Ya’ Gotta Do what Ya’ Gotta Do

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These are the times that try builder’s souls…those times when your favorite compact right-angle air drill, the one that uses threaded bits and fits ANYWHERE just won’t cut it. Why not? Well… I needed a hole for an AN4 bolt and I didn’t have a threaded 1/4” bit, that’s why. I’ve got practically every size threaded bit that can be used in aircraft construction, but that 1/4” must have been carried away by the spiders that live under the workbench. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

Fortunately, a long time ago, before I had better tools, I bought one of these right angle attachment monstrosities that has a <shudder> chuck and attaches to a regular drill motor chuck. Usually, if you need a right angle drill, you don’t have room for something this long, but in this case, I had enough distance to use it to upsize the holes using a step drill (my regular 1/4” jobber bits were too long, even for the right angle adapter.

Job done, I pondered the fact that even Harbor Freight tools occasionally prove to be the solution to an obscure problem!

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Paul Dye
Paul Dye, KITPLANES® Editor at Large, retired as a Lead Flight Director for NASA’s Human Space Flight program, with 50 years of aerospace experience on everything from Cubs to the Space Shuttle. An avid homebuilder, he began flying and working on airplanes as a teen and has experience with a wide range of construction techniques and materials. He flies an RV-8 and SubSonex jet that he built, an RV-3 that he built with his pilot wife, as well as a Dream Tundra and an electric Xenos motorglider they completed. Currently, they are building an F1 Rocket. A commercially licensed pilot, he has logged over 6000 hours in many different types of aircraft and is an A&P, FAA DAR, EAA Tech Counselor and Flight Advisor; he was formerly a member of the Homebuilder’s Council. He consults and collaborates in aerospace operations and flight-testing projects across the country.

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