Tool Review: Drillin' Time

     Time for a little tool review. It is not about a new pin spanner or freewheel tool, this is about a drill. Surely, one does not use a drill on a bicycle you say. But I surely do.
     A drill comes in handy for lots of jobs. You can chuck a dingleberry hone(Yes, it is actually called that) on and get all the corrosion out of an old seat tube.

I'll be your dingleberry.

Drill out(another) damaged rivnut. Drill out a mangled dropout to fit a threaded sleeve. Drill a hole in a piece of wood so you can tap the brake pivot out of a Campy shifter(In order to get at the front gear carrier bolt, in order to remove the rear bolt, in order to put in, yet another, pair of G-springs)

Photo of rare, unbroken, G-Spring

     Rotor bolts, man is a drill great for rotor bolts. You have to Loctite them on, so they never just want to spin out, and when you put new bolts in they come pre gummed and you have to fight that stuff all the way down. (You do want to break them loose by hand and torque them to finish).
     You might even want to go old school and drill a thousand hoes in your bike to make it two ounces lighter(People actually do this)

Once owned by a guy with lots of free time

    
So everyone should run out and get a drill. The one to get? The Milwaukee 2407-22.

My awesome drill

 This thing is great. A real 3/8th chuck instead of a 5/16th socket fitting. The chuck is the hand tightening style so you don't have to keep track of a key and bit changes are quicker. The drill is gear driven so you can get the chuck good and tight against the gear(It locks up when static) The gear drive is two speed and the drill is variable speed so you can ease in before dropping the hammer. It has an adjustable clutch that can be set so low it will stall going in to drywall or be locked out for drilling. There is a set of LEDs that act as a fuel guage so you can tell when you are running low and the batteries are lithium ion, light, powerful, they and hold a charge forever. Comes with two batteries and a smart charger that will keep your spare perpetually topped off.

So tiny, yet so powerful.(Not the hand)

     When you pick it up, this baby feels so light you'll think it's a toy, but it will put out over 250 inch pounds of torque and really surprise you with how it powers thru just about anything in the shop.
   This drill is so great that the big boys almost never see the light of day anymore.

Sad drills that have been put to pasture.

 This is a hot tip for Christmas(I was not paid by Santa or Milwaukee for my effusive praise of this wonder piece of shop kit)