If you've never used a mag drill before these are very, very handy machines.
They can save you a lot of time, and a lot of hassle when you're drilling metal on site.
Basically at the side there you have the handle which moves the machine up and
down. You can actually swap the handle over to the opposite side if you wish
which can make the machine easier to use in some applications. On the top of the
machine there is the on/off button for the drill. At the back there we have
the switch for the magnet. Once that is switched on the magnet on it is
incredibly powerful on this machine. It is virtually impossible to pull that off.
It really is a very powerful magnet. If you take a look at the cutters you'll
see that they have two flats machined on them. That is so when the cutters are in
there there are two grub screws in that part which actually hold the cutter in position.
So all you need to do is take the hex key, undo the two grub screws and
then ensure the two flats are facing forwards. Insert that in the machine and
then tighten up the grub screws. So that's how to insert a bit into the
machine. It is incredibly easy. There may come a time when you want to put a normal
drill bit in there so then it becomes a little bit more difficult. You have to
swap that for the chuck. So I'll just undo the two grub screws and
I'm just bringing it forwards and then this time we'll get the chuck again ensuring
that the two flats align with the two grub screws. Push that up and
again tighten the two grub screws.
So I'll just put a large drill bit in the chuck. This is a blacksmith's drill
or a reduced shank drill. I've done this just to demonstrate how to use the
machine properly. You will notice that if we lift the handles up fully
the drill bit will not go high enough. So what we need to do is get this
lever, undo that, it is actually a left handed thread, and then you can actually get hold
of the machine and you can pull that up high enough and then you can lock that
back in position. That means that you can use virtually any length of drill bit in
this machine very easily. I'm now going to take this out on a job
and we're going to drill a steel beam for a home extension.
So to use a machine like this it is very simple all you need to do is get it in
the exact correct position where you want the hole. So you always do that with
the magnet switched off. You get it exactly where you want it positioned and
then you switch on the magnet, which is that switch there at the back.
Once the magnet is switched on that machine will not move at all. It takes an
incredible amount of force to break the bond between the magnet and the metal.
We are then just going to spray some cutting fluid on there just to keep it cool.
Normally you would use the coolant bottle supplied. I'm not going to switch
the machine on, I'm going to let it go to full speed before letting it touch the
metal. Once it's touched the metal I can then press on the handles until
the cutter cuts all the way through this steel.
You can see that that went through there very quickly indeed it's given us a
very clean hole, and that is the actual plug that it's just cut out of the steel.
So these machines cut very efficiently and very quickly in most
types of steel. If you ever need to drill some steel that is vertical or the
machines in a position where it could fall off if the power was cut, it is
absolutely critical to use either a chain to secure it or a webbing strap,
just in case there is ever a power cut, or if somebody switches off the power. So to
use it on a surface like this simply position the drill where you want it and
switch on the magnet. That is now firmly fixed and I'm going to take the webbing
strap and I'm just going to pull that until it's tight. In the event of a
power cut or anything like that, that will prevent the machine from falling off.
As you can see a machine like this just cuts through mild steel plate for fun.