Has or does anyone use a hand drill for stud holes? I cant fit the drill press in by tool box so I figure I'll keep some pre drilled and pre tapped shoes in the rack but what about the unexpected? Can fit the super powerful drill I managed to aquire from the ex in my tool box, but will it work? I rarely drill shoes anyway, but ya never know what the day brings...

I guess you could do it with a hand drill but you will need a pretty sturdy vise. If you pre drill your shoe you will have to put some studs in the shoes in order to shape them or you will distort the wholes.

You can punch them easier than a hand drill, if you have a forge.

cdnshoechic in gray

Has or does anyone use a hand drill for stud holes? I cant fit the drill press in by tool box so I figure I'll keep some pre drilled and pre tapped shoes in the rack but what about the unexpected?

The holes in pre-drilled/tapped shoes tend to get out of round during shaping, so it's usually easier to drill and tap after the shoe is fitted to the foot.

Can fit the super powerful drill I managed to aquire from the ex in my tool box, but will it work? I rarely drill shoes anyway, but ya never know what the day brings...

If you've got electricity, any 1/2" or 3/8" drill motor will work. It's nice, but not absolutely necessary, to have a center punch to mark your holes and a vise to keep your shoe from becoming a moving target during the drilling/tapping process.

If you've got a forge and anvil, you can punch your holes, then drift them to size with a 5/16" pin punch, but be sure to let your shoe cool to a black before you quench it. You never know what's in A-36 and your shoe might get harder than your tap.

I took a standard drill press and cut the base short enough to fit under my truck bed topper. I took off the adjstable, swivel drill base and welded a bearing plate to the stationary base so I could drill thru it. It only has one job so the depth limits are not important.

cdnshoechic wrote:I have with disastrous results.

cdnshoechic] I cant fit the drill press in by tool box so I figure I'll keep some pre drilled and pre tapped shoes in the rack but what about the unexpected?[/quote]

[QUOTE=high performance shoeing wrote:
What he said

cdnshoechic wrote:
Best thing I would suggest is to get a drill press from one of the high volume tool outlets (Harbor Freight, Northlands) The drill presses are pretty good except for the chucks, and are cheap enough you won't feel bad cuttiing the post down, still with a jacobs chuck your total investment would be under $99.00 Canadian or $100.00 US.

Hey is that Jack Miller?

buy a lowcost bench drill and take the base out. then weld flat metal base to it. low at height, and easy to keep clean.

I have never punched holes for studs, can someone explain this. What do you start with, and is a "pin Punch" something I can get at a hardware store? What heat do you do it at. Does this make a true sized hole. Does this work for drive in studs and threaded? Thanks.

Cody


P.S. I have tried using a hand held drill for studs. It works, but it's a work out!!

cdnshoechic;112036 wrote:

I drill mine with a Black and Decker drill and it works just fine and takes up very little space. I use to put it under my seat when I was just working out of my truck.

Humm, never thought of cutting the base off, I actually have two cheap presses and one really nice one (not getting cut down!) so I'll have a look at that. That would probibly be the best solution. Did a few with the hand drill yesterday just to see and it worked, I sat on the side of the truck and had the shoe clamped about 6" from the bed, seemed to work ok. I didn't break anything and was able to tap them and put studs in. Have forge, but mostly cold shoe, plus I'm a bit scared of hot things, jks!

Yup, that Jack, pic's from March

You will not need to cut the base off. On my two Harbor Freight bench drill presses, the head and base come off with set screws. The tube is just a tube and can be cut to any length so long as the drill bits will clear the base with enough room for the shoe. If things are really tight, take off the top cover and, I think, you will be able to replace the two pulleys (four or five pulleys in one) with single pulleys and gain about another 6" (you will need to leave the cover off and drive OSHA crazy).

If you use a hand drill it needs to be a good one. Are rechargable 18V Dewalt or similar will do the trick.
Don't try to just drill the size hole you need right off the bat. Drill a smaller pilot hole (like 1/8" ) then one a litle bigger, then the size you need.
I also tap with a hand drill but be careful. Run it in a little, back it out to clean the filings. Then back in some more then back out, till it gets through, and use tapping fliud. And always have spare drills and taps of all the sizes you need !
Patty

calshoer wrote:
I just go right through when tapping without a problem... Time is money!!!

high performance shoeing wrote:
Yeah! I couldn't be bothered with running it in a little, back out, and so on and so on. I guess if most of my shoeing was done cold, I'd have to get used to it!