Mag drill talk with Fein

Nathan Ford, the UK’s Area Sales Manager for Fein Power Tools, has spoken about things to consider when looking at mag drills and what they can achieve.

Furthermore, the new cordless/compact mag drills to enter the UK market will be covered also.

Magdrills – magnetic core drills – are a vital tool for those involved in producing and installing structural steel. They are also useful for anybody wanting to drill larger diameter holes.

Core drilling is a supremely efficient process; quicker, quieter and offers improved accuracy when compared to twist drilling. Core drilling needs no predrilling or switching over of the tooling, meaning drilling times can be lowered by more than half, with little physical effort by the user.

The first decisions to consider when purchasing a Magdrill is the capacity of the machine and what size hole is being drilled. Then, consider what thickness material is being drilled; Fein offers a substantial variety of Magdrills from 30-80mm capacity, the new cordless Magdrill starting at 35mm.

When it comes to depth of cut, many machines can handle a cutter with a depth of 25mm. In the main, this will do; however, if you have an application which seeks either the cutting of thicker material, the drilling of box sections or step drilling, a drill with as large a stroke range as possible should be sought. 

Most Magdrills are fixed speed and manufactured so costs are kept at a minimum; designed to drill a hole into steel. Fein invests more into most of its mag drills, meaning the motor can deliver variable speed. 

Many standard mag drill providers are present in the market, with Fein itself offering Economical models. Fein launched two new classes of mag drill late last year; ‘Cordless’ and ‘Compact’. The brand new cordless AKBU 35 aids end-users who lack mains power on-site or who have to work at heights.

If working in confined spaces, a specialist right angled Magdrill, with a minimum head clearance of 169mm, is needed. The new ‘compact’ KBC 35 would suffice, small enough to help get into tight spots.