Right-angle Hand Drill Attachment

[JimG]

Can anyone recommend a good right angle attachment for a hand drill? I forgot to cut access holes in the supports on my FS160 layout baseboards and I'm starting wiring now and need to get a few holes drilled for wiring. I've had a look at products on places like Amazon but the one star and two star reviews are quite off-putting with comments on the short life of the gears involved.

Jim.

 

[Bill Campbell]

Hi Jim

Screwfix have a selection of these - worth a look?

Regards.

 

[Martin Shaw]

Jim
I have one of these which almost certainly came from Amazon or somesuch. It works well enough but is marked 500rpm max. I suspect speeds in excess and lack of lubrication contribute to premature gear wear. I would suggest probably adequate for model railway needs.
Martin

 

[paulc]

Most of them will work fine but if you want a large ish hole you need to work your way up with pilot holes .
'General' brand make a good unit if you can find one in the UK .

 

[jonte]

Sorry I’m a bit late to the party, Jim, but if it’s of any help here’s a couple of shots of my use of one of these apparatuses(?):




This was to rectify the means employed to join the two folding halves of a classic Minories layout I built a couple of years or so ago. I followed the time honoured method of using hinges above the joint, and adopted the ‘de rigeur’ use of those darned chrome catches. However, it was soon apparent that neither would stand the test of time, so remedial action was called for in the form of hinges with their pins removed to replace the useless catches, and the fitting of the following barrel and bolt, to join the boards which I found in my scrap box:



But in practise, was easier said than done, which involved the securing of the joint to be ‘attacked’, anchored with the use of batons across the uprights and clamp (a real ‘obstruction’) to fasten the boards securely enough before I could even begin to use my new implement:



Then, as can be seen from the lower photo, a bit of hacking away of the frame had to be undertaken to allow the drill bit access to the adjoining cross members, which was a bit of a faff.

It did the job, Jim, but would prefer not to have to repeat the exercise, not through any fault of the drill attachment itself, but because of the preparation and making good afterwards:



As a previous poster mentioned, I think they’re available online from Amazon, although from memory, mine came from Screwfix.

Hope that helps, Jim.

Jon

 

[jonte]

Apologies for over-egging the pud, Jim, but just found these that show the replacement hinges in use:



And here’s one of the drill and ninety degree angled attachment attached:



Incidentally, the chrome catches weren’t wasted, and helped ‘fix’ the boards when stacked:



A lot of tidying of the splintered wood effect to be carried out

Jon

 

[JimG]

I've gone with the recommendations and this arrived today :-



It's a different colour but I suppose it came out of the same factory in the Far East. As Martin suggested, it should be fine for drilling 1/4" holes in 5mm plywood.

Jim.