Gentlemen, if some product was suddenly removed from the market, it’s often not because of some “unprecedented demand”, but more likely a patent infringement. The “refinement” is either to avoid those patents or to wait out until they expire.
Which is a shame because the UJK seems to have checked all my boxes. I’d say just keep waiting and it will show up eventually. Or use a drill press, some cheap ones cost the same.
Sorry about the delay in responding but I fell foul of the Axminster ‘you’re a newby and so can’t post many things in a single thread’ rule. (A chat with a moderator on a new thread sorted the problem (I’m very impressed!)) So here’s what I was going to post late June:
I’ve got a drill press, but it isn’t easy to carry around 
In terms of patents - I can’t see anything patentable - it’s basically a drill guide, but just one that is well made (hopefully) and hence pretty precise and perhaps even accurate. If another company held a patent and was objecting then we would be overrun with adverts for their product. 
The latest post on InstaG this morning indicates that the new and improved version will shortly (!) be back.
How much?
Must be good.
S.
Well well well… I never thought I’d see the day! lol
Here it is:
Not in stock however. Does that mean it’s sold out again already or still not available?
£160 is a bit more than the previous version and no keyless chuck either but it’s been a long wait and am looking forward to fondling it in one of their stores.
Probably means it’s a big container on the high seas somewhere between the Far East and Blighty
To save £££ and save the environment, big container ships now run at a fraction of their full power and can take several months to make the trip - as I found out when when I ordered some off road MB tyres that were ‘in transit’ from China!! I was told that the delay was estimated (by the importers) as 4 - 6 months!
From what I remember, it’s only about £15 more expensive - and given the delay that could easily be the inflation!
Has anyone ordered and actually received a drill guide yet? 
A little bird told me that the first small batch is bought and paid for by customers and will be on our shores very soon. A second batch will arrive shortly after and that including those just mentioned, Axminster have a total of 500 on the way.
Thank you - I now feel a lot more confident on spending ££ on the white rabbit! 
With respect to Redsilverdog’s post on Oct 3rd and since I missed the original batch I thought I’d wait a bit for the 500 shipment - £160 waiting in limbo is a bit too risky
It’s now Nov 4th and the site says 4 more weeks! ‘very soon’ and ‘shortly after’ obviously have a different meaning to Axminster than the rest of us in the real world. I’d hoped for Christmas last year, and then Christmas this year - it’s looking like Christmas next year might be more realistic. 
anyone have any idea if lee valley is going to be distributing this in canada? they sell axminster lathe chucks as well as the UJK parf dog system…
axminster wont let me backorder this, so I’m just on the email list.
I received mine today. I’d ordered it back in September when it appeared on the Axminster website as a back order item. I’m impressed with the build quality with one exception. There is no discernible play in between the uprights and the chuck carriage which is good, and the whole thing feels rock solid. The exception is the non slip base pad. On mine it was unevenly attached to the base and so the whole thing wobbles at the slightest touch. The pad is glued to the structural lattice of the base, which means it’s only supported where that lattice exists. Over the voids between the lattice, the pad sinks in, creating an uneven surface and it looks like the glue is too thick in places which exaggerates the problem. I’ve returned mine for an exchange in the hope that it’s just a one-off manufacturing issue. Other minor points would be the lack of return springs on the shafts, which can make extracting the drill bit from the work piece difficult. I found the instructions quite brief and it took me a while to find the centring pins shown in one of the images. For anyone else in the same boat, they are screwed in to the top of the chuck carriage and look like part of the structure at first glance.
well, it was in stock for a few hours this morning, and still not shipping to canada. Looks like I’ll be designing and machining my own. Was really looking forward to this for making chairmaking more efficient.
Mine rocks side to side with little force applied so base is not flat.
The angle scales on left and right read different, only a few degrees but that’s not great for an ‘accurate’ guide.
Returned.
Hi all, I ordered my drill guide a couple of days after my last post (5th October) and 2 days ago “in the real world” I received it. Early birds and all that stuff.
on the day it arrived I also noticed for the first time that a self centering vice was available so I placed an order there and then. It came up as back order with no date for delivery. Imagine my surprise when that evening I had an email saying that the vice had been dispatched via Hermes and it arrived this morning.
Between the vice and the guide I have now spent a mighty amount of cash but both items are delightful pieces of kit. I do quite a lot of pen turning and stick making and the combination will be perfect for my needs. As always, Axminster is expensive, but when you compare the equipment it is nearly always extremely well engineered. I have a drill guide from another tool supplier which only cost about £50.00 Its not in the same ball park as what I now have and it does make you appreciate the quality of the tools and also the customer service from Axminster. I also spent a goodly time looking for the centre pins and was on the verge of calling Axminster when I saw the two slots on top of the chuck carriage. I also agree that return springs would be very useful and I am looking through my “bits and pieces” box to see what springs I have.
Redsilverdog what do you think of the base on yours? How stable is it? The one I sent back would tilt side to side with just the lightest of pressure on either of the handles. There’s another comment from SJMC that states the same issue. I haven’t received my replacement yet but I was hoping I’d just got a duff one and the replacement would be better.
Hi lostbOy,
I assembled mine yesterday morning and saw no evidence of warping or instability. When fixing the self centering vice to the base I would surely have noticed it as the fixings are from the underside. I also used it to drill a couple of pen blanks and there was no movement at all. What a shame that such a well engineered item is let down by something so easy to avoid. Perhaps we put too much pressure on Axminster to deliver (not).
As an aside for any pen turners out there, the combined vice and guide is a marvel. I have always disliked messing about changing jaws or chucks to drill well centered holes through the blanks. With this combination it takes seconds. I loosely attached the vice with the screws and then placed a piece of 10mm silver steel in the vee of the vice. I then lowered the fully open chuck onto the steel and tightened the chuck. With some gentle jiggling I had the vice perfectly aligned and then secured the vice. I found this to be a quick and simple method if you do need to change backwards and forwards.
As a further comment about Lee Valley, I checked their international account and also the Canadian account and they are not listing the UJK drill guide. They have an inferior one priced at around Can$36.00 and from the pictures thats probably well priced.
Hi Redsilverdog, thanks for your reply, that gives me some hope that the replacement will be better.
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