A great product to NOT buy.

[ggbutcher]

Y'got me recalling my first work session in 2021 with the Friends of the Cumbres and Toltec, working on a flatcar restoration in Antonito, CO. Found out there's actually 3 types of carpentry: 1) finish, 2) framing, and 3) railcar

They were drilling 1" diameter holes through 14" timbers, important to have the other end come out the right place in order to hang things like airbrake reservoirs. To do this, they fabricated a drill guide:



It's the yellow thing under the hoist hook. I wish I'd taken a picture of it in use; one person just holds it in place and the other stands on the timber and guides the drill using it for angle reference. Once you get a few inches in you're committed to the vector, so the guide is removed to complete the hole. It still didn't guarantee perfect alignment, 14" is a long distance to propagate a small angle, so there was usually a bit of reaming of the hole to shape it to fit.

Fast forward to this past summer, doing a baggage car restoration a bit closer to home in Colorado Springs. Replacing rotten sills, had to drill holes at an angle to accommodate steel reinforcing rods. We'd have spent more time fabricating a one-off version of the yellow thingy, so we ended up just free-drilling with two people to guide the start: one on the side to call 'up/down', the other standing overhead to call 'left/right':


Pardon the orange cast, the project is housed in a canvas shelter. This is after the guiding is done, note the line drawn on the timber.

Of note, that little Milwaukee drill got a lot of disparaging comments at the start of work, most were used to using larger drills down at Antonito. But, it just trundled right through the timber, like watching a physics-ignoring cartoon...

Proof's in the pudding, here's a new rod segment inserted in the hole and sleeved-up with the original we had to cut to remove the sill:

 

[RJSakowski]

Grizzly sells more woodworking tools and accessories than metal working. For the woodworker who doesn't have the ability to make something like this for themselves, I can see the value.

As to anodizing providing a wear surface, there are two types of anodizing. The most common is the thin layer which can be dyed and is often used for a durable finish. The second is hard anodizing which is a much thicker layer. It doesn't lend itself to dying but anodizing is aluminum oxide which is corundum and structurally the same as sapphire or ruby regarding hardness. For a while back in the seventies, some automakers were using hard anodize on their aluminum block cylinders instead of a cast iron insert. They didn't hold up as well as cast iron but you could get some 60 to 80 thousand miles out of them.

 

[OTmachine]

Grizzly sends me emails all the time. Especially now that I bought my son that multi functional support that I posted around Christmas.
Well today they send this, and I take a look. WTF are they talking about.
It's aluminum and they say it will stand the test of time... yea, one or 2 drillings. Oh but the anodizing will make it last.. REALLY.

Multifunction Drill Guide

<h1>T33332 Multifunction Drill Guide</h1> <h2>A universal drill guide to hand drill perfectly and precisely positioned holes.</h2> <p>When precision is paramount, the Universal Drill Guide steps in to ensure perpendicular alignment when drilling into flat, round, or square workpieces.</p>...

www.grizzly.com

Crafted with durability in mind, the Universal Drill Guide features an anti-scratch anodized finish that not only safeguards the guide but also ensures it stands the test of time. It's the tool you can rely on for project after project.

Maybe I should post this under the joke thread.

As RJ stated, Hard Anodizing does hold up relatively well. We used it on aluminum Helicopter landing gear pistons, and it was pretty tough stuff. But, I highly doubt that this drill guard has this applied because it did require finish machining to size which would make this tool too pricey for manufacturing. Got all of that from my in house training “Value Engineering course”.

 

[woodchucker]

It might be handy for transfer punches. Idk. They’re great for random top drawer detritus.

No , it's a POS... This which is hardened : https://biggatortools.com/

• Heat-treated Steel: tight tolerance & stronger tool to clamp

would be the better choice.

Aluminum is not a long wearing drill guide. It wallows out quickly. Just like mild steel.

Stop thinking of it as anything but garbage.. I am surprised how many might think it would work, even for wood.... NO.

 

[woodchucker]

Grizzly sells more woodworking tools and accessories than metal working. For the woodworker who doesn't have the ability to make something like this for themselves, I can see the value.

As to anodizing providing a wear surface, there are two types of anodizing. The most common is the thin layer which can be dyed and is often used for a durable finish. The second is hard anodizing which is a much thicker layer. It doesn't lend itself to dying but anodizing is aluminum oxide which is corundum and structurally the same as sapphire or ruby regarding hardness. For a while back in the seventies, some automakers were using hard anodize on their aluminum block cylinders instead of a cast iron insert. They didn't hold up as well as cast iron but you could get some 60 to 80 thousand miles out of them.

Ruby or Sapphire? I'm not buying that. then why didn't the cylinder blocks hold up?

 

[projectnut]

Hard anodizing has its place, but it’s not a cure all. We used it on cast aluminum parts to prevent water and bacteria infiltration. The cast parts were coated in a vacuum vessel to draw it into the pores.

However the USDA wouldn’t allow it in food contact zones. The daily cleaning with 140* water and caustic cleaners would cause the aluminum to expand and contract. When it did the anodizing would fracture.

They didn’t want the fractured coating to migrate into the food product. It’s undetectable by standard inspection systems. It could be identified by X ray systems, but using X ray inspection was not considered consumer friendly.

 

[rwm]

Aircraft spruce makes a good one.

 

[woodchucker]

The 2 jigs up top were cast steel... Not hard enough... Both have 3/8 that have wallowed out.
The bottom I opted for a replacement hardened guide. The original stanley's also wallowed out.
if you want accurate holes, go for hardened.
The machinist block is still pretty tight.. Although you can see some wear.

 

[MrWhoopee]

Ruby or Sapphire? I'm not buying that. then why didn't the cylinder blocks hold up?

I would say that 60-80 thousand miles was holding up pretty well given the millions of cycles that represents. It just didn't hold up well enough to beat cast-iron.

Nikasil has replaced hard anodize in aluminum cylinders, It's claimed to be 10x harder than CI.

 

[Mauzinette]

https://biggatortools.com/

I was coming to post this, but you beat me to it Very useful for drilling pipes.