Opinions on Mag Drills

[12V71]

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.

[Gravel]

My only experience is with Milwaukee and I haven't had any issues. Even with the beat up one I bought used.

[Slob]

With the experience through the years I've had with Hougen, I'll never have anything but another Hougen.

[M J D]

What's your budget, how much use? There's a lot of variables. Is weight much of a factor, maximum hole size?

[iongar]

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.

[snoeproe]

Hougen gets my vote. I used a Hougen yesterday, drilling 7/8" holes in 3/4" a36 plate.

[Stick-man]

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.

[welderShane]

I have used Jancy, Milwaukee, and Hougen. I prefer the Hougens.

[cajunboy]

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

[AluminumWelder]

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

[Slob]

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.

[Davidbrown]

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.

[lars66]

The Magtron I have is big and heavy but I sure like the high and low speed + variable speed.

[jwm8830]

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.

I just got a pretty good deal $420 for a used Hougen 10914. Was wondering about the coolant setup. Anybody actually use it and like it?

[Slob]

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.

[TheJackal]

I have the Milwaukee 4270-20. Scored on Craigslist for 400 bucks. Don't have any complaints.

[William McCormick]

It uses a rare earth magnet to hang by.

http://www.amazon.com/Metabo-MAG-28-.../dp/B007NVUT1E


Sincerely,

William McCormick

[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

[OPUS FERRO]

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