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.
I’ve done this with my coffee mill. The grind shaft is a hex and the chuck connects perfectly. I like to do it manually normally, but the kids get a kick out of turbo grind mode.
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.
Why plunge a router and then switch to a jigsaw to make a large circular hole in a sheet of plywood? Just move the router around instead.
You can use a bit that can follow a template to make this as accurate as you'd like, but freehand is usually sufficient.
Also: A notable omission in the "other powertools" section is the angle grinder. Both to "saw" a hole, and by attaching a drill chuck to the grinder. At that point it's basically an electric drill with another form factor.
You can splurge on router bits, but I've also got a set of perfectly usable 12mm bits from AliExpress that I've even used for hardwood, and which will be just fine for any plywood.
You can also spend a lot of money on drill bits if you're seeking perfection over the perfectly adequate.
As far as I can tell, router bits from AliExpress use the same sort of carbide as the 10-20x more expensive ones available from retail shops here in NZ, and they're cheap enough I wouldn't even consider having them sharpened. We're talking a few dollars for a straight bit, maybe low teens dollars for something fancier.
Never noticed vibration issues with router bits from AliExpress, though I do use a 1/2" router and don't tend to use huge bits so it would have to be pretty far out of whack to make a difference. Same for tolerance. That said, I also wouldn't reach for a power tool as the last step to a very nice surface finish or very high precision fit.
Carbide alloy quality is probably hard to tell by eye. Also hard to tell by eye, and a little scarier, is how well they're adhered to the bit head.
I also use cheap router bits on occasion, but the second one misbehaves even slightly I go ahead and buy an Amana or similarly high-end one, because obviously I've used it enough for it to be worth it.
I'm basing my statement on how the bits function in actual use; for me the cheapies are plenty adequate and the types I need are available, so far there's been no reason to consider buying high-end ones.
Yes, anecdote, but I also have some not-cheapies that came with used tools, inherited from woodworker family, etc. and so don't feel like this is a case where I just don't know what I'm missing. The volumes of work I do are way too small to justify a real comparison test, basically it's hobby stuff, but pros probably aren't going to be taking router bit advice on HN anyway...
As far as I know, most laser cutters available to hobbyists for cutting wood are either diode or CO2 based, and both have a risk of setting the wood on fire, as well as generate a fair amount of smoke and combustion gases.
For cutting holes into wood as a hobbyist, a CNC machine with the appropriate tool will give far superior output for the purpose of making holes in wood.
I have had great results with a Unibit... as in, 1000's of holes for a small gadget that I make for my side business. They have zero rake angle, so they don't pull through thin sheet material.
Keep them as sharp as possible to minimize heating. The bit that I use for plastic isn't allowed to touch metal. If coolant is needed, plain water works just fine. Some oils will craze plastic.
Brad point bits also work well. If you're not doing production work, just be patient and proceed slowly to avoid heat buildup.
I like that it's extensive, but a bit too extensive to answer the original question: what is the replacement for an electric drill?
The standard crank drill is clearly the alternative [1]. Most home users should not purchase an electric drill IMO. They dont need it. It will likely never drill more than a few dozen holes.
Most home owners with any DIY interest should purchase an electric drill, because what they'll be purchasing is almost certainly a cordless model with a torque limiter.
Those are useful for everything from assembling IKEA furniture to taking apart a car. The drilling function is secondary or tertiary.
But sure, if you mean a giant corded impact drill used to drill into concrete almost nobody needs that.
I think it's probably a safe take to note that plaster and wood studs are going to be the norm for most people on HN in a spot to be putting holes in walls, but yeah, fair.
Attempting to keep an eggbeater drill square to the drilled surface is a considerable ask for someone who isn't practiced, particularly somebody on the smaller side. It's ergonomically working against you the entire time due to its length. I can buy a Black and Decker (budget brand, but it's fine for light home use) corded drill at $25 that's plenty for home use and won't be frustrating the novice user every time they want to set a point.
And that one in particular hates its user specifically; keyless chucks are way better, too, for novices because of the likelihood that that chuck key is going to get lost in a move or the like. They also aren't that expensive--the aforementioned Black and Decker corded drill has one.
As a bonus, it's much slower, which leads to fewer fuckups at the ends of projects. They are really only good up to about 1/4" holes though. If you get one with multiple speeds, you can go to 3/8", but you're really much better off with a brace and some auger bits at that point. Auger bits are conveniently sized by the 1/16" down to 1/4" in the US, and have been for over a century.
In all seriousness though, an eggbeater drill will last forever. Mine are probably 70 years old or older. Ditto my brace. Good luck finding batteries for any electric cordless drill in 20 years, never mind a cheap one.
> Good luck finding batteries for any electric cordless drill in 20 years, never mind a cheap one.
Even if the existing 18V/20V-max format doesn't survive another 20 years--an assertion I don't really expect to be true, see for example DeWalt's in-progress switch to stacked cells without any tool deprecation--the world will not be without 18650 cells in twenty years. And you can buy a corded drill if you really want to.
I own a bit and brace and to me it's useful for exactly one thing: compound angles during chairmaking. Literally everything else, from low-and-slow picture-framing tasks to boring out Euro hinge holes, is faster, more accurate, and (for me) more enjoyably done with a tool fit for purpose and with modern affordances--a cordless hand drill and drill press, respectively.
Depending on your battery platform you might be able to find an adapter. DeWalt for instance sells an adapter to use their newer 20v lithium batteries on tools built for their older 18v platform:
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.