Car boot - drill stand

[bugbear]

I have had a decent Wolf Drill stand for a long time; heavy cast iron base, MASSIVE hexagonal pillar (and rack).

Sadly, I have the later model with the plastic carriage, not the earlier die cast one. It works well enough for most purposes.

On Sunday, my friend (*) the house clearance guy had a Black and Decker drill stand. Not normally a brand to seek after (except work mates) but this stand was heavy, and looked good. In fact it has a cast iron base, and a MASSIVE hexagonal pillar (and rack).

But the carriage appeared to be metal, and well made, so I bought it (£2.50)

I love the depth stop - simple (nigh brutal) and direct. A Collar with a set screw.

Curiously and annoyingly, the column on the B&D is 1 1/8" and the column on the Wolf is 1 3/16". Not different enough to make a functional difference, but enough that swapping parts (if I wanted to) is not an option. I wonder if Wolf (or B&D) did that deliberately.

BugBear

(* I research/identify stuff for him, he gives me good prices)

 

[bugbear]

Hmm. I can't find any more of my particular model on t'internet.

But I did find this much older model (possibly a Number 20), and it has a kind of tail clamp that mounts on the upper part of the carriage (highlighted)

My stand has an otherwise mysterious upper portion were such a clamp might have fitted. No scrape marks on the paint though.

BugBear

 

[bugbear]

Found it (on eBay), sold in November 2017 (unused, in a box! Sold for £37 + £8 P&P)

Item 253272851554

Listed as "A Black and Decker D904 Deluxe Vertical Drill Stand"

This shows the "interchangeable drill mounts", with the more modern mount (installed on mine) on the base.

BugBear

 

[ED65]

Congrats BB! I'd have been all over that like a cold sweat, at considerably more than that price too.

Edit: I'm finding it increasingly amazing the number of items a small group of enthusiasts, us here, can accumulate which seem to be rare (or even unique) survivors of what were initially mass-produced items.

 

[AndyT]

I too have a Wolfcraft one - with no plastic parts except the knobs on the ends of the handles. It's reassuringly robust and beats the lighter weight Bosch one I bought new.
I expect you know that the option for the plain 42mm round collar also fits small electric routers such as the POF 52, should you want to do some overhead routing. (I did this once, before I discovered moulding planes.)

Forward, into the 1970s!

 

[bugbear]

B*gger.

I took it apart (2 allen screws, one of them a chunky 6mm). I cleaned lot of dried grease, and a little rust from the pillar.I wiped worst of the rust/dust mixture from the carriage.

I then measured the diameter of the drill collar. About 44mm. I then measured the mounting boss of my modern Bosch drill. 43mm.

A quick google confirms that 43mm is standard.

More careful measurement shows the stand collar to be 44.2mm.

I assume this was a non-standard Black and Decker "standard".

Can anyone confirm that?

I am now undecided wether to sell this stand, or fashion a 0.6mm shim.

BugBear

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I believe they all pleased themselves until 43mm was standardised. I remember having to open up an Arcoy one to take a 43mm collar.

 

[AndyT]

Don't set too much store by my 42mm. That was a rough measurement yesterday plus a misremembering.

A shim could be as simple as a layer of tape around the boss.

 

[ED65]

Shim! A blunt old Stanley knife blade might prove just about perfect.

 

[Mark A]

A cheap set of feeler gauges make nice shims.

 

[AndyT]

I thought bits of aluminium beer can were the usual choice.

(If you only drink beer from oak casks, you may need to substitute some other sort of drink, or someone else's.)

 

[lanemaux]

Hi Andy , a bit off-piste , but are you perhaps referencing "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" with your fancy beer can shims?

 

[AndyT]

Hi Andy , a bit off-piste , but are you perhaps referencing "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" with your fancy beer can shims?

Not deliberately, but maybe that bit stuck when I read it about 40 years ago!
Could it have been the most useful tip in the book?

 

[MusicMan]

Coca Cola cans have got thinner over the years, as the manufacturing technology improved. So (a) don't rely on the Zen & the... metrology, (b) Hands up whoever has a complete set of cans of all thicknesses lurking in their garage?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Shim! A blunt old Stanley knife blade might prove just about perfect.

Might be difficult to bend.

 

[bugbear]

Coca Cola cans have got thinner over the years, as the manufacturing technology improved. So (a) don't rely on the Zen & the... metrology, (b) Hands up whoever has a complete set of cans of all thicknesses lurking in their garage?

I've got quite a few rectangles of the stuff, cut out tidily and kept against need. Less storage space!

BugBear

 

[Rhyolith]

I am still looking for one of these large enough for my slough bucks made gust buster drill.

Found this one at the car boot few months back and its the best quality one I have found so far:
No.40 B&D Drill Stand by Rhyolith, on Flickr
No.40 B&D Drill Stand by Rhyolith, on Flickr

Think its similar to the second one you posted Bugbear?

 

[ED65]

Hi Andy , a bit off-piste , but are you perhaps referencing "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" with your fancy beer can shims?

Isn't the point of that bit in Pirsig's book that it isn't fancy? ;-)

Could it have been the most useful tip in the book?

I believe it might be! Certainly it's the bit that stuck with me in the ~25 years since I read it. Thinking back it might possibly have been the first peg in my personal philosophy of "the world is made of raw materials".

(b) Hands up whoever has a complete set of cans of all thicknesses lurking in their garage?

Cans, no. Bits of cans (and other materials from various containers) yes!

Re. aluminium cans getting thinner, they have become much much thinner over our lifetimes but for anyone not familiar with shimming it's not a problem, you stack up shims as needed.

Shim! A blunt old Stanley knife blade might prove just about perfect.

Might be difficult to bend.

I thought I wouldn't need to specify to anneal it (if necessary) in present august company.

 

[bugbear]

A shim has been arranged. Ironically, on test, the drill stand moves beautifully, with tiny amounts of lash.

So it's a shame that the Bosch hand drill mounted in it has around half a mm of slack in it's bearing, as seen at the drill bit tip!!

BugBear

 

[DTR]

my personal philosophy of "the world is made of raw materials".

I like that (hammer) :mrgreen:

And yes, I do have an assortment of Coke can* strips in a box for lathe tool shimming





* other brands are available**





**They taste horrible though.