Drills and Drill Bits for DIY Dummies

Drill chuck

Most of the staffers here at the Antisocial network have a policy, spoken or otherwise, that we don't ask for help from people who are as ignorant of the problem as we are. That means no medical advice from our welder and no instructions for flashing a chimney from the dentist. Demand Media, however, brooked no such policy: as far as their model was concerned, anyone could "answer" any question; and they let them do it for cash. That's how the internet ended up with stupid "answers" the likes of "How to Put a Drill Bit On a Drill," scribbled down by Mandi Rogier for eHow.com.

We guess that the idea that you put a bit "on" a drill is part and parcel of having to ask how, but we aren't sure the former Disney World housekeeper was the right person to provide instructions. Oh, Rogier sort of got the relationship between bit and drill right...

"Putting a drill bit onto [sic] a drill is the first step when working with a drill."...

...though we suspect laying out the location of the holes is more basic. But when the time comes to actually laying out the steps, Mandi demonstrated a powerful ignorance of the product she describes:

"If the hood of the drill is in a closed position, you will be able to see three teeth extending toward the center of the drill. Rotate the hood of the drill counter-clockwise until you no longer see these teeth."

"Hood"? Did she mean the chuck? And by "the center of the drill," we sure hope she meant the center of the opening, since the way she said it is (at best) ambiguous. Oh, and you don't need to retract the "teeth" out of sight, just far enough that the bit will slip into the opening. In fact, doing it Mandi's way makes it more likely that you'll end up with an off-center bit.

Mandi finally told her readers to,

"Insert the drill bit into the hood and rotate it clockwise to secure the bit."

There's that "hood" again, not to mention that the antecedent of "it" is unclear: do you rotate the bit, or the "hood"? More to the point, what if you can't "rotate the hood" because the chuck requires a chuck key? Mandi never mentioned that little complication; probably because she didn't know that not all chucks are keyless.

In addition, our Dumbass of the Day never mentioned centering the bit, never mentioned getting it good and tight; both pretty much what you'd expect from someone who'd never actually "put a drill bit on a drill"!

copyright © 2019-2022 scmrak

SE - POWER TOOLS