Is Newton Meters(NM) important in a drill?

I thought it was because NM is the turning force right?

Here's a £135 drill and it has 67NM
http://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/...27 18V Combi Drill 1 X 4.0Ah Li Ion And Lboxx

But here's a £305 drill that only has 60NM
http://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/...2X4.0Ah Li Ion Brushless Percussion Drill Kit

Basically I want to upgrage my bosch gsb 10.8v drill as it gets stuck quite a bit when drilling through metal/steel. This drill is 30NM and I though a 67NM drill will be over twice as strong, but is that the case?

Possibly need better drill bits, or to go slower and allow the thread to clear...

Don't forget, the torque of the drill is counter-acted by you holding it - if the drill is too strong and gets stuck it'll rip your arm off*



* yeah, exaggeration, but hopefully you get what I mean - there's no point in having a drill with X torque if you can only hold X-y

The problem is that it drills fine until it breaks out the other side of the metal, and then it jams. the drill doesn't clear the other side of the metal fully before it starts to go through and I have to go back and forward a few times to get it through..

I use good cobalt drills and it best going as fast as possible because that way it has more chance to clear the metal as it breaks through the other side. I think with a stronger drill it should be able to carry on turning when it gets tough breaking through the metal and I can hold my current drill fine when it stops dead.

I dont know if anyone else has this trouble when they drill metal, because it cant be just me?

This is because when it breaks through, the material which was previously preventing the drill bit from moving forward is now gone, so instead of the bit cutting away the metal, it "screws" into the metal

Having something (e.g. a sacrificial piece of wood) behind it may help

I thought it because I was pushing too hard and it was breaking through to fast, but it still happens pushing lightly.

Yeah it helps putting something behind the metal, but quite often you cant do that, ie metal frames or tubes.

So do you think buying a stronger drill would solve the prob, because it might be able to clear away the undrilled bits of metal as it pushes out without stopping?

Buy decent drill bits to start with, cheap ones won't last.

Don't get the drill bit too hot or it will get burnt out and then not cut.

Why don't you rent a drill to try one out our bodies a friend's that is better so you know if it is your drill or if what you are experiencing is normal.

Sometimes bits get stuck, but it shouldn't happen all the time. (I am an amateur drill user)

Phil2008 said:

I thought it because I was pushing too hard and it was breaking through to fast, but it still happens pushing lightly.

Yeah it helps putting something behind the metal, but quite often you cant do that, ie metal frames or tubes.

So do you think buying a stronger drill would solve the prob, because it might be able to clear away the undrilled bits of metal as it pushes out without stopping?

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To be honest I don't know if a stronger drill would help.

Think of the drill bit like a screw - if you try to screw a screw into something when there's nowhere for the screw to go (e.g. into a piece of wood with a metal plate behind), then the screw will instead cut the wood (strip the thread) and push it backwards out of the hole - this is what the drill bit is supposed to do.

Take away the metal plate behind the wood, and instead of pushing the wood backwards out of the hole, the screw will pull itself forward into the wood - this is what happens when your drill bit gets stuck, it's pulling itself into the metal rather than cutting the metal and pushing it back out of the hole.

A pillar drill would help, as then the drill bit can't pull itself into the hole - it's fixed in the drill - might be worth investing in one if you do a lot of metal drilling?

Edit: or even just something like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tooltime®-B...F8&qid=1444748723&sr=1-1&keywords=drill+stand

Edit 2: Also as Scougar has said - decent drill bits will make a difference. Cheap bits will (generally) be softer metal and so get blunt and therefore cut less effectively meaning more likely to get stuck.

Edit 3!: you could also try putting a couple of drops of oil or WD-40 on the drill site which will help keep the drill bit lubed up (giggidy )

Thanks guys. ummmm so a stronger drill might not help then and I use cobalt drill bits, not the rubbish titanium tin coated bits that can just about manage go through a tin can. I have just bought myself a nice set of bosch cobalt metal drill set that I haven't used yet. One of those drill presses may come in handy but all the metal that I have been drilling cant easily be moved and my drill wont lock on, so you have to keep your finger pressed on the trigger

My next problem is I need a new battery for the drill,, the drill itself is only just over a year old, but I have a bosch screwdriver that takes the same battery, so I just bought the drill on its own to keep the cost down and been using the screwdriver batteries. Now the batteries are comming to there end as they must be about 10yrs old and the drill will only manage about 5- 6 holes in masonry before dying so I really need a new battery that will cost £50.

That was another reason for upgrading the drill as I need to buy a new battery for my current drill anyway. Im guessing a new battery might make the drill a little stronger, as I will get the larger 4ah battery instead of the normal 1.5 or 2ah battery, or do I spend an extra £60 - £70 more and upgrade the drill,,ummmmm.

After a lot of thought, I think I am going to get a new drill and go for this one

http://www.screwfix.com/p/bosch-gsb-1800-18v-3ah-li-ion-cordless-combi-drill/8160g

I cant find the 1800 model anywhere on the bosch website though but the specs look to be the same as this £150 one accept for the 4ah battery

http://www.bosch-professional.com/gb/en/gsb-18-v-li-38451-ocs-p
http://www.screwfix.com/p/bosch-gsb-18v-li-18v-4-0ah-li-ion-cordless-combi-drill/69942

Its amazing how small drills has become now. Yeah my 10.8v drill is small but I thought it was because its not that powerful, but this drill that I am hopeing to buy is roughly the same size as my current drill http://www.bosch-professional.com/gb/en/gsb-10-8-2-li-33305-ocs-p/

Turning force is ok as long as you have a safety clutch and the correct stance/hold.

