Clarke cdp 12eb pillar drill

[Slidgeman]

Hi All,

I have been offered a used Clarke cdp 12eb pillar drill, manufactured in 1991, 500w, 16mm chuck, 12 speed, for £50. Thoughts please.

Thanks.

 

[shed9]

That's a 370W drill, not 500W.

If you can view the drill before purchase, check run out on the chuck, check the belts are not frayed and everything turns smoothly.

If it looks and feels to be in good working order, not a bad buy.

Clarke does not generate a lot of love in its users. Plenty of people won't touch them, personally I've had a few and currently have a floor standing metal drill - it's not the best, but for the money they are perfectly good drills in my opinion.

Another plus is your local machine mart will be able to order spares should you need them.

 

[graduate_owner]

If you think you may need to order spares for this drill, check out their prices first because spares can be silly money.

I have a Clarke battery charger which sells for about £280 new, but I got it at auction and the ammeter is broken. A replacement from Clarke is £35 plus carriage plus VAT - I consider that to be silly money.

It's not just Clarke either. I have been refurbishing our bathroom and needed a new toilet seat and doughnut washer (between pan and cistern). Washer £8, seat £20 (+VAT). Entire system inc. fully fitted cistern, doughnut washer, WC pan and seat - £48 + VAT for the lot.

And you only have to look at the individual costs of batteries and charger for cordless drills. I bought a Site (Makita) 18volt combi drill on offer from Screwfix, complete with charger and 3 NiCad batteries for £49. The batteries alone would be ore than that.

K

 

[wizard]

If you were buying a new one i would say no but paying £50.00 for a piece of junk is ok as you can get your money back and find another mug to buy it, like i did with my new Clarke drill.

 

[graduate_owner]

I think Wizard is pretty close to the mark here. I have a £50 NuTool bench drill and while it really does drill holes, it's not a great piece of kit. The motor stops as soon as any pressure is put on, and (worse) you can see the table moving out of plane probably because the column flexes.

I thought - a pillar drill brand new for £50, Wow. You can't even buy a decent motor for that, without the chuck, quill etc etc included in the price. Well I was right, and you don't actually get a decent motor, chuck etc when you spend your £50. I've learned about Clarke, Nutool, Power Devil, SIP etc since then.

In fact, have you noticed that any tool with the brand name containing the word PRO is usually anything but?

I wouldn't have bought this drill had I known than what I know now, but it has been useful and still works some 10 years on (which is more than I can say for my SIP mitre saw). I think the issue here is, if you just want to drill holes in wood or metal without needing to go to big sizes, and particularly without needing accuracy, then it might serve your needs. But if you are thinking of any sort of accuracy then you must be prepared to spend a lot more even for a second hand one. People on ebay wouldn't bid £300-£400 for a used Meddings or Fobco if they could get the same performance from a new £300 piece of kit.

K

 

[shed9]

Realistically, if it has acceptable spindle run out and is serviceable, then fifty of the Queens English is a fair asking price.

I can't imagine anyone with a reasonable understanding of the capacity of a second hand £50 370w drill is going to expect uber accuracy or the ability to drill out large amounts of material in one go.

If you need more, buy more...

 

[wizard]

You can go to aldi and buy a drill for £50.00 and you get a drill worth £50.00 if you buy a Clarke or SIP drill you pay a few hundred pounds and get a drill worth £50.00. buy a meddinge or fobco for a few hundred pounds and you get something that would cost thousands to make today and may sell it at a profit.

 

[shed9]

You can go to aldi and buy a drill for £50.00 and you get a drill worth £50.00 if you buy a Clarke or SIP drill you pay a few hundred pounds and get a drill worth £50.00. buy a meddinge or fobco for a few hundred pounds and you get something that would cost thousands to make today and may sell it at a profit.

I totally agree, however we are talking about a specifically available drill unit, a specific amount of cash and a request for opinion on that.

If its available and the all in is £50 (itself I suspect negotiable) and it turns a sharp pointy thing through wood then Robert is very much your Fathers sibling.

A Fobco / Meddings / Startrite it aint, but for £50 what do people really expect? As long as the expectation is realistic, not sure I see the issue in over thinking a cheap drill for pocket money that will ultimately do the job.

 

[graduate_owner]

Another follow up - I've just seen a Record DP16B bench drill on Tooled-Up web site for £149.95, and on Poolewood's site for £120. That should be a better buy than Clarke / NuTool if Record's reputation on lathes is anything to go by.

K

 

[Slidgeman]

Well, I viewed the drill, checked it over as best I could and bought it for the full £50. One problem I found it had was with the centre belt pulley. The hole the pulleys pin fitted into was quite worn which made the belt slip off at certain speeds because of the pulley not being horizontal. This was easily put right by a mate who simply drilled out the original hole by a few mm and putting a shim around pin. Other than that, and after a good clean, the drill in my opinion is spot on. It drills perfectly true, square and doesn't seem to have any run out. For what I need it for, it will do the job adequately. Personally, I don't think it is a piece of junk and definately don't feel the need to find a "MUG" to sell it on to.

 

[wizard]

Well if it falls apart keep it to yourself otherwise I will fall off my chair laughing

 

[shed9]

Well, I viewed the drill, checked it over as best I could and bought it for the full £50. One problem I found it had was with the centre belt pulley. The hole the pulleys pin fitted into was quite worn which made the belt slip off at certain speeds because of the pulley not being horizontal. This was easily put right by a mate who simply drilled out the original hole by a few mm and putting a shim around pin. Other than that, and after a good clean, the drill in my opinion is spot on. It drills perfectly true, square and doesn't seem to have any run out. For what I need it for, it will do the job adequately. Personally, I don't think it is a piece of junk and definately don't feel the need to find a "MUG" to sell it on to.

Good stuff.

Keep it maintained and you will get your £50's worth out of it. As noted up there ^, if it is in good order and turns a drill bit, for £50 what more can you expect.