the 8"-10" range, which is probably more appropriate for casual use. 14" and up were generally for driving big augers, and you need every bit of that torque. I have a 6" one that is cute and small but not actually all that useful due to jaw issues.
exDM69 11y ago
The brace and bit is still the tool of choice for fine woodworking and cabinet making. It's much more precise than using a power tool and it's easier to control the speed and torque to avoid tearout. It's also useful when removing the bulk of the waste for joinery such as dados or mortises, before finishing the job with a chisel or a router plane or such. A drill press is better if you have one available and the workpiece is small enough to fit. I wouldn't choose a hand tool for bigger construction projects if there's a very large number of holes to be drilled or screws to be attached.
jacquesm 11y ago
One very good reason for using a hand drilling tool (one without gearing) is when you drill in hardwoods and you want the hole wall to be wood rather than charcoal. This is a very important thing when drilling up the holes for pins in old pianos, if the hole walls burn during the drilling then the piano will not keep tune. By using a hand tool you are purposefully limiting your speed (you may still need to stop in between to let the wood cool). Hand drilling tools still have their place, the above is just one example of many like it. But for most purposes a motorized tool (electricity, air, gasoline) is more convenient and a lot faster.
- LeifCarrotson 11y ago
  You can set your speed and feed rate much more precisely (even slower, if you like) on a drill press or lathe.
  - jacquesm 11y ago
    Try mounting your piano frame on a drill press or a lathe :) There are actually magnetic drill presses specifically for the purpose that you somehow stick to a piece of nearby cast iron. tricky to get them lined up exactly with the old bore.
furyg3 11y ago
The guy over at the primitive technology vlog on YouTube just added a neat video of himself making a cord drill and a pump drill. http://youtu.be/ZEl-Y1NvBVI http://youtu.be/ZEl-Y1NvBVI
- LeifCarrotson 11y ago
  Discussed here a few days ago at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10956658 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10956658
arethuza 11y ago
~20 years ago I knew a guy who had done programming with a hand drill. He was maintaining an old mainframe that ran a steel plant and had to modify the boot sequence. Originally the device booted from paper tape but over the years/decades the paper tape had been replaced by a stout piece of leather. So to modify the boot code he had to resort to a hand drill!
vlehto 11y ago
>Hand braces have remained in use ever since, although they can be difficult to find today. As bushcraft enthusiast/scout located in a Nordic country, this would be ideal. During a week long camp you might not be able to charge your drill. And during the winter Li-ion batteries die. I've been searching for one with three jaw chuck for some years now. (So it would be compatible with modern drill bits.) I've found one geared drill which had four jaw chuck, didn't hold any bit. And some very old and rusty ones that require special bits. Seriously sell me one. I'd be willing to pay 30e for one, and maybe more.
- 8ig8 11y ago
  > By far, my favorite brace is the North Bros. Yankee 2101A brace > The alligator-style chuck jaws close tightly and quickly on square-shanked auger bits or round-shanked twist bits. From: http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/the-essential-brace-bit http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-sc... There's a few listed on eBay now: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.TRS0&_nkw=Yankee+2101A+brace&_sacat=0 http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m5...
  - vlehto 11y ago
    Thanks for trying. 20$ shipping for 30$ tool, while they are mostly two jaw versions. So it's 50$ for something that might be crap and at very least would require me to hunt for vintage set of drill bits. Despite the fact that I already own two modern sets.
    - david-given 11y ago
      Is there any reason why you couldn't retrofit a modern drill chuck onto a hand drill shaft? If all else fails, you could custom make a shaft which the old drill chuck could hold which you could attach the new chuck to.
      - vlehto 11y ago
dsfyu404ed 11y ago
I'm not sure how the author missed the cole drill. Maybe he never wanted to drill holes in metal. http://coledrill.blogspot.com/ http://coledrill.blogspot.com/

56 points by bane 11y ago

I use a hand drill for quick holes in soft material, because it is faster than dealing with the electric drill, extension cord, etc. Not mentioned are air powered drills. Those tend to be powerful and very small, meaning they work great in tight spaces.

maxerickson 11y ago
Lithium ion powered drills are very competitive in the convenience niche. The battery stays usefully charged for months at a time (an issue with other types of cordless drill batteries). The smaller ones aren't even all that expensive. (Not that I'm down on the hand powered ones, their batteries never get stale...)
- WalterBright 11y ago
  I gave up on battery drills. The battery would always run down with the screw halfway in. Then it's go get the corded drill anyway. Might as well start with the corded one.
  - phyllostachys 11y ago
    You need to try one of these[1]. I finally bought one and everyone who has used it loves it, so far. I suppose it isn't really the best for putting in screws but it works wonders on any sort of drilling (bit or spade). [1] - http://www.gemplers.com/img/dewalt-cordless-impact-WEB163363.jpg http://www.gemplers.com/img/dewalt-cordless-impact-WEB163363...

