Vintage Black and Decker drill and drill press

[AlexWistlib]

Hi,
I’ve acquired a 1970s or 1980s B and D GD80 drill press and need to find the most useable and original drill it will accept.
I know it will take a D720 drill, but is there a more powerful drill with a similar body to allow it to fit the GD80 drill press?
Any information on drills contemporaneous with this drill press greatly received! TIA, Alex

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Hi,
I’ve acquired a 1970s or 1980s B and D GD80 drill press and need to find the most useable and original drill it will accept.
I know it will take a D720 drill, but is there a more powerful drill with a similar body to allow it to fit the GD80 drill press?

I presume that's the drill press you are talking about. From having had one they aren't the heaviest or most rigid of drill presses, but for less precise work they at least allow you to drill a square hole.

TBH Black & Decker moved away from this type of "stirrup mount" style of drill press during the 1980s when the adopted the 43mm "Euro collar" being promoted by German makers such as Bosch and AEG. As the early 80s was also a time when drill motor power was increasing from the 325 to 400 watt band that had been common in the 1970s you might find a few drills more powerful that the 1970s DN720 (with about 400 watts) such as the 400H (at 450 watts and 1200/3000rpm):

but the limit seems to have been about 470 watts (from memory) and you can more or less forget "advanced" features such as variable speed as these were rare on even trade tools in the early 1980s, and although B&D did make a few variable speed "stirrup mount" drills, working models are like hen's teeth these days because they were expensive in the first case and the switch gear was definitely made down to a price, so isn't all that durable

If you are looking for a compatible drill that's reliable I'd possibly look for a DN720 rather than that all plastic horror above - later DN720 models (orange plastic body/lt. grey metal gearbox) are 400 watts (enough for a lot of drilling), have 2-speed mechanical change gearboxes (something like 750 and 2400rpm) and a simple, relatively reliable switch. You may need to wash the gearbox out with petrol and repack it with a dollop of lithium grease and the plain back bearing may need a spot of sewing machine oil on it from time but there is little to go wrong with them other than the brushes.

TBH if you want a more robust drilling stand you are far better off looking at a Stanley-Bridges drill press which are somewhat heavier and more rigid (and will take some B&D drills - the ones with a short round collar)

or the Arcoy one, which is cast iron (instead of the cast aluminium of the B&D and S-B models) and frankly built like a brick dunny. The problem is that all of this stuff is now very old and getting drills to fit isn't always that easy. Also 450/470 watts is about the limit on all of them (the biggest ever Stanley-Bridges DIY drill, the XJ504, was actually a whole 500 watts with 2 mechanical speeds on the gearbox and two electronic speeds - giving 4 speeds in all).

If you are interested I'll pull a few of these out of the lock-up later today and post some pics

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I presume that's the drill press you are talking about. From having had one they aren't the heaviest or most rigid of drill presses, but for less precise work they at least allow you to drill a square hole.

That would be some trick

 

[Deleted member 174758]

What I meant, Harry, was that whilst they can drill more or less vertically, they can shimmy from side to side a little

 

[Deleted member 174758]

OP, this is a late 19660s/early 1970s B&D V840 (400 watts, 2-speed, 900/2400rpm). Later models had a sandy coloured gearbox instead of the metallic painted one.

The V-series were top of the line drills with glass fibre-reinforced nylon bodies and metal gearboxes and all had some extra features (at a time when the basic drills were 370 watts and metal-bodied) - the V840 had a forwards/reverse switch, although it lacked any form of speed control other than the standard 2-speed (mechanical) gearbox. If you wanted to drive screws with it you'd have needed to purchase an accessory screwdriver like the silver object below it (BTW that's from an earlier style of drill - I have never seen a working screwdriver attachment to fit the V840). Like a lot of old drills with electronic features this one has electronic problems - the reverse switch on this one (incorporated into the pull trigger) no longer functions, but the rest of the drill is fine. The V-series was the first to feature a variable speed drill in the range, but again these days they are as rare as rocking horse doo-doo, possibly because they were so very expensive when new

Below is a late-1970s/early-1980s H300 drill (300 watts, 2-speed electronic - 2600/3100rpm, 10mm chuck).

Note the "Black & Decker" name embossed into the side and the all plastic casing. Only the top of the line models got a 1/2in (13mm) chuck and the 2-speed (mechanical) gearbox. Jacobs chucks were relatively expensive in the 50's to 70's and that carried over a long time, even after B&D started to make their own chucks. The switch on the side handle is the speed control switch. Note the red(ish) colour, too - I think that B&D were maybe trying to muscle-in on Stanley-Bridges and Wolf, both of who had introduced bright red "Challenge" models in the 1970s as "value" models, or maybe not. Either way an odd colour for an all-plastic B&D drill

 

[Diver Fred]

AlexWistlib, - Snap..!

