Way back in the mists of time, I had a wolf Drill. Ran on the mains and was
not exactly the most powerful drill, no bells and whistles.
However when things did go wrong, the construction was so simple that one
could remove the back and say change brushes, even take the whole armature
out and replace it if you were minded, and spare prices were reasonable.
Somehow this ethos of make things repairable seems to be a thing of the past
at least for domestic devices. Is it just profit that is the driving force
or could it actually be made the same today and the company still turn a
profit without over pricing the spares, or maybe today's owners are
considered too thick to actually do such jobs now?

Also, I saw a spoof of a possible email of the future.
Dear customer, this is your new Philips Toaster here, the intelligence has
noticed that you have not emptied all the crumbs out now for 25 cycles of
use. It will be disabled if the toaster is not cleaned within the next 24
hours, and this could limit your warranty if it should fail.
Thank you for buying Philips.

I'm guessing this is only a few years away now.
Brian

--
----- --
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!

Brian Gaff (Sofa) wrote

Way back in the mists of time, I had a wolf Drill. Ran on the mains and
was not exactly the most powerful drill, no bells and whistles.

Yeah, I had one too, given to me as a teenager
from memory. Still got it but don’t use it anymore.

However when things did go wrong, the construction was so simple that one
could remove the back and say change brushes, even take the whole armature
out and replace it if you were minded, and spare prices were reasonable.

I never needed to do anything to mine, even when
I used it for some stuff when building the house.

Somehow this ethos of make things repairable seems to be a thing of the
past at least for domestic devices. Is it just profit that is the driving
force

Nope, it also makes it cheaper to make, particularly with
the move to indestructible plastic bodys that became
almost universal and the cost of all those spares stocked
wouldn’t have been trivial either. particularly when there
were a lot more similar devices like angle grinders etc that
a lot more could afford with the much higher standard of
living everyone ended up with.

And a lot more competition from manufacturers once the
Japs got involved which saw a lot more improved designs.

or could it actually be made the same today and the company still turn a
profit without over pricing the spares,

Nope, because its now a lot cheaper to get a chinese person
to make it for you instead of repairing it when it breaks.

or maybe today's owners are considered too thick to actually do such jobs
now?

Nope, that’s not the reason. You are free to do that
with your car and the OBD2 device makes it much
easier to work out what sensor etc has failed too.

Also, I saw a spoof of a possible email of the future.
Dear customer, this is your new Philips Toaster here, the intelligence has
noticed that you have not emptied all the crumbs out now for 25 cycles of
use. It will be disabled if the toaster is not cleaned within the next 24
hours, and this could limit your warranty if it should fail. Thank you for
buying Philips.

Printers do it now, but don’t actually email you.

I'm guessing this is only a few years away now.

Can't see it myself, many don’t have an email address.

On Mon, 13 Jul 2020 17:23:43 +1000, cantankerous trolling geezer Rodent
Speed, the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again:

FLUSH the trolling senile asshole's latest troll**** unread

--
Marland revealing the senile sociopath's pathology:
"You have mentioned Alexa in a couple of threads recently, it is not a real
woman you know even if it is the only thing with a female name that stays
around around while you talk it to it.
Poor sad git who has to resort to Usenet and electronic devices for any
interaction as all real people run a mile to get away from you boring them
to death."
MID:

On Monday, 13 July 2020 07:21:52 UTC+1, Brian Gaff (Sofa) wrote:

Way back in the mists of time, I had a wolf Drill. Ran on the mains and was
not exactly the most powerful drill, no bells and whistles.
However when things did go wrong, the construction was so simple that one
could remove the back and say change brushes, even take the whole armature
out and replace it if you were minded, and spare prices were reasonable.
Somehow this ethos of make things repairable seems to be a thing of the past
at least for domestic devices. Is it just profit that is the driving force
or could it actually be made the same today and the company still turn a
profit without over pricing the spares, or maybe today's owners are
considered too thick to actually do such jobs now?

A few years ago (vaguely) I saw new basic drills on sale for £5 I think it was. Spawn of the devil or some such brand. I gather they lasted moderately well if not used.

1. What would it cost to get an old basic Wolf repaired?
2. Since only diyers are in the market for basic drills, and only when dirt cheap, who these days would pay to repair the old Wolf? The market doesn't exist.
3. It's only a tiny percentage of folk that repair their own electrical/electronic stuff that would even consider repairing it.
4. Since the parts market is tiny, parts prices would have to be so high to avoid loss that no-one would buy them.

