My only experience is with Milwaukee and I haven't had any issues. Even with the beat up one I bought used.
Ok, my ancient Milwaukee mag drill died a horrible heavy equipment related death a while back and I have a job coming up where Im going to need a new one. Up to 1.25" holes in 1.5" plate. Annular cutters and coolant will be a must. So... what are your recommendations? I know theres some nice ones out there.
My only experience is with Milwaukee and I haven't had any issues. Even with the beat up one I bought used.
Gravel
The difference between theory and practice is that in theory there is no difference.
With the experience through the years I've had with Hougen, I'll never have anything but another Hougen.
Slob
Purveyor of intimate unparalleled knowledge of nothing about everything.
Oh yeah, also an unabashed internet "Troll" too.....
What's your budget, how much use? There's a lot of variables. Is weight much of a factor, maximum hole size?
We have jancy slugger brand mag drills that i find are the best. We also have Milwaukee that do a good job but i dont like them as much. We also have right angle mag drills that make it much more compact if you need to get into tight spaces.
Hougen gets my vote. I used a Hougen yesterday, drilling 7/8" holes in 3/4" a36 plate.
Jason
Lincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tig
Thermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52
Miller Bobcat 250
Torchmate CNC table
Thermal Arc Hefty 2
Ironworkers Local 720
I would say Hougen, Jancy or Milwaukee, you can't go wrong. I heard Milwaukee is the best built, but that's one guy's opinion. I just bought a Hougen from Ohio Power tool.
"Where's Stick man????????" - 7A749
"SHHHHHH!! I sent him over to snag that MIC-4 while tbone wasn't looking!" - duaneb55
"I have bought a few of Tbone's things unlike Stick-Man who helps himself" - TozziWelding
"Stick-man"
I have used Jancy, Milwaukee, and Hougen. I prefer the Hougens.
Ya gotta spend money to make money!
I'ved used the hougen and the milwaukee at work. definitely would take the hougen any day...easier to deal w/ than the milwaukee and bits cut better in my experience(a lot better). had to drill a railroad tie a while back and the hougen went right through....milwaukee wouldn't ever bite. think i broke 2 bits trying w/ it. and it definitely wasn't worn out b/c everyone always chose the hougen first out of the two if they needed a mag drill for anything. milwaukee is also just way to big imho. talk about pain in the *** when you have drill horizontal. the spring back on the hougen is nice too. hated having to always lock the head on the milwaukee after you raised it up. also, I might not remember correctly but hougen has safety feature where the drill won't run if it detects magnet isn't bonded well. milwaukee has the safety light but i believe you can still run the drill even if it isn't bonded well to the surface. only thing that was kind of annoying w/ the hougen was having the lubricant bottle hooked up to. just made a giant mess all the time.
believe the hougen was the hmd904
Last edited by cajunboy; 10-31-2014 at 05:35 PM.
Just got a evolution 42 mag drill to drill holes in a welding table
I can do about 40 to 45 holes per hour that are 5/8 (16mm) in size
Seems to work well, but I really wish the retraction was spring loaded like most drill presses.
For some reason I though it would be variable speed, but it is just one speed.
I'm using the evolution annual cutters as well.
I have not used other mag drills. For $700 I was expecting a little more.
$700 on amazon
FYI:
Don't let "Evolution" cutters run hot as in cut dry. Keep them lubed with something. I purchased a set of them from 7/16-1-1/4 in 2" depth and they shatter very easily if run for seemingly seconds if the coolant flow stops.
I yakked at the vendor for about 15 minutes before sending the set back for a refund. They were replaced with Jancy "Sluggers" in the same size and zero problems including a couple of resharpenings.
Slob
Purveyor of intimate unparalleled knowledge of nothing about everything.
Oh yeah, also an unabashed internet "Troll" too.....
Hougen is a great set of machines, the coolant feed systems are crap, but the drills are amazing. Just get a case of spray coolant.
Hougen annular cutters on milwaukee's seem like a good compromise, but the Milwaukee has too much end play causing early failure of annular cutters. Any chatter whatsoever is going to destroy a cutter in seconds.
Constant Current Weldor.
The Magtron I have is big and heavy but I sure like the high and low speed + variable speed.
I've had two Hougen's; a 904, and an HMD 505. Never used coolant with the 904 but just a squeeze bottle of oil. I have gravity feed for the 505 and really like it and it's never given problems. I don't use Hougen's or anyone elses water based emulsion coolant/lubricant but stick with machine tool lubricant and this is based upon seeing others run water based products and rust being present.
Slob
Purveyor of intimate unparalleled knowledge of nothing about everything.
Oh yeah, also an unabashed internet "Troll" too.....
I have the Milwaukee 4270-20. Scored on Craigslist for 400 bucks. Don't have any complaints.
14' PowerMig 210 MP
13'Burntables 5x10 CNC Table
14' SAE300 HE on a 12' Ram 4500 60 CA 4x4. Custom bed/bottles/reels.
87' SA250d, 78 SA200,11' Ranger 250 GXT AC/DC
Thermal Dynamics Cutmaster 81
12' Lincoln Precision Tig 225
08' LN25
It uses a rare earth magnet to hang by.
http://www.amazon.com/Metabo-MAG-28-.../dp/B007NVUT1E
Sincerely,
William McCormick
I saw it in a tool supply in Brooklyn the other day, we all thought it was an electromagnet. We were thinking of ways to kill the boss with it, or a nasty customer, Haha just for laughs. But it is a rare earth magnet that holds it up.
Sincerely,
William McCormick
12V71
Between the 3 or 4 top-tier choices it would be a
matter of ergonomics, and:
fluid equipped, upper capacity, and 'ease of shift'
to a twist drill chuck, and tapping head.
Don't shop price - shop product.
Opus