Hougan mag drill on curved steel?

B

Bronzegrey

Plastic

Joined

Nov 8, 2013

Location

Portland, OR

• Feb 11, 2018

• #1

Hello there,

I'm trying to cut a 2.25" hole into .3125" thick steel. The annular cutter barely fits on the mag drill, but the issue is how to attach it to the 3 foot OD cylinder.

The cylinder is vertical.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

THanks!

 

S

Scottl

Diamond

Joined

Nov 3, 2013

Location

Eastern Massachusetts, USA

• Feb 11, 2018

• #2

I's suggest trying to find a chunk of large channel or I-beam and chain/strap it to the cylinder. Use the magnet to secure the drill and go through both pieces. Or torch an oversize hole in the channel first.

 

T

tmc_31

Aluminum

Joined

May 25, 2008

Location

Merkel, Tx

• Feb 11, 2018

• #3

Scottl said:

I's suggest trying to find a chunk of large channel or I-beam and chain/strap it to the cylinder. Use the magnet to secure the drill and go through both pieces. Or torch an oversize hole in the channel first.

Click to expand...

Or hang the cutter off the end of the channel. I made a fixture like this because I was forever having to drill holes in curved surfaces. I welded a 1/2" plate to the top of the channel so that the mag drill had a 3/4" surface to stick to. I also cut some slots in the legs of the channel so that I could run ratchet straps through them and around the pipe.

 

D

DDoug

Diamond

Joined

Oct 18, 2005

Location

NW Pa

• Feb 11, 2018

• #4

Metal ring template, plasma cutter in 15 seconds or less.

Make the template such that the plasma torch rides on the
inside, and you can't slip up and make the hole too big.
(if/when you slip off)

 

Spruewell

Hot Rolled

Joined

Sep 8, 2015

Location

Northern California

• Feb 11, 2018

• #5

Can you tack-weld a flat plate on the side to give the mag drill something to mount to?

 

M

metalmagpie

Titanium

Joined

May 22, 2006

Location

Seattle

• Feb 12, 2018

• #6

Flat 5/8" plate maybe 8x8". Two 1/4x8" pieces of flat bar around 1" wide. Weld strips to parallel edges of plate. Parallelism critical. Set on your workpiece centered over the hole. Tack weld it on both near corners. Drill hole. Break tacks and sand scars. Save jig.

metalmagpie

 

A

atomarc

Diamond

Joined

Mar 16, 2009

Location

Eureka, CA

• Feb 12, 2018

• #7

I've seen several brands of mag drills that have accommodations for attaching a chain to provide security and extra holding power when drilling. My mag drill does not have this feature.

Stuart

 

D

David J.

Cast Iron

Joined

Feb 28, 2011

Location

Michigan

• Feb 12, 2018

• #8

If it's just one hole and has some tolerance I'd just go buy a hole saw.
Quick and cheap without all the screwing around with the mag drill.
David

 

N

ndh78

Cast Iron

Joined

Jun 6, 2007

Location

OK

• Feb 13, 2018

• #9

Chain C channel to cylinder, mount drill on C channel done it many times

 

B

boslab

Titanium

Joined

Jan 6, 2007

Location

wales.uk

• Feb 13, 2018

• #10

Mag drill pipe adaptor base, used to own one, worked on 24" pipe ok, rotobroach do them, I haven't replaced mine as I don't do any pipe anymore.
Mark

 

B

Bronzegrey

Plastic

Joined

Nov 8, 2013

Location

Portland, OR

• Feb 14, 2018

• #11

Thanks everyone!
I drilled the hole yesterday by strapping a 4' section of C10X? to the cylinder. It worked well, but the cutter didn't cut completely through. I used a jig saw to remove the remaining lip. Since the cutter was only 1" deep, I ran out of travel on the hougan. Much appreciated recommendations!

One possibility might be to take a piece of 1/2"-3/4" plate of sufficient length to strap down and tap some 3/8"? holes on the four corners. Then, one turns the bolts to just lift the plate off of the cylinder..?

Thanks again!