SonexBuilders.net

Hi all

Does anyone have a pneumatic drill that they would recommend?

Thanks

The Sioux Brand Palm Drills are amazing, Good Power Light Weight and very comfortable, a little pricey but totally worth it the lighter weight and small size and comfortable grip does wonders for reducing fatigue,

You wont be able to use it for everything but you can use it for a lot of things, The best prices i have found has been at brown tool

The particular drill I have is this one https://www.browntool.com/Listview/tabid/344/ProductID/3768/Default.aspx but they have several diffrent models at diffrent price points.

Sioux is great, but pricey.

I'm considering a Pan American Compact Nova at 4,000 rpm.

I'm a fan of cordless drills. I have a pneumatic drill I bought in 1990 and I almost never used it.

I agree bc with Bryan. I scratch built a sonex and stopped using an air drill. A good cordless drill and two battery packs was way more useful. You aren’t tethered to an air compressor with a cordless drill and the shop is much quieter without a compressor turning on and off. Having sharp drill bits was way more important than what type of drill they were in.

Had a pan American drill and Sioux. No comparison, The Sioux was much more powerful. Accidentally dropped the Pan American on the concrete floor and it broke in hal. Replaced it with a second Sioux.

I prefer the old style keyed chuck or this. Much smaller, can get into more places, and better balanced.. and bit does not come loose when drilling more than 100 holes.

Cordless are larger and heavier and rather low speed by comparison. Higher speeds mean more circular holes. That is one reason why higher speeds are recommended for small bits. Take a larger bit and run it through a scrap piece of aluminum at low speed and the effect will be very pronounced. Installing a ball swivel on air inlet to the drill is definite improvement, as is using one o the 1/4" ID thin and flexible air re-enforced plastic air hoses.

I have several cordless drills, some quite compact, and use them frequently, but I were to do any major work on drilling aluminum or rivets, would get out the air drills.

David

David

Agree with you about the slower speed drills 100%. That's why I started this thread. My 20v Dewalt is 1750 rpm. Much to slow for my tastes. I can see the noncircular holes on a daily basis. It's making me crazy. I have ten different drills in my shop of various kinds. Most are low speed, high torque. That's why I want a pneumatic.
Thanks for your insight on the Pan American.

I second David's advice, Souix with a light weight hose and swivel joint is the go. I have used mine building an RV9 and a Waiex and it is still going strong. Worth every penny.

Bryan Cotton wrote:I'm a fan of cordless drills. I have a pneumatic drill I bought in 1990 and I almost never used it.

Likewise. I used the pneumatic drill for about 2 weeks, then built the rest with my cordless drill. I'm building an RV-7 now, and still not using a pneumatic drill. Personal preference, but you don't "need" a pneumatic drill.

To the OP's question, Sioux or Chicago Pneumatic US made drills seem to the the class of the crowd. The Yard Store used to have used drills, but they only have right angle ones these days. I've never had enough air to run a pneumatic, but I've used them on other people's projects, and they are nice. Lighter than a powerful rechargeable, and smaller.

But having said that, I use several HF "Bauer" driver drills around the hangar. The cheapest HF CORDED drill also spins up to 3000 RPM, and I have an earlier single speed version that drills rivet holes as neatly as any pneumatic. http://www.harborfreight.com/power-tool ... 58528.html

Metabo makes a high speed cordless drill specifically for sheet metal work, up to 4000 RPM, but they are frightfully expensive (over $600 with a charger and battery), albeit probably not as much as a big air compressor and a quality air drill.