Hand Drill Using Battery Terminal

There are times that we need to drill a hole or widen one very slowly. I felt its need while making holes in a CD. The power drill or even a hand drill were too fast and would break the CD even when other precautions were taken. I found a battery terminal lying nearby and this tool was born. Since then, i use it regularly for various things.

The battery terminal is quite strong and has serrations on the inner side so it holds the bit perfectly tight. So what do we need to build it. Lets start.

Materials needed to build this hand tool

1. A wooden handle
2. A battery terminal

Tools I used

1. A drill machine
2. Hack saw
3. Wood glue and saw dust

The photographs almost explain the build. We simply make an appropriate hole in the wooden handle and insert/ fix the battery terminal in it.

So cut the battery terminal with a hack saw as shown. Using a vice to hold it is recommended. You may need to slightly file here and there to make it straight enough for going into its intended slot. Next make a hole on one side of the wooden handle. The hole size shall match approximately with the size of battery terminal leg which will be inserted into it. Since the leg to be inserted is not round, we need to widen the hole as shown. Using a smaller drill bit, make more holes on the side of bigger hole. (Also, we dont need a round hole, as it wont be able to provide required strength when we use the tool.) Then using a screw driver or similar chiesel like tool, widen the hole. Once the hole is ready to accept the leg, insert the terminal leg into it.

To fix the terminal, I used a mixture of wood glue and saw dust. Put some quantity of this mixture into the hole and push the terminal into it. Finish the top side with same glue mixture. Let it dry for some time, may be 24 hours is good enough. Then paint it as you like.

Currently, I use a plier to tighten the drill bit. As a further improvement, we can use winged bolts (or butterfly bolts) instead of standard bolts that come with the terminal.