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Spectric

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Anyone brought one of these items, there is a fair choice out there and a lot with nothing but negative reviews so anyone got any buying advice or recommend a particular model ?

The one in the running at present is the Milescraft one at around the £50 mark,
1699449580059.png
why is this one so much more expensive at £175 ?
1699449670199.png
 
Just from the look of the design the UJK should have much better clamping force where the rods join to the base.

The chuck and spindle on the UJK is really weedy though. I think it's only 10mm capacity and the spindle has been made in 6mm to work with hex drivers. This is not pillar drill build quality, just something to help you get the angle of smaller holes correct.
 
Rutlands have two of differing quality. One around £120, the other lest robust one ( plastic rather than aluminium) for £60. Not sure how they compare in quality. The Milescraft one only seems to have one adjustable stop - compared to two on the UKJ, also only one clamping point. The Rutland ones also only seem to have one stop.
 
I have one that is similar to the first picture (red bits) BUT it uses a drill rather than having its own chuck needing a drill without a chuck. It clamps the body of the drill behind the chuck (i.e. an older style drill, usually corded) I use a corded Bosch drill in mine.

It's excellent for drilling vertical/straight holes where you can't get the job in a drill press - I used it to drill the holes for the studs in a set of table legs, see pic - I made a sort of platform level with the top of the leg using blocks of timber and clamps, with the leg clamped in a vice - I then clamped the jig (which I have mounted on a wooden basin about 20cm square with a hole for the drill bit) - to the leg/platform and drilled a 12mm hole centred on the leg..

The jigs with the integral chuck appear to be very unstable ( I dd have one but sent it back to Amazon as unfit for purpose)

ply-table-legs-aug23.jpg
 
What about this one from Wolfcraft, it uses the standard chuck on your drill.

We had this discussion some months ago. The ones that have no chuck clamp around the 43mm diameter collar standard on nearly every CORDED drill. The ones with a chuck are designed for use with a CORDLESS power source (could be an impact drive, hence the 1/4" hex shank). There are few affordable cordless drills on the market with a 43mm collar. If you can find the previous thread, I think two examples were shown, one from Metabo and possibly the other from Festool.

Unless the OP says what type of machine he wishes to use with the attachment, fully 50% of replies here will not help him.
 
I'm looking at the Festool one for £450.

That may be outside of your allotted budget thoughbut.
Dang !
I'd only have to sell a hundred at that price to pay off a full on CNC mill to be able to make those properly :)

Fein also make a stand similar to the Mafell one that I think is aimed at core drilling tiles and similar. Apparently it fits welding tables too.
33585_7_piso90320223_OFC.jpg

They remind me of the big stands made for diamond coring concrete. This one a Husqvarna.
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I have the ujk version and it’s really good quality, I use it when the work I can not take the work piece to the drill press , the ujk has two pins for drilling centrally on square stock , splash out another 70 or 80 and you can purchase a small add on vice for smaller pieces . I did add a couple of springs but for the price it should have already had them . On the downside with the drlll attached it can be top heavy and a little cumbersome ..
 
To me this begs the question "What are you trying to do?" I've looked at these before and been put off by the same kind of reviews you mention. When I looked at the job in hand I figured other ways around it. Drilling through the base of a bench drill comes to mind, even in circumstances you wouldn't initally think it a goer such as drilling into the edge of a panel, clamp it firmly in a Workmate or similar, making sure it is square and flush with the surface, and plonking the drill on top.
 
I use mine for any job where I need a hole square and true to the workpiece or at a particular angle to the workpiece. I only use it for certain jobs or projects that need to be accurate . Woodpeckers do one similar in price to the festool Adam w mentioned but that cost around £540 for the deluxe kit ..
 
We had this discussion some months ago. The ones that have no chuck clamp around the 43mm diameter collar standard on nearly every CORDED drill. The ones with a chuck are designed for use with a CORDLESS power source (could be an impact drive, hence the 1/4" hex shank). There are few affordable cordless drills on the market with a 43mm collar. If you can find the previous thread, I think two examples were shown, one from Metabo and possibly the other from Festool.

Unless the OP says what type of machine he wishes to use with the attachment, fully 50% of replies here will not help him.

Ah yes, good point.

I’ve used one of these for some small jobs.

IMG-8029.jpg
 
I have one very similar to the Milescraft. I bought in in Sears in Washington State, if I remember rightly. It's not that impressive, the chuck runs out a bit. I've only used it two or three times in twenty years or more. Currently it's skulking in the attic, where it went four years ago when we moved here.
Having said all that, when I did have a need for it, it came in very handy.
 
It's excellent for drilling vertical/straight holes where you can't get the job in a drill press -
That is exactly what I will use it for,

Unless the OP says what type of machine he wishes to use with the attachment, fully 50% of replies here will not help him.
It will be with a cordless Makita, I did think of the ones that clamp round a drill but the only drill I have that has the collar is my corded Bosch which has an SDS chuck. For any precise holes then I always turn to my router with a bush and a simple home made jig but for jobs where I only want a hole to come out dead opposite where I went in then this looks like a simple solution.

Looking at the Festool offering and the UJK version I would go UJK but who would buy the Mafel, for that sort of money I would put my pillar drill in a shed with flaps each side to feed material through.
 
Another recommendation from me for the UJK one from Axminster. I’m happy with mine. I don’t have too much need to use it but when I do it does the job well.
 

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