Mag drills are nice until you're wrestling one on a curved boiler surface and it won't stay put without a serious chain setup. But you're right, for flat plate work they do make short work of things. I've just seen too many guys skip the cutting oil and burn through bits because they get overconfident with the power. Is a clean hole really worth more to you than knowing exactly how much torque you're applying by hand?

Is it though? I mean it sucks for sure, but "brutal" feels a bit dramatic for what sounds like a regular setback. Plenty of people have faced way worse and bounced back just fine. Maybe they're just having a bad week and blowing it out of proportion.

Yeah, dense clay needs at least 30 inches post depth. Learned that one the hard way myself lol.

Wait, @jordangibson, was that cheap laser actually off by enough to make tiles look wobbly or just slightly crooked? I've seen guys spend double that and still get lines that drift after a few feet. Do you think the price point is what caused the problem or was it just a bad brand?

Think you took "chronological" way too literally here.