Reality is there is room for lots of people to learn to repair electrical/electronic stuff & make a living doing so. But once again govt policy blocks them: they can't get hold of the goods from tips.


Also, I saw a spoof of a possible email of the future.
Dear customer, this is your new Philips Toaster here, the intelligence has
noticed that you have not emptied all the crumbs out now for 25 cycles of
use. It will be disabled if the toaster is not cleaned within the next 24
hours, and this could limit your warranty if it should fail.
Thank you for buying Philips.

I'm guessing this is only a few years away now.
Brian

Being badgered by new purchases is now quite common.


NT

On 13/07/2020 10:30, wrote:
On Monday, 13 July 2020 07:21:52 UTC+1, Brian Gaff (Sofa) wrote:

Way back in the mists of time, I had a wolf Drill. Ran on the mains and was
not exactly the most powerful drill, no bells and whistles.
However when things did go wrong, the construction was so simple that one
could remove the back and say change brushes, even take the whole armature
out and replace it if you were minded, and spare prices were reasonable.
Somehow this ethos of make things repairable seems to be a thing of the past
at least for domestic devices. Is it just profit that is the driving force
or could it actually be made the same today and the company still turn a
profit without over pricing the spares, or maybe today's owners are
considered too thick to actually do such jobs now?

A few years ago (vaguely) I saw new basic drills on sale for £5 I think it was. Spawn of the devil or some such brand. I gather they lasted moderately well if not used.

1. What would it cost to get an old basic Wolf repaired?
2. Since only diyers are in the market for basic drills, and only when dirt cheap, who these days would pay to repair the old Wolf? The market doesn't exist.

In those days, hammer drills did not exist, so electric drills for DIY
or light trade were only used for drilling relatively soft substrates,
or intentionally into the mortar course.

snip
NT

On Monday, 13 July 2020 12:11:26 UTC+1, Andrew wrote:
On 13/07/2020 10:30, tabbypurr wrote:
On Monday, 13 July 2020 07:21:52 UTC+1, Brian Gaff (Sofa) wrote:

Way back in the mists of time, I had a wolf Drill. Ran on the mains and was
not exactly the most powerful drill, no bells and whistles.
However when things did go wrong, the construction was so simple that one
could remove the back and say change brushes, even take the whole armature
out and replace it if you were minded, and spare prices were reasonable.
Somehow this ethos of make things repairable seems to be a thing of the past
at least for domestic devices. Is it just profit that is the driving force
or could it actually be made the same today and the company still turn a
profit without over pricing the spares, or maybe today's owners are
considered too thick to actually do such jobs now?

A few years ago (vaguely) I saw new basic drills on sale for £5 I think it was. Spawn of the devil or some such brand. I gather they lasted moderately well if not used.

1. What would it cost to get an old basic Wolf repaired?
2. Since only diyers are in the market for basic drills, and only when dirt cheap, who these days would pay to repair the old Wolf? The market doesn't exist.

In those days, hammer drills did not exist, so electric drills for DIY
or light trade were only used for drilling relatively soft substrates,
or intentionally into the mortar course.

snip
NT


or sanding, or driving all sorts of overpriced barely functional accessories. I used to use one for drilling hard masonry, just had to accept that sometimes it worked, more often it didn't. Hammer drills were a blessing when they arrived.


NT

In article ,
Brian Gaff \(Sofa\) wrote:
Way back in the mists of time, I had a wolf Drill. Ran on the mains and
was not exactly the most powerful drill, no bells and whistles. However
when things did go wrong, the construction was so simple that one could
remove the back and say change brushes, even take the whole armature
out and replace it if you were minded, and spare prices were reasonable.
Somehow this ethos of make things repairable seems to be a thing of the
past at least for domestic devices. Is it just profit that is the
driving force or could it actually be made the same today and the
company still turn a profit without over pricing the spares, or maybe
today's owners are considered too thick to actually do such jobs now?

I remember my first power drill. Cost about a week's wages. Same thing
now, perhaps a couple of hours of a living wage.