Actually I gained one of those drill stands some years ago complete with a drill that would occasionally not start*. Since then I've acquired a couple of drills that fit and managed to make two fully working drills out of the three. One 2 speed, one single speed. And No, I'm not selling any of them.

You could try Car Boot sales to find a drill or 2, otherwise you may have a second hand shop in your area that sells everything.

*One armature segment damaged.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

What I meant, Harry, was that whilst they can drill more or less vertically, they can shimmy from side to side a little

I knew exactly what you meant

 

[Tigercubrider]

Unless it's a display piece. don't bother. It's different if you find one at a Car Boot.

A cheap pillar drill from B&Q will thrash a B&D antique

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Came across this on YouTube:

The Jacobs chuck probably makes it a few years older than the guy posting it reckons it is, but the approach is generally sound. It's a DNJ52, which is slightly less powerful (370 watts?) than the DN720 drill but otherwise very similar (I think the "J" indicates a Jacobs chuck, "52" indicates that it is the 520 size motor). One thing I think he missed, though - the star-shaped cast piece at the back end of the body has a felt insert which is designed to hold a few drops of light machine oil, not grease (the bearing is actually a plain phosphor bronze bushing), Best way to deal with them is to soak them in a jar of light oil for a day or so. You are supposed to add 2 to 3 drops of oil periodically otherwise they can sieze. Not sure that grease would do it much good in the long term. Also needs a bit more grease packing in the gearbox. I'll leave comments about the electrical work to others

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

The Jacobs chuck probably makes it a few years older than the guy posting it reckons it is, but the approach is generally sound. It's a DNJ52, which is slightly less powerful (370 watts?) than the DN720 drill but otherwise very similar (I think the "J" indicates a Jacobs chuck, "52" indicates that it is the 520 size motor). One thing I think he missed, though - the star-shaped cast piece at the back end of the body has a felt insert which is designed to hold a few drops of light machine oil, not grease (the bearing is actually a plain phosphor bronze bushing), Best way to deal with them is to soak them in a jar of light oil for a day or so.

Mu first drill was identical to that, except mine was the hammer version.

 

[AlexWistlib]

View attachment 260331

I presume that's the drill press you are talking about. From having had one they aren't the heaviest or most rigid of drill presses, but for less precise work they at least allow you to drill a square hole.

TBH Black & Decker moved away from this type of "stirrup mount" style of drill press during the 1980s when the adopted the 43mm "Euro collar" being promoted by German makers such as Bosch and AEG. As the early 80s was also a time when drill motor power was increasing from the 325 to 400 watt band that had been common in the 1970s you might find a few drills more powerful that the 1970s DN720 (with about 400 watts) such as the 400H (at 450 watts and 1200/3000rpm):

View attachment 260332

but the limit seems to have been about 470 watts (from memory) and you can more or less forget "advanced" features such as variable speed as these were rare on even trade tools in the early 1980s, and although B&D did make a few variable speed "stirrup mount" drills, working models are like hen's teeth these days because they were expensive in the first case and the switch gear was definitely made down to a price, so isn't all that durable

If you are looking for a compatible drill that's reliable I'd possibly look for a DN720 rather than that all plastic horror above - later DN720 models (orange plastic body/lt. grey metal gearbox) are 400 watts (enough for a lot of drilling), have 2-speed mechanical change gearboxes (something like 750 and 2400rpm) and a simple, relatively reliable switch. You may need to wash the gearbox out with petrol and repack it with a dollop of lithium grease and the plain back bearing may need a spot of sewing machine oil on it from time but there is little to go wrong with them other than the brushes.

TBH if you want a more robust drilling stand you are far better off looking at a Stanley-Bridges drill press which are somewhat heavier and more rigid (and will take some B&D drills - the ones with a short round collar)

View attachment 260333

or the Arcoy one, which is cast iron (instead of the cast aluminium of the B&D and S-B models) and frankly built like a brick dunny. The problem is that all of this stuff is now very old and getting drills to fit isn't always that easy. Also 450/470 watts is about the limit on all of them (the biggest ever Stanley-Bridges DIY drill, the XJ504, was actually a whole 500 watts with 2 mechanical speeds on the gearbox and two electronic speeds - giving 4 speeds in all).

