Drill Stand Aids

[GailInNM]

Drill stands are very handy but can be a pain to use. I did a thread about 5 years ago on improving readability. And it made a big improvement in ease of use.

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/f34/improving-readability-drill-stand-lettering-2976/

Since then I had a stroke and lost a lot of fine motor skills. With my fat fingers I always had problems getting small drills aligned in the stand and now it is much worse. It's really bad when I have to put a short drill in between two longer drills. A tweezer worked well but usually some where on the other side of the shop.

I picked up an inexpensive steel tweezer in the cosmetics department at local store. After cleaning various cutting oil residue off the stand I glued two small super magnets to the stand with epoxy. One magnet would work just as well.

Now the tweezer travels with the drill stand around the shop.

To make the drills easier to locate in the bottom hole of the stand, grind a small blunt point on the end of the drill. Don't make it sharp or it will not slide easily while you are trying to locate the hole.
Gail in NM

 

[kuhncw]

Gail, thanks for posting this. Great idea.

Chuck

 

[terryzilla]

Gail, Great idea. Sorry to here about your stroke. I had on several years ago. Keep working on you your dexterity. It will better but it will take time and effort.

Terry