T 15+3 Question about drilling in steel

[Jerry Sitton]

Has anyone used this drill in metal as well as wood? My question as for my needs, does this drill
do ok with 3/16 or 2 ga steel with 1/2 in bit? I don't do this often with a cordless, but on an occasion
when I have a need and not my corded drill, with the T 15 handle this or is it too much for it.
I have a Milwaukee 1/2 28v cordless that I've used and it does fine, but it's giving out after about 5 years of use.
Thanks, Jerry

 

[Deansocial]

well i drilled a 2 1/2" hole in stainless the other day and i have drill about 300 8mm holes in 1/4" mild steel, have also drilled 13mm in mild steel with mine

 

[jmbfestool]

Yeah wouldn't do a lot of them though.  Iv done a 25mm hole and it did it fine.

Jmb

 

[AlexThePalex]

For the occasional hole it will do the job, but it will take some time and you're best off starting the hole with a couple of smaller bits and then gradually expanding work your way up till it's a 1/2 inch.

 

[jmbfestool]

For the occasional hole it will do the job, but it will take some time and you're best off starting the hole with a couple of smaller bits and then gradually expanding work your way up till it's a 1/2 inch.

I used a metal cutting hole saw so no need to build upsizes

Jmb

 

[Jerry Sitton]

Well, that's pretty impressive. Usually stainless doesn't really stress the drill as the bit, but that
size, ok that would. [smile]
I've used my Bosch 18V Drill/Impact and have seen a little smoke out of the vents from the clutch.
I do admit I had it on 2, didn't see that.
I usually work with automotive/truck frames tempered. That's what I was curious about. I don't like to
hurt good expensive tools and I can always get another 24v. It is only occasional work.
Metal hole saws is another one I use more frequent.
I'm trying to trim down and not have tools just for infrequent work and trying to trim down and have tools
that will do more. I like these light weight drills. I did play with a T 15 at Woodcraft but hard to tell what it would do.
I wasn't really sold that a drill would be that crucial. I think it's this Festool disease. I do like the idea of the eccentric
adapter for close quarters if it works that way.

 

[tbellemare]

I loaned my T 15 to a guy who works on modifying trucks all day long and he bought one and later got all the HSS Centrotec bits. From what I can tell, he doesn't use his Milwaukee beast anymore.

The guy that works next to him got one shortly thereafter.

Tom

 

[jvsteenb]

No problem. I've done a fair deal of 13mm holes with my T15 in 1/4" mild construction steel. I just predrilled with the smallest CentroTec drill bit , ( enough to clear a hole for the core of the big drill ) and followed with a good quality 13mm bit.
You've got to watch the wrist though, because it's torquey, and being light as it is, has little inertia so if the drill bit grabs at the end of the cut ( quite common in steel ) the energy gets transferred to your wrist quite abruptly - no dampening effect to speak of.

In contrast to common belief, I think the T15 is more suited to the bigger sizes then the smaller ones - it's plenty powerfull, and lacks the top RPM's for the smaller sizes. I wouldn't try to use a 1mm drill in metal, for it will be driven way out of it's optimal speed range and although the drill  is very light, the self-centering forces of the drill bit won't be adequate at too low an RPM and it will be prone to break. 2mm is doable, and might even be easier in a centrotec version ( eliminating the mass of the chuck ) but it's still rather tricky. I think the smallest size of 3mm is a very practical minimum.

Regards,

Job

 

[Jerry Sitton]

Tom and Job thanks, this helps. I've been eyeing the new Bosch, Milwaukee and Makita's in the compact.
They're being around the $300 mark makes them appealing. I do like the quality of the Festools I've have.
The interchangeable adapters makes it tip the scale. I hate buying something then taking it back so I hoped to
find some good feedback and I did. I'm going to pick one up this weekend. The other thing that has made this tool
appealing is the reviews on the battery life, beats anyone of the cordless I've owned so far. I had purchased the 15min charger
when it was available for my Milwaukee, but I feel that thing actually degraded the batteries and went back to using the
original charger since that 28v would use up the batteries pretty quick.
Thanks to everyone for the feedback.

Now if Festool would make a battery operated finish nailer that would use the same battery and lightweight, hmmm.

 

[jgag]

yes I used it to drill a pilot hole in an Rsj for a large bolt ( and then was shocked by the torque as I screwed it in)

 

[Jerry Sitton]

Thanks for the replies. I purchased the T 15+3 and have been very impressed with it.
It's a smooth operator.