Saber Electric Screwdrivers - £3.49

Afternoon all, hope you are well. Been away for a while, but I am looking at a comeback next year with Flat Damon and possibly some friends.

I was in the Range the other day to renew my middle aged card and came across some really cheap Electric Screwdrivers. Thought they were £4.99, but when I got it to the till it was actually £3.49.

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So I bought a couple more and ripped one to pieces. I do mean ripped - just take two screws out and you can tear it apart without doing much damage.

After a bit of plastic fatigue there are three things left - the motor, gearbox and some plastic casing.

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I'm a bit rusty, but pretty sure the motors are little 280 units, with a sealed gearbox. All the gears are plastic, of course, but did I mention it is only £3.50?

Before I started I put 4 AA batteries in and it seems to run at the same speed in both directions. No speed control - it's just a spring loaded button that reverses the voltage round depending which way you press it. The packaging says they are 180rpm, which seems about right and it was pretty torquey on some screws that I overtightened with my beasty 18v cordless.

I am assuming (hoping) that if it is ok with 4*1.5V AA batteries for 6V then a 7.2V Lipo wouldn't be too much of a stretch as long (as it isn't overcharged to 8.5 or whatever they can get to).

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The gearbox is secured with a couple of long pins that I bent when I pulled it to pieces, but that's ok - you could either knock them out first, or I reckon you could do a better job with some thick garden wire - then you could use the ends to help secure the gearbox to a chassis as well.

The end is just a bog standard electric screwdriver hex fitting, though it does have a little magnet in - luxury! People have been gluing wheels to them for years so that's easy.

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The plastic gears look plenty greased.

The housing is just a cheap bit of plastic that cleverly holds the motor together without lots of screws to keep it cheap. Once you pull the buttons out there is access to the motor terminals through the old holes.

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If you could figure out a way to mount them I reckon you could make something reasonably robust out of these (perhaps a 360 degree flipper unit?), and parts are so cheap it wouldn't matter if you stripped the odd plastic gear, but I just plan to reuse some of the plastic casing and plenty of gaffer tape to fasten two together and make something silly.

Anyhoow, will post a pic when I find an esc for my creation.

Ah I was wondering where'd you gone up to! Happy to hear you're making a return. For £3.50, they're worth throwing in something, could be a worst-case scenario spare, or a hilariously bodgy featherweight

Yeah, just been snowed under with work, which isn't a thing any more. I did love the few events I did in 2018, hoping to make some time for it next year. My next job will probably be down South, so might be easier.

I was thinking of a naff Beetle for the nephew to mess around with, but perhaps a feather with 5 of those bad boys on each side?

I’m using an electric screwdriver setup to power my lifter in my beetle, although no progress with it, I have it ready to go into the assembly!