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Thread: Drill press table improvements
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18th Sep 2021, 09:31 PM #1Diamond Member
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Drill press table improvements
Some repairs/improvements to my dad's old drill press...
1) The hole in the table isn't centred on the drill axis:
IMG_1944.jpg
Can't remember if it was always this way, but today is the day to fix it.
Table off, loosen clamp:
IMG_1945.jpg
3mm spacer is just a little bit thin:
IMG_1946.jpg
About 3.7mm is perfect. Look around at my scrap. 6mm angle iron is a possibility:
IMG_1950.jpg
if I do some milling as well as drilling a large hole, but that is too much work.
A section of rolled box section is 3.8mm:
IMG_1951.jpg
Close enough. Some quick cutting in a bandsaw:
IMG_1953.jpg IMG_1956.jpg
The reason for keeping a corner (creating angle iron) will be explained soon.
Note that the side of that isn't very flat, so some panel beating was required.
Now, measure up the hole diameter and offset. Even draw a diagram, just for Zeth :
IMG_1957.jpg
Mount the angle in a 4 jaw on the Hercus, and get ready to bore the hole out:
IMG_1959.jpg
but it won't quite reach, so over to the mill I go:
IMG_1960.jpg IMG_1961.jpg
Did the final hole – 35mm – with a stepped drill like this:
Screen Shot 2021-09-18 at 7.50.18 pm.jpg
2) I have always had trouble lifting the table on this press. It has no gear cranking (rack & pinion) thingy, just a friction lock. So, I have put this bit of angle under the table support, to add something to support the weight:
IMG_1962.jpg
I found a thrown out car tailgate lifting piston:
IMG_1963.jpg
which hooks into a convenient divot on the base!
3) While it is apart, cleanup the table. Nearly 10" diameter, so just a little big for the Hercus 9C. Into the
Hafco AL-336:
IMG_1964.jpg IMG_1965.jpg
Didn't remove all the scars. That is 70 years of history there.
4) Table back on. Seems to be within 0.5mm of centre:
IMG_1966.jpg
5) Lastly, level the table:
IMG_1968.jpg
Front to back was a little out, so I tried to improve that also:
IMG_1967.jpg
but headstock didn't tilt much, so is still a little askew. I need to hoist/lift the head up so I can adjust it properly.
Good enough for now, for the kind of drilling I do.
In case anyone is curious, my Dad made this press.
The story goes: in the 1950s, someone came to him with castings for an existing drill, and asked him to copy it. He split the castings and used them as a pattern, presumably carving the new manufacturer's name – A & E McMillan – on the headstock. He got the last set of castings, to make his own drill press from.
It is powered by a Hoover 240v motor.Last edited by nigelpearson; 18th Sep 2021 at 09:41 PM. Reason: 2 missing images
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18th Sep 2021, 10:10 PM #2Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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Good to see old gear get a new lease of life.
In this case something like an "easy riser" would be worth considering.
It's basically a counterweight attached by a steel cable to pulley up near the motor and then back down to the table.
There were commercially available ones around for a while that had the counterweight down inside the column.
I had a home made version on mine for many years but because my DP has a HD table and an XY vice I had to have the counterweights hanging outside the column.
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19th Sep 2021, 02:43 PM #3Golden Member
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21st Sep 2021, 06:16 PM #4Diamond Member
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Some more pictures, for Pete
Last edited by nigelpearson; 21st Sep 2021 at 09:46 PM. Reason: save, rotate, chop image
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21st Sep 2021, 09:33 PM #5
Hi Nigel,
Do the same as I do and orientate the picture as you want and then crop the edges off and save !
This gets rid of the EXIF data that the forum uses to rotate the picture so that it is in the same orientation as the camera was when you took the picture. It saves a lot of hassle !Best Regards:
Baron J.
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9th Oct 2021, 11:06 AM #6New Member
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A & E McMillan - Melbourne
That's a very nice drill press, with a nice story too. I read on the internet about Macbro, a brand of sand mills and other foundry equipment, which is owned by Alan Beckwith Macbro Pty Ltd. Their website says that they purchased A & D McMillan Pty Ltd in 1992 (who originally made the Macbro line of equipment), and that they have been made for over 50 years. I wonder if maybe A McMillan and an E McMillan built the original drill press that your dad was asked to copy, and then A McMillan went on to start manufacturing foundry equipment with a D McMillan. Thanks.
Alan Beckwith Macbro Pty Ltd website: Alan Beckwith Macbro Pty Ltd, Australia - foundry castings
Cheers,
Ben.
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