Milwaukee close quarters drill

Re: Milwaukee close quarters drill

Darryl Hansen

>You probably did not get the Milwaukee drill just the knock off.The real Milwaukee will run you about $69 on ebay. I have both the Souix and a Milwaukee and rarely if ever use the top speed. Slower seems to be better with the lathe running. Make certain you blow it out periodically. The Milwaukee and

Souix parts are interchangable for the most part..

Re: Milwaukee close quarters drill

Ed Kelle

>Thanks Darryl, I think yes maybe I did get a knockoff. Though all the ones I see there for $69 are the reconditioned ones. I'm still hesitant to go that way.

Thanks for the input

Ed

Re: Milwaukee close quarters drill

Ed Kelle

>Thanks Mark,

My only problem with doing the same is that my lathe can only go down to 500. So considering that, do you think the slower speed drill to be better?

Of course I'd like to do as little sanding as possible, but I tend to have problems on the the end grain sides of the bowls. I see people who can get away with doing a very fine final shear cut and not have to sand at all. I just am not at that level yet.

Thanks

Ed

Re: Milwaukee close quarters drill

Mark Kauder, Phenix City, AL

>Milwaukee/Sioux have offered the 750rpm one for some time, though it is not seen in the catalogs much. I would say that it would be just fine for sanding - but if you ever use it for some drilling, you might wish you had the faster one.

I too bought a $69 Milwaukee a while back, and maybe it was a reconditioned one - I do not know - bought it at a pawn shop. But it started making funny noises just before Christmas, called Milwaukee Product Support, gave them the serial number, and they were about to tell me that it was covered my a 5 year warranty, and still under warranty.

While it is in the shop, I am using my $39 clone.

Mark

Re: Milwaukee close quarters drill

JamieDonaldson

>Ed- go for the high speed drill- that's the beauty of VS, and you will want it at some point. I have 3 Sioux and use the heck out of them, but running the lathe at a slow speed is critical, otherwise you are only hitting the high spots and making heat.And don't believe that ANYONE can ever use tools well enough to totally eliminate sanding!

Re: Milwaukee close quarters drill

Darryl Hansen

>Hi again, look at the pictures. The ones that have a little black tag on the power cord near the drill are the knock offs. Some of them are O.K. I understand. Be persistent. search for Milwaukee close quarter. I think those drills are probably easy to rip off at construction sites and they show up at pawn shops that auction on ebay. sometimes you have to wait a few days and the realones in the Milwaukee package will show up. I have purchased two that way and they are still going strong two years old. The Souix on the other hand has had one switch and one bearing replaced. Probably becuase of my carelessness..Darryl

Re: Milwaukee close quarters drill

Ed Kelle

>Hey guys. thanks for all the good advice. Now I am hedging a bit and maybe I will just go for the reconditioned one, since it seems to be that even with blowing them out often, they will need rebuilding because we use them for sanding. Heck for the cost of one new one I can get 2 reconditioned ones and they would still have the same 5 year warranty.

I will use them at my lowest lathe speed as we will see how it goes. It sure beats the heck out of hand sanding.

Now I will just be waiting to get my headstock/motor fixed so I can actually do some turning before I get the drill.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions!

Ed

Re: Milwaukee close quarters drill

John K Jordan

>>I will use them at my lowest lathe speed... Ed Kelle

Another thing I find helpful is to sand at a moderate drill speed while rotating the turning by hand with the lathe turned off. (a very low lathe speed!) This lets me sand exactly where needed on problem spots, rotating back and forth if necessary.

JKJ, turning again in East TN

Re: Milwaukee close quarters drill

Barry Turner

>There are some made-in-China close-quarter drills on Ebay. They look much like Souix/Milwaukee's. I would not want anyone to get one of these and think it was the real thing. They are not the same.

A friend of mine is a bowl turner and uses these drills for sanding. He orders these China-made jobs a half-dozen at a time and treats them as disposables. He doesn't bother with repairs, no bearing or brush replacements, etc. He just uses them until they quit and tosses them in the trash, then gets another from his stockroom.

Re: Milwaukee close quarters drill

Bill Neddow

>Mark, I am glad to see someone else "fess up" to high speed sanding. I have been doing it for years and find it is faster,, the sandpaper last longer and there are less deep scratches to sand out. As you said, the secret is to just "kiss" the wood lightly.

As for the Milwaukee drill, I am on my second one. They cost a fortune here in Canada and I was upset when my first one died. The back bearing siezed and spun in the plastic casing. The repair shop fixed it by putting in a new bearing and wrapping it in electrical tape so it would be centered in the casing. The repair lasted a week. I bought a new drill and it only lasted 10 months. When I took it in for repair (this time at the Milwaukee authorized dealer) I was informed it was not under warranty because it was full of dust. $80 later it is running again, but making funny noises, even though I am now careful to blow the dust out. The moral is: don't buy one unless you have an air compressor to keep the dust out. When it dies, I will not be buying another new one from Milwaukee. I like the configuration of the drill -- it is great for sanding bowls. But I may try a rebuilt one, or a Chinese one and simply throw it out when it quits. Or maybe I will buy another Makita angle drill, which is still going strong after 10 years. (I use 2 drills, one for coarse sanding using the rolox screw on disks, and one with a velcro pad for finer grits.)

Go to a sealed rear bearing

TD

>The next time you take your Milwaukee in for service have them replace the rear bearing with a sealed bearing instead of the standard shielded bearing; it will last much longer and only costs $3 more. Also, never run the drill after it starts making noises. If the rear bearing gets hot it will melt the case and then there is nothing to support the new bearing.

TD

Re: Go to a sealed rear bearing

Bill Neddow

>I tried to get the Milwaukee service depot manager to put in a sealed bearing and he absolutely refused. He claimed he could only use Milwaukee-supplied parts! Hope your service depot guy is a little more cooperative. I am not trying to be negative about Milwaukee tools -- I have a number and they are all excellent -- except for the close quarters drill, which is my favourite.

Unbelievable.

TD

>Bill, send it to Dixie in Chattanooga, TN. You will have to do a search for them; they are a motor rebuilding company that also service a number of tool lines including Milwaukee. Good people to deal with on most any motor problem.

TD

Re: Unbelievable.

Bill Neddow

>Thanks, I think I will try this. I love the shape of this drill which makes it an ideal sanding tool. You actually have your hand close to the sanding disk and thus can control it a lot more easily than when you are holding onto a pistol-grip type of drill. My first close quarters drill was the older version. I had heard they redesigned it and hoped when I bought my newer one they had addressed this problem of the rear bearing -- which people had been complaining about for years. This drill costs over $300(new) here in Canada. You would think spending $3 extra on a better bearing would be worth it in less warrany repairs, a larger market and less complaints about their product.