Thread: Tough drill press

Hi All,

acquired yesterday form an uncle closing his factory; originally bought c. 55years ago. I used to use this one c. 40 years ago during a stint there. Dawn vice as well.

No plate on this one, but the serial number stamped on the top of the (solid bar) column (4356)

Heavier than I expected, after rebuilding a Taiwanese example just last week, which we could lift into the ute. Had to use the forklift to load the Tough; and remove the motor and table to unload it.

Looking forward to restoring it - inspired by an earlier Anorak Bob example.

The collar holding what I assume is a taper, is loose but does not yet undo. Damaged thread maybe? I have a Jacobs with fixed taper to go on it... (?)

Hi Node. Welcome aboard. I have a Tough also and love it. Not sure what the collar is and can't see your pics. I get an invalid attachment error.
You may find this helpful: http://www.woodworkforums.com/f36/po...ur-post-78760/

Node,

My memory is not serving me that well. My Jacobs chuck mounts directly onto a Jacobs taper on the quill end. There is no extended 2 Morse tapered quill as featured on other Toughs resulting in more head room. I am not sure if the collar above the chuck simply serves as a means of ejecting the chuck from the quill taper. I'll have a close look next time I'm in the shed.

Bob.

Originally Posted by Anorak Bob

Node,

My memory is not serving me that well. My Jacobs chuck mounts directly onto a Jacobs taper on the quill end. There is no extended 2 Morse tapered quill as featured on other Toughs resulting in more head room. I am not sure if the collar above the chuck simply serves as a means of ejecting the chuck from the quill taper. I'll have a close look next time I'm in the shed.

Bob.

Got it (mostly) apart this afternoon, after filing down the damaged threads below the collar, preventing the collar unscrewing off the shaft. Now obvious that there is just a short taper ( c. 25mm) to mount the chuck, as you suggest. The collar as a means of ejecting the chuck seems logical; thought it may have been a collet arrangement.

Originally Posted by Bryan

Hi Node. Welcome aboard. I have a Tough also and love it. Not sure what the collar is and can't see your pics. I get an invalid attachment error.
You may find this helpful: http://www.woodworkforums.com/f36/po...ur-post-78760/

May have been the pixel (raster) size; re-uploaded; thanks.

Node,

I made a couple of small modifications to my Tough. I will post a few photos. Whilst I have a couple of Waldown drills, the little Tough remains my favourite. Accurate and quite. Certainly worth refurbishment.

You can even repair those holes in the table you drilled 40 years ago.

BT

Originally Posted by Anorak Bob

Node,


You can even repair those holes in the table you drilled 40 years ago.

BT

It wasn't me ; honest


I haven't measured it yet, I assumed the chuck mount taper was a MT2, but a Jacobs is not out of the question I suppose. There is a Rohm keyed chuck on it at the moment, that is currently in the Ultrasonic cleaner to see what it can clean out, but doesn't have a part number on it so I can't track down the taper from that. The Rohm doesn't look like it comes apart.

Would certainly like to fix the table holes if possible; I missed a Tough on Gumtree a few weeks ago, that had a good table...

Some had a morse taper - like mine - and they have a longer quill with ejection slot and no threaded collar.

Originally Posted by node105

It wasn't me ; honest


I haven't measured it yet, I assumed the chuck mount taper was a MT2, but a Jacobs is not out of the question I suppose. There is a Rohm keyed chuck on it at the moment, that is currently in the Ultrasonic cleaner to see what it can clean out, but doesn't have a part number on it so I can't track down the taper from that. The Rohm doesn't look like it comes apart.

Would certainly like to fix the table holes if possible; I missed a Tough on Gumtree a few weeks ago, that had a good table...

My drill was fitted with a British made Cardinal chuck. It was clagged so I replaced it with a Jacobs No 34 which has a No. 6 Jacobs taper. The taper on the quill had been galled so I remachined the taper. The dimensions of a 6 are 0.676" large diameter, 0.62409" small diameter and 1" in length. Might help to identify yours.

I cheated a bit when I filled a couple of holes in my beater Waldown table. Greg Q had dolled the table up with his Biax scraper prior to hand delivering it on one of his Perth stop overs. Made it easy to hide the repair.

http://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/dr...5/#post1502378

The original table on the Tough was chain drilled. What you see on mine now is a Oriental replacement.

BT

Node,

A couple of photos showing the basic modifications. When I found the drill it was bolted to a wooden bench and had a Clipsal architrave switch screwed onto the bench alongside it for motor control. The switch mount is a piece of 3mm steel plate. The motor mount bars and the column are 4140 replacements. I replaced the hex bolts used to lock the motor mount bars with 316 levers. There is a brass pad between the lever and bar. A couple of the lead-ish ball knobs were mutilated so I replaced them all with phenolic knobs. The capstan arms are 1/2" 316 stainless. Tough may have used 1214 steel for the other locking levers, given their propensity to rust. If I had the energy I'd machine new versions from stainless.

