I don’t really like electrical appliances. I use a manual whisk (Google translate turns hjulpisker into auxiliary whisk) for everything “whisky” even though we have a vitamix thing that cost more than my MacBook Air.
So I’m an idiot like that, and you might expect me to use a manual drill (I guess it would be auxiliary drill if Google translate is right), and until I bought a house you would have been right. Now I own both an electrical drill and a drill hammer. So while my whipped cream still takes a few minutes more than an electro mixer you won’t ever find me drilling a hole without a power tool. It’s just not worth it.
Great article though, it’s nice to see all the options covered.
The whisk actually works like the electric ones. It has two “whisks” and then it has some sort of wheel that you turn around to make them spin. It’s really astonishing how something so simple can challenge my English so much lol. But you can get drills that work in a similar fashion, I know because we had them at carpentry class when I was in what we call folkeskolen, so maybe the school that you go to before high school?
Mayo is really not difficult to hand whisk. It's pretty much the only way I make it, which is once every week or two. Blenders are nice when you need a larger quantity, but for a small amount I find them to be a nuisance.
I'm surprised that the article doesn't recommend an ordinary hand drill, like the one Fiskars makes, for creating pilot holes. Are push drills generally considered superior?
I have both: A Stanley "egg beater" drill, and an old Yankee push drill. Each has its advantages:
The Stanley has a conventional chuck, and can take any size drill, including a Unibit. It produces a smoother hole and is more controlled when you break through the other side of sheet material. It's a tad more expensive than the Fiskars, but looks to be a lot better made.
The Yankee only requires one hand, so you can hold the workpiece with the other, hang onto a ladder, etc. But it produces a rougher hole, and will break through quite abruptly. But for something like a pilot hole for a screw, which doesn't need super precision anyway, it's fine.
Both are super convenient: Lightweight, compact, don't need any forethought to make sure they're charged, no worry if they get rained on.
If I had to have just one, it would be the Stanley, but the Yankee was given to me by a friend who collects old hand tools. Like the above poster, I greatly prefer hand tools when I can get away with using them.
Electrical discharge milling is so cool, but expensive (tens of thousands of dollars for a machine). It's got to be the most overkill and surgical way to drill out stripped screws though.
Training termites seems difficult, but I wonder if you could coat the area to be drilled with something particularly attractive to termites or some other insect. Or coat the remaining area with something particularly repulsive to them.
I've used most of those alternatives in my life. Here is my advice:
The best way to avoid being caught without the right drill bit is to have MULTIPLE sets. They're dirt cheap and never go bad (unless you leave them exposed to the weather).
Get a spare drill while you're at it. Hell, get two; they're dirt cheap.
All this fiddling about with inferior or not-quite-right-for-the-job tools makes for great HN reading, but is rather pointless in the real world.
Also: Drill a pilot hole first.
The only cases where I'd say older is better would be places where the quality has gone so far downhill that it impacts the work. Things like:
- nails
- screws
- chisels
- axes
- knives (although there are still plenty of good knife makers today)
- heavy equipment like drill presses, lathes, pipe benders, etc
Not OP, but modern screws, bought from reputable suppliers, are absolutely fine. SPAX and GRK are extremely strong in both dimensions; they won't snap when you haul on them with an impact drill and the holding force is extremely...hold-y.
If you buy wood screws on Amazon, maybe they have thinner-than-spec threads and get weird. Maybe. I've done it (I can't get, say, oval-head slotted brass screws here too easily, so the internet's the option) and never had problems when I've drilled pilot holes and countersunk them correctly, even on fairly large pieces.
weird hn strikes again. I learned about most of this stuff in trade tech school and I think its really neat people on this site are interested.
I use rotary impact drivers and drill presses all day long at work. there's no shame. gimlets see a lot of use in jewelry and my foreman once said you never sharpen them because they're generally case hardened and snap too easily. they're very fine instruments in the hand.
for you drill owners out there the best advice I can offer is always punch your holes first, always wear safety glasses and learn to sharpen your bits.
Definitely. And this is why, if you've got the money, why a drill+driver set is pretty handy - you drill with the drill, then you drive the screw with the impact driver, and you haven't had to mess around with switching your bits. (I have two of each in the shop, because sometimes I need a #10 T20 and a #8 T15 screw at the same time, and that means separate drills and separate drivers.)
Anytime I'm drilling a lot of holes, screwing a lot of screws, or screwing any number of screws but with a high accuracy requirement, I pre-drill with a tapered bit (example: https://www.amazon.com/FTG-USA-Replacement-Countersink-Taper...). They're typically used with countersink bits, but that's not how I use them most often. They're just really good at nailing a hole location quickly and accurately. And for things like framing, they are good at setting pilots for toe screws which can sometimes otherwise be annoying to do.
>PB Swiss center punch with tungsten carbide point for hard metals
I feel like anyone drilling stuff that's harder than 40 HRC, or worse yet, 40+ HRC stainless steel; will be worrying more about bit choice or feeds and speeds than choice of center punch.
