Mixing mortar, etc with regular drill

[Günter VögelBerg]

Yeah, I kind of wish I had it when I re-plumbed and re-wired the ceiling above my basement shop. Those 100+ year old floor joists are HARD.

[Art Mann]

I have used my 3/8 inch corded Dewalt drill and a spiral stir rod to mix many, many sacks of thinset for floor tile. I mix a little less than half a 5 gallon bucket at a time because the thinset gets too firm to work over time if you mix much more than that working alone. The drill body doesn't even get hot. I just don't understand having to buy a monster drill unless you are trying to mix mortar for laying brick.

[Tom M King]

We were grouting tile on a porch floor today, so I snapped a picture to put in this thread. Picture is Big Mike mixing 20lb. of tile grout in a five gallon bucket. He likes the Milwaukee 1/2" spade handle drill, because of the two I have, it's the only one with variable speed.

We did a large room with 12x24 tile a while back, and he mixed a whole pallet of thinset mortar with this same setup. Like Art said, we don't want enough mixed at the time to be worth using a mixer, like we do if laying brick, or stone.

If you're mixing inside, don't do it without buying a Whale Tale vaccuum attachment first, as in the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeIVvEYW1ec

[scott lipscomb]

My company builds landscapes. My guys mixed a lot of mortar, concrete, thinnest, etc with a Milwaukee 3002-1. I was amazed at how much, especially since a lot of our concrete mixes are very dry. I made the mistake of professing how amazingly durable the drill was and it died shortly thereafter. Its sitting around, and I do wonder whether it will come back to life with a new set of brushes.

[Günter VögelBerg]

I was curious to see what kind of corded, 12amp drill that Dewalt sells, and this is the closest I could find:
https://www.dewalt.com/products/powe...st-drill/dw124

A right angle drill works okay for mixing mortar, but I like the spade handled ones better that have the spade handle opposite the handle with the trigger on it.

I was mistaken. It is 10 amp.

https://www.dewalt.com/products/powe...erdrill/dwd520

[Tom M King]

What type of mortar will you be mixing? What's it for? How much do you have to mix?

[Tom M King]

My company builds landscapes. My guys mixed a lot of mortar, concrete, thinnest, etc with a Milwaukee 3002-1. I was amazed at how much, especially since a lot of our concrete mixes are very dry. I made the mistake of professing how amazingly durable the drill was and it died shortly thereafter. Its sitting around, and I do wonder whether it will come back to life with a new set of brushes.

Dust in the switch would be my first check.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I use an old Firestorm 1/2" hammer drill to mix thin set, drywall mud, concrete, mortar...pretty much everything powder that you add water to.
I hate that drill - as far as a drill or hammer drill goes - because no matter how much I "gorilla arm" the keyless chuck, it slips.

The stupid thing is a lot like the crummy Harbor Freight stuff you buy because you have a single use for it, but, it turns zombie & refuses to die - so you do everything you can to kill it off......then when it finally does die,,,you feel bad about it an lament it's passing .

[Dave Sabo]

For me, a purpose built mixer is the best tool for the job. A good bang for the buck is this:

https://www.contractorsdirect.com/ru...SABEgJcWvD_BwE

This type mixer can be had for half the rubi price from the usual online suspects- but QC might be ???




Don't scoff at battery powered tools for this task :

https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Produc...Mixers/2810-20

even if it only does half what they say - it's plenty for a days work on all but the largest commercial jobs.

Not as elegant, but if you prefer yellow :

https://www.dewalt.com/products/powe...m-kit/dcd130t1


The MOST important thing is to use the spiral type attachment with whatever you drive it with.

[Andrew Seemann]

Thank you, gentlemen. I have ordered a Milwaukee "Hole Hawg". How many drills do I have now? No idea.

I picked up an old beat up one of those about 20 years ago. Amazing tool. It has an unbelievable amount of torque; it is basically a hand held 1HP drill press, so treat it accordingly. Never use it in a manner where if it grabbed and spun it could injure you. It has 3/4 pipe thread holes to attach the handle. More than a few times I have put a 5' piece of pipe on to brace it against the ground for drilling through rim joists. Definitely an awesome tool; the I'm-done-messing-around tool. Wood just yields to it out of fear.

How many drills have I? That is kind of like asking how many planes or chisels or clamps I have. Pretty much a question I would be happier not knowing the answer to

[Bob Cooper]

I bought a slow turn big drill from HF just for this task.