another crazy conrtraption

[refinery mike]

OK this is another one of my crazy contraptions, But it works, everyone laughs at it until they use it and then want one. I call it the "OLD MAN" It started when I was given the job of drilling and bolting 13/16 holes in I-beams. For three months I was up in the air drilling big holes in thick metal. Many times from the bottom up. sounds like fun doesn't it. "Mag drill? what is that?" well anyway it probably would have been more trouble dragging a mag drill around in the steel anyway.
The tool consists of an aluminum lever and an adjustable double hook on a bar to hold the lever. In use the hook grabs the steel and the lever presses against the back of the Drill motor. The rubber tape keeps the drill from slipping. CAUTION this is a two man job. One guy pulls the trigger and hold the drill from turning and the other guy uses the lever to apply pressure. I know it looks crazy but it is way easier, and safer, when you have to push real hard you can not be holding on to the handles real well. It also allows you to stand back a little and prepare for twist instead of being right there pushing your guts out on the drill. The drill bits also last a whole lot longer, You just can not hand push hard enough to keep a 13/16 bit cutting properly.
NOTE: In the picture only one man is shown for clarity. Another man must be there holding the drill from spinning.
(PS the bend in the bar is intentional. It is added to allow the tool to fold up)

[Johnny O]

Nice Idea Mike, I did something similar with a piece of rope and a 2 x 3. I drilled a hole and cut a saddle notch in wood and tied rope were ever I could find a spot under this new turbine they put in at the plant. My drill was a milwaukee 1/2" hole shooter which has pretty good torque as evidenced when it grabs on you and twists you're arm off. You ever see these Hougen drills, the cored bit looks similar to an end mill with a slightly smaller mag base then the mag drills. I did over 120 7/8" holes in I-beams with one of those the first time I got to use one, was quite impressed by it.

[Rolky]

One time I had to mount a linear rail on the false ceiling of the lab I was working in. The rail was attached to a Unistrut channel and the Unistrut had to be suspended from the concrete ceiling above. I used Red Head Wedge Anchors, which required 1/2" holes about 4" deep in the concrete. After trying one hole, finding it was way off perpendicular and being physically exhausted, I devised a jig to drill the holes.

First I made a cradle for the drill (a Bosch hammerdrill) by laying it on a piece of 3/4" plywood and tracing around it and cutting out the pattern. Then I wrapped the drill in food wrap and used putty epoxy to form a mold around the drill and the plywood. When the putty dried, I removed the plastic wrap and attached the drill and plywood together with a hose clamp.

Then I somehow attached a 5/8" threaded rod to the plywood cradle in line with the masonry drill bit. The threaded rod went into a 5/8" ID steel tube on a 2X4 that reached to the lab floor. By turning a nut on the threaded rod against the tube, the drill was forced into the ceiling.

In use, I'd find the spot on the ceiling, drop a plumb line to the floor and mark the spot with a cross of electrical tape. That was the bottom position of the 2X4. Then I ran the nut until the drill was on the spot on the ceiling, turned on the power, and screwed the drill into the ceiling. The holes were perfectly perpendicular and drilling them was easy.

[warmstrong1955]

Yup.....done the same, but less sophisticated, using chain & whatever bars wre handy.....and some duct tape....

Several years ago, I stumbled on this Drillmate, and figured I better have one. Been a really handy tool. Works well with rota-broaches, and an IR drill I have. Just a cheapy HF thing mounted in it right now. Well suited for those places where there's no power (as in an underground mine)..... and one man operation too. Clever contraption.

Got mine from here: http://www.magneticdrilldirect.com/dril ... ystems.htm
Price has gone up since I got mine, but still pretty reasonable.

Info here: http://www.drillmate.com.au/drillmate.html

Bill

[refinery mike]

Man i like that Drill-Mate! And yes those rota-broaches are great, But do not try to use them by hand in a regular drill, sure enough you will bust all the teeth off it. We got rotabroaches about half way through the job before that regular twist drills. And twist is what your arms ended up like after a day of holding them back. I am going to try to get the boss to buy several of those drill mates.
I know what you mean about red heads in the ceiling. awfull! I once had a job of jack hammering a 4 foot by 1 foot hole through a 12 inch thick floor.... from the bottom up. Because above was 2300 volt bus. And we had to catch all the dust so it didn't get the room dirty. Long story but we anchored an eye in the ceiling and used a long lever there too. Not pretty.

[warmstrong1955]

I hear ya about rota-broaches in a hand held. I've tried it a few times, always swearing never to try it again. It's tough to keep things straight.

They will work with the Drillmate though. Just a matter of keeping constant pressure. We did a whole lotta drillin' with that very Drillmate in the pics, on mine rail of all things. We did break a few cutters, but it was mostly due to all the crap in the rail. We broke just as many cutters with the holes we made with a mag drill.

Bill

[dly31]

I have heard the term 'Old Man' used with similar setups in the past. Around 1952 I saw some millwrights boring large holes in a steel plate. They had a large electric drill with a feed screw in the back of it inline with the spindle. They welded a steel bridge over the hole site and backed the feed screw out against it to feed the drill. The drill had a torque arm that fit against the leg of the bridge to keep it from turning. It was a commercial setup; the feed screw had a spoked wheel around it to turn it.