Richardson Drill Press Spring

[chalmers888]

Evening everyone,

I have a Richardson drill press with a broken spring. Would anyone know where to source a replacement?

I've been down to Hafco but the they don't seem to have one that would fit.

thanks
Andrew

[Michael G]

If you can work out dimensions it may be worth contacting Brobo-waldown. Parts are available for their machines and there is a good possibility I would have thought of being able to use or adapt one of theirs

Michael

[chalmers888]

It appears the Brobo-Waldown repair agent in Sydney is Hare & Forbes.

[TheNutter]

Hi Andrew

I would take the pieces to a spring works and get one made. I have found this quite reasonable for price and quality. I am not sure who to recommend in Sydney.

Regards

Ian

[Grahame Collins]

Clock repairers may be a good source of springs as some as the right shape.
My dad was a watch maker and often had clocks with wide flat springs such as those found in the drill presses.
Got some dimensions for the spring? .Somebody here in the forum may spot one.

Another thought is a broken kids toy or a cut down mower recoil starter spring.

Grahame

[bwal74]

Hi,

You could try this lot from the US:

REPLACEMENT LARGER DRILL PRESS QUILL SPRING ASSEMBLY -DRILL PRESS PART-RESTORE! | eBay

You may need to measure up though to get the correct size. Let me know how you go, I've got a Stirling with a broken spring as well.

Cheers Ben.

[chalmers888]

My spring fits in housing 3" diameter. Its 3/8" thick. Not sure of the gauge. 6 or 7 coils. Not looking forward to removing the broken coils from the housing. It uses hook shape in a slot on the housing to attach.

I've been checking out ebay. Even looked at Amazon.

[jhovel]

Try
drill press spring items - Get great deals on items on eBay Stores!
all kinds of sizes there.....

[nadroj]

If your spring is broken at either end, it might be fixable.
Attachment features like tangs and bends can be cut off and replicated, after softening by heating the hard section just beyond the damaged soft ends.

I found a really big spiral spring in my broken garden hose reel. It looks potentially useful - but what for?

Jordan

[chalmers888]

Hi all,

Thanks for the help.

I sourced a spring from Hopping's Service Centre at Rydalmere for $13. It's believe its from a Victa but he couldn't tell me the model other than its old one.


Its similar thickness but slightly smaller gauge by the look of it. It also has an internal hook . Good news its annealed at the hook and bends nicely .
So it was just a matter of fitting it up and carefully sliding it out of its cage into the housing. Reality is grabbing it as it uncoiled like brown snake taking a little bite out of my thumb in the process. Fortunately it wasn't venomous. The trick appears to be to fit it up to the external wheel and wind a bit on then side the wheel onto the shaft and let a couple feet just hang out through the slot. Then put the nut on loose and just start winding it up. Once it starts to get a bit of tension on the spring it will draw the tail in through the slot. Keep winding until its tight. Then back it off a few turns. If you don't the spring will bind as you extend the spindle. It seems to extend and retract nicely.

Andrew

[DSEL74]

Just wondering how much rotation you get out of the spring. My drills feed arm has only a 270 Degree arc for the full quill travel, most drill presses I have seen do about 440 Deg (1½ Turns)…. could you tension the spring enough to work on a small arc like mine?

[Ueee]

Just wondering how much rotation you get out of the spring. My drills feed arm has only a 270 Degree arc for the full quill travel, most drill presses I have seen do about 440 Deg (1½ Turns)…. could you tension the spring enough to work on a small arc like mine?

My Waldown only does 360 and it returns fine, i presume it is a standard spring....

Ew

[Grahame Collins]

If you can't lay your hands on a spare part spring or a substitute try this for out of the box thinking :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EctHy-cpXsA

My Taiwanese drill press is 20 years old plus.The spring is odds on to break simply because it is difficult to me to source.
The alternate repair will be ideal for me.The U tube demo bits are readily sourced and the fabrication is fairly straight forward,not requiring specialized tools.

Grahame

[chalmers888]

Just wondering how much rotation you get out of the spring. My drills feed arm has only a 270 Degree arc for the full quill travel, most drill presses I have seen do about 440 Deg (1½ Turns)…. could you tension the spring enough to work on a small arc like mine?

Its about 1 1/2 turns, about 540 degrees.

It has full travel. If I wanted more I'd have to take the stop nuts off.

It supplies a force at 1 1/2 turns and at 3/4 turn on my drill. If your getting say 120mm travel and only 270 degrees of handle it must mean the gearing is different. I'm thinking that would be a favorable situation because the spring is moving through a smaller range of movement?

[LexD]

If you can't lay your hands on a spare part spring or a substitute try this for out of the box thinking :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EctHy-cpXsA

My Taiwanese drill press is 20 years old plus.The spring is odds on to break simply because it is difficult to me to source.
The alternate repair will be ideal for me.The U tube demo bits are readily sourced and the fabrication is fairly straight forward,not requiring specialized tools.

Grahame

Not a bad idea but it could take your eye out if something went wrong.