Mag Base Drills

[English Steve]

I am considering buying a magnetic drill, and would welcome any opinions from those of you with experience in using them.
Woz kindly made a video of his Evolution ME5000 in action, which is very impressive, and I have some experience of a Jancy Slugger through a friend.
Ideally I need to be able to bore 38mm (1.1/2") dia holes in steel box section upto 12mm thk. Evolution do the ME3500 which is rated at 35mm dia, but has the same power motor as the ME5000 which is rated to 50mm dia. As the power is the same, would I get away with a 38mm cutter in the ME3500, or is the restriction due to clearance to the magnet etc?
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated - this is another potentially expensive mistake.

Regards

Steve

 

[Wozzaaah]

Hi Steve, me again . The 5000 is quite beefed up from the 3500 hence the extra capacity (and extra price ). The base I think is the same but the drill casing is considerably bigger to cope with the extra load. The problem is that at 38mm you're already using it beyond the 3500's design capacity so it's not really ideal. It's a shame Dafydd seems to have vanished off the forum, he gave me such a cracking deal on mine, might be worth sending him a PM anyway.

 

[English Steve]

Thanks for the info again Woz, there had to be a reason for the additional £100.00 for the 5000.

I was hoping someone on here might post info on some of the other manufacturers kit - i'll leave it a day or two and see if anything comes up.

Regards

Steve

 

[Mikey D]

hi steve , ive just ordered a mag drill myself . Did a lot of reasearch over the weekend i didnt need such a high capacity and wanted to keep it as light as possible ..
i went for the Rotabroach puma a couple of quid over £300 delivered .
You can get an attachment to fit on the base of the rotabroach machines so you can use them on tube from 60mm up ,i havent seen this available on other makes.
The rotabroach are British made too as are the G and J Hall ones ,
Have a look on ebay thers a good few on there

cheers mike

 

[English Steve]

Thanks for the reply Mike. I'd be interested to know what you think of the Rotabroach when you get chance to use it in anger. They do seem to have a good name.

Steve

 

[Mikey D]

well it arrived today , not used it yet but ive had one on hire before that was the same model .
i think it says something about the quality, if hire companys buy them .....
i will report back once i used it

cheers mike

 

[Wozzaaah]

Get your cutters from diywelding, you probably won't find anyone cheaper and you definitely won't find anyone else that includes the pilot pins!
Oh and most are genuine Rotabroach too, made in Sheffield in the good ol' UK .

 

[Hitch]

Our small ones are Rotabroach Pumas, excellent magnets and base quality, but the gearboxes seem to let us down normally. But they are hammered day in day out

They have a switch that cuts the motor if it gets shocked (like someone hitting the piece with a hammer) which is sometimes quite annoying.
They do have a mechanism that ejects troublesome slugs, which i havnt seen on others, just sharply pull the handle up and it pushes it out in most cases.

 

[snowcat]

Yep I run a Rotabroach, I really cant remember the model now, really its knacked now but I used it when I did lots of steel fixing and it was drilling holes solidly every day, Its been drooped from a cage, and lived (just) thanks to Mr Araldite.... It now chews cutters as well because the arbor bent from the drop....

But has been an excellent Drill and when that dies completely id buy another Rotabroach...

 

[Mikey D]

Fear not wozz i have ordered some cutters from DIY welding . although oddly he doesnt list 13mm ones ,so i ordered one off e bay which arrived first
The rotabroach did come with 2 pilot pins one of each size as well as a 13mm chuck .

Hitch, i presume the shock/movement sensor is to try to avoid cutter breakage

cheers mike

 

[Hitch]

I think its just to stops the motor if it comes off the magnet. When the cutters break, its so fast that it just wouldnt stop it in time.

 

[Mikey D]

So have you invested in a mag drill yet steve? , ive been using my new rota broach this week ,couldnt of managed without it really
Been drilling holes for a support frame which is suspended from a portal frame roof . did drop my aerosol can of cutting oil 15' onto the floor tho and yea it fell nozell down .
so my 13mm cutter got a bit hot and is a bit the worse for wear already ,wonder if extra virgin would of done in an emergency

cheers mike

 

[English Steve]

Still cogitating Mike. I am still awaiting the delivery of my Portamig, and don't want to commit the funds until I know whats left!

I'll keep you posted when I do get one, and will try to do a test/report on it.

Steve

 

[Sam]

hi steve , ive just ordered a mag drill myself . Did a lot of reasearch over the weekend i didnt need such a high capacity and wanted to keep it as light as possible ..
i went for the Rotabroach puma a couple of quid over £300 delivered .
You can get an attachment to fit on the base of the rotabroach machines so you can use them on tube from 60mm up ,i havent seen this available on other makes.
The rotabroach are British made too as are the G and J Hall ones ,
Have a look on ebay thers a good few on there

cheers mike

I have a Rotabroach Puma had it for 18 months now great wee machine you can get a few good deals on fleabay for cutters if you keep a watch on them.
You say you want to bore box section make sure you remove the slug if you are going all the way through.I got caught out with that one and was wondering what the hell was going on, the slug had stuck to the cutter and was stopping the teeth from cutting the other side of the box section

 

[Sam]

:full

hi steve , ive just ordered a mag drill myself . Did a lot of reasearch over the weekend i didnt need such a high capacity and wanted to keep it as light as possible ..
i went for the Rotabroach puma a couple of quid over £300 delivered .
You can get an attachment to fit on the base of the rotabroach machines so you can use them on tube from 60mm up ,i havent seen this available on other makes.
The rotabroach are British made too as are the G and J Hall ones ,
Have a look on ebay thers a good few on there

cheers mike

I have a Rotabroach Puma had it for 18 months now great wee machine you can get a few good deals on fleabay for cutters if you keep a watch on them.
You say you want to bore box section make sure you remove the slug if you are going all the way through.I got caught out with that one and was wondering what the hell was going on, the slug had stuck to the cutter and was stopping the teeth from cutting the other side of the box section:full

 

[Wozzaaah]

That's why mag drills aren't suitable for boring through multiple pieces at the same time, I've tried it . The absolute best prices I've ever seen for cutters are from a forum member diy welding, I bought several off him. All but one were genuine rotabroach and every one came with a pilot pin! I'd almost guarantee you won't find them cheaper and especially not with the pin too .

 

[Sam]

Yes good prices! I just bought a 12, 14 and 16 short series unibor cutters for £16.00 delivered to the door this morning no pins though

 

[Wozzaaah]

That's good prices Sam, got a link?

 

[Sam]

On ebay! ebay member b1977c you will see his listings they have from Ireland next to them keep an eye on them I got mine for 0.99p but the postage is £15.00 I must have bought around 12/15 cutters from him now at that price it puts a lot of people off with the postage but if no one is bidding its a cheep deal put your £1.00 did in and see how it goes.

 

[cooper956]

i got a 30mm cutter off ebay the other day for 99p and 3.99 postages so £4.98 and its new too just not sure if our rotabroch take 30mm yet lol got a 25mm one for £6 inc postage a while bk too and that was new not sure what make but still working well