Mag drill, who has one, what brand, what do you do with oy and what brand of annular cutters do you use?

[5030]

I agonized over one for quite a while as they are pretty expensive but finally bought a Chinese one, a Vevor, the one with the load sensing, variable speed feature and the quick detach twist chuck nose and the mag base is very, very strong as well.

Problem with it is finding suitable annular cutters for it as the quick change nose requires a specially machined Weldon Shank end with milled in flats and locator detents and while it's very convenient when changing annular cutters, replacement cutters are very hard to source.

I do like the quick change nose piece as it eliminates all the cutter runout associated with the standard 2 set screw nosepiece which always has inherent runout due to the machining tolerances between the Weldon shank and the spindle bore but I'm finding that sourcing annular cutters with the required milled in slots and detents are almost impossible to find. Only ones I've found that are even close are the Hougen Fusion line of cutters which are carbide tipped and very expensive and finally, the mag drill I purchased comes with a set of annular cutters but they are metric and not SAE and I require SAE cutters.

Curious as to if anyone has one, what brand and if they have the quick change nosepiece or the standard 2 set screw spindle.

The Vevor unit I purchased was about half the price of a comparable Hougen mag drill btw. Same features including through spindle coolant for the cutter.

Nice thing about any mag drill is, you can drill and locate holes accurately using the pointed slug ejector pin in any position, horoziontally or vertically or even overhead and the annular cutters bore a very clean and burr free hole in almost any material including AR 500 plate steel, aluminum and even stainless using the appropriately tipped annular cutter and unlike a twist drill that has to remove ALL the material in the drilled hole, an annular cutter removes only a small fraction of material and the pointed, spring loaded slug ejector pushes out the rest of the material when the hole is completely bored through, a definite advantage when boring large diameter holes.

Curious as to if anyone has one, what brand and their experience with it.

 

[oosik]

We had several 3/4 inch and one inch Milwaukee mag drills at the place I last worked. Used to drill holes in I-beams. Also large diameter holes in sheet metal - 3", 4" & 6". Slow but very accurate holes. Expensive - for sure. Properly handled & maintained - should last a life time.

 

[WranglerX]

My old work horse (Montgomery Wards/Mcgraw-Edison) ) and 7/8 inch "bridge reamer" learned to dislike tools with specialty chucks that were non standard when in work world I need something and "management" could not get it for me..... Jacobs chuck is winner every time....

 

[Sportsman762]

I have a Black and Decker #45 with 3/4' chuck on a Bux 563 mag base. It is nice being able to use regular drill bits especially if your tapping something. You have to apply fluid as you cut. Its old heavy and bulky but is great to have.

I also have a Hougen 10915 mag drill with a 1-1/4" weldon shank. It is rated to a 3-1/16" hole 3" deep. I have an adapter to 3/4" weldon shanks. It has internal oiling and does not hesitate with drilling anything.

I wish I had a smaller compact mag drill. The ones I have weigh 50-70 lbs and suck to use out of position. However they sure beat drilling with a hand drill any day.

 

[chim]

I bought the cheaper version Vevor (MD40) a couple years ago and like it. Although it isn't something that gets used frequently, it's a very handy tool for a homeowner. At work we had a few Hougens and I think a DeWalt. My drill and cutters all came from Amazon and aren't anything special. I've poked 1" holes through 1" plate lickety split.

As mentioned, accurately locating holes is easy. A couple places the mag drill has come in handy were poking a 1" hole in a piece of flat bar. The one picture below shows a Rube Goldberg mount using the receiver on the loader bucket to hold a 2x2 tube with a metal plate etc. all clamped together. The other shows the drill on a metal plate that we clamped to a post at the BIL's barn. He needed 6 or 8 holes through the wood post with some precision so the through-bolted equipment could use a pre-drilled steel plate on both sides of the post.

 

[sd455dan]

5030 ,
I think we bought the Vevor's around the same time. I got a more basic model it is variable speed only runs up to 300 RPM or so. Non reversible. I have only used it a few times but may try and see if I can use it to bore 2 new holes in the 24" bucket for the TLB next, so I can fit some bushings and then weld them in. Also got a basic set of annular cutters from them. The cutters are sharp and very hard but I did break one on the drill press when I had a part clamped in an X-Y vice did not Lock the Vice slides really tight and shattered one cutter.

