Wolf tools

[Fred Page]

I'm ill at ease in contemplating purchase of a bench mounted 500W drill by WOLF but only obtainable via Amazon.
Amazon is not my favourite supplier and the idea of having a possible problem with a bench drill handled by this supplier causes me serious concern.
Does anyone on this forum care to comment - positive or negative.

Is Amazon truly the only UK supplier?

 

[NazNomad]

http://www.ukhs.tv/WOLF-Engineers-9-Speed-Pillar-Drill

 

[user22161]

Wolf tools back in the '50s were quite good quality UK and Australian manufactured but are just generic Chinese these days so most likely available elsewhere under another label.

 

[Duncan A]

I assume that you're choosing this drill over the countless similar ones from China because this offers more speeds.
Personally, I wouldn't buy this without seeing it in use first, as quality at that price will be poor; very likely with play in the quill and flex in the table.
The website you linked to tells lies: the drill is NOT suitable for any of the claimed target users: "business maintenance workshops, engineer workshops and the serious DIYer, this pillar drill is built for the most discerning user".
Only you know what you want it for, and how much you are willing to spend, but if you are indeed looking for something of this type, buy it from someone that it is easy to return to.
Be aware also that the smallest drill size that the chuck takes is 3mm; really annoying on the day you want to drill some 2mm holes. DAMHIKT!
Better to buy second hand although I appreciate that is not for everybody.
Duncan

 

[Simou1]

Wolf tools can be bought from UKHS themselves, off their EBay site or off Amazon. On Amazon you can purchase from UKHS or 'supplied by UKHS but fulfilled by Amazon'. 'Fulfilled by Amazon' means you deal with their customer services in the event of a problem. You clearly have history with Amazon but I have found their customer service to be superb. My one and only dealing with UKHS was, to put it mildly, 'interesting'.

As for the drill, it is a re-badged generic chinese made unit which varies in quality by the hour of production. I have a very similar Lidl drill which cost £49.99 and it has been super. Others on this site who have bought the Lidl drill wouldnt use it as a boat anchor. If you do go ahead and buy one please make sure that the returns procedure is watertight ( ie Amazon/Lidl/Aldi). I fear you may need it.

I wouldnt give UKHS house room.

 

[AES]

I echo some of the comments above:

Amazon customer service - I've found then superb (3 times), so IMO, no problem there;

That particular drill - maybe OK, a lot depends on what you want to do with it. The chuck size is nice and big (16mm) and the 3 mm smallest is not a big problem in my experience, you just fit a smaller chuck, either direct on to the quill, or buy a separate small chuck complete with hex drive shaft and chuck it into the big chuck (about ten quid). But the motor is a bit small at 500 Watts (my Rexxon "only" does up to 13 mm and is 650 Watts). Biggest problem is that until you get your hands on it, you won't know how good the chuck is, nor the quill (run out);

Aldi & Lidl - again personally I've had a lot of success with Parkside and Workzone tools - generally fantastic value for money, but of course, they ain't Festool, etc quality - far from it. But they work/do the job, and again a lot depends on your budget. I've also had a couple of duds, but found their no-quibble guarantee just that - absolutely faultless.

In short, if that's your budget and can afford to wait, buy second hand (you can check run out before buying);
if not, then buy where you can take it back easily if there's a problem.

I THINK that just about all new drill presses at that price are going to be much of a muchness, and most probably come from Asia (though IMO, coming from Asia doesn't necessarily mean junk).

HTH, good luck.

AES

 

[Eric The Viking]

Tell us what you intend to use it for!

The one pictured looks pretty similar to my Clarke (different paint job). I got mine replaced because of runout, but even the current one isn't good. But it is good enough most of the time (infuriating when it isn't though).

I have a much better, Rohm, chuck for small drills, with its own MT2 Morse taper adaptor fitted permanently. To be honest the bigger problem is finding a reliable source of small jobber drills in small quantities. The temptation is to use them long after they have gone blunt.

You almost always don't really need a chuck size above about 10mm, for woodwork. Bigger drills, such as Forstners, usually have 8 or 10mm shanks. And in any case, you need quite slow speeds to use big jobber drills, and the cheapest Chinese presses can't do it. The only time I really use larger is for very odd things, such as boring wooden blocks to make storage for 1/2" shank router cutters, or occasional cable grommet holes in die-cast boxes (when I'm in a rush). But the results aren't pretty in metal and a proper hole punch or even a cone/step cutter gives a much better finish.

The best advice is above this post. Cheap new Chinese ones are variable quality, and you will need to do a lot of fettling if you want consistently good performance (and it may be impossible with an individual unit). Secondhand is a safer and probably better choice. I learned the hard way...

