Hammer drills and ground rods, followup
 

Jim Lux wrote:
Ron in Radio Heaven wrote:

I've never paid attention to the tool they use
when they put up the tent at the Charlotte show,
but it'll drive a 1 inch solid tent stake through
the asphalt parking lot like it's butter.

I've never been there to see what they have to do to pull
them out when the tent comes down.


An automobile bumper jack works fairly well as a stake puller.

Fairly well? It works great! Pulls out a 10 foot ground
rod like it was set in butter. The big thing is that once
you've lifted the ground rod a foot or so, you can pretty well
pull it out by hand. I just wish there was some way to
jack it in!!

Irv Ve^BP

Hammer drills and ground rods, followup
 

Irv Finkleman wrote:
Jim Lux wrote:

Ron in Radio Heaven wrote:

I've never paid attention to the tool they use
when they put up the tent at the Charlotte show,
but it'll drive a 1 inch solid tent stake through
the asphalt parking lot like it's butter.

I've never been there to see what they have to do to pull
them out when the tent comes down.



An automobile bumper jack works fairly well as a stake puller.


Fairly well? It works great! Pulls out a 10 foot ground
rod like it was set in butter. The big thing is that once
you've lifted the ground rod a foot or so, you can pretty well
pull it out by hand. I just wish there was some way to
jack it in!!

Irv Ve^BP

Also helps to have a 2' sheet of plywood with a 4" hole in the middle
that you can set on the ground around the stake to set the jack base on.
In goopy soil, you can drive the base of the jack into the muck before
you get the rod out.

Hammer drills and ground rods, followup
 

In article ,
Ian White GM3SEK wrote:

The SDS+ system is the Bosch company's patented method to build
hand-held electric drills with a *serious* high-impact hammer action.
The system has been widely licensed to other manufacturers, so all SDS+
drills are basically the same. They all have a snap-lock chuck (if it
has a 3-jaw chuck, it ain't SDS) that takes a wide range of heavy-duty
drill bits and tools. Most have a shift lever that gives you the choice
between rotary action on its own, hammer action on its own, or both
together - all in a drill that you can hold in one hand.

Ian-

Local stores carry the SDS+ drills, but I have been unable to locate a
local source for the 1/2 inch nut driver (socket adapter) to use with it.

I did find a Hitachi part number. A Hitachi dealer called the company
to see about ordering one. Hitachi agreed it was a good number, but
they didn't have any and didn't know how to get them!

There is a company in the UK called ScrewFix.com that advertises them.
However, I don't know how to handle the conversion between dollars and
pounds when paying. I wonder if the credit card company can take care
of that automatically?

Fred
K4DII

Hammer drills and ground rods, followup
 

Fred McKenzie wrote:
In article ,
Ian White GM3SEK wrote:

The SDS+ system is the Bosch company's patented method to build
hand-held electric drills with a *serious* high-impact hammer action.
The system has been widely licensed to other manufacturers, so all SDS+
drills are basically the same. They all have a snap-lock chuck (if it
has a 3-jaw chuck, it ain't SDS) that takes a wide range of heavy-duty
drill bits and tools. Most have a shift lever that gives you the choice
between rotary action on its own, hammer action on its own, or both
together - all in a drill that you can hold in one hand.

Ian-

Local stores carry the SDS+ drills, but I have been unable to locate a
local source for the 1/2 inch nut driver (socket adapter) to use with it.

I did find a Hitachi part number. A Hitachi dealer called the company
to see about ordering one. Hitachi agreed it was a good number, but
they didn't have any and didn't know how to get them!

There is a company in the UK called ScrewFix.com that advertises them.

That's where I bought mine. I have posted a photograph of the whole
setup at:
www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek/misc/rod-driver.jpg

The adapter is the object between the socket and the chuck (not quite in
its original condition - the rust and weld spatter are aftermarket
accessories).

