Pneumatic drill recommendations?

[Tim Clark Diving]

Does anyone have recommendations for pneumatic drills for underwater use? I'm looking for something to take coral cores. Not looking for a Nemo drill but for something that we can run off an air cylinder or surface supplied system. Home Depot and Lowes have pneumatic drills but I'm not sure how well they will work in saltwater over time so looking for people with experience. Thanks!

 

[broncobowsher]

I would say buy a few from Harbor Freight and consider them disposable.

If you could find one with a dedicated exhaust that you could modify into a threaded fitting, then run into a check valve, to try and keep the water from flowing up the exhaust and into the motor. That might help? A shot of WD40 in the inlet and a blast of air to work it through after a dive would probably be beneficial as well. the gear reduction is going to be a lost cause. As well as the chuck, that will start rusting before you get it in the water.

And warning if you have not spent much time with them, they use a LOT of air. No, more air than that. Nearly the same as just cutting a hose and letting it run wide open. I have never seen an air drill that you could call miserly with the air.

 

[OTF]

Cheap ones from HF or buy them used. Small ones aren't very powerful. Big ones use a lot of air. Don't run it off your breathing gas supply, hook it up to a slung Al80 or surface supply.

Excessively lubing them with a minimally toxic oil like vegetable, mineral oil, or food grade silicone grease works to minimize rust. It will wash away so use a lot and reapply every time. Caution this will make small but unsightly oily sheen blobs on the surface and could damage latex drysuit seals if you're using them.

Put the tools in a bucket of fresh water immediately after coming out of the ocean and let them soak a while, ideally disassemble, clean, and lube quickly after each use. That should minimize seizing up.

Check valve on the exhaust might be worth a try. Neat idea.

 

[happy-diver]

Cool, I think I might go drill something, pneumatically