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Comment by whatshisface | Hacker News Reader

Why would a drill be engineered to put out more torque than a human holding the handle could be expected to counterbalance?

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They probably could have, had they been ready for it. Not everyone is the same weight and strength either so it could just be that it was out of their physical capabilities.

That is often the difference between home and tradesman tools. A tradesman can reasonably be expected to handle a bit more responsibility from their tools than the home handyman.

I imagine he was leaning over the engine bay, maybe holding the drill in one hand. So in that specific scenario, the tool was more powerful than he could control.

But that same drill might be asked to bore a large hole in a piece of wood, and the user would anticipate the amount of leverage they need to control it. Two hands, arms close to body, etc.

For drilling holes in soft materials like drywall and wood, or even softer metals like aluminum. I recently used that drill to drill into a motorcycle engine to remove a stuck rotor cover.

Relevant old article: http://www.team.net/mjb/hawg.html

Price, there are some fancy battery powered drills that detect the jerk via an accelerometer and reduce the power, but most drills don't have that. for example: https://www.boschtools.com/ca/en/more/news-and-extras/knowle...

For a continuous drilling operation the torque is totally fine, the problem is abrupt changes in torque because of something catching. On drills without this feature that's what the torque limiting clutch is for.

Dunno about Bosch's implementation, but the Milwaukee one sucks. The drill/impact driver would strip the screw head, jerk your wrist, and then cut the power. I'd much rather have a mechanical clutch than than that one.

We actually had an older drill with the mechanical clutch with a stripped high gear that we kept around for driving screws instead of tossing because the new one was so bad.

Powerful electric drills will often come with an extra handle on the side (or a mounting point for one) so that you can brace them with both hands. It's up to the user to set an appropriate torque limit if they're only using one hand.

Using the analogies above, a drill like that could put the trigger on the awkward handle, forcing the operator to use it

The second handle sometimes needs to be removed to fit into a narrow space. In that case, you set a torque limit and operate the drill with one hand.

That's fair; Maybe you need to hold two triggers, and the torque limit is reduced if you're only operating in "one hand mode"?

When I drill 30cm holes in fiberglass or wood, I place my leg next to the handle. That have saved my wrist many times as the tool bites to the material and send the drill in a circular motion.

An electrician I know broke his wrist with a high torque electric drill - be careful!

The amount of torque you can handle with the drill horizontal and close to the body is rather different than vertical and leaning over an engine bay.

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