I've been busy with a few DIY jobs during lockdown and it occurred to me than my smaller electric drill is quite old for a power tool. I checked out the manufacturer, Wolf Electric Tools and it turns out that the V&A has one too, although I think mine may be very slightly earlier.
I don't suppose they use theirs as often as I use mine but they should - mine still works perfectly. I used it this morning while fixing some cupboard catches.
17 comments:
I still have a very early Bosch electric drill that is still used alongside more modern varieties, one thing I prefer in those old drills is the Jacobs chuck, the modern chucks don't always grip as they should and I have even had them fall apart, progress isn't always progress.
As with so many of us a shed or garage clearance has become the norm in these times and finding long lost tools and other items, it would be interesting to know who has found what ?
I found from the sixties a flexible drive used for polishing cylinder heads with grinding stones, not much use now other than getting into small spaces which a drill can't.
Don't part with it as long as it works! Modern equivalents, especially rechargeables, don't have its high speed capability and are more prone to breaking bits. I recently managed to get my cheap Power Devil drill working again after it failed. I found that they're fetching twice as much on fleabay as I paid for mine new!
An engineer told me that drills can last a long time because the average drill (i. e. Bought at Christmas for dad to do occasional jobs, rather than by professionals) is not used all that often, and for very short periods. He said that old drills were a good source of serviceable electric motors because even venerable ones sometimes had a few minutes cumulative running time on them. Other domestic motors tend to get regularly used.
A drill of that era can be completely dismantled and rebuilt. The most likely problem is the brushes, and possibly the switch. Even if you can't get genuine parts, it's often possible to adapt some from another model.
Modern equivalents have too often been "cost-engineered" for cheaper or automated assembly. But unfortunately they may look the same as a respected make, but actually be made in China and labelled to fool the unwary. These copies are usually of a far inferior quality and reliability.
I bought a "Qualcast" item recently - it was one of these copies and not much use. Qualcast used to be a make you could rely on - not any more.
So keep your Wolf drill - it'll outlast many a cheap copy!
It's those little things like chuck spanners that become annoying. A drill like yours is useless if somebody has mislaid the chuck key. I have had to buy a new one simply because the only keys I could find do not really fit the chuck. Is it gremlins or can I blame it on Brexit?
Cling tenaciously to that drill - it's an heirloom.
If you really want to see proper 1950's DIY quality, I've inherited my Dads DeWalt radial arm saw.
Proper solid steel construction, 2 man lift to get it on the table but brilliant quality, no flex whatsoever under load and modern equivalents aren't a patch on it.
Best of all- the rip saw function is illegal now and there is only a half guard on the blade, so HSE would faint ( my dad used it every week for 40 years without incident but that doesn't count obviously)
My first Black and Decker drill was an amazing two-speed machine, and Mrs O'Blene bought it for my Christmas present in 1973. It lasted for many years - about thirty-five, but all the bits packed up at the same time...
I broke my dad's Wolf drill (using the saw attachment), but as I worked a few yards from their place in Acton, I managed to replace it...
Since then it has been two Black and Decker drills, one which I managed to mend with new brushes only a few weeks ago, and used only yesterday! The other one has a strange take-up (bought 1989), and doesn't always work as the switch might be giving up, but I still love it to bits (?)!
They are part of any man's heritage, and should be treasured for life!
Please thank my (long departed) Daddy for your drill. He was works foreman at Wolf Electric Tools in Hangar Lane, West London for over 30 years and may have hands on it at some point in the past. Yes, I wish I had kept all the bits and pieces that he had in the garden shed. The tools all had metal bodies with very few frills, but a competent DIY-er could keep them going for many years as they were basic in-your-face construction. Spare parts were readily available.
All sadly long gone.
A good example of a make that has a royal warrant and a reputation as the 'best of British'
https://www.hayter.co.uk/
Note they say in the first part of the slide show, that not all mowers are made in the UK, I can add to that, the engines are Briggs and Stratton, nothing wrong there with their best engines but they are American, and I know for a fact like so many other "manufacturers" nearly all parts are made abroad and only assembled in the UK, it doesn't mean they are no good but apart from design very little is British.
Wiggia - I have drills with both types of chuck but prefer the old one. As you say the new ones don't always grip properly.
Jannie - I certainly won't part with it. The most I'll do is get a battery one for light jobs.
Sam - mine has been used irregularly over the years, but add it all up over fifty years and it probably comes to many hours of use.
Dave - the switch may need some attention eventually. It feels a little sticky these days so it may be worth taking a look at that.
Ed - I used to live near the Qualcast factory in Derby. As you say it is a pity that good names are bought as brands to sell inferior quality goods. I've been told that something similar has happened with a previously respected brand of walking boots.
Graeme - blame climate change, that usually works.
James - it is an heirloom, but I'm not sure who will want it when I'm gone.
Nessimmersion - I always wanted a radial arm saw but never really had the space for one.
Scrobs - yes these things are part of a man's heritage. I still have my dad's solid brass grease gun dating to the 1920s. I don't have a use for it but I'll never throw it away.
Chris - interesting and it's a pity those kind of factories are no longer with us. I bet it would have been interesting to have kept the entire shed if only it had been possible.
Wiggia - interesting link, there is a dealer only a few miles away from here.
I remember my father having a very similar design drill which I borrowed on occasion before having any tools of my own, but not a Wolf, the name Bridges comes to mind. Main problem was the chuck was smaller than a more modern drill. Sadly it is long gone.
Woodsy - I just had a quick look and you can buy vintage bridges drills on eBay.
"The switch may need some attention eventually. It feels a little sticky these days so it may be worth taking a look at that."
Might be worth giving it a squirt of "Servisol" switch cleaning lubricant:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/1804702344
It may even be possible to dismantle the switch - but ONLY in a place where you can catch all the bits! Probably not the sort of job for a novice (no insult intended), but if all else fails I will ALWAYS go for the nuclear option. But then I've long viewed any wording saying "NO user serviceable parts - do not dismantle" as an open invitation...
To be fair, even older B&D products aren't that bad - there are several dedicated parts suppliers for the common bits - brushes, switches, blades etc, so it's usually possible to keep them running more cheaply than buying a newer, "disposable" equivalent.
"I still have my dad's solid brass grease gun dating to the 1920s"
I have an 8,000psi "Wanner" grease gun hanging on the garage wall. Rarely used now, but 45 years ago it was doing the business on the various joints and bushes on mothers Mk1 Mini every other week.
You are right Mr Haart, the ones on Ebay are exactly what I remember. We had the drill press stand as well and a funny (commercially made) bracket arrangement fitted on a plank that allowed the drill to be fastened down and used as a simple wood turning lathe.
Dave - thanks, I'll make a note of Servisol.
Woodsy - I always wanted a lathe but never really had a use for one. I liked the idea though. Still do so you never know...
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