FIDAX drill press

[kenny_10]

Hi all..
Picked up a Fidax bench drill recently... would be interested in any literature on the brand or contacting other owners with the view of swapping notes ..etc..
Ken.

[Gavin Newman]

I have one of those drills as well. No literature though. I bought it new around 40 years ago from a machinery dealer in the Adelaide CBD (MS McLeod - long gone now) and carried it home on the bus and the train (with quite a few stops to rest I imagine). I got it very cheap as the person who set it up in the showroom had over tightened the quill clamping bolt and broken the casting so they wanted it sold before the interstate owners came to do stock-take.

I used a G-clamp to take the slop out of the quill for the short-term intending to fix the casting later. It initially made it's home in the lounge room of my 2 room flat at the time as I had no workshop at the time so I had to be very careful to clean up the swarf. It served me well for many years like that until I needed larger floor drill but it still earns it's keep as it is now permanently set up with jigs for a specific job I do from time to time. One day I might even get around to welding the casting up but there's no rush.

They are a good solid light duty drill press, I haven't seen many around though.

[clear out]

I went to the closing down auction of Fidax foundry at Silverwater here in Sydney about 5 years ago.
From what I heard they won a huge order from Eurorail and had let their local work go.
When our dollar went thru the roof Eurorail jumped to a cheaper supplier and they fell over.
Was pretty well equipped, a lot of modern gear and some Wadkin kit in the patternshop.
H.

[kenny_10]

Hi Gavin... great story...
Mine has been used in a wood room environment and needed a thorough stripping and cleaning... also the motor had a few mud nests (wasps ?) inside.
From the few that i have seen it appears that Busch motors were fitted as standard.. the on/off switch being mounted underneath.
The grey/charcoal paint is in good order so i wont need to touch that.. it does however require a belt guard. It may take a while to find one, so I may try to fabricate one.
Ken.

[Quasimodo]

I bought a new one in the 70's or 80's - mine is light green with red trim and fitted with a GMF motor.

These are a light duty drill - there is a weakness in design in the spindle - I can't remember exact details now but don't try to drill big holes with one of these.

[kenny_10]

I'm all for Aussie made, but sometimes i stand amazed at how someone can design something so wrong.
The spindle passes thru a bearing in the bottom of the quill, and is located in position by two wussy circlips either side of the bearing.. any more than normal downward pressure and the chance of the circlip popping off and the spindle getting pushed up thru the bearing !! A simple step on the spindle would have eliminated this problem.
The other weak link was between the pulley and the spindle. In the Fidax the splined top of the spindle engaged a sleeve that was locked into the driven pulley by two grubscrews placed 90 degrees apart. No indents or flats on the sleeve for the screws to lock into were provided.
There are four vertical slits around this sleeve that may accept dog or conical point setscrews.. this would have been a better choice.
Don't get me wrong, im happy with my Fidax, I just have to make an allowance for the weak links.