E.P Bevan & Son (Merchant Plate) Drillpress

[DIYenthusiast]

Hi Guys,

Picked this up for a carton the other week. Plan to get it running off 240v (3 phase motor is nice, but a hassle to work off 240v)

Plain bearings (thoroughly flogged out) throughout, aside from the headstock.

Plan is to retrofit the existing quill and spindle for modern needle bearings and thrust bearings. Then run it for a while untill I can justify a new belt and getting the table patched.

Would be nice to know who made it.

371271371272

[Grahame Collins]

Hi DIYenthusiast

Welcome to the forum,

Grahame

[KBs PensNmore]

Welcome to a TOP FORUM DIY. I saw one that looked very much like that at the local Crime Converters (cashies).
From memory it was branded Hoover, whether it was actually made by them or rebranded I don't know.
Had a look on lathes UK (Lathes (http://www.lathes.co.uk)) but couldn't see anything similar.
Kryn

[DIYenthusiast]

http://metalworkforums.com/f301/t198335-weekend-drill-watching

There is another one in the forum with a wesco? Badge. This seems to be a spot for the casting / manufacturing company left specifically to cast name plates for different distributors. The one I have has a large plate on the front instead of the smaller round plate.

[DIYenthusiast]

https://oldsite.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070355--1-.pdf
http://metalworkforums.com/f301/t198335-weekend-drill-watching


I'm a Little confused as to whu my posts aren't showing up? Anyway. Thanks for the welcome, I have put a link to the only other one I've seen I think its prewar and missing a few bits, but If I can sort the bearings out it will live again. A coat of black epoxy and some elbow grease. Shame theres no foundry marks or manufacturers name. The one in the other thread has a WESCO Plate on it? In this location I have a Plate with an old fashioned letter H.

Not sure if its an import or locally cast, there were some pretty notable casting outfits in Melbourne at the turn of last century.

[Grahame Collins]

I'm a Little confused as to whu my posts aren't showing up? .

Its is all to do with the programe software - and how it sees new members and attachments -photos etc- we had a spam problem a while back and this fixed it- I have to check on some posts and approve them
( to be seen) .My apologies , I sometimes miss them. It's fixed now.
Grahame

[Grahame Collins]

Re the link posted .
If it is read in conjunction with some of the other google entries -some of the old newspaper classified pages- it appears that the company was active as E.P. Bevan and Son somewhere between 1928 and 1938 when according to the link posted that they were competing with McPhersons and amalgamated with them in 1938.

Basically as it reads you can see them as sellers of the machine tool but its unclear if they were the manufacturers- as the primary business was merchant plate.

There were other references elsewhere to EP Bevan and Son but they came up as general merchants in as far as I could tell.

Grahame

[AndrewOC]

Welcome enthusiast!
In lieu of DSEL74, our esteemed drill aficionado, being able to answer, I'll bring some photos of his to your attention. In his thread 'A weekend of drill watching' of 2nd Nov 2015, he post many interesting (and well taken) photos including three of a very similar drill to yours. Check out post #5, Images 0942, 0943 and 0956.
I have had the pleasure of using this very machine, having been invited by the owners to demonstrate blacksmithing in their display shed (at Lake Goldsmith).
As you may see in the third pic, the tag 'WEBO' which a quick google search suggests German machine tool builders.
The other tag says 'IXL', who I think were merchants like Bevan & Son...
cheers,
Andrew OC

.... who made it.

371271371272

[DIYenthusiast]

Thanks for the Info Andrew and KB, and no worries Graham, I understand the importance of moderation in public forums.

It seems like a nice old drill, but the plain bearings have to go, if I am going to bother to get the old ones bored out (and I have to get the bearing surface on the spindle turned down) I may as well get a needle/thrust combination going so that I don't have to go through this again. I can replace roller bearings myself, but bushings are out of my workshop capabilities at the moment. I have been looking around for quotes to get the spindle and quill sorted, this will get into a position where I can clean it up and get it running.

Down the track I would like to find a replacement pinion and Quill as the cast iron is cracked underneath the depth stop clamp (I can tighten this up to mitigate any problems for the time being) and there is a fair bit of backlash due to wear. As if I didn't have enough projects. But All the other castings are in decent shape, and given the era it existed in an interesting historical period, who knows, maybe they dropped the WEBO placard because it wasn't popular to be German around this time!

[KBs PensNmore]

Hi DIY, If you ask nicely on the metalwork general, some kind member may offer their services, to assist in the refurbishment of your machine.
I would offer, but I'm a fairway out of town, and can't do the actual job but have friends who can handle something like this.
Where in Adelaide do you live??
Kryn

[DIYenthusiast]

Thanks Kryn, I'm at flagstaff hill, 5159.

Im actually a product designet by trade, but really wish I had become a machinist, I really enjoyed working on the old bridge ports at uni and the lathes.

I've been in touch with one bloke, and another 2nd year apprentice that was offering services on Gumtree. I am no stranger to machining, having cut my teeth on a few lathes over the years during school and Uni, I might even give them a call to see if I can use the equipment for a couple of days. I might place a wanted ad, to see if there are any keen parties around.

I'm not looking for free, just budgeting at the moment. I like old machinery, but I think there is a misconception that they are worth more than newer machines. Certainly they might be worth more than a second hand Chinese/no brand machine. But the reality is for the cost of restoration you might get a better/more modern press. I see a few Waldon's about for $400, which won't be far off the expenditure on a good resto. I feel like I am talking myself out of it, this is mainly due to either half-assing (which I don't want to do but fits the budget better) it to get it running somewhat accurately by 100+ year standards, and re-cutting the pinion and quill so it will last another 100 years.

[caskwarrior]

I really would replace it with plain bearings, there are a number of advantages to it like not having to bore out the quill housing and being able to size them to the quill so that you don't need to replace It. Remember these old drills are really for pushing big slow holes in things, you really are not going to use drills under 1/4" in it. Accuracy just is not that important in this scenario, you can have a mile of bearing slop, so long as the quill turns you'll get a hole.

[DIYenthusiast]

There's actually enough room for needle bearings, so I can use the original quill, its just worn and cracked about an inch down the keyway. The reason I don't want to use plain bearings particularly is that the previous ones were starved and wiped out the bearing surface on the spindle, I can repair this, but a spindle will be a lot tougher to replace than a quill if it happens again.

I will have to bore out the old plain bushings anyway. If I want to improve the 30-60 thou slop, then I will be up for new oversize bushings at a minimum, and I have enough material in the quill and on the spindle to put in NKI20/20 bearings, and leave a 5mm wall thickness which should be ok.

The cheap way is to re-use the cracked cast iron quill, but this might last 1 year or 50, who knows. And while accuracy isn't really what these presses were designed for, I would rather move it on than not have the ability to get the job done. Maybe this is the real answer, get something more modern that will be more accurate. See how things shape up, thanks for the input.