My Setup for threading a lot of holes in aluminium really quickly.

[stillldoinit]

The last job I had lasted 26 years before retiring in 2015. In my early stint at the company before automation took hold we had something very similar but was more than couple times a year. I took an electric drill and got into the f/R switch and wired it to a foot switch with normally open/or held closed contacts. Foot off ran forward, foot on it reversed. After wearing out a couple drills, apparently some company had already thought of production people and sold us an air tool that would run forward with lever and reverse with a push button on side. When I first started I was the only machine repair person with about 200 manual machines to take care of, most being home built there at the company and single operation. When I left there were about 60 CNC machines and very few manual machines left. The company is a family owned business manufacturing hydraulic pumps. A lot of folks thought it would go under when I left, but after over 3 years, they are still going very strong. I was between 67/68 when I left and loved my job and never considered myself irreplacable, just lucky to have a job I liked. We had an outside electrician who I was very good friends with and his philosophy on how important you are to a company was a very simple test.
Put your hand in a bucket of water and jerk it out and see how much of a hole is left. Will be 72 in a week or so and fortunate to have good health. I wish I had taken pics of some of the tools and contraptions I have been involved in and really enjoy seeing all the contributions here. I quite often have done many of the things listed but choose not to inject my own experience as I do not want to steal anyones thunder. There is an extreme volume of wisdom and experience here and I love reading and seeing all the contributions. We moved from Northern Illinois to Buffalo N.Y. and I still haven't found many of my tools much of the stuff I have in large boxes still needing to be dug out and try to find a place organize. I really did not mean to get so long winded and almost feel like I started talking and can't shut up. With that, I am going to hit Reply,
Bill Anderson in Buffalo