What's this?

[Gefreiter Krueger]

[John Williamson]

It looks like the holder that Black & Decker sold many years ago to turn one of their metal bodied drills into a sort of lathe.

Shows the complete setup.

[Andrew Mawson]

A bench mount for an early Black & Decker drill. It's standing on it's end in the photo

AWEM

[Bob Eager]

Bench stand for an old Black and Decker.

[Graham.]

We expected extra value from our power tools in those days.

[Gefreiter Krueger]

Ah I see. Not much use to me then, I've only got this bit.

[Bob Eager]

My dad only had that bit (it was all he bought). He used to use it to mount the drill so he could run the sander as a stationary device. Also for the flexible drive.

[Roger Mills]

What you've got is similar to the lathe's drill holder - but it's not the same.

Yours is designed for holding the drill in a horizontal position when it is driving chuck-held[1] accessories such as grinding wheels, sanding plates, etc.

[1] In some cases, the accessories might screw directly into the drill's output shaft in place of the chuck rather than having a spindle which needs to be held in the chuck

[Gefreiter Krueger]

I think I'd just put the drill in my vice. My drills don't seem to fit into that holder anyway, the drills are too large, it seems to have been designed for a very puny little thing.

[John Rumm]

The original B&D drill format had a standardised case with lugs on the that meant they fitted all the various add ons even where the actual drill size varied in length. The back handle bit seemed to be a standard size, but he gearbox length would vary.

Some photos

rather depressingly it seemed surprisingly difficult to elicit photos from google of what many of us would recognise as the classic drill style of our youth. Had to use the word "antique" in the end to dredge up these:

[Roger Mills]

It will only fit B&D drills - other makes require something different, often collar clamps. It was probably designed for single speed B&D drills. As soon as you include a 2-speed gearbox, the drill tends to be too long to fit. You can squeeze a bit more length out of the stand by moving the locknut outside the frame rather than inside, but that only gains you a bit. I think I did once make one fit a 2-speed drill by doing that (or was that a vertical drill stand - using the same system?) It was all a long time ago - I have long since invested in dedicated tools with their own motors rather than drill attachments.

[Gefreiter Krueger]

I've never seen such stubby things.

[John Rumm]

Yes had one of those... had all the ergonomic charm of bagpipes!

[petek]

I've still got a similar one, but mine is the one made of sheet steel that screws directly to a bench or a wooden base. The one pictured is the cast o ne that doubled as a headstock in the B&D lathe. Mine is permanently screwe d to a wooden base which is very quick and easy to clamp in my workmate whe n I need it. I still have an old B&D single speed drill which fits it - must be 40+ year s old now. Usually use it with a buffing wheel, flap wheel or sander. Still have the B&D vertical drill stand - not very accurate but surprisingl y useful now and then. Just to complete the picture I also have a circular saw and an orbital sand er both of which take the old drill. All the above excellent value and have served me well over the years. Nostalgia ain't what it used to be! Pete

[Gefreiter Krueger]

Do you still get the equivalent of a workmate?

[Chris Bartram]

A drill stand for an old Black & Decker.

[Tim Lamb]

I still use the finger jointing kit.

Too right. How many overheated armatures got replaced over the years?

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

Not once Adam's reamed them out.

[Old Git]

+1

[Ramsman]

BTDTGTTS

Rearranging stuff in the garage the other day, I came across a crate with my and my dad's old B&D attachments. They date from the late

60s/early 70s. I'd fitted both the horizontal & vertical drill stands onto wooden bases with a square section underneath for the Workmate, in the same way as you did.

There's also a grinding/buffing wheel attachment. The wheel itself fits onto an arbor screwed to the drill shaft, and the shield/rest attaches to the horizontal stand. I think the 2-speed drill fits the stand, but it's a long time since I used it.

There are also sanding pad, circular saw, jigsaw and orbital sander attachments. ISTR a hammer drill attachment as well.

Dad had a lathe attachment, but I never used it and I'm not sure if its still around.

I still have an instruction leaflet for all the accessories; how sad is that?