Pionjar Accessories
The Pionjar and Cobra Combi drills can accept a wide range of accessories. These include drill steels, breaker points, moil points, clay spades, ground rod drivers and specialty tools like rock-splitting attachments for driving feathers and wedges.
About Rock Drills and Steels
Hexagonal drill steels come in 3 sizes:
1×4 1/4″ shank
7/8×4 1/4″ shank
7/8×3 1/4″ shank
For your Pionjar, be sure to look for the 7/8×4 1/4″ size only. You can purchase most types of drills, breaker points and digging tools in this size.
The Pionjar has two operating modes, set by the lever near the chuck. “Down for drill” is the best way to remember the settings. The “Up” position is for using breaker and similar tools.
Drill bits come in both threaded and “knock-off” types. Knock-off bits are cheaper and frequently used in production underground mining. Be aware that these can be tricky to use while hand drilling, as the bit can come off if steady downward pressure is not maintained.
The most common type of screw-on bit used for rock drills of this size is the “H thread.” Note that it is a backwards thread, and must be turned clockwise to remove. We recommend using a vise and a pipe wrench to change these, and greasing the threads prior to install.
There are also single-piece “Whirly” style bits. These work very well for smaller holes (3/4″ – 1 3/8″) and are a bit less likely to get stuck
Whirly bits are mroe expensive than drills/steels and do not have replaceable tips.
One advantage of the Pionjar is that a complete drill/blast kit can fit in the back of a small pickup or SUV. A typical set of steels would be 2,4,6′ or 18″ 36″ and 60″. The carbide bits (try to avoid plains steel unless drilling in very soft rock) last hundreds of feet or more and the units are very portable.
We prefer a 5 liter “small” Euro-style gas can for running the Pionjar. This is usually sufficient for a half-day job.
