air wrench powered grain mill

[BlackJaqueJanaviac]

Just curious if anyone has tried running their corona mill with an air wrench. I burnt out a cheap 1/2 inch hammer drill and am wondering what to go for next. I notice the plain ol' 1/2 inch drills (sans hammer) have a slower rpm speed. Would those provide more torque?

On the other hand an air wrench is even slower and might be more forgiving if I max it out.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Yes the slower would probably have more torque, but it sounds like it would be a noisy setup to me, ( drill motor), and the compressor running as well.

 

[Bobby_M]

The downside is that you'd be forever tethered to an air compressor. If you do any kind of home improvements at all, consider getting a Dewalt XRP series cordless drill with 1/2" chuck. You can positively lock it into low speed/high torque mode because it's done via gearing rather than proportional trigger. They also rock for drilling stainless for the same reason. I haven't seen a corded drill with gear-driven speed settings.

 

[Doed]

The downside is that you'd be forever tethered to an air compressor. If you do any kind of home improvements at all, consider getting a Dewalt XRP series cordless drill with 1/2" chuck. You can positively lock it into low speed/high torque mode because it's done via gearing rather than proportional trigger. They also rock for drilling stainless for the same reason. I haven't seen a corded drill with gear-driven speed settings.

+1 on the Dewalt XRP. I have an 18 volt and it works great on my Barley Crusher.

 

[ODI3]

I just got a larger corded dewalt off of kijiji for 20, works great!

 

[BlackJaqueJanaviac]

Perhaps I mislead by calling it an air wrench which most people imagine the guys at the tire shop using to torque lug nuts with. I think the more accurate term would be air "ratchet". It looks more like a ratchet wrench than a drill.

If th only drawback is the noise of the compressor and being tethered to the compressor it's a no-brainer. Air ratchets are about 1/2 the price of a heavy duty 1/2 inch drill.

 

[The10mmKid]

I would think an air wrench would be inclined to stall a lot. Easy to get going again, just turn the wrench.

Hmmm . . . . . . . I may need to find an adapter of sorts . . . . .

'da Kid

 

[ChefRex]

I, as a mechanic hate the sound of air ratchets, but that's a personal querk.
I would look at how many CFM's you would need to operate the tool of your choice, a small compressor probably won't cut it.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Probably a reason why folks aren't running this setup.........

I wouldn't do it, unless it's all I had, and then I would get something else.......

Mechanic talking here too.

 

[BlackJaqueJanaviac]

Well the xrp is out of reach.

I burnt out my Skil hammer drill trying to grind grain. I am just worried that I would do the same with a Dewalt and just throw away more money. When I needed a hammer drill to fix the garage it was easy to justify the expense. But I'm not sure I can justify the expense of a half-inch low speed drill for home brewing when I've already got a 3/8 inch Dewalt which suits all my other needs (except running the mill).

 

[boat_eggs]

many people have used these:

http://www.harborfreight.com/power-...ty-spade-handle-drill-93632.html#.Uyvi8lFdWGk

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Those air ratchets pull some crazy cfm. Also, air power to mechanical power is highly inefficient. The amount of compressor HP to power a continuous duty die grinder is a joke.

Check craigslist and eBay. Or go the HF route. Seems tons of people here do that.

My dewalt 18v li-ion xrp drill has a fubar'd chuck from drilling too many 1" holes through 1/2" and 1" plate steel. Whoops! It is a powerful sucker though. Damn near broke my hand one night with it.

 

[BlackJaqueJanaviac]

Ok the harbor freight drill sounds good.

Just for comparison: what is the rpm? Bothe Dewalt and Milwaukee make 1/2 inch drills that go up to 850 rpm. Is this harbor freight one even slower?

 

[The10mmKid]

Ok the harbor freight drill sounds good.

Just for comparison: what is the rpm? Bothe Dewalt and Milwaukee make 1/2 inch drills that go up to 850 rpm. Is this harbor freight one even slower?

Their manual posted online states "550RPM No Load speed"

'da Kid