5.5 amp drill for my Malt mill?

Hi all!

I asked for a bunch of tools for Christmas and got one of these from my Dad. I am wondering if I can use it on my malt mill or if I'd burn up the motor.

If it's not a good 'engine' for my malt mill, I'd love suggestions. I received 2 drills for Christmas and one is going back- so I can exchange it.

Thanks

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-inch-variable-speed-reversible-d-handle-drill-47991.html

Ive learned to like ^^^ this one^^^. I attached it to my bench
I run it at the lowest speed setting and its still turns pretty fast.
It has a lock,so you don't have to hold the trigger.
And its "loud".Might be cause i use a pretty tight gap setting on the mill.
But for the price it fine, I got it for around $25 on sale + coupon.
Harbor freight loves to use coupons..

I've been using a 1/2" DeWalt for about 10 years now without issue. I used to use a Black and Decker 3/8" before that and it burned up after 2 crushes. Go bigger with a mill.

Thanks all!

A buddy of mine who owns an LHBS also reccomended a 1/2" last night over a beer. I think I'll take this one back.

I have several 3/8" drills and none of them can run the mill very well. I ended up going with the HF heavy duty drill that double-R mentioned and it works great. It is loud though, I use ear plugs when running it.

I got a 3/8” craftsman drill for Christmas last year, burned the motor up after doing about 10 batches. I just got a 1/2” Rigid for Christmas this year. This one should do the trick. I'm with the others....go with a bigger drill.

That one in the OP appears to be good enough depending on the "variable speed" being low enough and at high enough torque. I am buying this one on Saturday because my B&D 20 volt cordless burned up after 3 batches.

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-inch-heavy-duty-spade-handle-drill-93632.html

LAbrewer said:

That one in the OP appears to be good enough depending on the "variable speed" being low enough and at high enough torque. I am buying this one on Saturday because my B&D 20 volt cordless burned up after 3 batches.

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-inch-heavy-duty-spade-handle-drill-93632.html

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Would you mind giving us your imprssions of this drill for grain crushing after you have given it a workout? I would like to get one of these 2 drills to use for grain crushing in the near future. I could not find out if this drill had an always on trigger switch.

LAbrewer said:

That one in the OP appears to be good enough depending on the "variable speed" being low enough and at high enough torque. I am buying this one on Saturday because my B&D 20 volt cordless burned up after 3 batches.

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-inch-heavy-duty-spade-handle-drill-93632.html

Click to expand...

Definitely let us know how this one works for you. I am going to grab a different drill for my mill after the advice here and it seems like either one of the Harbor Freight drills will work.

I'm getting and using it tomorrow so we'll see. I don't care if I have to hold the trigger, but my rigid is a pain in the butt to try to keep from spinning too fast so I'm expecting this one to work.

msa8967 said:

Would you mind giving us your imprssions of this drill for grain crushing after you have given it a workout? I would like to get one of these 2 drills to use for grain crushing in the near future. I could not find out if this drill had an always on trigger switch.

Click to expand...

geer537 said:

Definitely let us know how this one works for you. I am going to grab a different drill for my mill after the advice here and it seems like either one of the Harbor Freight drills will work.

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I used it over the weekend.

The pros:
-heavy duty enough
-speed setting is slow enough (I used setting 2 because setting 1 was getting bogged down due to the crusher sticking)
-it has a lock for the trigger
-has a fan to cool down the motor. I didn't smell burn so that's a plus
-I didn't use the chuck key by accident. IT was no problem.

The cons:
-pretty heavy and will pull the crusher down when empty if you don't hold it up.
-the trigger lock did not work right at speed 2. It will work right at slow speeds if you set the speed higher initially. Kind of useless imo and I didn't care.
-louder than a regular drill.
-short cord

Get it here:
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-inch-heavy-duty-spade-handle-drill-93632.html

Get a 25% coupon for today only here:
http://widgets.harborfreight.com/ws...=true&cust=00147639174&keycode=1003&hftref=cj

I have been looking to do the same and just went thru the Harbor Freight coupons. This is the only 1/2" drill that I see that has a coupon. Very affordable at $24.99 (50% off).

Any thoughts??

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-inch-heavy-duty-variable-speed-reversible-drill-3273.html

Thanks for the details LA Brewer! I am not sure if the cons are enough for me to say no to it.

Twalte- I am not an expert but hopefully someone can help out here. Seems like a good deal.

Glad I found this thread. I was going to get a 3/8" Craftsman Evolv corded drill, but sounds like I'm best to just buy a bigger one for an extra $20 at like Harbor Freight.

natefrog255 said:

Glad I found this thread. I was going to get a 3/8" Craftsman Evolv corded drill, but sounds like I'm best to just buy a bigger one for an extra $20 at like Harbor Freight.

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The orange Habor Freight drill I bought is great for crushing the grain. I am very satisfied with buying this drill.

msa8967 said:

The orange Habor Freight drill I bought is great for crushing the grain. I am very satisfied with buying this drill.

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Good to know! I actually have a 20% off coupon right now, so may have to run over there this week to see if they have that one. I'll have to get myself a screw to go in the mill too. I think I'd have a square drill bit that'd work.

natefrog255 said:

Good to know! I actually have a 20% off coupon right now, so may have to run over there this week to see if they have that one. I'll have to get myself a screw to go in the mill too. I think I'd have a square drill bit that'd work.

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The local HF store did not have this drill model as part of their regular in store stock so I had to order it online. You might want to call ahead and ask if it is in stock. This happened to another brewer I know in another city.