Old Drill, New Purpose...

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I almost chucked my old cordless drill in the electrical waste skip at the Council Recycling Depot yesterday, as the original NiCad batteries have long since bitten the dust and are non-standard anyway, so I can't replace them. I bought the drill as part of a set of portable tools from B&Q some twenty years ago, and until the demise of the cells they all did good service for about fifteen years. The batteries and the charger did end up being put in the recycling, but a thought struck me regarding the tools themselves: they've all got decent low voltage DC motors and electronic speed controllers, that still function.

Dismantling the drill this afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it has a metal gearbox: something normally associated with much more expensive kit than generic store-branded stuff like this. It's no wonder it's all lasted so well, despite the amount of use it's had over the years. I think this will form the basis of some little project: maybe as a small milling spindle thing for the lathe, or perhaps to motorize the blade-lift on the table saw. Dunno, but I'll think of something. Spring's on the way and the workshop is becoming more hospitable by the day as the weather warms up...
 

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