My dad's old drill press at his garage in Akron taught me a lesson about speeds

For years I ran every drill bit at full speed on that old 1950s Delta, wondering why they dulled so fast. Then my neighbor Pete watched me drilling some 1/4-inch steel and told me to slow it way down for metal. I felt pretty stupid when the bit cut clean through after I dropped the pulley setting to the slowest gear. Has anyone else had a basic tool trick that took them way too long to learn?

2 comments

2 Comments

dylan4635d ago

Started using a variable speed router way too fast on everything, thinking more RPM meant cleaner cuts. Took burning up a brand new bit on some oak to realize slower speeds actually give you more control and less tearout. It's like that with most tools honestly, people think faster equals better when half the time the real trick is taking your time and letting the tool do the work. Same thing with my lawnmower, used to run it full throttle thinking that was the only way to cut grass until a neighbor told me to slow it down on thick stuff. Sometimes the hard way is the only way you learn these lessons.

wade_kelly775d ago

Burned up a few bits myself back in the day @dylan463, so I feel your pain. What really got me was when I tried using a cordless drill on a high torque setting for driving screws into hardwood, thought more power would help. Ended up stripping the heads and cussing the whole time until my old man showed me to let the clutch do its job. Same with sanding, used to think more pressure and speed meant smoother results, but really just made swirl marks and wore out paper faster. These lessons stick when you wreck a $30 bit or a whole afternoon project, dont they.