I've got an old Black and Decker drill.Was a nice one in its heyday.
Anyway I dropped it and now it will only work in reverse.
Any clue on what I can do to fix it??Its a nice drill and has servred me well.Also I'm piss poor right now and couldn't afford a new one if I wanted too.

Maybe the switch.? Call the nearest Dewalt/Black and Decker repair facility and see if a switch is avail. Or check for parts online.

You may have a hard time finding parts if it really old. B&D industrial tools were excellent before Dewalt took over, it may be worth fixing....Check it yourself with a multi-meter if you have one. It will be cheaper to replace yourself. I find the small appliance repair guys are more fair on pricing than the big guys.

To spend 10 bucks on a switch for an old drill as opposed to 19.99 for a new Jobmate drill.

To be or not to be...

A $19.99 jobmate tool is great..... if you need to use it for an hour and then throw it away. (I'm not saying the B&D drill is high quality...unless its an old "industrial" model) To be a craftsman with good tools takes much skill, to be a craftman with substandard tools takes even more skill. I bought a Craftsman grinder for $60 bucks. I got a little use out of it before I dropped it and broke the switch and thumb slide. I chose not to fix it and buy a Metabo (under the Rigid name) for $139.00. Sure they run the same RPM but the Metabo has twice the features, and runs smoother and quieter. Its almost always better to fix a quality tool than buy a cheap one. Just my two cents....

Gear- I can relate to that craftsman grinder as I had one that I used at my home garage until the switch burned out and when I took it apart to repair it I discovered that the switch only had 1/2 the current rating of the motor! I junked the dang thing and bought a Milwaukee.

The way I see it B&D are cheap tools. I have a Jobmate grinder. It's about a year old. It's noisy, rattles, is out of balance, but its still spinning, and I use it almost every day. When it dies. I'll pay another 24 bucks for a new one. My sockets, screwdrivers, and wrenches have to be top quality though.

Edit;
The Jobmate comes with a 1 yr warranty and the Craftsman, Dewalt and Makita come with a two yr warranty but they cost 5 times as much.

I second the Metabo. I gladly pay five times more for a quality tool that you can set down after several hours use and still be able to use your hands without waiting for the feeling to return.

http://www.tools-plus.com/metw7-115qpromo.html

You could get a set of reverse drill bits.But a new drill like these guys said would be cheaper.

There are B&D cheap tools and there used to be B&D industrial tools. B&D nowdays is comparable to Jobmate. B&D industrial of 5 years back + or -...comparable or better than any contractor tools on the market today. That being said, some of the best names also had crap. Bosch cordless drills and grinders....no thanks. Bosch jig saws?... likely the best I've ever used. Another question you need to ask is Will the outlay be worth it in the long run? As a tradesman, I have very little regard for inferior tools...especially when they are my bread and butter. I wont even buy them for home. (Hard to drive a Caddy at work and then jump on a moped to go home....)

Millwaukee Hole Shooter Magnum-last drill you will ever need!

oldred, my dad has a milwaukee hammer drill he's had for over 30 years, switch died on it last year, we ordered a new switch and its good as new. I love milwaukee power tools.

Has anyone heard of Skill? They are also dirt cheap (although dirt cheap is relative I suppose), I think made by Bosch. I bought a Skill drill and a Skill angle grinder and they have served me well for a while now.

They are not however long term solutions, I bought them because I needed (or wanted... I could have waited I suppose) to get the job done and didn't have the cash to invest in something more substantial. When you get the bug to go out and cut out your floorpan, weld in a new one and you need a angle grinder, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

I agree totally though, there is nothing like having quality tools.

Millwaukee makes the best in my opinion, we use Millwaukee grinders at my weld shop and they have held up better than anything we have used. If you are in the market for power tools do your self a favor and check out the Millwaukee line.

I agree 30+ years of service from my dads power tools, some were used daily when he was working construction are good enough proof for me of their quality.