Thread: What Happened to Wolf

I remember my old fella had a wolf hand drill and a stanley bridges hand drill. I agree they used to go on for ever. Like u I have heard nothing about them in recent years.

Originally Posted by Chum

I remember my old fella had a wolf hand drill...

Come again?

Sean

Wolf seems to have been swallowed up by various tool manufacturers around the world. The original UK company only makes garden trimmers etc., the bigger tools are part of the Kango group (in South Africa, I think). I bought a half inch Wolf drill about 30 years ago when my original 1/4" silver B&D burnt out trying to drill 5/8 holes in steel. It's still going; for many years it was the only drill I had, mounted in a drill press attachment on the bench, clamped in my vyce by the handle with a grinding wheel or wire brush in the chuck or just hand held. I even made a wooden lathe with this drill as the power source, powerful enought to turn table legs. If you get a drill jam when drilling large holes in steel, it has enough torque to break your arm!

Originally Posted by graemet

If you get a drill jam when drilling large holes in steel, it has enough torque to break your arm!

Yep, see my original post., did a few laps around the shed once or twice. It had amazing torque, probably as a result of the reduction gearbox.

Seeing as I'm so hopeless at using and rebuilding old planes I thought I'd start collecting old power tools (just for something a little different. ). With some of my power tools I'm halfway there already.

Cheers

Still have 2 x Wolf Electric Drills as supplied by my previous employer about 20 years ago....both still working strong, but could do with some replacement chucks.

Nah, you guys have got it all wrong. Wolf dissapeared because one day along came this big hairy sheepdog and....... couldn' help myself again

Originally Posted by Termite

Nah, you guys have got it all wrong. Wolf dissapeared because one day along came this big hairy sheepdog and....... couldn' help myself again

Just too much time on your hands lambsie oops I mean Termite
Pete

Squizzy,
I also still have a desouter 1/4" drill which my father bought in the 1950s, still working with the original brushes. They don't make em like they used to!
Graeme

Greetings from the Netherlands!

Wolf Tools Ltd. had its works in London (Hanger Lane, district W1), I believe the firm was established in the 30s. The brand even had a Royal seal of approval for being Suppliers to the Court. Indeed their machines were heavy and very robust. The industrial line was made entirely from cast parts and stamped steel and were sprayed in a green hammerite finish. Wolf made the first DIY drill in 1949, when B&D still had to establish itself in the UK (years later it built a factory in Spennymoor in county Durham). This "Cub" was a little pistol grip single speed drill, also entirely out of metal casting, later to contain bakelite and other insulating materials when the model was turned into the double insulated "Cubmaster".
The Dutch State Railways also used many Wolf drills, which were generator driven and used on site to drill holes in the oakwood sleepers underneath the rails, for the fixing clamps to be fastened into with large woodthread bolts.
In the late 60s, the green finish was changed into silvergrey and red, with ivory and red for the DIY products. In the 70s, aquablue became a very popular color in England (B&D UK also chose it, along its orange). Wolf changed its colors to grey /aqua and later ivory/aqua for their entire product line.
In the early 80s, Wolf was purchased by Kango Tools Ltd. in Peterborough. Kango had red and black as its colors, therefore also Wolf changed into this livery. The Wolf tool models gradually merged into the Kango product line to disappaear entirely a few years later when Kango simplified its range and changed its colors to yellow and black. Kango itself was bought by Atlas-Copco AB some 6 years ago. Atlas then also bought AEG Tools(Winnenden, Germany) and Milwaukee Tools, both of which were sold again last year to a Hong Kong firm, because Atlas wishes to return to its core business (mining tools, air driven equipment and compressors, solely sold B-to-B). I believe Kango is again on its own, but I don't know who owns it now. The Wolf brand and factories however, have ceased to exist more than 20 years ago, that's for sure. Eight years ago I saw the old Wolf machine models back on the internet, made in license by a factory in India, in the colors yellow, black and green. I forgot the brand name and, by the way, have never again seen this firm or its products on the internet since. So used Wolf tools are the only ones to be had, there won't be new ones anymore.

All the best from Santpoort-Zuid (20 kms to the west of Amsterdam) and happy woodworking to everyone!

Gerhard Schreurs

Hi again,

I forgot to add: Wolf Gartengeräte GmbH. is a German firm (rotary mowers, shredders, electric scarifiers, etc.) and has, as far as I know, no acquaintance with the British Wolf Tools. Sorry about that.

grtz

gerhard

Welcome Gerhard and thanks very much for your informative post. I knew somebody would know something.


Cheers

Squizzy
I have still got and still use my Wolf Saphire drill that I bought in 1969 . (I think i had it serviced in 1978.) It has a grey plastic type body and is in its original red pressed plastic case, I reckon it is still good for another 20 years!
Alf

Originally Posted by alf t

Squizzy
I have still got and still use my Wolf Saphire drill that I bought in 1969 . (I think i had it serviced in 1978.) It has a grey plastic type body and is in its original red pressed plastic case, I reckon it is still good for another 20 years!
Alf

Alf, Great to hear its still going. I'm not sure of the exact age of the one we had as all the paint had been worn off it. It just had the cast steel casing. It worked very hard in a drill press and it was finally the gear box which let go. The motor was still going strong and I think Dad still has it so I'll have a look next time I'm home.

Cheers

Hi everyone

I just became an accidental owner of a old Wolf 1/2" General Duty Drill. Someone just trew it into scrap and my buddy pulled it out for me.

It's a SD4cA and the serial number is 1081949. The casting is painted in a light brown brass hammerite finish.
Its got a moulded in shoulder rest and a hole on top to insert an additional handle (which is missing though) All the Bushings can be oiled from through nipples

If Wolf used the year of manufacturing as a Part of the serial number this would mean that the year of making is 1949 wich i believe could be tru since the only plastic parts on the device are the taps which hold the coals in the housing.

I took the Drill apart for a general control Yesterday.

Although looking scruff on the outside the inside revealed that very few working hours must have been made on this drill.

All the driveshafts and gearings look just like new. They were packed in a huge layer of grease. The brushes show very little wear and the anchor none at all.

The only problem i could find was the rear end bushing wich is broken. Probably one let it drop once and the mass of the device just crushed the bushing. Not a big deal. i have friends wich do computer aided manufacturing and they are currently building me a new one!

Besides that the Drill is working just fine and reading the forum i have no reason to doubt it will do this for another two or three decades.

Does anybody have additional information on this tool? (i can also send pictures)

Kind Regards