I'm looking for a drill

Im looking for a cordless drill that I can use with my barley crusher anyone have any suggestions?

I would actually get an inexpensive corded drill. You never have to worry about the batteries being dead. It's especially bad if you don't use the drill for an extended period of time. It is frustrating when you have to wait for batteries to charge.

RichBrewer said:

I would actually get an inexpensive corded drill. You never have to worry about the batteries being dead. It's especially bad if you don't use the drill for an extended period of time. It is frustrating when you have to wait for batteries to charge.

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+1 on this also the corded drill will turn easier than a cordless

+1 Get an inexpensive corded drill and make it your primary barely crusher drill. I am going to mount mine on some wood and nail down my barley crusher so I can take all the work out of crushing it. My wrist starts to hurt after 15# of grain using my cordless

If you only want it for the barley crush go with every one else's advice, but if you think you might want something for other uses try a Makita Ive had both their drills and impact drivers all cordless and they last a long time both the tool and the batteries, they have good torque and ergonomics.

I bought a "store brand" 18 volt 2 battery drill with a one year in store return policy. Its was 1/3 the price of a dewalt and exchanging a bad battery should not be an issue;


I have a corded drill but I am a bit apprehensive at running the barley crusher at a higher than specked RPM (600 RPM vs 200 RPM.. dont wants to wear out the bearings in the Barley Crusher)

Cheers
BeerCanuck

+1 for the corded drill. The corded drill has much better torque then a cheap cordless drill. You can craigslist a corded drill for next to nothing. You just lock the trigger down and then just plug it in to a power strip and then you have a n on and off switch and don't have to hold onto the drill while you pour in the grain.

John

picked up a "Tool Shop" $15 corded drill from Menards yesterday - AVOID this model. Speed is too high, and torque is too low. Motor started smoking within 15 sec of trying to crush.


is what I bought

Wound up pouring the grain back out, reattaching the handle, and doing it by hand.

Multiple someones on here have mentioned the Ridgid brand from Home Depot as being good.

Dewalt XRP series.

Go to Lowe's/Home Depot and get the cheapest you can find

1/2 in drills normally spin slower and have much more torque than 3/8' drills but you pay a little more for them, on the other hand with all the extra torque they rarely fail.

Bobby_M said:

Dewalt XRP series.

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+1


Eventually you will want a good drill with which to do other things. So then you go out and buy a good one, and you have this cheapo laying around. Just get the good one and cover all your bases.

Harbor Freight will have a 18v cordless drill for around $20.

Cheap tools are just that; cheap. I've never failed to be disappointed with super cheap tools and long ago I came to the realization that if I can't afford to buy a good tool, I should just borrow or rent one rather than throwing money away on the cheap stuff.

As regards the $10 drill motor: what did you expect? $10 doesn't buy much these days, and in terms of tools it gets you even less since you'll be driving back to the store to return it after it burns up on the first use.

I'm a builder and all around DIY kind of guy and as such my tools get used regularly and to their capacity. Good tools will pay you back in time and effort and saved frustration.

My Dewalt XRP drill motor has never let me down, and when it isn't up to the task I get out the Hilti hammer drill. They both cost a bundle new but I expect them both to last years and years.

A friend of mine has had great success with the Rigid brand from Home Depot. I think that brand represents a good compromise between capability, lifetime, and cost.

+1 on a corded drill if all you'll use it for is turning the crusher.

This is what I used, actually if this thing gets caught up, it will spin you around with it. I love it. And about cheap tools, it is what you get. If you buy a $10 dollar drill that's what you will get out of it, $10 worth.

http://www.cpomilwaukee.com/drills_and_hammer_drills/drills/corded_drills/0234-6.html

I have dewalt drills as well. But I tend to buy them either refurbs (same exact warranty as a brand new one) or just check for sales on amazon.com

I really dig the new makita 18V lithium drills/impact drivers. nice and light, while having a great battery life and a bunch o torque.

B

+1 for the cheap corded drill dedicated to crushing. Why buy a nice cordless drill and needlessly cycle the battery and put wear on it doing a task that an inferior corded drill could do? I suppose if would be beneficial to get one that is variable speed, though, and one that can be laocked on, if they still offer that feature.

