That is my experience too. Aluminium seems to ball up and jam drills. The use of a lubricant isn't to lubricate, but to stop the balling up of aluminium.
A recent experience is sawing through an aluminium bar using a donkey saw. Without oil I broke a blade, caused by a piece of aluminium in the cut jamming the blade.
Clean aluminium chips seems to recombine and ball-up. Oil separates the chips such they don't recombine, preventing jams.
For small cuts I agree, for larger I don't for reasons above.
This was a HSS blade 1" x 18", I think medium teeth, approx 16 or 18 tpi.
This was cutting a 2" bar, and I could see chunks of aluminium embedded in the cut bar. I believe a process called galling.
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"The two major problems are galling or sticking of the aluminum to the blade, and sawing pieces of aluminum with improper clamping.
If a saw is galling with aluminum, there is only one reason, inadequate and improper lubrication. Do not use water soluble oils mixed 50 parts water to 1 part oil. This mixture may prevent rust and work as a coolant, but it does not lubricate. Mix not more than 5 parts water to
1 part oil. If galling still occurs, mix 2 or 3 to 1. There are a lot of applications that require better lubrication than water soluble products provide. A good grade cutting oil or sulphur base oil may be needed."
I have some experience of a pebble covered roof membrane which filled over the years with general gooey slime.
In spite of the work he has done clearing the large and mainly wild garden, it still has masses of huge trees, so I'd worry about not being able to stop the build up of smelly sludge.
The thing about the drilling speed is that if it's too fast the metal softens and then sets and clogs the drill. It's a strange thing really, but it's the same when jig-sawing aluminium sheet. There seems to be an optimum speed. Too slow and the teeth bite too deep and grab the work; to fast and the metal softens and clogs the teeth. A variable speed jigsaw is essential.
I make sure any drill I buy (portable or otherwise) can take 1/2" -
12mm as a minimum.
Agreed.
And you can get stepped drills with smaller steps (per diameter increase) and open it using a couple of them if you need to go that far. In this case it's 'only' 10mm so ...
When converting the garage into a workshop and the single 8' sq up-and-over into a bi-fold and single in 1.5mm steel I drilled quite a few largish holes using a step drill and my battery drill (DeWalt, now a Stanley 'FatMax') and can't remember it being an issue?
That's not completely true ... the hex shank of the step-drill seemed to lock up keyless chuck in the brand new DeWalt cordless and it took the gorilla in the shop I bought it from to get it out again, using the vice and some Stillsons (I could have done it but didn't want to mark anything etc). They replaced the keyless with a Jacobs keyed chuck for me. ;-)
Iv 'e also drilled many largish holes in steel car chassis when fitting towbars and again, would just do it with my cordless and not think anything of it?
Also done so in Ally and wouldn't consider it any more difficult (funnily enough, I'm about to drill 16 x 22mm+ holes in some 3mm ally sheet to take H4 headlamps to make a battery discharge load rig [1] so I'll let you know how I get on). ;-)
Cheers, T i m
[1] 8 x 2 lamps in series with the option to start with 1 and go to 8 series strings in parallel, depending on the load required (using 3 bit binary +1). I can also switch between the 55 and 60W filaments and running them in series means they spread the power (heat) across the two lamps (and not so bright and should last longer etc).
As an apprentice:-) ISTR being told to *back off* the drill cutting edge for free cutting materials. Brass at the time but might work for ally. Probably get the same effect with the cutting edge on a stepped drill bit.
I would suggest clamping the sheet, or that part being drilled at the time, to a wooden block. This will solve many of your problems. Pilot holes etc will also help.
Of course, which is why I don't buy cr*p drills that can't meet the demands I put on them?
What is the point of having a drill with a clutch that when on the highest torque position the drill motor can't overpower the clutch and when the clutch is disengaged completely, doesn't try to twist your arms off (or snap the bit) if it stalls. ;-)
I still have a cheapo 12V (NiMh) drill I bought from the market and whilst the batteries are shot, I've removed them and put a connector in an empty battery case and run it off a 12V external battery instead (ok, whilst it's not truly cordless it's still mains free and therefore 'portable' (without a generator)).
I bothered to do that because it too seemed to be unstoppable, it even has a pretty good hammer option and because it was 'cheap', I've given it all sorts of abuse that it seems to have taken in it's stride. It's not small though so not good for tight spaces.
Now, mates have bought cr*p cordless drills that seem to have the same power as my Dremel so I can understand that if that is your only experience you might consider them all 'weak'.
My current Go-To, a Stanley FatMax (that wasn't particularly expensive etc), I treat as if it's a corded drill (apart from runtime and speed etc) and have used with fairly large diameter wire brushes for de-rusting stuff etc.
I can see flexible netting causing that problem, but not a well-fixed piece of 50mm x 50mm x 3mm weldmesh or a similar strength rigid plastic mesh. You should be able to walk across the top of the pond on either of the latter.
I only mentioned the make to help people form a mental picture. Far as I know all the pro tools have plenty of torque, else they wouldn't sell. In fact the hammer drills are a revelation to anyone used to a small mains powered one.
I was originally on about the smaller battery drills, of which I have several (also Bosch). No way would they be up to drilling umpteen 10mm holes in aluminium.
Nothing worse than an under-powered power tool, be it a drill or a planer or a lawn mower or a motor bike. Just leads to frustration and forcing it, then an accident or a burn-out. Always use a tool that's over-powered for the job.
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