Completed drill press renovation

[marshon]

I finally finished my old drill press project.

Here's what I got originally, saved from the scrap heap for Ģ5.00:



Here's the finished drill, 6 weeks work and Ģ20.00 (30 bucks?) later, and that includes the drill! This image doesn't show how gleaming it looks, or how beaming I am. It runs smooth and quiet and cuts like new. I'm so chuffed with this (can you tell?), it's my first 'real' engineering project.

[dsquire]

marshon

Congratulations on finishing your drill restoration project. It certainly has a bit of charm that you will not see on any of the drills (new) that you buy today. With proper care and knowing what the limitations of the drill are I am sure that you will get many years of service from that drill. Every time you use it you will remember that this is where it all began. Thanks so much for sharing it with all of us. 

Cheers   

Don

[cidrontmg]

Lo Marshon,
What else (if anything) did you do with it, except the obvious and visible, like the nice paintwork/polish, change of motor (location, at least) and the drive system, machine knobs, etc.? I have one rather similar drill, but since I bought a mill,
itīs only been gathering (even more) dust and rust. But I might one of these days dig it up, and have some TLC bestowed upon it. I like that motor/drive mod,  does the motor sit on rubber pads?  Even if not, i guess it still will diminish the vibrations, compared to a column-mounted motor.
Good work on that. Itīll do 

[marshon]

I had to re-cut the pinioin gear and clean up the rack because the 'taper pin' that secures the pinion gear was actually a bit of old allen key that had been forced into the hole. The rack gear had a lump out of every tooth as a result and the quill wouldn't move properly.
I had to make a new 3/8th x 24 TPI spindle nose, not so hard since there was enough meat on the original to turn it down and cut the new thread. The old chuck had some weird thread on it and a broken jaw so it wouldn't clamp anyway.
I re-seated the bottom bearing and replaced all the ball bearings with new ones. This improved the runout to +- 0.002".
I replaced the upper idler assembly with one I designed myself, the original motor mount was a shop made one that was hanging (badly) from a single bolt. I'm pretty sure that this drill (circa 1900) was originally driven from a common shaft via a lay-pulley at the bottom rear of the base casting. This is as close to the original as I am going to get with an electric motor drive.
Replaced the old chuck with a Jacobs I had from a cordless drill that had given up the ghost.
Then basically cleaned all the rust and scale off it, stripped out and cleaned the motor, replaced all the cabling and added a metal clad switch.
Re-paint and added the ball handles.

The motor is bolted through a wooden baseboard, and that sits on felt pads screwed through to the workbench, not too much vibration at all really. The only thing I am dissapointed about are the holes and drill marks in the table, I didn't know how to fix them so they are filled with resin filler for now.
Not a difficult job for an engineer, but since it was the first time I had attempted anything like this I'm quite pleased with it.

Lo Marshon,
What else (if anything) did you do with it, except the obvious and visible, like the nice paintwork/polish, change of motor (location, at least) and the drive system, machine knobs, etc.? I have one rather similar drill, but since I bought a mill,
itīs only been gathering (even more) dust and rust. But I might one of these days dig it up, and have some TLC bestowed upon it. I like that motor/drive mod,  does the motor sit on rubber pads?  Even if not, i guess it still will diminish the vibrations, compared to a column-mounted motor.
Good work on that. Itīll do 

[madjackghengis]

Hello Marshon,  you found a real gem in that drill press and did a fine job on making it look good, and fixing all the little "issues" provided by previous owners, such as the "key", and the rack and pinion.  You must have done a good job on the table, because I can't see the divots, but those are the bane of every good mechanic when he sees the like.  It's good to find old equipment, I'd rather find and use it, than buy anything new, but the other side of that coin is living with the dings and dents of previous owners.  A good drill press that drills straight, and has been renewed to parts fitting snugly, and without slop means a long life in the hands of someone who cares about their machine.  That press is a far cry from any Asian press you would ever have the chance to buy, and it sounds like you still saved a bundle over what it would cost for one of them.  Now you have to go out and find a lathe that matches the vintage and looks of that drill press mad jack

[Stilldrillin]

Beautiful job you`ve done there! 

With further care it should now make 200 yrs old, easily..... 

David D

[Bernd]

One word, "NICE"       

Bernd

[shoey51]

lovely restro there

[doubleboost]

nice to see old machinery live again
enjoy your new drill
John

[andyf]

Great job, Marshon  You'll get far more satisfaction using it than you would out of some cheapo Chinese drill press.

I had to make a new 3/8th x 24 TPI spindle nose, not so hard since there was enough meat on the original to turn it down and cut the new thread. The old chuck had some weird thread on it and a broken jaw so it wouldn't clamp anyway.

That gives the game away, methinks! The non-screwcutting Unimat isn't your only lathe, is it? Come on, own up!

Andy

[marshon]

Great job, Marshon  You'll get far more satisfaction using it than you would out of some cheapo Chinese drill press.

I had to make a new 3/8th x 24 TPI spindle nose, not so hard since there was enough meat on the original to turn it down and cut the new thread. The old chuck had some weird thread on it and a broken jaw so it wouldn't clamp anyway.

That gives the game away, methinks! The non-screwcutting Unimat isn't your only lathe, is it? Come on, own up!

Andy

I have an SL and a Mk4 (without the threadcutting attachments), but the spindle nose was turned down on a mini lathe (7 x 20) thanks to the old boy at the end of the road who has taken pity on me. I did the work, but it was his machine. The Mk4 could have done the work except that the spindle was 11mm in diameter and the bore is only 10mm max. The thread was cut by hand using the tailstock pushing technique. I have never had the opportunity to try and machine cut a thread (Yet). I WISH I had something bigger and more capable, but since the workshop is a room on the first floor, anything much bigger than a 7 x 14 would prove to be logistically very expensive to get in there.

I am looking with longing at getting an old ML-4, or a Drummond 'B', or a Grayson as a restoration project, but no money means it's just a dream at the moment.

[Baldrocker]

Way to go Marshon.
Love to see old stuff bought back to life with skill and care. 
br