Chucking 1" conduit in a 1/2" drill

[Jim Elbrecht]

There are probably a dozen ways to do this but everything that pops in my head seems clumbsy.

I'd rather not have to weld anything.

I've got a 'claw' digging tool fastened to the other end of a 10' conduit and I'm intending to dig a horizontal hole through some clay.

I've got a pretty good supply of various pipes/bolts/dowels/rods laying around.

The force that will be applied will be roughly what an old guy would apply with handles on that tool.

My current inclination is to just keep joining successively smaller pieces of pipe until one will fit in the chuck- then pin them all together.

Any better ideas?

Thanks, Jim

[Stormin Mormon]

Buy a 1 inch HSS drill at Home Depot. Slit the conduit, and clamp it on the drill bit with U-clamps. Clamp the HSS drill bit into your drill, and have at it.

I'm sure other equally nutty ideas will come to my mind.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

There are probably a dozen ways to do this but everything that pops in my head seems clumbsy.

I'd rather not have to weld anything.

I've got a 'claw' digging tool fastened to the other end of a 10' conduit and I'm intending to dig a horizontal hole through some clay.

I've got a pretty good supply of various pipes/bolts/dowels/rods laying around.

The force that will be applied will be roughly what an old guy would apply with handles on that tool.

My current inclination is to just keep joining successively smaller pieces of pipe until one will fit in the chuck- then pin them all together.

Any better ideas?

Thanks, Jim

[DerbyDad03]

I guess the force will depend on which old guy is using the tool. ;-)

However, I'm a bit confused. You say that you want to chuck this into a drill. How did you go about equating the drill's "force" (torque?) on the tool with what an old guy would exert on the handles?

[gfretwell]

Rigid or EMT?

Get it to 1" pipe thread then use reducers until you get to 1/4" pipe (whatever adapters you have) that will chuck in a 1/2" drill.

You can usually find a reducing coupler that goes 1" NPT to 1/4" npt if you are buying something. The problem with EMT might be getting the adapter tight enough. It might be easier to drill the conduit and run the clamp screw all the way through. As long as you go clockwise the adapters will keep tightening up.

[Jim Elbrecht]

The amount of torque is dependent upon how hard you push it into the dirt. I won't be pushing it very hard, as it will grind wet clay just fine with light pressure.

I used a nearly worn out old guy to give a few turns to see if it would work-- it does. My shoulders aren't even sore-- but I've got 6 feet to dig & they probably would be if I did it by hand.

Jim

[Smitty Two]

A shaft adapter might do it. McMaster Carr has them:

Although for the price, I'd probably make my own on a lathe.

[Evan]

Cut one end of conduit at an angle and use sledge hammer to drive it through horizontally to create hole...

[attorney.sanders]

Then watch that drill go up in smoke...... Generally speaking, if the bit dont fit in the chuck, you need a bigger drill. I'd bet big money that your drill will not handle the job.

[Ralph Mowery]

If it is a good 1/2 inch drill motor, the drill will hold up, but it will probably twist the person holding it around in a circle if it does not break his arm.

[Ralph Mowery]

Problem is the conduit is probably not really a measured one inch.

You are on the right track . I would find some pipe that measured as large as would fit in the drill chuck. Then wrap it with Duck Tape to fit the inside of the conduit. With the pipes together, dirll a hole or two about 1/4 of an inch in diameter through the two pipes and put a bolt in the holes.

I do not see the digging tool working very well if at all. Thre does not seem any way to remove the dirt from the hole as it gets deeper.

[Pete C.]

The simple and sloppy but functional way would be to take a piece of

1/2" OD rod or tube, wrap the end in AL shim cut from a beer can to a snug fit in the conduit, push in place, cross drill and bolt and call it good.

[Robert]

You might have a hole saw that has the nested saw blades inside a larger housing of concentric circles that you remove all the blades except the one you want to use to drill the hole.

It may be that one of those concentric circles will accommodate the pipe size. Something to think about.

[Stormin Mormon]

If the old guy applies some ammount of force, the drill bit goes around. Less than that force, and the drill handles go around. I've had moments where I am not applying enough force to a drill handle. And believe me, the drill goes around instead of the bit.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

I guess the force will depend on which old guy is using the tool. ;-)

However, I'm a bit confused. You say that you want to chuck this into a drill. How did you go about equating the drill's "force" (torque?) on the tool with what an old guy would exert on the handles?

[DerbyDad03]

That's not what I meant.

If the old guy holds the drill with the right amount of force to prevent it from spinning, that still doesn't mean that the force the working end imparts on the clay will be the same as the working end would impart with old guy turning the manual tool by hand.

[Fat-Dumb and Happy]

OK, I'll ask, Why do you want to make a horizontal hole that big?

[hrhofmann]

I would use a garden hose with a nozzle on the end, tape the hose to the side of your conduit and use water pressure to cut into the clay and flush out what it cuts. WIth your weasel, how are you going to remove the clay as the cutter moves forward? That do you need as the final diameter of the tube/hole?

[clare]

When I ran into that problem (I needed a 12 foot long roughly 2 inch diameter drill) I bought a hex drive bitextender and cut it in half, welding each half into a 1/2" to 3/8" pepe reducer, then used 3 4 foot long chunks of galvanized pipe and couplings to make a 4 foot then 8 foot, and finally 12 foot long drill -(I had a forstner bit on the end)

Not much welding required - I was able to do it myself, but it should not be hard for you to find someone with the equipment and capability to do it for you for cheap, or even free.

[clare]

Using a hex drive extention like I did gives you a much more positive drive. Chucking a 3/8" pipe into a drill chuck is very likely to allow significant slippage - poor surface and soft metal.

[clare]

I'd recommend water/gas pipe rather than conduit, myself.

[clare]

He'd need a good handfull to get down from 1" conduit to 1/2" chuck size. - unless he made his own "custom"