Clarke Cds3 Drill Stand With Vice Clamp 6500224

It’s ok for a hobbyist..!!

I have a few Clarke tools and have seen the test of time, so that’s what made me choose this stand over cheaper ones. Out of the box it’s a quick assembly with a few bolts to tighten. The problem I had with mine was, the action wasn’t smooth at all when using the handle lever. I had to take it apart and ream the casting with a dremmel that slides on the upright post, then apply some silicone spray to get the action silky smooth. Apart from that niggle, I was impressed with the steel base and little vice which has a quick press button action to adjust the width of the jaws.
Overall a nice little drill stand that does the job and doesn’t take up much room in the garage.Read full review

the price says everything

Guys, this neither is a precision tool nor high quality machine. I would say its better than nothing but there are serious issues, and I had it for a month maybe:
1. it wobbles constantly, that includes the main sliding bracket, not only the main column, therefore the drill will slide off target, especially if you trying to drill a slippery pipe thru. It will work on flat soft target, like wood, but if that excludes the big bore bits, 16mm and above - with these you may experience lots of unwanted vibration and the bores will be clumsy.
2. already sheared the thread on the main adjustment bolt, meaning that if I wanted to fix and tighten the main slide on the desired height I had to fit much stronger replacement.
3. the wice is totally unusable on wider objects, like planks or boards, and is pain when drilling multiple holes in the same one, because of the wice adjustment. It doesn't adjust easily, the bolts are unaccessible from underneath, so if you accidentally unscrew one and it drops to the bench under, or if you have to remove the wice because the target is too wide, then you need a fiddly magnetic job to pick it up and re-afix the wice. This takes too much time.
I would say that its good value for money because its really cheap, but as a sofisticated precision tool it doesn't work. Makes your workshop look good, but probably you will be able to drill faster and straighter holes by hand.
Personally next time I will walk into Toolstation and buy a proper machine. Just waiting for this one to break definitely.Read full review

Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: new • Sold by: ladders4sale

Hobby use - but safe and easy to use.

Not an industrial machine but does exactly what I wanted. Easy to set-up and adjust from job to job - similar tasks but two drills sizes (easy to change) and differing object depths (stops easy to adjust).
Easy to fit onto my Workmate bench, easy to store.Read full review

Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: new • Sold by: esellitlondon

Good price, good product

I purchased the item second hand at a vastly reduced price. It’s seems excellent for its purpose.

Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: pre-owned • Sold by: 2015ukwimpr

Doesn’t stay true... Due to the excessive strength of the spring in the main body and weakness in base

Doesn’t stay true. Due to the excessive strength of the spring in the main body along with the weakness of the base, the whole upper assembly bends in when lowering drill, thus taking the drill bit out of 90 degrees. Basically... the unit doesn’t work! It’s not fit for purpose (unfortunately). If the base was rigid then this could’ve been a great alternative to spending more money on a dedicated drill press. I thought the low price was worth the gamble. I was wrong but then I’m not too out of pocket. Read full review

Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: new • Sold by: ube89kell-11

Modification

When you pull the lever down it pulls the drill bit across a bit it would be better if the lever over the top of the drill it would work better

Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: new • Sold by: annb771

Great for small jobs

Took 5 minutes to put together. Used it to drill pilot holes to fix 3/8 inch wooden battens to a baseboard so that battens would not split. Came with bolts to fix vice to base even though the instructions said they were not supplied.Read full review

Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: new • Sold by: esellitlondon

Adequate

OK for casual use but not good enough for daily long term use. Plastic fittings would be better in metal but would obviously cost more

Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: new • Sold by: esellitlondon

Brilliant!!!

This is great, compact has gauge to set depth and many features that you would find on commercial stand. Excellent price.

Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: new • Sold by: ladders4sale

Brilliant

Have used other makes in the past but prefer this one
Would recommend this

Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: new • Sold by: panel_spray