The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
First Aid For The Ailing Houses
Most accessories require a drill rated at 1.5 amperes or higher. This information, with the number of revolutions per minute at the chuck and the recommended voltage, is show on a plate attached to the drill. About 11/2 amperes of current is equal to 1/8 horsepower. Saw and reciprocating attachments require about 2 amperes (1/6 hp).
Drills are available with saw or pistol grips. The pistol grip is more convenient for use with attachments and for drilling in awkward places. The saw grip is more comfortable for prolonged, heavy-duty drilling.
Some tips for electric drill use are:
1. Always insert drill bit far enough into the chuck to get a grip over the full length of the jaws. (A geared chuck which uses a geared key to tighten it, is the most sturdy.) Also available are keyed chucks, which use an Allen wrench for tightening, and the hand-tightened chuck which is used. on only the cheapest drills and is the least satisfactory.
2. Tighten the chuck only with the key provided.
3. In drilling steel or similar material, never use a drill bit larger than the normal capacity of the chuck. For wood, the diameter of the bit may be double the capacity of the chuck. thus a 1/2-inch bit may be used in a 1/4-inch drill.
4. Use a center punch to mark exact location of hole. This provides a start for the drill.
5. Clamp or hold work firmly to avoid damage or personal injury.
6. Hold the drill firmly in the hand, but use only enough pressure to keep the bit in the hole and against the material Let the weight of the drill itself do the pushing, to prevent burning the bits.
COMBINATION TOOLS
If the home owner has workshop space, he may well consider getting a table saw, a band saw, a lathe, an electric sander, drill press, or other electric tools.
The cost involved, however, may be too high, despite the far greater convenience of having individual tools for individual jobs.
An economical answer to this dilemma is the combination tool. There are a number on the market at the present time, and they sell for far less than all of the single tools which they replace. A combination tool usually serves as many as five or six different workshop functions from the single piece of equipment.
Another advantage of the combination tool is that it takes up far less room in the workshop than the number of tools it replaces. A home owner who decides to do construction work, or who has planned to build furniture or do major projects, should certainly investigate the possibility of getting a combination tool, such as the splendid AMF De Walt Power Shop, the Shopsmith, or some other unit.