--
*Eat well, stay fit, die anyway

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Brian Gaff \(Sofa\) wrote:
Way back in the mists of time, I had a wolf Drill. Ran on the mains and
was not exactly the most powerful drill, no bells and whistles. However
when things did go wrong, the construction was so simple that one could
remove the back and say change brushes, even take the whole armature
out and replace it if you were minded, and spare prices were reasonable.
Somehow this ethos of make things repairable seems to be a thing of the
past at least for domestic devices. Is it just profit that is the
driving force or could it actually be made the same today and the
company still turn a profit without over pricing the spares, or maybe
today's owners are considered too thick to actually do such jobs now?

I remember my first power drill. Cost about a week's wages. Same thing
now, perhaps a couple of hours of a living wage.

My first drill was Bridges. It last as long as the 2 B&Ds belonging to a
colleague.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

On 13/07/2020 07:21, Brian Gaff (Sofa) wrote:


Way back in the mists of time, I had a wolf Drill. Ran on the mains and was
not exactly the most powerful drill, no bells and whistles.
However when things did go wrong, the construction was so simple that one
could remove the back and say change brushes, even take the whole armature
out and replace it if you were minded, and spare prices were reasonable.
Somehow this ethos of make things repairable seems to be a thing of the past
at least for domestic devices. Is it just profit that is the driving force
or could it actually be made the same today and the company still turn a
profit without over pricing the spares, or maybe today's owners are
considered too thick to actually do such jobs now?

I find with the more "pro" oriented tools, parts are generally available
and the tools are serviceable. (I had to replace an armature on my
Makita SDS - easy job, and £26 for the part).

Back in the days of Wolf (when it was a real maker and not just a
"brand") the investment (in real terms) to buy the drill would probably
put it firmly into the pro category these days. So not much has changed
in that respect.

What has changed is the availability of *really* cheap tools, where
price is the key and only factor.

Also, I saw a spoof of a possible email of the future.
Dear customer, this is your new Philips Toaster here, the intelligence has
noticed that you have not emptied all the crumbs out now for 25 cycles of
use. It will be disabled if the toaster is not cleaned within the next 24
hours, and this could limit your warranty if it should fail.
Thank you for buying Philips.

I'm guessing this is only a few years away now.

I would guess its already happened. Plenty of cars will snitch if you go
over the service interval by too many miles!


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Mon, 13 Jul 2020 18:30:45 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

snip

I would guess its already happened. Plenty of cars will snitch if you go
over the service interval by too many miles!

My mates grassed him up re his top speed and how many times he had
braked hard. ;-)

This was after putting the good headlight out because he didn't change
the other (failed) one quickly enough?

Oh, and then made him limp home because he hadn't told it he had
changed the cam belt. ;-(

Cheers, T i m

Yes I can well remember the first hammer attachment for my d drill. It
seemed to consist of a cam with a sudden drop off. Talk about crude.
Brian

--
----- --
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Andrew" wrote in message
...
On 13/07/2020 10:30, wrote:
On Monday, 13 July 2020 07:21:52 UTC+1, Brian Gaff (Sofa) wrote:

Way back in the mists of time, I had a wolf Drill. Ran on the mains and
was
not exactly the most powerful drill, no bells and whistles.
However when things did go wrong, the construction was so simple that
one
could remove the back and say change brushes, even take the whole
armature
out and replace it if you were minded, and spare prices were reasonable.
Somehow this ethos of make things repairable seems to be a thing of the
past
at least for domestic devices. Is it just profit that is the driving
force
or could it actually be made the same today and the company still turn
a
profit without over pricing the spares, or maybe today's owners are
considered too thick to actually do such jobs now?

A few years ago (vaguely) I saw new basic drills on sale for £5 I think
it was. Spawn of the devil or some such brand. I gather they lasted
moderately well if not used.

1. What would it cost to get an old basic Wolf repaired?
2. Since only diyers are in the market for basic drills, and only when
dirt cheap, who these days would pay to repair the old Wolf? The market
doesn't exist.

In those days, hammer drills did not exist, so electric drills for DIY
or light trade were only used for drilling relatively soft substrates,
or intentionally into the mortar course.

snip
NT

Does anyone else keep on feeling the shake of a hammer drill for some time
after you have stopped using it?An ordinary non hammer drill for a jig saw
worked quite well for me for many years but the circular saw attachment was
lethal. The pillar drill stand worked well enough though. Sanding well yes,
but what a heck of a mess that makes.

