Star drill?

Reliving one's youth is one thing, 40 holes is another! Even in my youth I'd not have wanted to drill 40 holes by hand...

Reply to
PeterD
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I was a Teamster for 37 years. We had a saying that if you give a lazy man a job to do, he'll find the quickest easiest way to do it. I think even a Teamster would go rent a rotohammer.

Steve ;-)

Reply to
SteveB

on 10/6/2007 5:24 PM willshak said the following:

I finished the last of the holes today (12). Actually, there were only

30 rather than 40. It was good that I overestimated because I finished sooner. I have to thank two addition people. One that suggested using a pilot drill. I did have a 3/8" concrete bit, and used that before the 3/4" drill and it was better. Thanks. One that suggested a 3/4" cold chisel to break up the aggregate. That worked better after I had the 3/8; pilot hole drilled to 2" deep. Thanks One additional thing that I didn't notice. While I was taking a break, I picked up the plastic tag that had been attached to the 3/4 concrete drill when I bought it. Looking on the back of the tag in molded, small letters, was the following: Recommended minimum speed 1100 RPM. The 1/2" power drill I had been using was only rated at 600 RPM.. I brought out my 3/8" power drill rated at 1200 RPM. I didn't notice much difference with the 3/4" concrete bit, but it seemed to work better with the 3/8" bit. If it hadn't been in the 80s, with a humidity of 75 % for the past 4 days, I would have finished in half the time. As it was, I had to stop occasionally for a hose down and a brew and cigarette.. I did not buy or rent a Hammer drill. I didn't even use the star drill I asked about ($$$ saved all around).

For anyone interested, I am 70 years old, so I've been around a while. I have been retired since 1999. I am 6' 2" tall. I weigh 185 lbs. I have a 35' waist. I have 41" hips. I wear a 42" long jacket. I wear a 16" long shirt. All the above is in case someone wants to buy me some clothes. My body fat index is 19.9%. A little high, but I think it is the beer. My right arm is now bigger than my left arm from all this hammering, but that because I have torn ligaments in my left shoulder from manhandling a tractor, and I don't use it for heavy or precise work. I am not afraid of hard work. I have done a lot of projects alone that would have taken a couple of younger guys to accomplish. If you've ever seen an old Italian mason working, you'll notice that he may be slow, but he is persistent. While the younger guys have to stop and pick their nose, the old guy keeps on working, and at the end of the day, he's done more than the youngsters.

Look at all the $$$ I've saved.

Reply to
willshak

Even a dumb one would wise up after a few holes. Me, I heat with wood, have a hydraulic splitter but do all my splitting with wedge/ sledge/maul except for the knots/crotches. One the face of it it looks stupid but I am retired and it is the only real excercise I get. Going through 6 cord every year keeps me from blowing up like a balloon.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

I'm blessed with good genes, I guess. I'm 59, 5-10, 180#, and can outdo younger men. But after an 8 1/2 hour heart surgery, I choose to use power a lot. I'm still pretty strong, but nothing like when I was younger. I still do a lot, but the pain of having your sternum sawed in half never goes away totally, and I live in constant pain. But it's like working out where it's cold and wet and dirty. Most of the time I would just tell the young whiners, "What makes you think I'm not cold, wet, dirty, hungry, and have water running down the crack of MY ass, too? Now quit your whining, shut the f*ck up and go to work like the rest of us."

Hope I don't have my sister's genes. She's 63 and had a heart transplant in June. Got the heart of a 25 year old man. Says she feels better than she has in years. I'll bet. For the last year, she's been lugging around a left ventricular assist machine.

Look that up in your Google.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

Don't know if you found it yet but you can get them from ACE or other hardware stores. There listed under chisels as a star drill. I got a few at home but havent tried them out yet. I didn't see where anyone answered you yet and couldn't tell if you got an answer.

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good luck

Reply to
MackDGiddens

Bill,

I know "rent a hammer drill" is not the answer you're looking for.

Still, it is the best advice for your situation. With a hammer drill, you will NEVER have to stop to bust up the aggregate. A hammer drill will bust right through on its own.

The amount of time and money you spend running around looking for a star bit will more than offset a 4-hour rental on a hammer drill.

Drill 20 holes with your regular drill, using the star bit every time you run into a pebble. Then drill the other 20 with a hammer drill. You'll wonder why you even bothered with the star bit.

