Meddings pillar drill value

[Pete.Participant @pete-2]

Posted by br on 12/01/2022 10:57:02:

Posted by John Haine on 12/01/2022 09:49:10:

You can buy a small mill for that price!

That sounds a much better bet to me.

Quill stroke 24mm

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

I was only making the point that the price seems excessive given what people have paid for similar machines, and the fact that something which will do a lot of what the drill does as well as milling costs not much more.

[Martin PykeParticipant @martinpyke47172]

Hi All,

Thanks to all for your advice and opinions. I did contact the guy selling the Meddings but he would not move on the price. It would also cost me £50 to get someone to collect it for me. I was also a little concerned that if there were any issues with it when I got it home, I would not be technical enough to fix them myself. TBH, I do not think a milling machine would be of benefit to me.

Although I m sure some will feel I have made the wrong decision, I have decided to go for the Axminster trade drill, and will put the £250 saved towards a Makita plunge saw and track, which is also on my list.

Very many thanks to all….

Martin

[Former MemberParticipant @formermember12892]

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[Former MemberParticipant @formermember12892]

[This posting has been removed]

[Martin PykeParticipant @martinpyke47172]

Thx

Unfortunately this drill is their own brand, so is not available elsewhere (unless under a different name).

I do agree about shopping around as the Makita set I want varies between £450 and £600 at different dealers.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Martin Pyke on 12/01/2022 16:01:02:

…

Although I m sure some will feel I have made the wrong decision, I have decided to go for the…

Martin

Of course they will, but they're thinking about their needs, not yours! Your decision is perfectly reasonable.

You dad meant well but his advice to buy the best is dubious today. While it made sense for a mid-20th century boatbuilder to buy expensive tools in expectation of 40 years hard work, it's not sensible for a newly retired gent doing occasional light drilling to spend big money on a tool that will last longer than he will. For what you're doing, it's likely a mid-range Axminster drill kept in a dry workshop will still be going strong in 2062. A lightly used Meddings might last a century or more. We won't!

Over the last 30 years, there's been a tool revolution. In the good old days cheap tools were almost always rubbish, and good tools were costly. Now we have inexpensive mid-range tools, designed and built for moderate duty and treated as consumables. Even the pros buy them because it really hurts when expensive kit is lost, damaged or stolen! Purchasing isn't as simple as your dad imagined.

End of the day, the owner has to be happy. I don't think you'll regret the £600 Axminster unless you become a bean counter. A management accountant would weep over the cost per hole! Amortizing the purchase cost only:

• One hundred holes cost £6 each
• One thousand holes cost 60p each
• Ten thousand holes cost 6p each
• One hundred thousand holes cost 0.6p each

For anyone interested in buying a new Meddings, here's Merlin Industrial's online shop. Including VAT, the L1 is £3980. Bean counters get excited about costs like that because tools have to pay for themselves and then make a profit. A new L1 has to drill 663,333 holes to get the cost down to 0.6p each.

Dave

[Martin PykeParticipant @martinpyke47172]

Cheers Dave. Actually the Axminster includes vat at £499, so slightly less per hole 😂

I have a son who will likely take all my tools on my demise, so they will hopefully not be wasted. We are fortunate to live in the property Dad built in 1953, so his former garage is now my workshop.

Cheers

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

I would say that £700 is too much, but then a new Meddings LB1 is about £2,500 so maybe inflation has caught up with me and passed me by.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Mark Rand on 12/01/2022 19:20:50:

I would say that £700 is too much, but then a new Meddings LB1 is about £2,500 so maybe inflation has caught up with me and passed me by.

.

I would probably agree, Mark … but having seen opening question as a simple either/or choice, I responded accordingly.

The discussion broadened somewhat after that.

MichaelG.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I'd put it like this: if you only ever drive to the shops, a Rolls Royce is a poor choice of transport, even if you get a used one.

[John Doe 2Participant @johndoe2]

My worries about that is how to know if the cheap-but-new machine has decent accuracy, repeatability and solidness in use. Or will it suffer chatter or sloppy angles?

The accuracy and solidness of tables and mortice guides on some machines in a certain Machine Workshop chain seem a bit Mickey Mouse.

Also, is modern cheap equipment made of decent grade metals, motors, bearings etc, or will it flash-rust in minutes in your garage?

How does one confirm the quality of modern cheap tools?

[HOWARDTParticipant @howardt]

I have a Rexon pillar drill, bought about thirty five years ago, I think from Axminster at a wood working show that used to run at the Warwickshire Event Centre. It probably cost around £75 then and it is still used today. My philosophy is unless you are going to be on a machine for an extended time there is little use throwing money at it. If you are worried about accuracy then a pillar drill is not the tool to use unless it is used with jigs and fixtures,

[Mike CrossfieldParticipant @mikecrossfield92481]

By coincidence I just noticed that there is a Fobco Star drill for sale by Bede Machine Tools, advertised on the HomeWorkshop website. Looks decent enough in the photos. £275, which is more like the sort of price I would expect, and pretty good for a trader. Even includes a drill vice.

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