Thread: Yet another drill press...

Another one has found it's way into my possession. What timeframe were Richardson drills made in?

Yet another company to dive into the history of... any pointers welcome.

J.C
I have a Richardson as well. A lot older than yours. I've had mine since around 1978 and it was old when I got it. It originally had flat belt (3 speed) pulleys on it and a 3 phase motor. That was quickly swapped out in 1978 for a 2 speed washing machine motor (which is still on it). It also had a rectangular table (actually more square than rectangle) that was was a one piece casting which meant the table couldn't be angled in relation to the spindle. The table also had a coolant trough around the front and sides.
The drive from the front pulley to the quill is by a sliding feather key. Not a spline. Spindle has a Jacobs taper on it.
About 25 years ago I finally got around to improving it. I made a circular table from a small Perkins diesel engine flywheel and fabricated the support arm. I also converted it to 4 speed V pulleys. I had a set of cast iron "M" section pulleys which I used. (I've never had a problem with belt slippage though)
I also machined a new pinion for the quill and a new handwheel.
When I did this work to it I was more interested in making the drill more user friendly than keeping it original. The old table lay on the floor under the stand for some years until I finally moved house at which point I chucked it out. I wish I had kept it now. Mine also has a heavy cast iron cover for the motor pulley which I have never bothered to refit.
There used to be a Richardson pedestal drill at work. Very similar age to yours going by the colour of the paint.
It has a circular table and a mores taper quill. No means to raise and lower the table though. At one point I fabricated a bracket and mounted a small boat type winch to the back of the column with a pulley under the head and the cable running back do to the table. Some time after I left that dept some klutz managed to break the pulley and they never bothered to fix it. That machine also had the factory fitted ultra low speed set up on it.
That machine was pulled out of service a couple of years ago as apparently it no longer complied with safety regs. I tried to buy it but it was all too hard for the system to cope with. Its gone now. Probably been scrapped.
Coincidentally, I've been thinking about some sort of table lifter for mine recently as Arfa in my hands is making it harder to raise and lower the table. Id thought about a winch and cable. A cable and counterweight, even maybe a linear actuator. Anyway I was standing there looking at it the weekend before last and the light bulb started to glow. "What about a scissor jack" I said to myself. As it happened I had a spare one which fitted under the table arm. I had to cut a bit of ply for a spacer underneath it. I made an adaptor from a bit of flat bar and an old alloy wheel nut and now I can drive it up and down with my battery impacter. It works really well, although I might end up adapting a 12 V wiper motor to it so save having to get the impacter out every time I want to move the table.
I reckon the old Richardson's are very under rated. I love my old one.

Peter

Originally Posted by J.C.

Another one has found it's way into my possession. What timeframe were Richardson drills made in?

Yet another company to dive into the history of...

The six digit phone number is a hint.




.

Originally Posted by bollie7

J.C
I have a Richardson as well. A lot older than yours. I've had mine since around 1978 and it was old when I got it. It originally had flat belt (3 speed) pulleys on it and a 3 phase motor. That was quickly swapped out in 1978 for a 2 speed washing machine motor (which is still on it). It also had a rectangular table (actually more square than rectangle) that was was a one piece casting which meant the table couldn't be angled in relation to the spindle. The table also had a coolant trough around the front and sides.
The drive from the front pulley to the quill is by a sliding feather key. Not a spline. Spindle has a Jacobs taper on it.
About 25 years ago I finally got around to improving it. I made a circular table from a small Perkins diesel engine flywheel and fabricated the support arm. I also converted it to 4 speed V pulleys. I had a set of cast iron "M" section pulleys which I used. (I've never had a problem with belt slippage though)
I also machined a new pinion for the quill and a new handwheel.
When I did this work to it I was more interested in making the drill more user friendly than keeping it original. The old table lay on the floor under the stand for some years until I finally moved house at which point I chucked it out. I wish I had kept it now. Mine also has a heavy cast iron cover for the motor pulley which I have never bothered to refit.
There used to be a Richardson pedestal drill at work. Very similar age to yours going by the colour of the paint.
It has a circular table and a mores taper quill. No means to raise and lower the table though. At one point I fabricated a bracket and mounted a small boat type winch to the back of the column with a pulley under the head and the cable running back do to the table. Some time after I left that dept some klutz managed to break the pulley and they never bothered to fix it. That machine also had the factory fitted ultra low speed set up on it.
That machine was pulled out of service a couple of years ago as apparently it no longer complied with safety regs. I tried to buy it but it was all too hard for the system to cope with. Its gone now. Probably been scrapped.
Coincidentally, I've been thinking about some sort of table lifter for mine recently as Arfa in my hands is making it harder to raise and lower the table. Id thought about a winch and cable. A cable and counterweight, even maybe a linear actuator. Anyway I was standing there looking at it the weekend before last and the light bulb started to glow. "What about a scissor jack" I said to myself. As it happened I had a spare one which fitted under the table arm. I had to cut a bit of ply for a spacer underneath it. I made an adaptor from a bit of flat bar and an old alloy wheel nut and now I can drive it up and down with my battery impacter. It works really well, although I might end up adapting a 12 V wiper motor to it so save having to get the impacter out every time I want to move the table.
I reckon the old Richardson's are very under rated. I love my old one.

Peter

Hi Peter, you're in the same part of the world as me! I do like the flywheel as a table idea... perhaps should not have scrapped those old ones I had laying around.

I have/hate arthritis in my hands as well and while I love my Waldown drill it lacks any means to raise the table so once there's time that's one of the first things I need to address on it... if I can't find a bigger one to trade up to first!

Interesting idea with the scissor jack, too.

Originally Posted by YBAF

The six digit phone number is a hint.




.

Thanks, that's far more helpful than I would have anticipated!