Drill bits should come left-handed by default

[pcrov]

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

 

[Vinny]

They do in Australia.

 

[YesIHaveAHammer]

Do left handed people use power tools in their left hand?

In that case, ergonomically ideally, seems they should use left handed drill bits. And reverse angle grinders.

 

[sk farmer]

And reverse angle grinders.

that is actually not a bad idea. grinders could easily run in either direction.

i have had countless situations where that could have made the job easier and for sure safer. grinding into corners and odd places. how about not wanting to throw sparks towards delicate place or areas one wants to keep "cleaner". how about those times you just don't feel like throwing sparks at yourself?

 

[YesIHaveAHammer]

that is actually not a bad idea. grinders could easily run in either direction.

Could be a bit messy:

• some discs are direction specific
• attachment bolt thread would no longer be self tightening
• forgetting which direction it was set to, although you'd feel the startup kick

 

[pcrov]

Could be a bit messy:

• some discs are direction specific

Kinda like drill bits.

We all know how that worked out.

 

[Astro_Pneumatic_Tools]

The amount of people warrantying left-hand drill bits because "they dont cut" or "they dont bite" but have the same complaint about their free replacement because its later revealed they keep using them in forward says to me that we're lucky most people are not often coming into contact with left-handed anything.

We sell riveters where the threaded mandrel to set the rivet nut is left handed, it has a label explaining this in bold letters on the piece you're going to put in that you have to peel off in order to use, and people still tighten the existing mandrel to heck and back to the point its never coming off before calling us.

The less left-handed things out there, and only when they need to, the better IMO. People are just programmed to turn a certain way

 

[Caa311]

Then we would have to run our lathes in reverse.

 

[Firebrick43]

Then we would have to run our lathes in reverse.

Older lathe chucks would unscrew.

Albrecht/rohm keyless chucks in drill presses and milling machines won’t hold in reverse unless you use the pin spanners to tighten them defeating the keyless part.

Many drill presses don’t turn in reverse.

Wide use of Left handed drills would be a very bad idea, especially for the very few cases they are helpful like drilling out broken bolts

 

[no704]

Back when I did a lot of metal fab I would have loved a left hand cut off wheel.

 

[sk farmer]

Could be a bit messy:

• some discs are direction specific
• attachment bolt thread would no longer be self tightening
• forgetting which direction it was set to, although you'd feel the startup kick

all things that could be gotten around. i could be wrong but most wire wheels cutting wheels and grinding discs have no specific direction, flap wheels yes.

i have left handed bits and use them quite often in hand chucked drills. little or no issues.

i understand there are idiots out there that should not own sharp or heavy objects. doesn't mean you i should not be able to have them

 

[neophyte]

Older lathe chucks would unscrew.

Albrecht/rohm keyless chucks in drill presses and milling machines won’t hold in reverse unless you use the pin spanners to tighten them defeating the keyless part.

Many drill presses don’t turn in reverse.

Wide use of Left handed drills would be a very bad idea, especially for the very few cases they are helpful like drilling out broken bolts

Rohm makes keyless chucks that handle reverse directions nowadays, and probably has for the past few decades, although the chucks may be a bit more limited in available types.

 

[neophyte]

Do left handed people use power tools in their left hand?

In that case, ergonomically ideally, seems they should use left handed drill bits. And reverse angle grinders.

Most quality angle grinders use directional spiral cut gears that won’t work well in reverse.
It would likely be possible to manufacture alternative gear designs that would handle reverse directions perfectly fine, but nobody does it as far as I’m aware.
Then, as others have mentioned, there is the thread direction fir the arbor, which would loosen in a reverse direction.
There are systems for angle grinders that use alternative clamping methods, that would prevent the unscrewing issue, such as the system Fein used to use, but these systems increase complexity and cost.
Also, you would need to figure out how to prevent idiots from mounting the wrong accessories on a reversible grinder.
I’ve literally known university students who mounted blades backwards on tablesaws.

 

[Firebrick43]

Rohm makes keyless chucks that handle reverse directions nowadays, and probably has for the past few decades, although the chucks may be a bit more limited in available types.

Link? I am not talking about hand drill chucks, I am talking about albrecht style chucks that rohm makes a lot of as well and always have the note

• Note: We do not recommend you use this chuck with reversible drills.

 

[neophyte]

Link? I am not talking about hand drill chucks, I am talking about albrecht style chucks that rohm makes a lot of as well and always have the note

• Note: We do not recommend you use this chuck with reversible drills.

It’s not the entire lineup.
There are a couple Rohm Spiro SK chucks with licks for counterrotation, and Supra SK models.
The Spiro chucks are the more precise ones.

 

[bwringer]

I am intrigued by your ideas, but my cheap one-way Sears drill press begs to differ. That said, it's very rare that I would use a left-handed drill bit in a drill press, because stuck bolts always seem to be stuck in very large assemblies that require hand drilling and wouldn't fit in any drill press outside a WWII shipyard.

I would submit that a better middle ground would be a simple desire that left-handed drill bits were more widely known and more easily available.


As long as we're on the topic, I would love for the manufacturers of drills to give them at least two or three surfaces parallel to the drill bit, and perhaps even a level bubble or two (or perhaps a place to stick them magnetically?) to aid in maintaining alignment.

True, this might make the design less "exciting" and "science fictional", and would interfere with the ironclad imperative to stick on as many rubber bits, plastic greebling, and random lines and shapes as possible. Apparently, the market demands heavily styled drills that look more like "phallic alien ray gun" and less like "usable rotary motivator what for poking holes".

I can dream, can't I?

 

[Steve_P]

Drill bits are 99.999...% used to drill holes. What's the advantage of a LH bit for the 99.999% use case?

 

[cmandp]

If industry had standardized on left hand drill bits, it stands to reason that left hand thread would also have been standardized. Then we'd have the same problem with removing broken threaded fasteners, you'd need a special right hand drill bit.

 

[pcrov]

Drill bits are 99.999...% used to drill holes. What's the advantage of a LH bit for the 99.999% use case?

The advantage is a hole doesn't care which way the drill spins but a busted bolt does. So you have the same utility as a right-handed bit plus the ability to extract.

And it'd be right there, already in your drawer when you need it.

Sure that stuck left-handed screw would require a trip to the store, but those are much less common.

 

[bwringer]

Drill bits are 99.999...% used to drill holes. What's the advantage of a LH bit for the 99.999% use case?

Geez, lookit Mister Fancy Pants over here who doesn't work on, drive, ride, or farm with rusty crusty old machinery.

 

[Lorydr]

that is actually not a bad idea. grinders could easily run in either direction.

i have had countless situations where that could have made the job easier and for sure safer. grinding into corners and odd places. how about not wanting to throw sparks towards delicate place or areas one wants to keep "cleaner". how about those times you just don't feel like throwing sparks at yourself?

https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/e60b2o




I had a difficult time reading some left-handed manuals.

 

[neophyte]

The advantage is a hole doesn't care which way the drill spins but a busted bolt does. So you have the same utility as a right-handed bit plus the ability to extract.

And it'd be right there, already in your drawer when you need it.

Sure that stuck left-handed screw would require a trip to the store, but those are much less common.

There are also drilling jogs that use multiple bits, and each bit runs counter direction yo the next one in line.
For these jigs, left handed bits are absolutely necessary.