I bought the cheaper version Vevor (MD40) a couple years ago and like it. Although it isn't something that gets used frequently, it's a very handy tool for a homeowner. At work we had a few Hougens and I think a DeWalt. My drill and cutters all came from Amazon and aren't anything special. I've poked 1" holes through 1" plate lickety split.

As mentioned, accurately locating holes is easy. A couple places the mag drill has come in handy were poking a 1" hole in a piece of flat bar. The one picture below shows a Rube Goldberg mount using the receiver on the loader bucket to hold a 2x2 tube with a metal plate etc. all clamped together. The other shows the drill on a metal plate that we clamped to a post at the BIL's barn. He needed 6 or 8 holes through the wood post with some precision so the through-bolted equipment could use a pre-drilled steel plate on both sides of the post.

I ended up with the 0-300 RPM stepless non reversible model. Sure wish I had it back when I was building a Hydraulic press for the pin holes. I used my old hand held gear reduction unit like Wrangler X showed and it worked but
Sore arms for sure after that job.

 

[2manyrocks]

Those of you who bought Vevor magdrills, is there a particular version that you'd recommend for fabricating this and that for tractor use? I mostly use an older Delta standing drill press, but I could see one of these being very useful when needed.

And which style of cutters?

 

[5030]

Those of you who bought Vevor magdrills, is there a particular version that you'd recommend for fabricating this and that for tractor use? I mostly use an older Delta standing drill press, but I could see one of these being very useful when needed.

And which style of cutters?

I'm happy with mine (variable speed, load sensing motor and reverseable for starting taps). Not happy with the proprietary spindle chucking arrangement however, I called Hougen and the rep told me their Fusion annular cutters will fit and the cutters are all carbide tipped. Either that or the Japanese made annular cutters that are way over the top priced. Hougen sells a 5 piece kit (with ejector pin) for just over 200 bucks and they are SAE unlike the ones Vevor supplied with the mag drill I purchased that are metric and just HSS and not carbide tipped. One advantage of the quick change spindle nose chuck is, the annular cutters run very concentrically, unlike the 2 set screw spindles where the weldon 2 flat shanks can be a bit undersize and that causes them to have runout which causes the drilled hole to be oversize.

I do like the mag holding power, it's really powerful. Vevor has the one I bought on sale presently and besides the 10 piece set of metric annular cutters it came with, it also has a through spindle oil feed for the cutter (though I use Hougen's stick lubricant instead, much less messy) and a Jacobs style chuck with adapter that fits the spindle nose.

I bought a complete set of Chicago Latrobe screw machine length twist drills (much shorter than a standard length ((Jobber length)) drill set on Amazon, its an a-z set plus No.1 to 60 wire sized drills and CL is made in USA as well. Not cheap but good drills and I'll use them in the shop for machining operations as well.

The Hougen as well as the Milwaukee have limited spindle travel which is why I bought the drills in the first place before I even ordered the Vevor but my fears of limited spindle travel when using twist drills or tapping holes (the one I bought is also reverseable for tapping) was unfounded as the Vevor I bought has a unique double dovetail rack and pinion slide arrangement. You loosen the set screw on the side and you can gain an additional 5" of spindle travel to use ordinary jobber length twist drills and I believe the Vevor mag drill is the only one with that feature.

Pretty neat and very innovative. The double dovetail rack and pinion slide is steel and has grease ways milled into it for lubrication plus the one I bought has adjustable gibs on one side to take up any slop that might develop in use. Very thought out machine. Mine has all kinds of power as well and I really like the load sensing electronics built into it. It will bog down when pushed but instantly recovers power and resumes the speed you set on the side mounted speed control.

Only drawback for me is the metric annular cutters and they aren't carbide tipped (which stay sharp much longer than HSS cutters do) but I'll be ordering the 5 annular cutter SAE Fusion set from Hougen shortly as they will fit the quick change spindle nose (according to my conversation with them yesterday). All in all, compared to a Hougen or a Milwaukee, it's a helluva bargain and comes with stuff that neither offer as well, especially the extended travel spindle.

Have a job coming up where I'll be drilling and tapping holes in a vertical section of steel and I'll be using the Vevor for that.