You should be able to set the maximum torque rotating the collar so setting that will prevent you from getting a strained wrist.

I agree with the point about adding lube oil to the drill bit - I use sharpening oil (it won't sharpen but helps) on the pillar drill. It also seems to help prevent the bits from blunting as fast.

I put oil on my drills every so often mainly to protect them,, but I'll try putting oil on the metal drill bits just before using them and see if that makes any difference. I dont very often do metal drilling but its just nice to know that I have tools that will do the job. My mum and I are making a "Tortoise table ,vivarium home" at the moment.

It all started I guess when I really got into fixing and building computers and because I have cerebral palsy I cannot easily use a manual screwdriver and I have been using these cheepy power screwdrivers that only lasted about a year before the non replaceable battery failed. So I thought Id get a half decent screwdriver that would last, So I bought the bosch gsr 10.8v powered screwdriver about 10yrs ago(still going strong today) and since then I have just been slowly getting into fixing the odd job around the home and stuff and been getting more and more tools over this last year mainly. I have a small cupboard of tools now

I bought the drill last summer because the range of hex drill bits for a screwdriver is very poor, so at last I could finally buy some decent drill bits. But now Im using the drill more and more for tougher jobs and the drill is struggling, probably mainly down to the battery, but a battery cost £50 so I might as well spend another £50 on a better drill.

Phil2008 said:

I bought the drill last summer because the range of hex drill bits for a screwdriver is very poor, so at last I could finally buy some decent drill bits. But now Im using the drill more and more for tougher jobs and the drill is struggling, probably mainly down to the battery, but a battery cost £50 so I might as well spend another £50 on a better drill.

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I started with an old green bosch PSB 24V Li-ion thing.. no idea of the power rating but it's extremely useful in both driver and drills but gets put to shame by the 850W SDS drill - even when simply drilling (let's not mention hammer - it gets embarrassing for the poor old PSB). The pack I have came with two batteries.

I simply have a ixo hand driver, a one hand li-ion drill/driver and a main powered SDS. Covers all DIY bases except the pillar drilling.

I bought a SDS drill a few months ago for £40 as I thought it could really come in handy for real tough jobs and plus we are thinking of replacing the tiles in the bathroom hehe.

But the problem with SDS drills is that they are so heavy and you cant use normal masonry drill bits because the hammer action shatters the bits and the sds bits start at 5mm.

But yeah hopefully with the SDS drill and the 18v cordless, it should cover all drilling requirements, or that's the plan.

Phil2008 said:

Basically I want to upgrage my bosch gsb 10.8v drill as it gets stuck quite a bit when drilling through metal/steel. This drill is 30NM and I though a 67NM drill will be over twice as strong, but is that the case?

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are you using enough coolant?

Tefal said:

are you using enough coolant?

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Im not been using any, but the metal Ive been drilling through Isnt all that strong and have been only about 2-3m thick, plus the drill only spins at 1300rpm. But I will try covering the drill bit in oil the next time I do metal drilling to see if that solves the problem.

Ah yeah that's another thing I don't get, I know why corded drills are faster then cordless, but why do they make them so fast, because they just melt the drill bits?

Phil2008 said:

Im not been using any, but the metal Ive been drilling through Isnt all that strong and have been only about 2-3m thick, plus the drill only spins at 1300rpm. But I will try covering the drill bit in oil the next time I do metal drilling to see if that solves the problem.

Ah yeah that's another thing I don't get, I know why corded drills are faster then cordless, but why do they make them so fast, because they just melt the drill bits?

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Hmm depends on the drill.. my corded only goes up to 900 rpm IIRC. Variable speed trigger means it can even screw in screws (with two hands on the drill).

Yeah SDS drills rotate quite slowly because they are designed to use large drill bits and the larger the drill bit, the hotter it gets.

Our old corded bosch drill rotates something like 2000 - 3000rpm and my family doesn't have a clue about drill bits getting hot and melting, I didnt either until a short while ago and Im sure a lot of people dont know this too. I just dont get why they have tobe so fast, powerful yes, but fast no

Phil2008 said:

But the problem with SDS drills is that they are so heavy and you cant use normal masonry drill bits because the hammer action shatters the bits and the sds bits start at 5mm.

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I went for the 2kg class, light as a "normal" two handed drill (not like the heavy 5Kg class). You can select to disable the SDS and use an SDS to normal bit adaptor for non-hammer drilling. It will take 10mm down to micro size. I destroyed an adaptor in less than 30 seconds then I tried SDS on it. Works extremely well with metal.
The main problem is length - with all the bits and the drill it means it needs some space compared to the stubbies that have been listed here.

H, Well I have just bought a 4ah battery for my 10.8v drill and its given it more speed, power and about 3 or 4 times more runtime, its like a different drill. I have only used it on wood and brick so far, it drills through brick faster without hardly any slowdown now. So fingers and toes crossed it wont get stuck while drilling metal anymore. Plus I can stand the drill up on its battery now.

old battery


new battery

When I drill metal I now drill normal speed till bit just marks the other side then go full speed and just feather touch it through last bit as I found it got stuck at lot of times -- Bench drill no problem.

I have a Stanley Fatmax and find the 4.0 amp battery quite a lot heavier than 2.0 amp to point I can't drill for a long time - Old weak wrists on my part.