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Thread: What Happened to Wolf
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26th September 2004, 11:58 PM #1
What Happened to Wolf
The old man had a Wolf electric drill. Was supposed to be a hand drill but it was a huge mother of a thing with a steel casing. It went for at least 30 years mounted in a press in the shed on the farm. As a kid I learnt the general physics of injuring yourself on the drill press with this beast.
I was just wondering what the origins and plite of this manufacturer where??
CheersSquizzy
"It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" {screamed by maths teacher in Year 8}
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26th September 2004 11:58 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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27th September 2004, 10:19 PM #2Novice
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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.
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27th September 2004, 10:52 PM #3Originally Posted by Chum
Sean
The beatings will continue until morale improves.
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27th September 2004, 10:54 PM #4
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!
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27th September 2004, 11:34 PM #5Originally Posted by graemet
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.
CheersSquizzy
"It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" {screamed by maths teacher in Year 8}
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28th September 2004, 03:25 PM #6
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.
The Thief of BadGags
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28th September 2004, 05:12 PM #7
Nah, you guys have got it all wrong. Wolf dissapeared because one day along came this big hairy sheepdog and....... couldn' help myself again
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28th September 2004, 05:52 PM #8Originally Posted by Termite
PeteWhat this country needs are more unemployed politicians.
Edward Langley, Artist (1928-1995)
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28th September 2004, 11:57 PM #9
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
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21st November 2004, 05:26 AM #10Tool collector
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Wolf Tools Ltd.
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
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21st November 2004, 05:36 AM #11Tool collector
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Wolf Tools Ltd. part 2
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
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21st November 2004, 10:39 AM #12
Welcome Gerhard and thanks very much for your informative post. I knew somebody would know something.
CheersSquizzy
"It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" {screamed by maths teacher in Year 8}
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21st November 2004, 11:48 AM #13Senior Member
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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
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22nd November 2004, 12:56 PM #14Originally Posted by alf t
CheersSquizzy
"It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" {screamed by maths teacher in Year 8}
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28th January 2006, 08:21 PM #15New Member
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Vintage Wolf Drill from the late fourties?
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