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Cordless drill wobble / how to drill holes in metal

Crash.HM

Plastic
Joined
Jul 20, 2017
I got a contractor grade milwaukee M18 cordless drill in January. I don't remember if the chuck had much or any wobble at the time. Anyways 4 months later I have so much run out/wobble that I'm shattering 5/16" drill bits. The drill bits show considerable wobble at their tips, possibly as much as 1/16". I should note that I work almost exclusively in steel. After reading endless discussions on wobble, it might just be how drills are made, but a few people have pointed out that drill bearings don't like lateral loads. I also noticed that I caused this to happen in my M12 over the course of 50 holes in 11 ga tread plate. It was dead straight when I started but wobbled by the time I finished.

If the issue is really lateral loads on the drill, how are you ever supposed to drill holes in metal since the location of the handle isn't inline with the drill axis?

Any recommendations about how I take better care of my drills and still work in metal would be much appreciated.

And before some one says it, no my drill bits are not bent. I actually checked.
 
A few points. First, you want to be using quality drill bits.

Most cordless drills have pretty loose bearings, both due to cost and a desire to have as little load on the battery as possible. This means the chuck is going to start wobbling.

Finally, if you start your holes with something like a rigid center drill (or just a punch mark for small drills) the chuck wobble won't matter so much. The drill point will stay centered.

Finally, you can buy drills ground to provide a better start in metal.
 
And before some one says it, no my drill bits are not bent. I actually checked.

Not the drill that is bent, Pilgrim. It's your world-view.

Even a Hobby Forum might send you away for a prerequisite course in kindergarten-drilling zero-zero-one.

Happens I have two M12 cordless drlll motors's for convenience of not having to swap nose-art on lots of tasks. Even the oldest one - Big Bang, first year on the market - ain't the least bit detectably out-of-line.

As to how you are "supposed to make holes"? Talk to yer shrink or the Chaplain. That's a moral issue.

"Technically", OTOH?

All I know is what backs-up those cordless goods. CordED Scintilla-Bosch, Metabo, Walker-Turner drillpress and the "bigger hammer". One of these:

Schwere Saulenbohrmaschine Alzmetall AB 5/S - Wiemers AG Werkzeugmaschinen u. Industrieanlagen

Works for me. Gets a bleedin' surplus of holes, I ain't keerful.

Surely ain't "100% interchangeable" any of that hole-ey stuff.

Job was to haul 20 sacks of peat-moss to home from the gardening center, you'd not expect to harness a random pair of passing cockroaches with a used gumband, now would you?

And Oh, by the Way? Your DRILLS have to be absolute SHITE, too. Good drills almost volunteer to make good holes, and lots of them. So long as not run in REVERSE, of course. Checked that as well, have you?

"The right tool for the job" isn't an empty slogan, Pilgrim. Basic survival advice, rather.

You can't remember if a brand-new drill motor and chuck had "wobble"?

Some of them holes might end up in your own careless a**!

I'd need a 2 lb hammer to f**k-up a drill motor that badly, and I just will not DO that.

You ain't perchance tossing the poor buggers onto a concrete driveway whilst doing roofing work, are ye? 'Coz they have actually been known to survive even that.

Or are you just another Wild Turkey troll from Walla Walla with a vicious-nasty concept of free entertainment?
 
I got a contractor grade milwaukee M18 cordless drill in January. I don't remember if the chuck had much or any wobble at the time. Anyways 4 months later I have so much run out/wobble that I'm shattering 5/16" drill bits. The drill bits show considerable wobble at their tips, possibly as much as 1/16". I should note that I work almost exclusively in steel. After reading endless discussions on wobble, it might just be how drills are made, but a few people have pointed out that drill bearings don't like lateral loads. I also noticed that I caused this to happen in my M12 over the course of 50 holes in 11 ga tread plate. It was dead straight when I started but wobbled by the time I finished.

If the issue is really lateral loads on the drill, how are you ever supposed to drill holes in metal since the location of the handle isn't inline with the drill axis?

Any recommendations about how I take better care of my drills and still work in metal would be much appreciated.

And before some one says it, no my drill bits are not bent. I actually checked.

Do you routinely exert excessive force in such a manner that the drill jams and slips in the chuck as it breaks through the other side, followed by you lurching and stumbling over the drill handle while it gives your wrist a good snap and your shoulders a quarter turn? If so, that might be the problem.
 
Just keep the cryin mothers out of it, get all the hand drills you can, dumb a$$'s like this are gonna make hand drills illegal.

Kidding, right?

Don' KNOW nuthin' about MACHINERY!

