I finally swapped to magnetic drill guides after 15 years of freehand holes

Back in the 90s on a job at the Marathon refinery in Gary, Indiana, we marked every tube sheet hole by hand and drilled freehand with a pneumatic drill. My shoulder would be shot by lunch. Around 2008 a foreman brought in a Hougen magnetic drill for a re-tube job and I thought it was a gimmick. Now I won't touch a tube sheet without one. The hole quality is way better and I save about 20 minutes per sheet. Anyone else make the switch or still stick with hand drilling?

2 comments

2 Comments

paigeg226d ago

Shoulder would be shot by lunch" reminds me of my uncle who worked in a shipyard in the 80s. He used to drill holes in steel plates all day with a hand drill that weighed like 30 pounds. By the time he was 45 his shoulder was basically done for. He said the worst part was when they'd run out of cutting oil and he'd have to spit on the bit to keep it cool. I don't miss those stories at all.

wendy_bell831d ago

That part about spitting on the bit got me, @paigeg22. I actually read somewhere that old-timers used to do that because saliva has a little bit of natural lubricant, but it dries up way faster than real cutting oil. Your uncle must have had some serious grit working like that all day.