gchpaco 11y ago

Bit braces (the C shaped tools) are also the finest Phillips screwdrivers available, I've found. The design makes it easy to exert a lot of force to prevent the bit from camming out, and the amount of torque one can generate is astounding. Braces are measured by the diameter of the rotation; most good ones are in the 8"-10" range, which is probably more appropriate for casual use. 14" and up were generally for driving big augers, and you need every bit of that torque. I have a 6" one that is cute and small but not actually all that useful due to jaw issues.

exDM69 11y ago

The brace and bit is still the tool of choice for fine woodworking and cabinet making. It's much more precise than using a power tool and it's easier to control the speed and torque to avoid tearout. It's also useful when removing the bulk of the waste for joinery such as dados or mortises, before finishing the job with a chisel or a router plane or such. A drill press is better if you have one available and the workpiece is small enough to fit. I wouldn't choose a hand tool for bigger construction projects if there's a very large number of holes to be drilled or screws to be attached.

jacquesm 11y ago

One very good reason for using a hand drilling tool (one without gearing) is when you drill in hardwoods and you want the hole wall to be wood rather than charcoal. This is a very important thing when drilling up the holes for pins in old pianos, if the hole walls burn during the drilling then the piano will not keep tune. By using a hand tool you are purposefully limiting your speed (you may still need to stop in between to let the wood cool). Hand drilling tools still have their place, the above is just one example of many like it. But for most purposes a motorized tool (electricity, air, gasoline) is more convenient and a lot faster.

LeifCarrotson 11y ago
You can set your speed and feed rate much more precisely (even slower, if you like) on a drill press or lathe.
- jacquesm 11y ago
  Try mounting your piano frame on a drill press or a lathe :) There are actually magnetic drill presses specifically for the purpose that you somehow stick to a piece of nearby cast iron. tricky to get them lined up exactly with the old bore.

furyg3 11y ago

The guy over at the primitive technology vlog on YouTube just added a neat video of himself making a cord drill and a pump drill. http://youtu.be/ZEl-Y1NvBVI http://youtu.be/ZEl-Y1NvBVI

LeifCarrotson 11y ago
Discussed here a few days ago at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10956658 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10956658

arethuza 11y ago

~20 years ago I knew a guy who had done programming with a hand drill. He was maintaining an old mainframe that ran a steel plant and had to modify the boot sequence. Originally the device booted from paper tape but over the years/decades the paper tape had been replaced by a stout piece of leather. So to modify the boot code he had to resort to a hand drill!

vlehto 11y ago

>Hand braces have remained in use ever since, although they can be difficult to find today. As bushcraft enthusiast/scout located in a Nordic country, this would be ideal. During a week long camp you might not be able to charge your drill. And during the winter Li-ion batteries die. I've been searching for one with three jaw chuck for some years now. (So it would be compatible with modern drill bits.) I've found one geared drill which had four jaw chuck, didn't hold any bit. And some very old and rusty ones that require special bits. Seriously sell me one. I'd be willing to pay 30e for one, and maybe more.

8ig8 11y ago
> By far, my favorite brace is the North Bros. Yankee 2101A brace > The alligator-style chuck jaws close tightly and quickly on square-shanked auger bits or round-shanked twist bits. From: http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/the-essential-brace-bit http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-sc... There's a few listed on eBay now: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.TRS0&_nkw=Yankee+2101A+brace&_sacat=0 http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m5...
- vlehto 11y ago
  Thanks for trying. 20$ shipping for 30$ tool, while they are mostly two jaw versions. So it's 50$ for something that might be crap and at very least would require me to hunt for vintage set of drill bits. Despite the fact that I already own two modern sets.
  - david-given 11y ago
    Is there any reason why you couldn't retrofit a modern drill chuck onto a hand drill shaft? If all else fails, you could custom make a shaft which the old drill chuck could hold which you could attach the new chuck to.
    - vlehto 11y ago

dsfyu404ed 11y ago

I'm not sure how the author missed the cole drill. Maybe he never wanted to drill holes in metal. http://coledrill.blogspot.com/ http://coledrill.blogspot.com/