As I said earlier, the socket is only there to prevent the driver from
jumping off the end of the ground rod, so it only needs to be a very
loose fit.

However, I don't know how to handle the conversion between dollars and
pounds when paying. I wonder if the credit card company can take care
of that automatically?

Yes, that is done automatically. However, you may pay more in shipping
charges and US Customs duty than the cost of the item itself.

Rather than go to all that trouble, you might do better to have
something made locally.

The only special part is the slotted shank that snaps into the chuck.
This is exactly the same on every SDS+ drill bit and tool, so you can
simply buy the cheapest item you can find (probably a small masonry bit)
and chop off the end that you don't need.

Then find a short piece of steel tubing that will slide loosely over the
end of your ground rods, and have the two parts welded together.



--

73 from Ian GM3SEK 'In Practice' columnist for RadCom (RSGB)
http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek

Hammer drills and ground rods, followup
 

Ian White GM3SEK wrote in news:vjC1vRDSbWvGFAt1
@ifwtech.co.uk:

....
The only special part is the slotted shank that snaps into the chuck.
This is exactly the same on every SDS+ drill bit and tool, so you can
simply buy the cheapest item you can find (probably a small masonry
bit)
and chop off the end that you don't need.

Then find a short piece of steel tubing that will slide loosely over
the
end of your ground rods, and have the two parts welded together.

This can't be too hard, can it Ian!

I just looked on Ebay here in Oz, and I can buy a 20mm SDS chisel for
about $14 delivered. I would cut the shank just above the chisel end and
slip a 50mm long piece of 20mm NB steel pipe over the remaining shank
end, weld it on, and there you go. Ideally, the end of the tool should be
harder, but if you are only driving a few rods, you probably won't split
the collar.

Wrap your copper clad earth rod with a good few wraps of electrical tape
so that the tool does not noodle up the end of the electrode.

Protect your eyes when using this type of tool, especially improvising
tools from cheap asian chisels.

Owen

Hammer drills and ground rods, followup
 

Owen Duffy wrote:
Ian White GM3SEK wrote in news:vjC1vRDSbWvGFAt1
:

...
The only special part is the slotted shank that snaps into the chuck.
This is exactly the same on every SDS+ drill bit and tool, so you can
simply buy the cheapest item you can find (probably a small masonry
bit)
and chop off the end that you don't need.

Then find a short piece of steel tubing that will slide loosely over
the
end of your ground rods, and have the two parts welded together.

This can't be too hard, can it Ian!

I just looked on Ebay here in Oz, and I can buy a 20mm SDS chisel for
about $14 delivered. I would cut the shank just above the chisel end and
slip a 50mm long piece of 20mm NB steel pipe over the remaining shank
end, weld it on, and there you go.

Good idea! The shank part of an SDS+ tool is quite a small diameter, so
it's a good idea to buy some kind of tool that widens to about the same
diameter as the ground rod.

Ideally, the end of the tool should be
harder, but if you are only driving a few rods, you probably won't split
the collar.

The collar needs to be a *loose* fit over the rod, so there should be no
risk whatever of it splitting.

Wrap your copper clad earth rod with a good few wraps of electrical tape
so that the tool does not noodle up the end of the electrode.

The ground rod is only mild steel, so the top of it will probably
mushroom over anyway (which is the main reason for making the collar a
loose fit). In general, you'll have to plan on making the connection a
few inches below the very top.

Protect your eyes when using this type of tool, especially improvising
tools from cheap asian chisels.

Even the cheapest SDS accessories have to be made from good tool steel,
or else they couldn't handle any normal use. Also, the collar acts as a
safety guard around the place where the hammer action is being applied.

However, protection is always a good idea. When you're driving a typical
4ft rod, the action begins right up at chest level, and then moves
slowly downward past other vulnerable parts of the anatomy.


--

73 from Ian GM3SEK 'In Practice' columnist for RadCom (RSGB)
http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek