Sorta off topic (hand powered drill press)

[WyomingWhitetail]

So this isn't exactly about gun building but i wasn't sure where else to put it. I just remembered that i have a couple of hand powered old drill presses in storage and a thought occurred to me. My workshop is fairly small and its in a rental house so i can't be moving in a bunch of machinery. The hand powered one wouldn't take up much space and it would be pretty quiet and for the one hole a month i would drill it might work. Plus while it wouldn't be quite traditional (im guessing from the limited research i have done its from 1890-early 1900s era it would be a lot more traditional than an electric version. So any body know anything about these things or used them before with thoughts or advice on how to set them up to drill accurate holes.

 

[4570tc]

I gotta see!!!

post pictures please!!!! :thumbsup:

 

[Zonie]

If we're talking about drill presses and not about hand held crank drills, if the bearings are in good shape they should be able to drill very accurately.

Although "back in the day" the larger companies had water powered machines with their water wheel, spinning shafts and flat leather drive belts it wouldn't surprise me a bit to find that a few of the very lucky small time gunsmiths might have had a hand powered drill press in the 1800's.

See what you can do about posting a few pictures.

 

[mazo kid]

I have a couple of those myself...stored out in a shed too. As I recall, they were mounted on a post or building column. A problem that I also seem to remember is that the "chuck" isn't like the key chucks today; used a set screw to hold the bit. I would think it would be fairly easy to make an adapter and fit a Jacobs chuck to it. Hmmmmmm.

 

[ohio ramrod]

I have an origional "post Drill" that can be either hand cranked or run off of a line drive. I sometimes use it at craft shows and it drills quite well. Slow but good holes! :surrender:

 

[TARL01]

Yup. Me too. I don't use it much though.
Woody

 

I would definitely like to see pictures.

My great-grandfather was a blacksmith,wheel right, farmer, and carpenter. My Grandfather has the ranch where he homesteaded and in his blacksmith shop was a hand powered drill press. If I remember right it could be ran by belt as well.

 

[FPDoc]

The oldest ones used a drill bit with a flat ground on the side for two square head screwes that held the bit in the chuck, later they used the tapered four sided bit like an old "brace and bit". Ive seen many converted to use a Jacobs chuck. Many had a "self feed" or "power feed" that ran off of a little pawl that dropped into teeth on a wheel at the top and as the shaft rotated it advanced the bit. Very powerful feed, Ive seen the "table" broken off of ones that I suspect happened when a dull bit was used and it kept advancing without cutting until the table snapped (actually most likely a youngster playing in "gramps" workshop). Be careful with the "S" spoke flywheel, if they get broken they are the devil to repair. If the flywheel is flat it can be run off of an overhead shaft or a little electric motor (Ive seen one with v-belt grooves in the flat of the flywheel). They are a bit slow but can be very powerful and accurate.. also.. the handle can come around on its own and hit you in the chin if youre not careful.. I hear.

 

[ron ward]

you can get pretty inexpensive 1/2" chucks on a #2 or 3 morse spindle and have the taper turned off to fit the spindle of your post drill. just file a flat on it for the set screw. you'll loose some throat, but you'd be able to use all your modern drill bits in it. i have one from harbour frieght, it only cost 10 or 12 bucks and has no more run out than my big craftsman drill press chuck.

 

[Birddog6]

I have used them in the barn as a youth. Ours were big & heavy & mounted to one of the main upright support beams. Hole accuracy will depend on the bearing & gear wear. We had one good one used for metal & one worn used for wood things & general drilling. One had a chuck like an old brace & bit, made for the square or 3 corner bit. The other had a machine bit chuck but you tightened it by hand, it didn't have a hole or gear arrangement for a Key. We later put a Jacobs chuck on it with a key.

Keith Lisle

 

[WyomingWhitetail]

Cool its neat to see that so many of these old machines are still out there. I have one that is in pretty good shape that my father in law gave me and i also have one that is tore apart that is missing a few pieces that was my uncles. Someday i hope to restore the one of my uncles but im going to have to pull the complete one out and check it out. If i remember right it was in pretty good condition. I think a buddy of mine has at least two of these things laying out behind his house that i might have to go look at, nothing else might give me spare parts. All of them are in my home town 5 hours away from where im going to school so pictures will have to wait till next time i go home for the weekend.

 

[mazo kid]

Jim, you really want me to wade 100 yards through the snow to take a couple of pictures? :rotf:
Will see, maybe later.

 

[44-henry]

It would certainly work, I have a few that I have restored over the years and they are fun to play with. In practical terms you would be better served by a bench top drill press such as Delta's DP350 model. These don't take up too much space and are actually pretty quiet. You can also find drill press attachments for hand drills that can work in a pinch.

 

[Leon Renaud]

I have 3 of these old "post drills" Yup that's what their called because they need to be attached to a post to work with them.The earliest type have round cross section fly wheels like a cast iron steam or water valve would have, Next would be the flat belt wheel which has a slightly higher center to the otherwise flat outside of the rim this raised center would keep the flat belt tracking on the wheel.the latest style has a V belt grove in the outside of the flywheel.All mine feature the little self feeding cam lever on the top along with a hand wheel that you can feed the quill with.I find it best to feed the drill bit into the work by turning the feed wheel by hand. The automatic feeder cams feed at too fast a rate for modern twist drills and anything under 1/4 inch will bend and break using the auto feed or like someone said you can put so much force on the table that you break the drill press. I don't find that hand cranking and hand feeding is awkward or that much slower than a powered drill.What I have found is that you can drill things like spring steel easily with the hand cranked machine when a more modern power drill won't let you because of the RPMs of the power drills.I have drilled many leaf spring throwing knife handles for rivets without any problems at all and thats with low cost twist drills.The slower Drill speed and easy feed control make it possible.My drill chucks are the more modern keyed or hand tightened that I had mounted on a short shaft to fit the old set screw type chucks.Of Course being from New England where we have abundant water power we could develop and use tools like this before they were common to the rest of the country. a Post drill in good condition will do just about anything a modern drill will but at a slower and much quieter state I think if you have the means to mount one it would work just fine for what you want.