Reply to
mkirsch1

As an aside, and in the vein of this thread ..........

I have used star drills when I hit a hard piece of aggregate when drilling with a hammer drill. It fractures the piece of aggregate and gets the drill penetrating again.

One of the best was a 3/16" rod that came as a tensioner for a wrought iron gate. I believe it was cold rolled, or whatever makes it not bend. I would grind the end to a screwdriver point, and just put that in the hole and hit it with a hammer a few times, turning it as one would do with a star drill. Actually, the handmade tool was better than the factory job.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

on 10/10/2007 1:08 PM snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com said the following:

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Thanks. The job is finished. Thanks to some others, I used only the tools I had at home. Nothing spent but my energy.

Reply to
willshak

on 10/10/2007 1:40 PM snipped-for-privacy@rochester.rr.com said the following:

Thanks. The job was finished with the tools at hand.

Reply to
willshak

Not quite. You also spent a lot of other people's energy who were being helpful.

I'm glad that you got the job done, that there were only half as many holes as you thought, that you learned to step up drill bit sizes as you drill larger holes in tougher material if you don't have the right tool, etc. I still don't understand the selective thanks bit. Everyone was trying to be helpful - scratch that - everyone _was_ helpful, you just didn't like what you were reading. Advice is funny like that.

Next time you run across a thread where the OP flat out refuses to listen to advice you know is right, and argues about it, think - that could be me.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

If someone asks for advice, and I have advice to offer, I will offer it, unless someone else has already offered the same advice. If someone is asking where to buy a certain item, and I know where, I will offer locations, unless others have already given the same locations. No sense having a bunch of people repeating the same thing. Especially when it is not the answer to the question asked. A lot of the fault lies with me. I should have sent the message after just asking where to get the tool, rather than continuing on with the purpose of the tool.

Reply to
willshak

on 10/11/2007 11:10 AM SteveB said the following:

Wasn't it you that asked a question last month about tool handles? I count 28 responses to that question, but you only replied to 1 of them, and that was a snide remark about new handles on an antique ax. BTW, how did that handle repair work out for you?

Reply to
willshak

Yes, a lot of it is your fault. The main one is your rudeness. To ask a question, get what you want and then bitch about other advice that is offered is...well...

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

on 10/11/2007 10:23 AM willshak said the following:

BTW, please point out the message(s) where I argued with anyone. I simply ignored the messages that didn't answer my question. Any responses I made were in direct response to a question asked, or an answer to my original question.

Reply to
willshak

Hey, no problem. Any time you need advice, just come to the helpful folks here, then ignore what we say. Hope you really get your ass in a bind next time and ask for advice.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

I wasn't rude to anyone who suggested alternatives. I just didn't answer at all. If that's rude, I'm apparently not the only one. Someone asked why I didn't want to use another suggested tool and I answered the question. Maybe that's bitching, but I call it a direct response to the 'why not' question asked.

Reply to
willshak

Finding the keyboard operational SteveB entered:

There seems to be quite the tempest in a teacup brewing here. As I see it, Bill asked where he might find a star drill and then explained why he wanted it. Some people told him that he was going about making the holes the wrong way and that he should get other equipment. Bill did state, more then once, that he had no intention of getting other tools and wanted to do it his way. He didn't say why he wanted to do it his way but it's his choice. Instead he was told that he was wasting his time and it was implied that he was stupid. Let me put it another way. I like to do a bit of woodworking. I get a piece fo tree trunk and split and cut it into boards. Now I could buy boards but I choose not to. I also prefer to use hand tools more then most people would. So if I asked where I could find a new blade for my frame saw and got replies telling me to buy a band saw, I would be rude if I ignored that advice? Bob

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-- Coffee worth staying up for - NY Times

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Reply to
The Other Funk

on 10/11/2007 3:03 PM SteveB said the following:

I knew about a star drill. I referred to it as a star drill when I was asking where to get one. .

Which didn't answer my question.

Show me where I insulted anyone.

Reply to
willshak

on 10/11/2007 3:07 PM SteveB said the following:

Yeah, that is what I was doing too. Reading, taking in, but not answering. :-)

I did shut up. I didn't interrupt anyone telling me to use a hammer drill.

Reply to
willshak

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