What happened to the UJK Drill Guide?

Had a few minutes to take a look at the rocking issue.
Without ripping off the rubber base to actually see what the issue is, it appears that some of the strengthening ribs in the base are not recessed enough. This means that with the rubber base attached there are some high points and on my example that/those high point/s are in the middle, causing the rocking issue.
Good news is that after some gentle manipulation both left and right angle scales are now reading close enough the same. Nothing clicked or clicked into place and everything seems solid so I can’t explain why this has fixed itself.
Let’s hope replacements are all ok.

I thought I’d chase up my return / exchange ticket with Axminster, so I gave them a call. A very helpful Customer Services agent called me back after looking into it and it seems that Axminster have pulled all the stock due to an issue with the drill guide. The website was still showing them as in stock, but I was told that none will be dispatched until the issue is resolved. I didn’t get a confirmation of what the issue is, but I’d assume it’s the wobbly base. My exchange is now on back order.

Thanks people!

I’ve been up to my eyes in the rest of Real Life at the moment and became quite worried when I read the first review on the catalogue site. From what I’m reading here (and comments about Axminster from friends and colleagues who have been loyal supporters for decades(!) I’m getting a little (actually a lot) concerned …

Axminster has, in the past, had a reputation for excellent stuff at a reasonable price (all the way up from sandpaper to top of the line lathes). The 2 year (and apparently ongoing) debacle over the drill guide and the fairly rapid overall price increases of its middle/upper end offerings is suggesting that it’s increasingly losing its way. 10 years ago, Axminster was the ‘go to’ source for virtually anything - and everything - a trade professional and serious amateur might need … quality coupled to a reasonable price, excellent and quick service and aftersales support.

I’ve had more ‘out of stock’ small items in my last couple of (aborted) orders than in the previous decade. I really hope that Axminster can get its act together in the present increasingly difficult marketplace. Like Maplins for my electronics needs, I would very sorely miss Axminster (or struggle with a much shrunk version) for my tools requirements.

@ Redsiverdog 6th December

Don’t beat yourself up. I don’t think that more than a year for a mechanical device to be ‘debugged’ is insufficient time nor excess pressure, especially given the description of the most recent ‘issues’.

Axminster seem to have either lost the plot or have lost their contracts with reliable producers or have lost their concern for their (so far loyal) customer-base

Now unavailable…I wonder if they’ve been withdrawn pending the first lousy review?

Sorry for the lousy review. But it’s better to give honest feedback of what I see.
I was looking forward to an accurate drill guide to make up for my lack of skill in drilling perpendicular holes. From the actions Axminster have taken it seems my guide was not the only one with problems.

In general the guide seems very robust and the materials of good quality. Carriage was difficult to move up and down the rails but maybe with some reworked bases and perhaps a smidge more give between the rails and carriage all will be well and reasonably timely ?

In the meantime I am still bankrolling Axminster to the tune of £160 but, unusually, content to do so to see what transpires.
S.

We all have different experiences I guess. I have always found 99% of what I want in stock at Axminster and their “back in stock” notification emails take care of the small number of things I have to wait for. I find their service second to none and really have no feeling that they are “loosing their way”

@SJMC - thanks for the extra comments :smiley:

@Badger - I agree that in terms of ordering / delivery Axminster are up there with the best

It’s the other stuff that worries me; 2 years and a ‘still not sorted’ £160 tool suggests losing their way to me. I’m really hoping that this is a just a blip in my experience (that has covered more than 3 decades) … :upside_down_face:

My replacement drill guide turned up today and I’m very happy with it. The problems I found on the first one have been resolved. The wobble is gone and the chuck carriage moves up and down the shafts much more freely. There were some traces of glue on the rubber base which weren’t present on the first one, so I wonder if they had someone stripping off the bases to level and re-glue them? There is a slight discrepancy between the left and right angle gauges. i.e. when the guide is set to 90 degrees, the right gauge will be at zero and the left slightly off zero, or vice versa. Not an issue for me as I don’t need absolute accuracy. At some point, I might put a square up against it to work out which gauge is the most accurate.

Thank you for the update. :upside_down_face: When I hear a couple of more positives I’ll get in the queue for one of the new batch.

Edit: I’ve just checked the reviews are there are now 7! Generally reviewers seem unimpressed - even the buoyant ones are reduced to mentioning great packaging it arrives in, but have to acknowledge the infamous base gluing issue needing the base to be flattened and reglued …

I’ve just tried to ask a question 3 times and each time it was rejected because it thinks I have an ad blocker running. I’ve turned both of them off to no avail! :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

Can anyone definitively answer this one …

  • 2 weeks ago Scott inferred that the chuck can be replaced but not with a screw threaded chuck because it used a tapered connection;
  • 1 week ago Grace said that it can’t be replaced;
  • Today (20/01/20) Scott said that it can be replaced with any correctly tapered connection chuck. However he made to reference to Grace’s answer

Who’s right?

Hello, apologies for the confusion! I can confirm any chuck with a JT2 fitting can be used. We will be launching a 13mm chuck soon as an optional extra. Thanks

Thank you :grinning:

Just a thought;

The issue with the base appears to be that the (thin) rubber sheet is glued to the metal webbing - that obviously isn’t going to be easy to do perfectly. Would this work? …

  1. remove the rubber sheet
  2. fill the base space with something like polyfilla that will be reasonably hard when set
  3. smooth the polyfilla so that it is flat and level
  4. glue the base back on

For a tougher version - change step 2 to; fill the base space with a packer layer (to save resin)and finish with a decent thickness resin layer

If you can afford it, leave the packer layer out and fill the whole base space with resin!

:smiley:

Fettling old tools is a reasonable approach. Having to fettle new ones always seems a bit cheeky of the vendor! Especially when the new one is not just a ten-quidder from China but costs a large wodge of hard-earned.

At the risk of seeming disloyal to Axminster (but let them count the amount I’ve spent with them over the last 25 years) I will point those wanting a serious portable drill stand here:

https://www.fine-tools.com/bohrstaender.html

Mind, it’s 2-3X the cost of the UJK.

Lataxe

1 Like

Now that is a serious piece of kit! :astonished: :astonished:

Ha ha.
Received my replacement drill guide a few days ago (after I’d been forgotten by Axminster for six weeks) and … same wobbly base problem.
Not as bad as the original but nowhere near right.
On the plus side the carriage moved lovely on the rails.

One more try.

S.

Axminster were pro-active in contacting me after I had received the Drill Guide to alter me to the potential problem and sent me a replacement with instructions the next day. I call that excellent service.

Badger,
Yep that is excellent service.
S.

Got a replacement base for the replacement drill guide and the guide now seems to be of useable quality.
Marvellous.
S.