smart drill

**lensmama** · 06-24-2009, 12:29 PM

We are thinking about purchasing a smart drill. Just looking for input-pro and con-and pricing. Thanks!

**Barry Santini** · 06-24-2009, 02:59 PM

Good purchase. Only thing better is a programmable drill tied to your edger (like my Santinelli).

Had a Smart drill for 6 years. No real problems.

If you continue to drill, get your next edger with one built in.
Nothing like it!

Barry

**Leo Hadley Jr** · 06-24-2009, 03:12 PM

Smart Drills are grrrrrreeeeeaaaaat!!!

**optical24/7** · 06-24-2009, 04:08 PM

I love my Smart Drill II also. But, they do have a problem if your edger uses AIT type blocks. The problem is with the Drills chucks that hold your blocks. They have a double cut-away design in case your edger is set up with the *key* part of the block up or down. This alows the lenses to have as much as 7 degrees of rotation.

The funny thing is that you can easily un-snap the drill's chuck and flip it over to accommodate up or down *key* blocking. No need for the double cut-away. :hammer: ( I've mentioned this to Tabco, the manufacturer....)

**jameselex** · 06-24-2009, 06:02 PM

we have been using smart drill for 5 years , it works well. always wanted the edger with drill, but as we get all different kind of drill mounts, I am not sure which will be faster. The people I konw who have edgers with drill don't use it, they still send the non-common drill mount to us.

**Dave Metzger** · 06-27-2009, 02:10 PM

I really loved using hte ME 1000 with the drill. I swapped out the 0.8 mm for the 1 mm because I broke the drills doing trivex, downside is that a pair of lenses will be married to the machine for 15-20 minutes, dependinf on material, polish and number of drill holes.

**snowmonster** · 06-29-2009, 08:33 PM

I have a Less Stress II - essentially the same as the Smart Drill as far as I can tell. Debated over getting it forever and now I can't believe I didn't buy it earlier. Huge savings in lab bills and easy to learn. We do mostly Silhouettes, Revolutions and OGI's (compression mounts), nothing with lots of nuts and bolts, washers and bushings. I probably do a few each week, pays for itself in no time.

I'll have to consider a drilling edger next time though.

**Jacqui** · 06-30-2009, 08:01 AM

After seeing one at a competitors office, I wish I had one. :(

**cmhargrove** · 07-02-2009, 04:54 PM

The Smart drill is great, and very easy to work with.

Also, if you end up doing a lot of drilling, another suggestion is the Opera Drill by AIT. It pulls the tracing info from your computer and is very easy to program. We have been using one for about three years and haven't had any maintenance other than bit replacement.