October 6, 20232 yr Popular Post Trying to write up a story about an old tool I bought at a Garage Sale a while back..and how I tried to get it in working order.. Top end..and The adjustable Table ( raise it up and down ) Chuck still had a small broken drill bit... Asking price WAS $25....made him an offer he couldn't refuse of $10....and he helped load it up into the Chevy This is a Champion Blower Forge Co. No. 90 Post Drill...Hand cranked, was made before 1920..when they started to concentrate more on Fans...and changed their Brand Name. They also made forges for Blacksmiths, that they could turn a crank to add air to the forge's fire....instead of working with a hand operated Bellows... The board this is attached to..came with the drill...even has the model number stenciled on it... No. 90....Hole is where they would lag bolt this to a post in the shop. Entire drill, counting the board...weighs in right at 100 pounds....and they made a larger version that had 2 speeds and a larger table...and weighed 10 pounds more. So...stay tuned..will show how this got cleaned up for use...including adding a post in the Dungeon Woodshop for this beast to call home...
October 6, 20232 yr A cordless drill press. What a novel idea. Following along for the cool factor + learning opportunity.
October 6, 20232 yr Popular Post From the 1922 Catalog. http://www.vintagemachinery.org/pubs/detail.aspx?id=27481
October 6, 20232 yr Author Popular Post Tear down begins... This mess was inside of the chuck... And this was inside the shell.....disc is to move the jaws....3 jaws. with their springs, no less...also got rid of that broken bit... Then oiled things up, and put the chuck back together.. 1/2" chuck. Keyless chuck at that.. Next...remove all these bolts and that wing nut...so that the table can be removed... At the other end of the column...12 point sockets work quite well on them square headed bolts and lags Table and it's wing nut...the bolt does NOT come off, BTW. Would have liked to remove the crank handle...could not get the sheared off bolt out..however...by running the crank in "reverse"..this started to happen.. Drive gear was backing out...hmmm..when ahead and just took the entire piece out.. Hex head bolt is to hold the Auto-feed ramp in place...turns out, the shaft is threaded? Drilled out the sheared off bolt, and used the Easy-out to remove the "remains" ...then that threaded shaft just dropped right out. Threaded part goes into here.. On the other end of that shaft...there was a LARGE slotted head bolt, and a larger washer. Basically, you'd thread the shaft into place, maybe add a drop of Lok-tite...then slide the drive gear back onto the shaft..add the bolt and washer to keep the gear in place...a bit of 3in1 oil on the washer helps out.. That's better. Crank handle on top... Square nut was very loose, carriage bolt through the handle was badly bent...needed to straighten the bolt, oil the handle a bit, and try to get the square nut tight...try being the operative word... This is what advances the depth...still trying to get it to work just right...knurled bolt was removed and cleaned up...turns a bit better, now. And that was about it...was getting a bit worn out...try again later... Was unable to tear the rest of this thing down.. Stay tuned...
October 7, 20232 yr Author Popular Post Couldn't tear that "gearbox" down any further...so...wire wheels and wire toothbrushes to remove the crud...can of gray Primer to paint the non moving parts.. Steel column needed shined up a bit...Underside of table and it's support were brushed off and Primered up.. Tabletop was beltsanded clean and flat... 6 lag screws were shined up...cap for the bottom of the column cleaned and primered up Wound up adding a return spring..but the auto-feed arm was cleaned up and primered up..Same with the crank handle's arm...wood handles were just wiped down with 3in1 oil.. Plank: Belt sand the crud off, plane a few spots.. Edges too. The end closest to the camera...was rotted a bit...handsaw to square a new, clean end..planes to renew the beveled corners...time to put all of this mess back together? Weighs 100 pounds as is. I raised the table up a bit...to help align the drill bit to the table's center hole... So...bought a new 4 x 4 x 8' treated post at Lowes...a few new 1/2" Lag screws, and washers...had to trim a bit off the "bad" end... And still wasn't enough...I also wanted to lap joint this to a ceiling joist.. Makes it easy to install the lag into the joist (in Theory..) so.. A bit of saw work.. Red circle is where the pilot hole for the lag will go...test fit.. Was supposed to go up into here..but..post was an inch too long...cut that off the "floor" end... Problem..... IF I set the post here, drill press will stick out too far into the shop...so.... Stay tuned
October 7, 20232 yr Author Popular Post Trip to Harbor Freight, to buy a new shelf unit..Old Swayback Maru was sent to the curb Once everything was cleaned off. Post was moved closer to the wall..and a cleat was added to help install the Post Drill onto the post Then start loading up the shelves....bottom first.. And then the top ones. As for the Post drill? First I needed to shim the post...may go back and Tap-con the shim to the floor and an angle bracket to the post. My Son did the heavy lifting part ,,, all I did was clamp the drill to the post, and add the 2 lags to attach it to the posts. As for the drill itself... The Auto-Feed works as designed. Then you simply flip the prawl over, and crank the drill back up. There is plenty of room to work...might even add a vise.. If need be. Ladder was needed... So I could get a bit closer to the upper part of the drill ...Hammer drill also took out a light bulb... There is about 2" of clearance between the end of the crank handle and the shelf unit...plenty of room to work. Also need to clean off the top of the bench...maybe tomorrow, eh? Busy day, today... Edited October 7, 20232 yr by steven newman
October 7, 20232 yr Cool. Looking forward to seeing the projects you assign to this. Shouldn't need ear plugs when it's running...well unless you ooops
October 9, 20232 yr Author Popular Post Test drive..with a 1/4" brad point bit. . Needed to raise the table up...ran out of travel Locked in the Auto Feed.. There is now plenty of light, too. Came time to retract the bit.. Leaves a fairly clean hole...you do have to flip the prawl out of the way.. And..it IS a Cardio Workout....but, for drilling metal should be just fine...
October 9, 20232 yr Cool. Awesome save, refurb and return to productivity. Appreciate you saving it from the landfill or metal recyclers. Great piece of history.
October 14, 20232 yr Author Vise has been bolted down.. Will depend on what size bit I'll be using...and what I will be drilling...can always turn the vise 90 degrees... Trying to decide WHAT to do with this "speed bump".. Might have been a bolt? May drill it out and use the Easy-out...and see...auto-feed does not like it..has to hop over it each time..
October 17, 20232 yr Author Speed Bump has been removed.. A final check for Plumb, the secured the bottom to the floor.. Will wait and see IF this will be enough to hold things still...
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