 

[memzey]

+1 as regards looking in the second hand market. I picked up my Fobco Star a couple of years ago for about £50 and it is night and day when compared with modern far eastern alternatives. On full quill extension run out is less than my dti can pick up (< half a thou’) and it’s so solid and smooth. I did have to look on gumtree, eBay and pre-loved for a few months before the right one in the right location became available though which might be a consideration for you.

 

[skipdiver]

I've been looking for a Fobco Star or similar for over 18 months on all the usual sites. Ended up buying a Clarke Metalworker,which i stripped down and cleaned, then fitted new bearings. It's ok to tide me over but i keep looking. Can never find the right one at the right price in the right location. Getting one for £50 is rather fortunate.

 

[skipdiver]

Just seen a 500w manufacture refurbished Wolf bench drill on Ebay for £80 with free delivery if you are still thinking of getting one.

 

[Fred Page]

Grateful thanks to all who replied to my uncertainties re purchase of WOLF drill press.
Almost too many points to consider. I will probably go ahead via Amazon. I'm not looking for precision drilling - just straight holes.
Mr Wolf, here I come!

 

[bourbon]

Wolf tools back in the '50s were quite good quality UK and Australian manufactured but are just generic Chinese these days so most likely available elsewhere under another label.

The Old Wolf (where my late dad worked) Has no connection with the present company. I was told that by a rep at a show

 

[user22161]

The Old Wolf (where my late dad worked) Has no connection with the present company. I was told that by a rep at a show

And I would suspect nowhere near the quality of the old company either. At least they do seem to carry spares unlike many internet retailers and the likes of Screwfix/B&Q.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

No. I had an old Wolf 4" belt sander of which the Makita (afaik) was a clone - I believe the thing would have survived a nuclear war.

 

[MikeJhn]

I have an old Wolf drill that I inherited from my father, it still has the original rubber flex, it is very long/heavy and does not have a front handle or provision for fitting one, still works, but is not a go to tool.

Mike

 

[user22161]

I have an old Wolf drill that I inherited from my father, it still has the original rubber flex, it is very long/heavy and does not have a front handle or provision for fitting one, still works, but is not a go to tool. Mike

I remember my father buying his first electric drill, a Bridges with the table saw attachment, the Wolf came a bit later. Certainly not a "go to" tool by today's standards but in those days they were the bogs dollocks.

 

[bourbon]

Dad had ALL the accessories for the wolf cub. Sadly, in the midst of time, most of them have been lost. I still have a few though

 

[Jack_the_Lad]

No. I had an old Wolf 4" belt sander of which the Makita (afaik) was a clone - I believe the thing would have survived a nuclear war.

It was the other way round, Phil - Wolf gave-up making their own belt sanders somewhere in the mid-1960s and decided to buy-in firstly the Makita 9400 belt sander, and later on the 9401 when that became the current model. They also bought-in various power planers. The arrangement must have come to an end somewhere between the time in their take-over (by Kango) in the 1980s and the commencement of manufacturing by Makita in the UK in 1991, at which point Kango-Wolf (or Kango Ltd as they had become) had started to sell Holz-Her belt sanders and planers

A word of caution about tools badged "Wolf", though:

As I said the original firm was absorbed by Kango in the early to mid-1980s becoming firstly Kango-Wolf and later just Kango Ltd. Certainly by 1984 the name "Wolf" had disappeared off all the tools. Quality remained good, but when Kango were themselves bought-out by Atlas-Copco of Sweden in 1993 much of the range was scrapped in favour of models branded "Atlas-Copco". Most of these were actually made in Germany by AEG, another A-C subsidiary. It didn't take long to decimate the original tool line-up and finally for the last few years they were made even the heavy Kango breakers (e.g. the 900 and 950 in particular) were manufactured in Germany along with a few other ex-Kango designs. Rumour has it that what is now sold as the Milwaukee 3kg SDS drills (with the "drop pot" motor) were originally designed at Peterborough as a replacement for the Kango lightweight SDS drills - but that manufacturing was sent to Germany when A-C took over. Don't know how true that is, but the A-C and Milwaukee drills of that ilk, which appeared in the mid-1990s, look a lot more like a Kango design than anything AEG had ever designed up to that point. The name "Wolf" was sold off sometime around the time of the sale of Atlas-Copco's power tool division (comprising AEG, Milwaukee and what was left from Kango) to Hong Kong firm TTI (owners of Ryobi, etc). The next owner of the name applied the name and logo to a lot of unreliable Chinese tools and so it has been ever since.

So if you want to buy a real Wolf tool it must be marked "Made in England" or "Assembled in England" and have a London address - Wolf were at Hanger Lane for decades. Anything else just isn't a Wolf and the quality is therefore suspect.