mini-chuck with hex shaft (like screwdriver bits)

[sm_jamieson]

I have an magnetic hex socket in the chuck of my drill to use it as as screwdriver, and I need to use a standard round shaft drill bit and a screwdriver bit alternately when drilling clearance holes and then screwing. I want a quick method of changing over from the drill bit to the screwdriver bit. Thus, I need to convert a round shaft drill bit into a hex shaft. How can I do this ? Something like a mini-chuck with a hex shaft input. This must be a common requirement. Any ideas ? Simon.

[robgraham]

Search Ebay for this "drill chuck hex". Ironically this answers a post several below on hex drills as well.

Rob

[dennis]

[Bruce]

You can get drills with a hex shaft for precisely this purpose. Mine were Draper brand - I have had them so long I cannot remember where I bought them.

[Tim Watts]

Toolstation - I'm just about to buy some. Handly for little screw holes in the ceiling using my battery screwdirver rather than lugging the mains drill about :)

[Man at B&Q]

But they require more than a magnetic bit holder to use them.

MBQ

[Bruce]

Impossible. I have never bought anything from Toolstation. ;-)

Highly recommended, except that they have a tendency to snap off at the root. At least, one of mine did. ;-)

[sm_jamieson]

stuck in the work when you try to pull it out ? Simon.

[Bruce]

A strong magnet in the adaptor. Obviously, if you are using the bit in a screwdriver, you won't have that. But the benefit is slight.

I keep the bit turning until most of the debris has been ejected, then pull it out by hand. Be warned, it can get a bit hot.

[dennis]

They normally have a collar on the holder you have to pull or push to release the bit. My driver has a collar you have to pull to release the holder. Some cheap drivers do not have a positive lock for the bits.

[dom]

Hex shaft drill bits - very useful - cost peanuts:

[Man at B&Q]

That's what I meant when I said you need more than a magnetic bit holder to use them properly.

MBQ

[spamlet]

That's what I meant when I said you need more than a magnetic bit holder to use them properly.

MBQ

But you do have reverse, and less chance of drill slippage than with a standard drill and chuck...

On the other hand, wouldn't this type of drill be rather wobbly?

S

[Tim Watts]

A bit, IME, but once the bit has started it's not a problem. And it's great if you have a baby power screwdriver for all those little pilot holes in floorboards, ceilings etc.

[The Medway Handyman]

B&Q sell sets of them cheaply under their own label.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember sm_jamieson saying something like:

I just bought another cordless - an old model, so dirt cheap.

[Donwill]

Is this what you're looking for?

[Man at B&Q]

No I didn't. Please try to quote properly.

MBQ