we know the drill

September 26, 2009 10:32 AM

Drill-powered mini-bike and wheel-chair. More drill-powered machines (.pdf) from DPX Systems.
posted by Brian B. (11 comments total)

That's really cool in concept. The problem is that cordless drill motors and gear trains are not designed for long service. They're quite inefficient in their use of power and longevity is almost completely ignored, as the design goals are very high torque, very high current draw, light weight, and short bursts of usage generally no more than 5-15 seconds at a time with plenty of cooldown opportunities.

In other words, while this is cool as a powertrain for a tool with similar operational parameters such as a winch or a cherry picker, it's just crazy wrong for a vehicle.
posted by seanmpuckett at 10:52 AM on September 26, 2009 [1 favorite]

do NOT do a google search for drilldo

you've been warned...

that said... I want the minibike!
posted by HuronBob at 11:05 AM on September 26, 2009 [1 favorite]

seanmpuckett -- what you say is true of the low end consumer grade drills, but the high end professional devices (think Milwaukee, not Ryobi) are much more durable and efficient and have very high capacity battery packs.
posted by localroger at 11:18 AM on September 26, 2009 [1 favorite]

Presumably you could look at the specs of the drills. I remember a while ago some cordless drill company was the first to come out with some new type of batteries based on carbon nanotubes or something like that and hobbyists were recommending people buy these tools for their battery packs.
posted by delmoi at 11:51 AM on September 26, 2009 [1 favorite]

You know, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 12:50 PM on September 26, 2009 [1 favorite]

One drill - one mini bike is interesting.
3,227 drills - one Hummer is a green tech solution America could live with.
posted by R. Mutt at 12:58 PM on September 26, 2009 [1 favorite]

delmoi: That would have been the A123 cells used in DeWalt batteries.

But yeah, electric bikes are pretty widely available, with reasonable motors and significant battery packs. Drill-powered bikes, skateboards, etc. have been built by many in garages for years and there really isn't any reason for anyone to try to commercially produce them.
posted by ssg at 1:15 PM on September 26, 2009 [1 favorite]

I used a cordless drill to make an awesome laser-pointer spinning thing.
posted by MrMoonPie at 2:07 PM on September 26, 2009 [1 favorite]

Ok, I want one. Seriously.

Really though, it's just a worm gear with a spindle sized to fit a drill. Nothing revolutionary.
posted by Kickstart70 at 4:29 PM on September 26, 2009 [1 favorite]

Nothing revolutionary.

I believe that Dewalt drill probably does about 1,700 RPM.



ha!
posted by orme at 6:10 AM on September 27, 2009 [2 favorites]

-But yeah, electric bikes are pretty widely available, with reasonable motors and significant battery packs. Drill-powered bikes, skateboards, etc. have been built by many in garages for years and there really isn't any reason for anyone to try to commercially produce them.

-Really though, it's just a worm gear with a spindle sized to fit a drill. Nothing revolutionary.

All true, but I still want to go into a bike shop and have the salesman tell me that the model comes with a cheap worm gear with a spindle sized to fit a drill, in case I want to avoid buying an expensive commercially produced one with a reasonable motor and significant battery pack.
posted by Brian B. at 8:02 AM on September 27, 2009