I have a drill similar to the one pictured in the previous post with the 'buddy' handles, it's a Makita corded one and I almost got my arms broken when the drill grabbed in the bottom of a hole, not pleasant and I had sore arms for a couple days. I can eliminate that with the mag drill entirely and drilling with large diameter silver and demming twist drills (holes over 1/2" is a very tiresome deal anyway because with a twist drill even a sharp one, you must remove ALL the metal in the hole which takes a long time and a lot of manual effort), whereas, using an annular cutter, you only remove the outer 1/8" or so of material and the pin inside the cutter pushes the 'slug' out, why they are called 'slugger' cutters. Much easier to deal with when drilling large diameter holes by a long shot. d

Despite the unique securement arrangement of the spindle nose and the fact it's made in China, I like mine and the Hougen Fusion cutters make the SAE workaround doable.

The mag has wicked holding power and all the features like variable speed and load sensing as well as the reverse feature make it a tremendous buy and I'm glad I bought it.

Next on the agenda is buying the cheapest HF bench drill press and stripping it and fabricating up a table to mount the Vevor on it so I can use it in the shop as a drill press. I see HF has a cheapo drill press for under 100 bucks. I'll be getting one soon. All I really need from it is the column and lower table. I'll fab an upper table for the mag drill so I can mount it (magnetized) on the upper table and bolt guides on the lower table so I can affix a drill press vise to it and I'll be in business. At that point, I'll sell my floor drill press as it won't be needed anymore.

It's a nice and well cared for Craftsman 16 speed with an adjustable lower table, depth stop and 110 volt Baldor motor on it. Comes with a taper mount 1/2" capacity Jacobs chuck and built in work lamp as well plus I'll throw in a Palmgren angle adjustable cross slide drill press vise. The vise alone is worth what I'm asking for the drill press.

All cast iron and has a triple ball bearing spindle as well. Someone offers me 300 bucks, it's theirs but be apprised, it's heavy as in a couple hundred pounds. Even have 4 sets of spare belts for it.

 

[sd455dan]

I'm happy with mine (variable speed, load sensing motor and reverseable for starting taps). Not happy with the proprietary spindle chucking arrangement however, I called Hougen and the rep told me their Fusion annular cutters will fit and the cutters are all carbide tipped. Either that or the Japanese made annular cutters that are way over the top priced. Hougen sells a 5 piece kit (with ejector pin) for just over 200 bucks and they are SAE unlike the ones Vevor supplied with the mag drill I purchased that are metric and just HSS and not carbide tipped. One advantage of the quick change spindle nose chuck is, the annular cutters run very concentrically, unlike the 2 set screw spindles where the weldon 2 flat shanks can be a bit undersize and that causes them to have runout which causes the drilled hole to be oversize.

I do like the mag holding power, it's really powerful. Vevor has the one I bought on sale presently and besides the 10 piece set of metric annular cutters it came with, it also has a through spindle oil feed for the cutter (though I use Hougen's stick lubricant instead, much less messy) and a Jacobs style chuck with adapter that fits the spindle nose.

I bought a complete set of Chicago Latrobe screw machine length twist drills (much shorter than a standard length ((Jobber length)) drill set on Amazon, its an a-z set plus No.1 to 60 wire sized drills and CL is made in USA as well. Not cheap but good drills and I'll use them in the shop for machining operations as well.

The Hougen as well as the Milwaukee have limited spindle travel which is why I bought the drills in the first place before I even ordered the Vevor but my fears of limited spindle travel when using twist drills or tapping holes (the one I bought is also reverseable for tapping) was unfounded as the Vevor I bought has a unique double dovetail rack and pinion slide arrangement. You loosen the set screw on the side and you can gain an additional 5" of spindle travel to use ordinary jobber length twist drills and I believe the Vevor mag drill is the only one with that feature.

Pretty neat and very innovative. The double dovetail rack and pinion slide is steel and has grease ways milled into it for lubrication plus the one I bought has adjustable gibs on one side to take up any slop that might develop in use. Very thought out machine. Mine has all kinds of power as well and I really like the load sensing electronics built into it. It will bog down when pushed but instantly recovers power and resumes the speed you set on the side mounted speed control.

Only drawback for me is the metric annular cutters and they aren't carbide tipped (which stay sharp much longer than HSS cutters do) but I'll be ordering the 5 annular cutter SAE Fusion set from Hougen shortly as they will fit the quick change spindle nose (according to my conversation with them yesterday). All in all, compared to a Hougen or a Milwaukee, it's a helluva bargain and comes with stuff that neither offer as well, especially the extended travel spindle.

