Hi guys, I'm new here. My husband works at a shop where he has to drill through large metal doors. From what I understand, these doors have five layers. A plywood backing, metal, wood front, and then trim that surrounds it. He has to drill through it all in one go - he is not allowed to flip over the door and drill through it twice. Every time he drills (and he drills going down as he looks from above), he can't do it straight, and nobody has really shown him what he is doing wrong. He hasn't gotten a demonstration on how to use it to fix these errors. We don't understand what he is doing wrong. He was given a jig and somehow he broke it (?). I'm very concerned about it and he may lose his job. He is a very strong guy, and may be putting so much pressure down on the drill that it goes off angle. What should he do?
Problem w/ drilling through metal door
Cyborg Ninja
21 - 32 of 32 Posts
Mrs. Ninja, you are getting a lot of good advice here.
I think it would make things easier for all involved if he would take a photo with his phone and post it here. Let him type up exactly what is happening on the forum. While you not knowing what is called what and trying to interpret his problem speaks highly of your concern/love for him, it does make it hard to understand exactly what is going on.
I am sure that this is extremely frustrating for your husband -- I don't know you and I'm frustrated just reading about it.
Good luck.
I think it would make things easier for all involved if he would take a photo with his phone and post it here. Let him type up exactly what is happening on the forum. While you not knowing what is called what and trying to interpret his problem speaks highly of your concern/love for him, it does make it hard to understand exactly what is going on.
I am sure that this is extremely frustrating for your husband -- I don't know you and I'm frustrated just reading about it.
Good luck.
Cyborg, I hope he gets this. Nice to read he cares about what he is doing.
To everyone else who has responded, thank you. We all know how these types of threads/questions can go. Everyone who has responded has done so with the utmost professionalism. I know this seems cheesy but--- thank you all again, something to be proud of.
Tom
To everyone else who has responded, thank you. We all know how these types of threads/questions can go. Everyone who has responded has done so with the utmost professionalism. I know this seems cheesy but--- thank you all again, something to be proud of.
Tom
Where are you located?
Sounds like some hazing or macho b.s. is going on at this job.
This guy needs a jig, for sure. Maybe have someone make him a jig out of a 2x6 on a drill press? Once there's a deep and straight hole in the jig, it will help to keep the bit straight.
Meanwhile, tell him to drill slowly, light/medium pressure (heavy pressure is wrong). Stop a couple times to blow out the dust and check the hole (does it look straight or off?), Adjust the aim accordingly.
Practice at home, too.
Sounds like some hazing or macho b.s. is going on at this job.
This guy needs a jig, for sure. Maybe have someone make him a jig out of a 2x6 on a drill press? Once there's a deep and straight hole in the jig, it will help to keep the bit straight.
Meanwhile, tell him to drill slowly, light/medium pressure (heavy pressure is wrong). Stop a couple times to blow out the dust and check the hole (does it look straight or off?), Adjust the aim accordingly.
Practice at home, too.
Joined
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542 Posts
Tell him to look for a new job. Sounds like whom ever he works for has him over his head with no instructions. How can having a rookie mess up a bunch of doors help the company. I would never set my employees up to fail intentionally. A door jig is what he needs. Tell the boss it saves time and money in the long run. Good luck.
They will. All the drills I can think of have to have a little lump of stuff put on the end to be able to have the bullseye level sit correctly. You can only really check the level when the drill isn't running, so you have to stop periodically.
Joined
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9 Posts
Hey everyone, sorry for the late reply. I really appreciate everybody's help and concern. Sorry, we don't have camera phones. I misunderstood my husband thinking he was using a hole saw attachment, but it was really just a large drill bit. So today we went out and practiced with the drill and that's when I noticed how incredibly dull the bit is. I couldn't even get through maybe an inch of wood with it. So we went out and bought a drill bit with our own money and it works fine. He did lean his body forward at first, but after a while he started to trust me (after I did it straight myself) and drilled straight with a little instruction. Unfortunately, we drilled accidentally into our balcony... but that's ok 'cos the planks we going to be replaced next week anyway. My husband had asked for a new drill bit as he knew it was dull, or at least get it sharpened, and the store manager refused. I guess he didn't realize how dull it was himself, but he should have tried before letting this go on for so long. We practiced and practiced some more, and I think he understands how to lock his shoulders and has the feel of it now. Thank you all. Let's hope everything goes well at work from now on.
Joined
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9 Posts
Just wanted to add... After getting the new drill bit, he's had no problem drilling straight. He makes at least eight doors a day, so he'll have to learn how to sharpen tools. Kind of worried about this place. It started out great, but he works at least 12 hours daily, and yesterday he worked from 6am and didn't get back until 11pm. He hasn't had a day off in almost two weeks.
If he's hourly and you are married to him I'd say that's a win win.
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