If you are interested I'll pull a few of these out of the lock-up later today and post some pics

 

[Deleted member 174758]

???

 

[AlexWistlib]

View attachment 260331

I presume that's the drill press you are talking about. From having had one they aren't the heaviest or most rigid of drill presses, but for less precise work they at least allow you to drill a square hole.

TBH Black & Decker moved away from this type of "stirrup mount" style of drill press during the 1980s when the adopted the 43mm "Euro collar" being promoted by German makers such as Bosch and AEG. As the early 80s was also a time when drill motor power was increasing from the 325 to 400 watt band that had been common in the 1970s you might find a few drills more powerful that the 1970s DN720 (with about 400 watts) such as the 400H (at 450 watts and 1200/3000rpm):

View attachment 260332

but the limit seems to have been about 470 watts (from memory) and you can more or less forget "advanced" features such as variable speed as these were rare on even trade tools in the early 1980s, and although B&D did make a few variable speed "stirrup mount" drills, working models are like hen's teeth these days because they were expensive in the first case and the switch gear was definitely made down to a price, so isn't all that durable

If you are looking for a compatible drill that's reliable I'd possibly look for a DN720 rather than that all plastic horror above - later DN720 models (orange plastic body/lt. grey metal gearbox) are 400 watts (enough for a lot of drilling), have 2-speed mechanical change gearboxes (something like 750 and 2400rpm) and a simple, relatively reliable switch. You may need to wash the gearbox out with petrol and repack it with a dollop of lithium grease and the plain back bearing may need a spot of sewing machine oil on it from time but there is little to go wrong with them other than the brushes.

TBH if you want a more robust drilling stand you are far better off looking at a Stanley-Bridges drill press which are somewhat heavier and more rigid (and will take some B&D drills - the ones with a short round collar)

View attachment 260333

or the Arcoy one, which is cast iron (instead of the cast aluminium of the B&D and S-B models) and frankly built like a brick dunny. The problem is that all of this stuff is now very old and getting drills to fit isn't always that easy. Also 450/470 watts is about the limit on all of them (the biggest ever Stanley-Bridges DIY drill, the XJ504, was actually a whole 500 watts with 2 mechanical speeds on the gearbox and two electronic speeds - giving 4 speeds in all).

If you are interested I'll pull a few of these out of the lock-up later today and post some pics

 

[AlexWistlib]

View attachment 260331

I presume that's the drill press you are talking about. From having had one they aren't the heaviest or most rigid of drill presses, but for less precise work they at least allow you to drill a square hole.

TBH Black & Decker moved away from this type of "stirrup mount" style of drill press during the 1980s when the adopted the 43mm "Euro collar" being promoted by German makers such as Bosch and AEG. As the early 80s was also a time when drill motor power was increasing from the 325 to 400 watt band that had been common in the 1970s you might find a few drills more powerful that the 1970s DN720 (with about 400 watts) such as the 400H (at 450 watts and 1200/3000rpm):

View attachment 260332

but the limit seems to have been about 470 watts (from memory) and you can more or less forget "advanced" features such as variable speed as these were rare on even trade tools in the early 1980s, and although B&D did make a few variable speed "stirrup mount" drills, working models are like hen's teeth these days because they were expensive in the first case and the switch gear was definitely made down to a price, so isn't all that durable

If you are looking for a compatible drill that's reliable I'd possibly look for a DN720 rather than that all plastic horror above - later DN720 models (orange plastic body/lt. grey metal gearbox) are 400 watts (enough for a lot of drilling), have 2-speed mechanical change gearboxes (something like 750 and 2400rpm) and a simple, relatively reliable switch. You may need to wash the gearbox out with petrol and repack it with a dollop of lithium grease and the plain back bearing may need a spot of sewing machine oil on it from time but there is little to go wrong with them other than the brushes.

TBH if you want a more robust drilling stand you are far better off looking at a Stanley-Bridges drill press which are somewhat heavier and more rigid (and will take some B&D drills - the ones with a short round collar)

View attachment 260333

or the Arcoy one, which is cast iron (instead of the cast aluminium of the B&D and S-B models) and frankly built like a brick dunny. The problem is that all of this stuff is now very old and getting drills to fit isn't always that easy. Also 450/470 watts is about the limit on all of them (the biggest ever Stanley-Bridges DIY drill, the XJ504, was actually a whole 500 watts with 2 mechanical speeds on the gearbox and two electronic speeds - giving 4 speeds in all).

If you are interested I'll pull a few of these out of the lock-up later today and post some pics

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Sorry Alex, but you are just reposting my original post without adding your own comments