Cordless Drills

MachineInfoBox Cordless Drills
Synonyms:	cordless driver drills; DE: Akkuschrauber, Akkubohrschrauber
Material:	depending on the bit: screws, plastic, wood, metal
Used with:	drill bits, screwdriver bits
Access Requirements:	Drill Introduction
Tutors:	Lukas NitramLegov Pakue Lmnl99 Johannes Luzian Keno Jakob
Similar (More or Less):	drill press, screwdrivers, rotary tool, screw gun

Cordless drills are very versatile tools and should not be missing from any workshop. Besides drilling, as the name implies, they are mostly used for driving screws ("electric screwdriver").

Here's a nice video about the internal mechanics of a typical drill!

Proper Use

Please follow these simple guidelines to avoid damage to your screws, material, or the drill itself:

• the torque (DE: Drehmoment) can typically be set with the ring before the chuck
  • better start out too low than to round your screw in the first try - wood may also be damaged if screws (especially self-tapping/"Spax") are inserted too deep
  • the drilling setting at the end of the scale should only be used for drilling, it creates way too much torque for screws and screwdriver bits!
  • excessive torque does NOT make you screw faster, it really just wrecks stuff...
• there may also be variable speed settings (slider on top)
  • only change when the drill is fully stopped
  • use the slower one (1) for screwing to prevent slipping
  • the higher speed can be used for drilling

Bits

• screwdriver bits and bit holders
• drill bits (shaft diameter typically limited to 10 mm)

Makita DDF484

MachineInfoBox Makita DDF484
Access Requirements:	Drill Introduction
Manual:	makita.de
Tutors:	Lukas NitramLegov Pakue Lmnl99 Johannes Luzian Keno Jakob

We have two Makita DDF484 cordless drills. They have a 2 step metal gearbox for different drilling speeds. A torque limit for screwing can be set with the dial behind the chuck. Please use it to avoid breaking bits and screws due to too much torque! The chuck can hold up to 13mm drill bits.
One drill was donated by Ed and the batteries/charger are sponsored from multiple member donations, our Amazon Smile as well as for the Tor4 workshops.

Accessories

These were bought from member donations

• 2x 18V 3Ah Batteries (BL1830B)
• 1x charger (DC18RC)
• MAKPAC box for charger and batteries (usually underneath the drilling table)

Tor 4 aquisitions

• 2x 18V 5Ah batteries (BL1850B)
• 1x charger (DC18RC)
• MAKPAK box for charger, batteries and drill.

DeWalt DC740KA

MachineInfoBox DeWalt DC740KA
Access Requirements:	Drill Introduction
Manual:	manualretriever.com
Tutors:	Lukas NitramLegov Pakue Lmnl99 Johannes Luzian Keno Jakob

This drill got new batteries.
Please be aware that the charger can be a bit confusing - green light means "not charging" - red light means "charging"
If there is no light, make sure the charger is plugged in and switched on.

Gear Damage

As this is a relatively old tool, it's not perfect anymore: the gears may decouple resulting in weird noise and a non-spinning chuck.

It's easily fixed, however: just go back and forth between the two speeds and you should be ready to go again!

AlphaTools AS 18 A

MachineInfoBox AlphaTools AS 18 A
Access Requirements:	Drill Introduction
Manual:	manualslib.com
Tutors:	Lukas NitramLegov Pakue Lmnl99 Johannes Luzian Keno Jakob

Ciaran's AlphaTools drill comes with two battery packs. The batteries barely hold a charge anymore, perhaps we could upgrade them to use recycled 18650 cells from laptop batteries?

It has two speeds and many torque settings.

The charger can be a bit confusing - green light means "not charging" and you'll have to press the yellow button to start charging a battery!

Private Tools

Bosch PSR 960

MachineInfoBox Bosch PSR 960
Access Requirements:	Drill Introduction
Manual:	in the box
Tutors:	Lukas NitramLegov Pakue Lmnl99 Johannes Luzian Keno Jakob

Lukas has a Bosch PSR 960 you might be able to use! Unfortunately, its battery has gotten pretty bad.

It has six torque settings and only one speed.

Power Supply

There used to be two batteries, but one was quite old and only held its charge for a very short time. It was therefore upgraded to a corded pack.

Charger for the intact one: "AL 1404", 7.2 to 14.4 V, 400 mA => 3 h charging time for the 1.2 Ah pack

Please do not leave the battery in the charger for more than 3 or 4 hours, the old NiCd batteries will heat up and suffer from quite the memory effect!