MrFebtober said:

. . . Why buy a nice cordless drill and needlessly cycle the battery and put wear on it doing a task that an inferior corded drill could do?

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Because if you don't have a drill a cordless is much more convenient to have around the house. Just buy two batteries and always keep one on the charger. I’ve had a two speed Ryobi 18V for a few years. It does the job without any struggle and is great for any project. It really doesn't care if it's doing an inferior task and grinding grains is not outside the capacity of a decent quality cordless drill.

I find a Black & Decker 24 volt cordless drill will have enough power to mill over 40# of grain and still drive some screws before needing a charge. My 18 volt Ryobi gets barely can get through 22# before I have to swap batteries.

I guess I'm just a big fan of having both a corded and cordless drill in my shop. I have a very old 14V Porter Cable cordless drill that works great for most applications, but it's great to have a corded drill for tougher, or longer tasks, like hole sawing or masonry drilling. Sure, I could buy a larger, pricier cordless that could handle more of the HD tasks, but that generally results in a larger, bulkier cordless and I like how compact and light mine is for lighter duty drilling/driving and toting around. A corded drill will never slow down or run out of juice, regardless of how many anchor holes you need to drill in your foundation, or how many grains you need to crush, and you can probably pick one up for less than the difference between a monster cordless drill and a smaller, more average cordless drill. Just a matter of personal opinion. I like having one of each.

+1 on the Ryobi brand 18v cordless from HD.
Batteries might not last long enough, but it has plenty of torque, and I've got 4 batteries+2 chargers = no problems.

Plus being cordless makes it MUCH more versatile. If I were in the States, I'd get a semi-cheap corded drill, but I'm not, so I use what I have.

And yeah, if I turned a dime on my tools, I'd pretty much be a Dewalt whore. :fro: They make good stuff, but too pricey for my once-in-a-blue-moon usage. I'd almost rank them up there with Snap-on.
-keith

Hey Ed, I have the same 24volt Black and decker, and was using that, but the cheap charger died. That's why I am using the Milwaukee.

I hear ya on the cheap charger. I hope mine lasts for a while cause the drill just goes & goes.

+1 for the corded drill. I've had nothing but bad luck with the cordless drills under high torque conditions.

John

Having just ordered the crankandstein 3d today, a week late birthday present to myself, I'm glad to hear that the ryobi 18 volt will do that much grain. I have that drill, and doing five gallon batches of usually ten pounds, it might work ( I am going to try it, any way). I just read this in another thread, ed, but i think you have the barleycrusher, right? Do you think this drill will handle a three roller mill?

By the way, after finally getting a ten gallon megapot off of craigslist a month ago, I brewed your stone clone, and love it. I think being able to let the boil rip helped a lot on the hop usage.

Back to the op's topic, though (sorry), is a cheap corded drill fine, or will a more expensive one work better in the long run? B+D or DeWalt?, in other words.

Thanks,
David

Someone above mentioned Harbor Freight Tools. Yes they are cheap. Yes cheap is what you get. That being said I have many tools from them - both power and hand. They all work great. They have a simple return policy. They don't care how you broke it. In fact, you literally can drive over your power tool in their parking lot and bring it in and tell them what you did. They will give you a new one. It's a great place for tools. The only tools I have ever had a problem with are drill attachments. Every power tool I have ever purchased from them is working to this day. If you have a store locally just buy from them.

I've got the 10 amp d-handle corded drill from harbor freight. It's adjustable up to 800 rpm, and I keep it in the middle. That thing will break your wrist if you're not careful. I've never even noticed it laboring while grinding grain. Dewalt makes good tools, but you'd be suprised how much of the price is in packaging, advertising, etc. In fact, most of the parts are the same as on Black & Decker's....you're pretty much just paying twice as much for their warranty.

Necro-posting, but highly relevant. I've got my grinder set pretty tight, since I do BIAB. My current drill is simply not quite up to the task of turning it. Last time I had to stop every so often so the motor would quit smoking. Plus the variable-speed trigger is extremely hard to control and tends to speed up over time for some reason. I need a drill with more torque/power and control at lower speeds and... well, less smoke.