He'd need a heavy Equipment Operator formal course twice repeated to run an ignorant WHEELBARROW!

Hand drills are just a stretch too far.

Star drill, hand-drilling hammer, and smacking his own hand ever' second go should slow him down enough to keep him out of more serious trouble.
 
Uhh. Literally speechless. Don't know what to say. :skep: First time using a hand drill? Pretty basic stuff here. I have been through a fair few hand drills after upgrading to the latest and greatest now and then. Never had a drill chuck that wobbled as the O.P. described after even years of use.
 
Hey he went to college...

If I hadn't been able to get good jobs? I might have done more of that meself.
Former Mother-in-Law was on me to collect all the bits together and get a Masters in one of the several Engineering, Accounting, Labour Relations, or Business Operations (not the same as Business Admin, BTW..) fields I had taken wotever course seemed useful of a given tasking.

Simple enough equation.

If I stopped charging hard long enough to DO that, there were a dozen other fields I could NOT sit in the time available.

Better to just hire whichever speciality the tasking required, get the best at it as resources allowed, develop them further, motivate to a common goal, kick the obstacles out of their road, do the same with a different lot for the next task.

Problem is.. even if you, personally, could deliver to an "A-plus" level in ten fields?

You are still only ONE guy, even in a 20 hour day!

A mere B-plus Manager who can employ "many" and guide them as a team won't even notice your best-efforts as road-kill. He has you "out houred" if nothing else.

HIS team is already ten miles beyond you down the road, living off what Wellington once called "Crude approximations, bound up in rope" - but fixing them FAST - and still gaining speed, all counts.

Wellington didn't beat Napoleon on brilliance atall. He - and Blucher - beat Ney and Bonaparte on better logistics, better TEAMWORK - a FORMER great strength once held by the French - and with rather average troops, even so.

Arthur Wellesley.. was... a resource-maximizing Manager, first, a ground-combat commander, second. That usually works better and lasts longer than the reverse.

Also pays better between wars!
 
If I hadn't been able to get good jobs? I might have done more of that meself.
Former Mother-in-Law was on me to collect all the bit together and get a Masters in one of the several Engineering, Accounting, labour Relations, or Business Operations (not the same as Busness Admin, BTW..) fields I had taken wotever course seemed useful of a given tasking.

Simple enough equation.

If I stopped charging hard long enough to DO that, there were a dozen other fields I could NOT sit in the time available.

Better to just hire whichever speciality the tasking required, get the best at it as resources allowed, develop them further, do the same with a different lot for the next task.

Problem is.. even if you, personally, could deliver to an "A-plus" level in ten fields?

You are still only ONE guy.

A mere B-plus Manager who can employ "many" and guide them as a team won't even notice your best-efforts as road-kill. HIS team is already ten miles beyond you down the road and still gaining speed.
I know it's so depressing...
 
I know it's so depressing...

Takes a bit of whoring. Only major firms can provide those resources, and the most capable of folks don't want to GO there. Lotta downsides to it.

They value their "my OWN shop" or "small company and we all get along so well" independence too highly.

That's long-term HEALTHIER.. so long as you can make it work at least "OK", feed and educate the kids, etc.

Most do. How many Mercedes-Benz or Gulfstream jets can one person EAT at one sitting, anyway, even if the wife and kids are taking the best cuts off the tenderloins?

"Poor man" get three squares and a good shag now and then? Doesn't really have to give a damn if a billionare wipes his ass with hundred-dollar bills or hires the job out.

My name ain't on his bank account anyway, so I don't care if he shits vanilla ice cream.

:)
 
It's still in warranty. Take it and your receipt of payment to a local Milwaukee tools service center and see what they have to say about the chuck and spindle. They may replace the tool, or repair it, or send you back out the door.

What you should do next if find a relative, friend, or neighbor with experience working with hand tools to give you some pointers or lessons on safe use of power tools. It's not just a matter of tool use, but your safety.

You might also look into using the "step drill" style of bit for sheet metal, the single or dual flute ones that look like cones. They'll be less likely to twist in your hand while cutting through thin materials, will leave a cleaner hole edge (until you dull them), and are versatile. They don't cut as well as regular drills and are only good for a limited thickness, but they should work well for most of your needs. Get a quality brand made from cobalt alloy steel.

And this time, don't drop the drill. That's the most likely cause of chuck wobble.
 
Geez- tough room. I'm sure the OP went to lick his wounds. The Milwaukee drills have a known problem with wobbly chucks, even when brand new. It's too bad, as they're great drills otherwise. I guess I've been lucky in that my first one (7 years old) and its new replacement have little to no run-out.
 








 
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