Question regarding Grizzly Drill

[Cubby]

Hiya, Was looking at the Christmas catalog from Grizzly as I'm getting ready to order a tablesaw from the and I thought I'd check the sale items. They've got a 1/2" drill for $36. I've got an older B&D drill that's starting to make horrendous noises so I figure it's probably time to replace (or augment....I intend to take it apart to see if it's bearings etc... and whether I can replace). Has anyone used this thing? Grizzly said it's rated 3.1 amps which seems very light to me but for $36, is it worth it? Cheers, cc

[Joe]

Can't help you with the Griz. But... Don't bother taking that old drill apart. It probably doesn't have bearings. Most hand held units do not.

Think of it this way... They might get anywhere from 1 to 50 hours use total before they die. How long does it take to drill a hole? Multiply that by a few hundred or thousand holes and you've probably used up the life of most cheap hand drills. They don't bother with high end stuff like $1 bearings. :)

Some may have them though so post the model rather than ruining a good workhorse drill... Someone might know what it has.

[Norman D. Crow]

Could be all it needs is a couple drops of oil. I have an old B&D 1/4" that starts growling every so often. Just wants a little oil on the bushing at the back end. The front end, where it goes into the gearbox is a bearing.

[No Spam]

Most (all?) of the cheaper drills just use bronze sleeve bearings. I would spend a little more and make sure you get a drill with ball bearings. I've had a good Makita for over 10 years that works like new.

[Cubby]

Thanks folks for the advice. I unfortunately am not near my older drill so cannot give a model number. I can only say it's probably 15 years old. I suppose I can crack the case and see what's inside. What's the worst that can happen--I have to buy a new one anyway.

As for the Griz drill. 3.1 amps just seems way too low for a 1/2" drill given the other drills out there seem to be 6-7.5 amps (of course they are running 4-8x the cost of the griz.). Anyway, thanks for the inputs. Cheers, cc

[Larry Jaques]

On 29 Dec 2004 20:36:17 -0800, "Cubby" calmly ranted:

746w / 120v = 6.2 amps, so it works out to 1/2 horsepower, 1/3 after figuring in the efficiency losses.

But if it's a cheapie you want, send $25 to me and I'll deliver a

21 piece genuine Chinese impact hammer/drill motor with twist + masonry + grinder bits and a case. I rode one with at least 100 of my 200 lbs for half an hour and couldn't burn it out. These are rated 600 watts and are also good for keeping the little lady's mitts off your expensive cordless drill motors. (I have 4 sets left, in turquoise cases.)

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[Larry Jaques]

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 09:09:18 -0500, "Norman D. Crow" calmly ranted:

Could you have misspelled "bushing" there, Nahmie? They don't spend big money for real bearings for those, do they?

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[Glenna Rose]

Hey, hey, there!!!

Glenna

[Norman D. Crow]

Hmmmmmmm, well, maybe, but I've had this one apart, and the front end is definitely a ball bearing, as is the bearing for the chuck shaft.

[Larry Jaques]

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 23:01:00 -0800, [e-mail] (Glenna Rose) calmly ranted:

"Not you, a woodworker. I meant the SWMBOs." he parried.

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[Larry Jaques]

On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 09:08:31 -0500, "Norman D. Crow" calmly ranted:

The last one I pulled apart was probably in the 80s and was a bushing. Maybe they got smart...or bearings got cheaper.

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Ban SUVs today! -|- Full Service Websites