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Originally Posted by sanddrag
Has anyone experimented with using the gearboxes from cheap drills made in China (sold through Harbor freight). Dewalts are great, but the are still $100. These things are $20. I've seen them used in BattleBots (or RobotWars or whatever). Has anyone tried to adapt a kit motor (FP, CIM, Globe, Mabuchi) to one of them?
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I was just thinking that same thing a few meetings ago when I picked up my father's 18v Ryobi cordless drill and starting to analyze how well it shifted on the fly. It's one of those "You know you've been in FIRST too long" signs...
The only downside I see to the Ryobi (or most other drills) is that they are only two speed. The Dewalt XRPs are practically the only 3-Speed drill transmissions on the market. Also, I know for the Ryobi cordless drills, there aren't any screw holes parallel to the output shaft like there are on the Dewalts, so mounting the back end of the gearbox to a CIM/FP mounting plate would prove difficult, but not impossible.
I personally love the XRP transmissions in the NBD setup, but if someone was to come up with a two-speed transmission that can be bought for less than $20-30, I can forsee many cool uses for those as well. I would love to try something like this, but a drill press is the closest thing I can get to machining at my house.
(Never mind parking your car, wouldn't all FIRSTers love to have a four-axis CNC mill in their garage?)