From what I've gathered in this thread so far I should be going with a corded 1/2 inch drill. I'm looking at a variety on Amazon and notice there are different amperages as well. Anyone have any suggestions for 2012?

I have one like this, probably 15 years old though. It has no problem crushing grain, the only disadvantage with this type of drill is that you can't adjust the speed via a dial or fixed setting, just the trigger.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00007FPIN/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

mmseng said:

Necro-posting, but highly relevant. I've got my grinder set pretty tight, since I do BIAB. My current drill is simply not quite up to the task of turning it. Last time I had to stop every so often so the motor would quit smoking. Plus the variable-speed trigger is extremely hard to control and tends to speed up over time for some reason. I need a drill with more torque/power and control at lower speeds and... well, less smoke.

From what I've gathered in this thread so far I should be going with a corded 1/2 inch drill. I'm looking at a variety on Amazon and notice there are different amperages as well. Anyone have any suggestions for 2012?

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ha- funny you brought this up today. I just now came up from the basement, and have been convinced that I need a new corded drill.

I googled the ryobi 18V cordless, and it's available at a good price, but I think I still want to go with the corded drill.

I do NOT want a variable speed, and want to use it for mainly my barley crusher. I want one with a speed that I can lock into place.

My issue is that my drill is too fast, even with trying to hold it at a "not fast" speed- it's hard to do and my trigger finger hurts trying to do it. I want to be able to set the speed, and just drill.

I have a 1/2" corded drill from Harbor Freight. It is a beast of a drill, I used it for drilling out wheel studs on my volkswagen. I bought it for 20 bucks as a one time use tool. It has now drilled tons of holes in thousands of things, and I beat on it real hard. Ran my buddy's grain mill without a sweat.

I second all the harbor feight suggestions, I havent seen one of there electric tools break, and the chicago line is an unconditional replacement warranty. I wouldnt use them on a jobsite but crush grain yeah I sure would

I have a couple new Rockwells for my cordless drills but I wanted a good corded drill and was disappointed in the store. I wound up buying a couple of rebuilt vintage corded drills for way cheap off of ebay. One I have is WWII era and is way overbuilt for what I'll ever use it for and expect it will outlast me easily. The other not as old and just bought it because my father had one. I think I paid maybe $30 for the pair. Key to buying them is from people who either collect them or at least take care of them and there are parts available to rebuild them or recently rebuilt. Too often you get those guys who found one in their deceased grandparents shed and throw them up for sale because they are worn out or have not been used in twenty years and they are bound up inside, needing to be rebuilt. Ebay is a good source to find some decent ones.

HOLY COW! that bottom one is one massive drill... can I barrow it to go do some natural gas prospecting?

But on a serious not those drills look great!

Yooper said:

I do NOT want a variable speed, and want to use it for mainly my barley crusher. I want one with a speed that I can lock into place.

My issue is that my drill is too fast, even with trying to hold it at a "not fast" speed- it's hard to do and my trigger finger hurts trying to do it. I want to be able to set the speed, and just drill.

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Yeah, this is exactly what I'm looking for. Hell, I'd even go for a table-mounted drill or something as long as it's powerful with plenty of torque at low speeds.

I've never seen a corded drill that achieved "multi-speed" with selectable gear ratios like the higher end cordless ones. Having a 300 RPM, high torque setting is awesome for milling and drilling stainless. Corded drills don't compete in these two situations.

This is a variable corded drill, might be interesting....
http://m.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-3-8-in-Variable-Speed-Clutch-Driver-D47CK/100485417/

That's what I meant though, all the corded drills achieve their variable speed via how hard you press the trigger. The torque is horrible at the lower speeds.

Get yourself a used Shopsmith, add a custom mill base and a couple of pulleys to drop the speed down and you have yourself a high torque variable speed power source. As a bonus you can use it to build that custom walnut bar you've always wanted when you aren't milling grain. I suspect the mill would wear out before the Shopsmith.

ButcherBoy said:

Get yourself a used Shopsmith, add a custom mill base and a couple of pulleys to drop the speed down and you have yourself a high torque variable speed power source. As a bonus you can use it to build that custom walnut bar you've always wanted when you aren't milling grain. I suspect the mill would wear out before the Shopsmith.

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I have always wanted one of those, they are getting to be a bear to find