It also takes a bit of skill and gumption, but yeah, its doable.
You tip the saw forward on its table so the blade is above the wood, hold down the “Go” button, and slowly lean the jigsaw back towards flat. It is important that the jigsaw’s table is in solid contact with the wood the, erm, hole time.
I was about to write this off as a case of "If you do DIY you probably have a drill", but then I remembered that hand tools do have a weight advantage and having some way to drill in a small field repair kit wouldn't be a bad thing at all. Although, perhaps a micro rotary tool would be better in some cases.
I still don't understand the people that say gand drills are more convenient for just one or two drills, unless they are comparing to a corded drill. I don't think I've ever actually used a corded drill though.
Readit News
So I’m an idiot like that, and you might expect me to use a manual drill (I guess it would be auxiliary drill if Google translate is right), and until I bought a house you would have been right. Now I own both an electrical drill and a drill hammer. So while my whipped cream still takes a few minutes more than an electro mixer you won’t ever find me drilling a hole without a power tool. It’s just not worth it.
Great article though, it’s nice to see all the options covered.
The Stanley has a conventional chuck, and can take any size drill, including a Unibit. It produces a smoother hole and is more controlled when you break through the other side of sheet material. It's a tad more expensive than the Fiskars, but looks to be a lot better made.
The Yankee only requires one hand, so you can hold the workpiece with the other, hang onto a ladder, etc. But it produces a rougher hole, and will break through quite abruptly. But for something like a pilot hole for a screw, which doesn't need super precision anyway, it's fine.
Both are super convenient: Lightweight, compact, don't need any forethought to make sure they're charged, no worry if they get rained on.
If I had to have just one, it would be the Stanley, but the Yankee was given to me by a friend who collects old hand tools. Like the above poster, I greatly prefer hand tools when I can get away with using them.
(BTW, you forgot the railgun, nano-sized black hole, antimatter beam, and trained termite "drill squad".)
Deleted Comment
The best way to avoid being caught without the right drill bit is to have MULTIPLE sets. They're dirt cheap and never go bad (unless you leave them exposed to the weather).
Get a spare drill while you're at it. Hell, get two; they're dirt cheap.
All this fiddling about with inferior or not-quite-right-for-the-job tools makes for great HN reading, but is rather pointless in the real world.
Also: Drill a pilot hole first.
The only cases where I'd say older is better would be places where the quality has gone so far downhill that it impacts the work. Things like:
- nails
- screws
- chisels
- axes
- knives (although there are still plenty of good knife makers today)
- heavy equipment like drill presses, lathes, pipe benders, etc
If you buy wood screws on Amazon, maybe they have thinner-than-spec threads and get weird. Maybe. I've done it (I can't get, say, oval-head slotted brass screws here too easily, so the internet's the option) and never had problems when I've drilled pilot holes and countersunk them correctly, even on fairly large pieces.
Deleted Comment
I use rotary impact drivers and drill presses all day long at work. there's no shame. gimlets see a lot of use in jewelry and my foreman once said you never sharpen them because they're generally case hardened and snap too easily. they're very fine instruments in the hand.
for you drill owners out there the best advice I can offer is always punch your holes first, always wear safety glasses and learn to sharpen your bits.
Definitely. And this is why, if you've got the money, why a drill+driver set is pretty handy - you drill with the drill, then you drive the screw with the impact driver, and you haven't had to mess around with switching your bits. (I have two of each in the shop, because sometimes I need a #10 T20 and a #8 T15 screw at the same time, and that means separate drills and separate drivers.)
Anytime I'm drilling a lot of holes, screwing a lot of screws, or screwing any number of screws but with a high accuracy requirement, I pre-drill with a tapered bit (example: https://www.amazon.com/FTG-USA-Replacement-Countersink-Taper...). They're typically used with countersink bits, but that's not how I use them most often. They're just really good at nailing a hole location quickly and accurately. And for things like framing, they are good at setting pilots for toe screws which can sometimes otherwise be annoying to do.
PB Swiss center punch with tungsten carbide point for hard metals, https://www.pbswisstools.com/en/tools/quality-hand-tools/str...
YG-1 (South Korea) spiral flute tap, evacuates metal chips, useful for custom device enclosures, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F8T4ST2/ & https://yg1usa.com/
Norseman bits (USA), http://norsemandrill.com/
I feel like anyone drilling stuff that's harder than 40 HRC, or worse yet, 40+ HRC stainless steel; will be worrying more about bit choice or feeds and speeds than choice of center punch.
You tip the saw forward on its table so the blade is above the wood, hold down the “Go” button, and slowly lean the jigsaw back towards flat. It is important that the jigsaw’s table is in solid contact with the wood the, erm, hole time.
I still don't understand the people that say gand drills are more convenient for just one or two drills, unless they are comparing to a corded drill. I don't think I've ever actually used a corded drill though.