Incidentally, I never said I still had the Wolf mentioned, I just remembered
it with some affection, a bit like Vactric Vacuum cleaners that one could
reverse and use to spray paint, normally everywhere you did not want it as
well as where you did, but heck, what a novelty!
Brian

--
----- --
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
wrote in message
...
On Monday, 13 July 2020 12:11:26 UTC+1, Andrew wrote:
On 13/07/2020 10:30, tabbypurr wrote:
On Monday, 13 July 2020 07:21:52 UTC+1, Brian Gaff (Sofa) wrote:

Way back in the mists of time, I had a wolf Drill. Ran on the mains and
was
not exactly the most powerful drill, no bells and whistles.
However when things did go wrong, the construction was so simple that
one
could remove the back and say change brushes, even take the whole
armature
out and replace it if you were minded, and spare prices were
reasonable.
Somehow this ethos of make things repairable seems to be a thing of the
past
at least for domestic devices. Is it just profit that is the driving
force
or could it actually be made the same today and the company still turn
a
profit without over pricing the spares, or maybe today's owners are
considered too thick to actually do such jobs now?

A few years ago (vaguely) I saw new basic drills on sale for £5 I think
it was. Spawn of the devil or some such brand. I gather they lasted
moderately well if not used.

1. What would it cost to get an old basic Wolf repaired?
2. Since only diyers are in the market for basic drills, and only when
dirt cheap, who these days would pay to repair the old Wolf? The market
doesn't exist.

In those days, hammer drills did not exist, so electric drills for DIY
or light trade were only used for drilling relatively soft substrates,
or intentionally into the mortar course.

snip
NT


or sanding, or driving all sorts of overpriced barely functional
accessories. I used to use one for drilling hard masonry, just had to accept
that sometimes it worked, more often it didn't. Hammer drills were a
blessing when they arrived.


NT

On Mon, 13 Jul 2020 21:15:02 +0100, "Brian Gaff \(Sofa\)"
wrote:

Does anyone else keep on feeling the shake of a hammer drill for some time
after you have stopped using it?

snip

Yes. These days power tools (possibly only when used 'professionally')
should comply with some maximum level of vibration (Hand Arm
Vibration) and you can get anti-vibration gloves you are supposed to
wear if the tool isn't up to spec to minimise it (or anyway etc).

I think it's a combination of vibration levels plus exposure time etc.

Cheers, T i m

On 13/07/2020 21:15, Brian Gaff (Sofa) wrote:
Does anyone else keep on feeling the shake of a hammer drill for some time
after you have stopped using it?

HAVS regs...tim will tell you to google it .....

On Tue, 14 Jul 2020 07:51:01 +0100, "Jim GM4DHJ ..."
wrote:

On 13/07/2020 21:15, Brian Gaff (Sofa) wrote:
Does anyone else keep on feeling the shake of a hammer drill for some time
after you have stopped using it?

HAVS regs...tim will tell you to google it .....

Brian is blind. What is your excuse?

Cheers, T i m

On 13/07/2020 13:30, wrote:


or sanding, or driving all sorts of overpriced barely functional accessories. I used to use one for drilling hard masonry, just had to accept that sometimes it worked, more often it didn't. Hammer drills were a blessing when they arrived.

+1
I inherited a drill of this kind, including all the accessories, when I
purchased my first house (in need of serious modernisation).

It was barely capable of drilling into cheese and with things such as
the circular attachment one was better off using a hand saw.


--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On Tuesday, 14 July 2020 10:42:01 UTC+1, alan_m wrote:
On 13/07/2020 13:30, tabbypurr wrote:


or sanding, or driving all sorts of overpriced barely functional accessories. I used to use one for drilling hard masonry, just had to accept that sometimes it worked, more often it didn't. Hammer drills were a blessing when they arrived.

+1
I inherited a drill of this kind, including all the accessories, when I
purchased my first house (in need of serious modernisation).

It was barely capable of drilling into cheese and with things such as
the circular attachment one was better off using a hand saw.

I once had a race, an old drill powered circular saw versus hand sawing. It was about neck & neck. The drill powered saw was so unstable that let go of it while not in the cut & it fell over instantly & vigorously. They needed sharpening frequently with steel teeth.

The old drills OTOH I've found useful in modern times now & then. They may only be 275w or whatever but one still managed to do a core drilling job (masonry) when for some reason I don't remember it was the only thing that would accept the arbour. They're tougher than they look.


NT