Have a job coming up where I'll be drilling and tapping holes in a vertical section of steel and I'll be using the Vevor for that.

I have a drill similar to the one pictured in the previous post with the 'buddy' handles, it's a Makita corded one and I almost got my arms broken when the drill grabbed in the bottom of a hole, not pleasant and I had sore arms for a couple days. I can eliminate that with the mag drill entirely and drilling with large diameter silver and demming twist drills (holes over 1/2" is a very tiresome deal anyway because with a twist drill even a sharp one, you must remove ALL the metal in the hole which takes a long time and a lot of manual effort), whereas, using an annular cutter, you only remove the outer 1/8" or so of material and the pin inside the cutter pushes the 'slug' out, why they are called 'slugger' cutters. Much easier to deal with when drilling large diameter holes by a long shot. d

Despite the unique securement arrangement of the spindle nose and the fact it's made in China, I like mine and the Hougen Fusion cutters make the SAE workaround doable.

The mag has wicked holding power and all the features like variable speed and load sensing as well as the reverse feature make it a tremendous buy and I'm glad I bought it.

Next on the agenda is buying the cheapest HF bench drill press and stripping it and fabricating up a table to mount the Vevor on it so I can use it in the shop as a drill press. I see HF has a cheapo drill press for under 100 bucks. I'll be getting one soon. All I really need from it is the column and lower table. I'll fab an upper table for the mag drill so I can mount it (magnetized) on the upper table and bolt guides on the lower table so I can affix a drill press vise to it and I'll be in business. At that point, I'll sell my floor drill press as it won't be needed anymore.

It's a nice and well cared for Craftsman 16 speed with an adjustable lower table, depth stop and 110 volt Baldor motor on it. Comes with a taper mount 1/2" capacity Jacobs chuck and built in work lamp as well plus I'll throw in a Palmgren angle adjustable cross slide drill press vise. The vise alone is worth what I'm asking for the drill press.

All cast iron and has a triple ball bearing spindle as well. Someone offers me 300 bucks, it's theirs but be apprised, it's heavy as in a couple hundred pounds. Even have 4 sets of spare belts for it.

I did kind of the opposite, since I got the gear head Arboga DP with a quick change MT 4 I just bought a Weldon adaptor and then swap in the annular cutters when needed.

The Arboga is definitely a keeper and really slick since it is reversible and has a 2 HP motor 2 speed power down feed plus added a Vevor phase converter so now also variable speed.


I built a light duty roll around 3x3 steel table for welding and if it is more convenient lock the Vevor Magdrill down on it.

There are So Many ways to skin a Cat

I like your Idea. I could make a bolt down stand for the steel roll around and have a more portable DP with the Vevor. (Arboga is about 750lb.)

Guess I would need a Weldon to MT taper..?. Actually not sure, Maybe the Weldon can be removed from the Mag drill?

Interesting if the Weldon shank is removable and an MT 2-4, I have everything I need with taper adapters and MT chucks.

ps. Just want to add dollar for Value the Vevor Magdrill has been a good quality unit for what they sold it for ~$255

VEVOR Mag Drill, 0-300 RPM Stepless Speed Electromagnetic Drill Press, 2" Depth 2" Dia Magnetic Core Drill, 2922lbf Boring Tool Drill Press, 1680 Watts Drill Press, Yellow and Black Drill Machine | VEVOR US

Discover VEVOR Mag Drill, 0-300 RPM Stepless Speed Electromagnetic Drill Press, 2" Depth 2" Dia Magnetic Core Drill, 2922lbf Boring Tool Drill Press, 1680 Watts Drill Press, Yellow and Black Drill Machine, 1680W High Performance and Stepless Speed Regulation at lowest price, 2days delivery...

www.vevor.com

annular cutters I got from Vevor
https://www.vevor.com/annular-cutte...-annular-cutter-magnetic-drill-set-11pcs-3-4-
ps. There are things I would avoid from this company the small rotary table and any cheap Metal mini lathe they sell other stuff has been good like the drill sharpener

weldon-shank-2-in-depth-p_010121144036

 

[5030]

I can chuck a Weldon shank adapter in either of my Bridgeport mills if I want to and they both have power downfeed as well.... or in the floor drill press for that matter because the spindle on that is also Morse taper. I'd much rather have the mag drill on a fabbed up cabbaged drill press frame sitting on the bench than using the big floor drill press. Much less space used up and just as capable if not more so.