drill for mixing mud

jburchill

I just bought a mixer for my drill. After the first time I used it my drill started smoking. I have a 1/2" 6.8 amp dewalt hammerdrill/drill. I thought that would have been strong enough to stir the mud with no problems.

The drill works perfectly for drilling otherwise.

thinking about going to the manual mud masher and saving my drill.

I am posting this post to see what everyone else uses to mix their mud.

Thanks
Jason

1910NE

I confess I do not understand enough about hammer drills to know if it should be able to do the job for you. I use a 1/2" cordless 18v, and it works great.

OhioHomeDoctor

I have a rigid drill I ONLY USE FOR MIXING. Its whole hog style.

Bud Cline

That hammerdrill should work. Did you start with your water and slowly add your powder? Starting off with dry powder and adding water is a mistake and will take out a drill-motor in short order.

Willie T

Cheap and powerful. But kind of useless for anything but mixing..... but great for that. Less than $100.

http://www.alstapingtools.com/acdelco12mixingdrill.aspx

I personally use an old 1/2" B&D that I picked up at a yard sale for $15.

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Willie T

jburchill

The drill I was using was a hammer drill and you can switch it to a regular drill. And I was mixing pre-mixed mud. I was trying to get all the air bubbles out of the mud.

I'll have to look for a drill at a garage sale or something for a cheap one.

Bud Cline

I certainly hope you aren't installing ceramic tile with this "pre-mixed" mud you have. What are you doing anyway?

Usually mixing with a power mixer entrains air, it doesn't remove it. That's the reason for using a special beater and a low rpm machine, it's to help keep the air out that is entrained typically by the mixing process.

jburchill

Pre-mixed drywall mud. I know my drill has too many rpms to mix mud so i try to feather the trigger to keep it from getting to fast.

Worked well until the drill started smoking.

Bud Cline

You could have saved me a lot of time had you said what you were doing to begin with. Sometimes it's like pulling teeth around here to get any information. Hell...I was way off in another direction.

Add a little water and start mixing at the top only for a minute or two. Then start slowly working your way down to the bottom of the bucket. A little water won't hurt anything. Any 1/2" drill motor will mix that stuff easily if you thin it some. Don't go nuts with the water.

Maintenance 6

The high initial amp draw from feathering the trigger is likely what caused the problem. Use something with lower RPM if you need to.

bjbatlanta

I used to use an old Craftsman 1/2" variable speed drill I bought 20+ years ago, when I was finishing new construction and mixed several buckets of mud daily. Rebuilt it once, still running. The variable is nice for mixing "setting" compounds. Now I use my Ridgid 18v hammer drill (not on hammer setting), but on low speed. Works great and no cord to deal with....

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oh'mike

I've got a Milwaukee 1/2" hole shooter---works just fine.

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bjbatlanta

Yeah, pretty much any 1/2" corded drill will do the job. I just like the variable for mixing the "powders"...

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oh'mike

The Milwaukee is a variable speed---tough drill---a slow speed 'jug handle' drill would probably be better---but there is only so much room for tools in the truck--so tools that can do 'double duty' make a lot of sense.

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bjbatlanta

Didn't know the Milwaukee was variable. Don't see many that are (and I really haven't looked lately). And yes, the cordless takes up way less room in the box (and I've got a hammer drill on hand too for the occasional times it's needed). I've got to admit, I didn't think the cordless would spin a can of putty and I had the "smoking drill syndrome" when I first tried it. Switched to low speed and it works great. Again, I probably wouldn't count on it for several cans a day, but for my purpose these days, it's fine....

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