cheap Chuck Guards

[mind_the_goat]

Hello
I have a low end SIP pillar drill which came fitted with the most abysmal plastic chuck guard. One of the spring loops was even broken before I took it out of the box. I'm actually impressed that the manufacturers managed to select a grade of plastic that is both soft and brittle. It seems that the assumption here is that the guard is only included to meet H&S requirements and will never actually be used. The main problem I have with it is that the depth stop is also attached to it, or was for a few days before this also broke. I attempted a repair using a thin sheet of aluminium but fixing it the plastic is problematic as another property of the material is a surface which resists adhesive. Yesterday I brushed against the drill the completely snapped off the guard, this led me to look at replacements and was amazed to see that what looks like exactly the same guard design is fitted to almost all the hobbyist drills (and a replacement price of around £30) . I could be wrong about this as it's hard to tell from a photo, so, finally, my question, has anyone found a half useful chuck guard and depth stop mount ?
sorry about the rant

Rob

 

[jimi43]

Not exactly the typical first post of "hello" but welcome anyway.

I humbly suggest you kit yourself out with a nice pair of goggle....perhaps a mask if you do strange things on your pillar drill...

Jim

 

[mind_the_goat]

Ah, yes, I'll introduce myself in the general forum shortly, sorry about barging in like that ;-)

I realised early on that actually using the guard would certainly break it, so goggles are always deployed, this would be fine if the depth stop wasn't also attached to the same flimsy moulding.

Rob

 

[chipmunk]

Hi Rob,
I had the same problem and simply made an oak collar 1/2" thick with a slit and an M6 bolt and a bedbolt-nut to tighten it onto the flange on the drill press.

It has an M6 threaded insert to take the depth stop rod which on mine had M6 on one end with M10 metric fine for the depth setting with the two supplied nuts. It hasn't shifted since I made it.

Those drill guards are worse than useless IMHO.
Jon

 

[mind_the_goat]

Hi

It did occur to me shortly after posting to a 'woodworking' forum that a bit of wood would indeed solve the problem, I had it fixed in my head that it would need something milled from steel or a decent plastic.
Nice to know someone else has identified the same problem and come up with a realistic solution.
Ok, I have some oak, I'll start at the weekend, I know I'll find I don't have all the right tools, so Saturday will be used up at the tool store. Sunday will be moving things around in the 'workshop' to clear away the current project and find a bit of workbench space. Ok, I'll start next weekend.....maybe ready by summer

Thanks for the suggestion