Picked up a 1950s Bridges tabletop lathe. The machine itself looks reasonab ly well made, though obviously a basic 'utility' model. But the workpiece i s driven by a clamped electric drill. Any comments on the usefulness, perfo rmance, tricks etc of these things?
NT
ably well made, though obviously a basic 'utility' model. But the workpiece is driven by a clamped electric drill. Any comments on the usefulness, per formance, tricks etc of these things?
ISTR Bridges stuff was crap. They had a whole range of tools driven by their electric drill. Jigsaws, Circular saws etc. Looked good on paper when such stuff was relati vely expensive compared with today. It soon wore out. Electric drills in general are only intended for intermittent use and soon overheat used for more continuous duty. The Bridges one was no exception.
onably well made, though obviously a basic 'utility' model. But the workpie ce is driven by a clamped electric drill. Any comments on the usefulness, p erformance, tricks etc of these things?
tively expensive compared with today.
n overheat used for more continuous duty. The Bridges one was no exception.
I'm aware a drill is not ideal due to low duty cycle, limited life and lack of speed control. OTOH I've got a few of them & they can be found for abou t nothing. Other than that I don't see any problems with the Bridges lathe, it looks heavily made & capable compared to other desktop lathes I've seen . I daresay that for occasional use the drill can be run in bursts rather t han continuously.
Bridges became Stanley. I tried a B&D drill powered circular saw years ago, too slow to be worthwhile but by the standards of the 1950s I bet they wer e as good as a non-pro could ever hope for.
NT
My 1963 Bridges drill outlasted 3 B&D ones owned by a colleague.
In message , harry writes
I had a drill that looked just like the one in the video, but badged Stanley-Bridges and yellow and black. I used it for about 30 years, and it outlasted several other drills bought and discarded during its life. It finally died when I used it to drive a rod-mounted holesaw through 3 feet of substantial timber to take the sterntube for the boat. It did all of the donkey work, only expiring a very short distance from the end.
The other issue with using drills as anything other than hole borers is that their output shaft bearings are only intended to be used for axial loads. They won't put up with much in the way of radial loading. Reminds me of these people that try to convert pillar drills into milling machines.
That brings back memories. One quarter inch electric drill and a huge range of attachments to 'transform' it into a press drill, table saw, bench planer, grinder, lathe etc. ISTR the lathe was hinged at the tailstock so you could swing it upwards and convert to a drill press.
I used to envy a friend who had one with lots of the attachments, it was far superior to my Black and Decker.
onably well made, though obviously a basic 'utility' model. But the workpie ce is driven by a clamped electric drill. Any comments on the usefulness, p erformance, tricks etc of these things?
Whoever assembled this one bolted down the slideable drill-holding head as well as both ends of the rails - I have to wonder if he ever used the thing . The drill powered circular saw's blade is also much as new.
The Bridges is all cast, the few bits of B&D lathe that came with it are th in tinplate.
NT
Funnily enough, a few days ago (for a few days :) ) a neighbour somewhere has been doing some garden work. I'm guessing hedge trimming ???
Either way, the noise from the tool is so tinny and lightweight, it reminded me that for a long while, an awful lot of DIY power tools were actually bolt-ons for the ubiquitous electric drill.
Presumably at some point it became cheap enough to fit each tool with it's own motor ?
Jethro_uk formulated on Wednesday :
..and the early hedge cutters, were just the usual add-on to a drill adaptor, but with the usual drill motor part permanently fixed. I through an old B&D version of that out of the hut last year.
Which isn't saying much, mind you.
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