The colour of mine is a cock up. Viewable Toughs are thin on the ground over here. I had seen a Tough morticer a while before acquiring the drill and I thought the colour was a greenish silver. Sitting alongside the drill on my woodie bench is another stalled project, a Tough wood lathe resplendent in its original hammertone silver. I bought that home earlier this year.

Bob.

Originally Posted by Anorak Bob

My drill was fitted with a British made Cardinal chuck. It was clagged so I replaced it with a Jacobs No 34 which has a No. 6 Jacobs taper. The taper on the quill had been galled so I remachined the taper. The dimensions of a 6 are 0.676" large diameter, 0.62409" small diameter and 1" in length. Might help to identify yours.

BT

The taper on my Tough :
16.29mm [0.641"] small diameter , 17.31mm [ 0.6815"] large diameter at 20mm - the darker ring a mm or so before the thread shoulder, indicating the end of the existing chuck engagement. So it would seem to be MT2

The taper is a total of 24mm

As the Jacobs with fixed taper I already have is a no go, using a Albrechct 130-J6 would be the next choice ( if I am going to get a new chuck). There is just enough on the existing MT2 to machine a JT6 : 15.85 mm ( 0.6241") small end, 17.17 mm (0.6760") big end, over 25.40 mm length. A thread length or more could be cut from the threaded collar thread, to give the 25mm seat and a bit for end clearance, and the (ejection) collar slimmed down correspondingly. Would need a better lathe than either of the two I have access to, and a bit more confidence than I have, given the one shot aspect of it. Have turned tapers for piston installers, but...


The colour on mine is a definite silver, there may be the faintest tinge of green, but that probably depends on the lighting conditions.

Node,

Attached is a snap of a page from an old Jacobs catalogue. It seems strange that the nose taper is not a standard size. When I remachined mine I would have set the compound at the correct angle by indicating off a 2 Morse / Jacobs 6 arbor mounted in my lathe spindle. I will have a look to see if I still possess that arbor. If I do, you are welcome to borrow it if it would be of any help.

My Tough had been doused in mission brown paint when I found it. It was originally orange. Hippy era stuff.

BT

Jacobs tapers (JT) are common for drill chucks here and in the US, but there is a European system (B tapers). Dimensions as per the the bottom of this page -
Morse tapers and drill chuck arbors dimensions
From the dimensions you have given it could be a B18. (I've never compared to JT so I don't know how close that would be). Before machining to a new taper, it may be worth while checking whether you can find a B taper chuck. The spindle you have may be hardened, in which case machining may be difficult.

Michael

Originally Posted by Michael G

Jacobs tapers (JT) are common for drill chucks here and in the US, but there is a European system (B tapers). Dimensions as per the the bottom of this page -
Morse tapers and drill chuck arbors dimensions
From the dimensions you have given it could be a B18. (I've never compared to JT so I don't know how close that would be). Before machining to a new taper, it may be worth while checking whether you can find a B taper chuck. The spindle you have may be hardened, in which case machining may be difficult.

Michael

Thanks for the link.

The Tough is 17.31mm at 20mm length , compared to the B18 17.780 at 32mm

The Tough taper = (17.31 - 16.29) / 20 = 1.020 / 20 = 0.0510


Doubt the taper is hardened, can mark it easily with a file.

Originally Posted by Anorak Bob

Node,

Attached is a snap of a page from an old Jacobs catalogue. It seems strange that the nose taper is not a standard size. When I remachined mine I would have set the compound at the correct angle by indicating off a 2 Morse / Jacobs 6 arbor mounted in my lathe spindle. I will have a look to see if I still possess that arbor. If I do, you are welcome to borrow it if it would be of any help.

My Tough had been doused in mission brown paint when I found it. It was originally orange. Hippy era stuff.

BT

Thanks indeed AB, for the offer. I dropped into a local small engineering firm (Simax) this afternoon, and am going to get them to machine the taper, once the Albrecht arrives. They actually have a Tough there, in as excellent a condition as yours. It is painted silver, and is a latter model with the arbor ejection slot. I'll endeavour to get a photo or two next visit.

The catalogue page does look like something much later than 1950's ( colour is a giveaway), which is when my Tough was originally purchased. Arbor interchangeability also refers to the latter design of course.

Next job is to get the 'fixed' collar off the quill OD, It looks like a pressed fit, and peened in three places to what I guess is a bearing retainer plate ( with the two holes).

outer_collar.jpg