[HN Gopher] Making holes without an electric drill
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       Making holes without an electric drill
        
       Author : walterbell
       Score  : 19 points
       Date   : 2022-07-17 04:23 UTC (18 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (theplywood.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (theplywood.com)
        
       | Kinnard wrote:
       | ^^
        
       | formerly_proven wrote:
       | Article says you can't plunge with a jigsaw, but you can... not
       | pretty but does work.
        
         | falcolas wrote:
         | It also takes a bit of skill and gumption, but yeah, its
         | doable.
         | 
         | You tip the saw forward on its table so the blade is above the
         | wood, hold down the "Go" button, and slowly lean the jigsaw
         | back towards flat. It is important that the jigsaw's table is
         | in solid contact with the wood the, erm, hole time.
        
           | jfk13 wrote:
           | I can vouch for the fact that this works, though I'd consider
           | it something of a last resort.
        
       | Gunax wrote:
       | I like that it's extensive, but a bit too extensive to answer the
       | original question: what is the replacement for an electric drill?
       | 
       | The standard crank drill is clearly the alternative [1]. Most
       | home users should _not_ purchase an electric drill. They dont
       | need it. It will likely never drill more than a few dozen holes.
       | 
       | [1] https://www.amazon.com/Frylr-Speedy-Powerful-
       | Manual-1-5MM-10...
        
         | thehappypm wrote:
         | That's as expensive as an extremely low end electric drill.
        
           | mauvehaus wrote:
           | As a bonus, it's much slower, which leads to fewer fuckups at
           | the ends of projects. They are really only good up to about
           | 1/4" holes though. If you get one with multiple speeds, you
           | can go to 3/8", but you're really much better off with a
           | brace and some auger bits at that point. Auger bits are
           | conveniently sized by the 1/16" down to 1/4" in the US, and
           | have been for over a century.
           | 
           | In all seriousness though, an eggbeater drill will last
           | forever. Mine are probably 70 years old or older. Ditto my
           | brace. Good luck finding batteries for any electric cordless
           | drill in 20 years, never mind a cheap one.
        
         | avar wrote:
         | Most home owners with any DIY interest should purchase an
         | electric drill, because what they'll be purchasing is almost
         | certainly a cordless model with a torque limiter.
         | 
         | Those are useful for everything from assembling IKEA furniture
         | to taking apart a car. The drilling function is secondary or
         | tertiary.
         | 
         | But sure, if you mean a giant corded impact drill used to drill
         | into concrete almost nobody needs that.
        
           | Animats wrote:
           | _" a giant corded impact drill used to drill into concrete,
           | almost nobody needs that"_
           | 
           | I had to rent one once to put a conduit through a concrete
           | block wall reinforced with concrete fill and rebar. Not fun.
        
           | ars wrote:
           | > giant corded impact drill used to drill into concrete
           | 
           | Tons of people need that - how else do you hang pictures on
           | stone walls? And they are not so giant - they are the same
           | size as regular drills.
        
       | avar wrote:
       | The router instructions make no sense to me.
       | 
       | Why plunge a router and then switch to a jigsaw to make a large
       | circular hole in a sheet of plywood? Just move the router around
       | instead.
       | 
       | You can use a bit that can follow a template to make this as
       | accurate as you'd like, but freehand is usually sufficient.
       | 
       | Also: A notable omission in the "other powertools" section is the
       | angle grinder. Both to "saw" a hole, and by attaching a drill
       | chuck to the grinder. At that point it's basically an electric
       | drill with another form factor.
        
         | falcolas wrote:
         | The router won't cut as quickly, especially with thicker
         | materials. You absolutely can, though.
        
       | EnKopVand wrote:
       | I don't really like electrical appliances. I use a manual whisk
       | (Google translate turns hjulpisker into auxiliary whisk) for
       | everything "whisky" even though we have a vitamix thing that cost
       | more than my MacBook Air.
       | 
       | So I'm an idiot like that, and you might expect me to use a
       | manual drill (I guess it would be auxiliary drill if Google
       | translate is right), and until I bought a house you would have
       | been right. Now I own both an electrical drill and a drill
       | hammer. So while my whipped cream still takes a few minutes more
       | than an electro mixer you won't ever find me drilling a hole
       | without a power tool. It's just not worth it.
       | 
       | Great article though, it's nice to see all the options covered.
        
       | Wistar wrote:
       | And punch/punch press, laser, waterjet, plasma cutter, mill,
       | projectile and, of course, shaped charge.
        
         | nyanpasu64 wrote:
         | Electrical discharge milling is so cool, but expensive (tens of
         | thousands of dollars for a machine). It's got to be the most
         | overkill and surgical way to drill out stripped screws though.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | hef19898 wrote:
         | Plus one for the shaped charge! Waterjets are pretty cool so...
        
         | bell-cot wrote:
         | This being HN, I really expected more _how to_ by Randall
         | Munroe sorts of answers.
         | 
         | (BTW, you forgot the railgun, nano-sized black hole, antimatter
         | beam, and trained termite "drill squad".)
        
       | swayvil wrote:
       | Whatever happened to cutting with a tuned laser?
       | 
       | I heard about it a decade ago. A laser tuned to the resonant
       | frequency of skin. The protein or whatever.
       | 
       | Low power, with no burning, no heat damage. Melted right through,
       | cleanly. Unravelled those little molecules. A wonderful cutting
       | device.
       | 
       | And maybe you could match a laser to any material. Wood? Glass? A
       | very clean cut. Maybe even safer.
        
         | jfim wrote:
         | As far as I know, most laser cutters available to hobbyists for
         | cutting wood are either diode or CO2 based, and both have a
         | risk of setting the wood on fire, as well as generate a fair
         | amount of smoke and combustion gases.
         | 
         | For cutting holes into wood as a hobbyist, a CNC machine with
         | the appropriate tool will give far superior output for the
         | purpose of making holes in wood.
        
       | d4a wrote:
       | I would have liked some pictures to know what I'm reading about
        
         | amelius wrote:
         | Yes, this would have been more satisfying and faster to consume
         | as a youtube video.
        
           | bussierem wrote:
           | I recommend the Primitive Technology channel for this! He
           | uses almost all of these to some extent.
        
             | system2 wrote:
             | He literally uses rocks to bash on anything.
        
               | falcolas wrote:
               | Rocks are fantastic hammers. Sharp rocks can cut lots of
               | things too. The original multitool. Comes in various
               | colors and hardnesses too.
        
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