Used your method to put in two wells just serrating the end of the PVC pipe. Last well we pulled the drilling pipe and dropped in a new length with spriral slotted PVC well screen at the bottom. Huge capacity from that well as it is right in a flowing sand acquifer. Thanks for posting your ideas. 26 feet in about three hours.

sir, you are a badass- thank you for making these

Beautiful video! nice for shareing with us!

A tip would be to grind several shallow grooves vertically on either the adapter,or if you are using a straight PVC pipe bit,along the entire pipe using a dremel,or even a 4"hand grinder.Wouldn't take too long.This would let water run up the sides of the bit/pipe better and lessen the chance of getting stuck as you mentioned on your webpage.I wouldn't go too deep as to weaken the pipe/fitting,just enough for the water to give a little more clearance.Hope this helps.Nice series and website!

You can also use a 4"/4 1/2" angle grinder with a cutoff wheel.

Thank You... I hope to try out your method one day!

Congratulations! Thanks for letting me know!

That is a great idea!

You're welcome! I'm glad you liked it!

thanks teacher, good work

I would like to add an option to this video. I am currently doing this through very heavy clay, to rock and then caliche. IT STILL WORKS. The process is slower but there are some things that help. When going through caliche, slightly bend about 1/4 of the teeth outward so they are the same width as the pbc coupler. Then slightly bend 1/4 inward. This will increase your drilling speed quite a bit. Also, dont forget to drill a small pressure release or you will pop that rubber coupler.

Good idea

thanks for the tip!

That is correct. The 1.25 in diameter well screen pipe becomes the well. It would be nice to be able to use a bigger one but you usually can't drill a larger diameter hole with this process. You can gain more efficiency by using a longer well screen provided the top of the well screen is under the standing water level. For example, if you have a high water, say 10 ft. Drill a 32 ft hole and use three four ft long well screens and the top of the well screen still be 10 feet under water.

good idea!

It is certainly not a dumb question! This technique is most useful for folks who are city water supply and who are having to pay a lot to water their yard. By using this technique to drill a well, they can water their yard much cheaper. If you don't have access to water, you might look at the mud pump technique described on the website listed just under the video. Thanks for watching!

Thanks so much for this video (and your website!). Two of the three drill bits you cut here have 11 teeth of varying lengths. Doesn't look like you do this on purpose. Have you given any thought to an optimal number of teeth and whether different lengths of teeth make digging more or less effective?

might seem like a dumb question but where do i get water from without an original water supply.a water tank or something

Nice! What did you cut the teeth with?

I'm curious, how you can tell if you hit water?

Good point!

Take a look at the Baptist Method. It is hard work but has produced many successful wells.

Thank you for the tip. If I have a nipple with threads on only one end, will it work as well if I cut the teeth in the non-threaded end? Just wondering if the threads add something to the drilling action.

any ideas how I could drill a well 400 feet? Normal galvanized pipe won't work, threads twist off.

thanks!

Good catch tsx3214. A better protocol is to make the "drillbit" out of a female adapter that is just slightly larger than the two inch pipe.

what if the drill bit could double as a well screen? by cutting slots along the sides of the drill bit and the cap off the bottom with a end cap that could replace another removable cap with the vertical holes and blades at the bottom ??

Thanks Bow Tie!

Can you make this cutter out of a 3" nipple for a larger well casing?

Sure! It would work too.

that would be a good point david cassar, but for the fact that water pipe is soft anyway.

Good luck! You might want to try a practice hole first....and thanks, but it is not my method. It has been around longer than you and I!

When I changed my bit, I just cut off the threaded teeth and started over. Good point about the strength.

I visited your website, thank you for that. However, I cannot find any way to contact you, nor can I find your FB page (notice your site has a link to like you on FB). I wanted to ask advice on cleaning out an old well that has sludgy stuff floating on the top about 10 ft down below ground level. It's been covered with an old hubcap for years. I'd like to dig it out clean again, situating it with a hand pump. I doubt I'll ever find your reply to this, but maybe you could add a contact link to your page, and a link to your FB so we can communicate.

Have you had any luck cutting through rock with these bits ?

I had an idea, not sure if it is a good deal. I think all my ideas are great, but doesn't everyone. Would it be better to cut the cutting bit on a collar. It would be just a little bit bigger. The only thing is that it may be more likely to get stuck, but if it gets stuck it shouldn't be a problem getting out, just jet water down the middle like when you were digging the well.

Never wear gloves using any sort of grinder... or really any machine tool! I'm sure google can provide many graphic images/videos of why not to. Also, if the metal gets too hot while grinding it, so that you need gloves to hold it, you've essentially annealed (softened) the metal. The annealed areas are shown in the blue discolouration on the workpiece. Basically, don't use gloves and dip the workpiece in coolant frequently to prevent annealing/burning yourself.

Sawzall metal blade but a jigsaw metal blade works too.

A bit of advise. Try Tapering the OD on the sides of your teeth. It could ease the drilling process in clay.

Generally its a better idea to NOT wear gloves around grinders. You may knock your hide off on the wheel, but if it grabs that glove it'll pull your hand into the space between the grinder and the rest.

angle grinder with a cutting blade.

Which of the three bits worked best, in your opinion? The two bits made with saws are certainly more finished looking than the bit made with the bench grinder, but that doesn't necessarily mean they will work better.

What if I want to use a submersible pump?

Sorry Captain, but that is going to require a real drill rig.

good idea!