a good moan

vibrac

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I have fairly new hand drill a ***** and ****** which only works intermittently so without much hope (amazingly it was not designed to be sealed at the factory) I split it and I am appalled at the level of engineering
Housed in a plastic frame the motor spindle ends in a spur gear about 5/16 diameter with about 6 teeth drawn along its length this then is supposed to drive a large gear at about a 20:1 ratio rotating a large & heavy chuck with a 3/8 drive.
The spur gear is unsupported for 1/2" till it reaches the large gear and after another 1/4 of 'engagement' ends in thin air without even a perfunctory bush in the plastic casing to support it.
all the components are wedged into position by the plastic casing
of course any real work forces the gears out of engagement
With engineering design of this level around is it any wonder we dwell on the achievements of the past?
 
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John Cone

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Funny that you should mention that company. I recently purchased one of their vacuum machines. After a while there was a big clanking niose from withine. like you i took it apart, inside it was immediatey apparent what was wrong. On one end of the armature you have the fan for sucking and at the other end it has a top hat shaped oillite bush. As the bush dried out it picked up and with the rotation of the shaft wound itself out of the casing. Had the bush been put in from the other side of the plastic moulding it would of pushed the bush further in. Made in China
 

timetraveller

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They are not meant to last chaps, otherwise how would these people make their money? Either spend a lot of money and buy good quality or spend the minimum possible at places like Lidl and face throwing the things away every years or so. If they are lasting less than one year then the retailer is wholly responsible for replacing it or giving you a full refund. Do not get fobbed off with less.
 

vibrac

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I cannot agree that cheap items necessarily mean poor design they may not last as long but poor design saves nothing
After all the Red Panthers of the thirties were cheap and built by redundant mill girls sold by Gamages but there were well designed and still to be seen at meets...
 

Albervin

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These companies tell the Chinese they want a drill at £3 cost with a 10% fail rate and that is what is built. If you say a £5 build and a 5% fail rate then that i what you get. I know someone who ordered 50,000 battery pack drills for £6 (including 2 batteries) with a 5% failure rate of drills and 10% failure rate of batteries. That is exactly what happened and he blamed the battery failures on the manufacturers and paid the warranties on the drills. Oh yes; he sold the drills for £24 wholesale including a battery. Extra batteries were £5. Go figure.
 

Alan J

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VOC Member
I cannot agree that cheap items necessarily mean poor design they may not last as long but poor design saves nothing
After all the Red Panthers of the thirties were cheap and built by redundant mill girls sold by Gamages but there were well designed and still to be seen at meets...
Where can I buy "a redundant mill girl?" Don't tell my "beloved!".
 
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