Giant Drill Press - am I going to be able to use it?

[Mac53]

Hey everyone!
I'm not sure if I'm sticking this in the right forum or not, so please let me know (or go ahead and move it!) if I have.

I recently purchased this giant drill press. I'm hoping to get it completely functioning and use it to replace the crappy little table top drill I use now.

It is made my W.F. & J Harness Co., from Rockford, Il. It is a 20" model. Looking up the company, it most closely matches their 1883 pat. (US Patent: 285,726).

My first problem is the chuck. Does anyone know where I could find something that would work? If you look up into it, it appears to be slotted at the top of the hole. The hole (at the bottom) measures ~0.915. Obviously, if I can't find a chuck to use, the whole project will have to be scrapped.

Next issue: The motor. I don't think I'll have any problem getting some long belts and pulleys, making the mount, etc., but what about the motor itself? How many HP (single phase, 115v. Ideally, but could go 220 if I had to) would you all recommend? How many RPM should I start off with before pulleys? The drill will be used for a little bit of everything. It will probably mostly see use with metal though, if it makes a difference.

Is there anything else I will need or should know about this thing?

Thanks!

[rusty]

>My first problem is the chuck. Does anyone know where I could find something >that would work? If you look up into it, it appears to be slotted at the top of the >hole. The hole (at the bottom) measures ~0.915.

Hard to tell from the pic, but I think you have a Morse taper chuck. The slot is to drive out the drill bit. If so you can get adaptors if you prefer a 3 jaw chuck (it goes where the drill bit would have gone)

http://www.beautifuliron.com/mttaper.htm

If you are mostly drilling metal, set it up to go slow, for inch sized holes in low carbon steel you need to be able to shift the speed down into the middle 200 rpm range. Softer stuff you can go faster, but slow is more important than fast. If you can't go slow enough you burn things. if you can't go fast enough, it just takes a little longer to make a hole...

[Mac53]

Thanks rusty! That is pretty cool, and I think you're right. I think I even have a few bits like that lying around, but never knew what they were for. I definitely want to go with a 3 jaw for convenience. Is there a place you would recommend to find one? I assume the "4" on the bottom of the chuck is the MT size.


I suppose I can do plenty of reduction with the pulleys, but what is a good starting RPM for the motor? Just as slow as possible? 1750? I have no idea if I should be looking at motors closer to 3/4hp or if I'd need something in the 5+ range.

[scottg]

This is definitely a morse taper quill. They come in lots of sizes, and make adapters between the sizes. That slip of for driving in the tapered key to loosen the bit or attachment.
  You need to figure out what size taper you have.

  I saw 3/4" 3 jaw chucks, on #3 morse tapers, for 15bucks free shipping the other day.
  Search Ebay.

    If the bearings are good, and minimal slop in the quill,...................
  your main problem will be speed control.  Every drill press has at least 5 and many up to 16 different speeds.

  If you get a couple of step pulleys, one for your motor and one for your jackshaft, you can get at least 4 or 5 speeds. 
If you put that whole outfit on a sliding, self adjusting mount, you can put another step pulley on the jackshaft output and now you are into 10 speeds or more. 
     
I'd love to see this restored and painted and working!
  yours Scott

[Nolatoolguy]

Before worrying about the motor I would check to make sure the bearings are true an theres no obvious wobble.

I would also consider a variable frequency drive motor for it if you can find one at a reasonable price.

For sure please keep us updated :)

[jabberwoki]

I have a 9 ft Superior drill press that I restored and every time I have to drill something I smile like a Cheshire cat! And so will you. You can get loads of info at practical machinist it`s a much more laid back site than owwm.

[Mac53]

Jabber, do you have a photo of yours? I'd love to see it! What HP do you have on it?

There is no wobble anywhere in the machine at all! I started to oil it up and everything moves very nicely and has 0 play. There is a tiny spot in the rotation that has a little more resistance than the rest, but I think it will either smooth out on its own, or I can smooth it out. It has been sitting for who knows how long.

Now, a variable frequency motor is an interesting idea! I will have to look into that. Are the prices significantly higher?

[Chillylulu]

Now, a variable frequency motor is an interesting idea! I will have to look into that. Are the prices significantly higher?

For fire pump controllers it is s factor of about ten times. But there are a lot of advantages.

Chilly

[Lewill2]

Variable speed drives, I just had a educational experience with one. We have been down sized so much in the last 5 years that we no longer have an experienced electrical engineer on staff. I do mechanical and electrical installation (supervision & start up) for our company. We have a small show and tell area to test and demonstrate some of our products. We recently relocated our office to the 5th floor of an office building. Our test/show machine had to be downsized and converted to 115 VAC operation. We had a 3 phase VFD on the conveyor section. We knew we had to reconfigure the conveyor and convert the drive to run on a 20 amp 115 VAC circuit. We ordered a new control panel with a 115 VAC VFD controller big enough for a 1 HP motor. Our "electrical engineer" designed the panel and circuitry and off we went. I had a new motor ordered and installed. I tried to start the conveyor up prior to connecting the chain drive to check rotation and amp draw. The 115 VAC single phase motor would only run at about 23 - 24 hertz. I called a factory rep for the drive and after 15 - 20 minutes on the phone the guy says read the motor name plate data to me. 115/230 VAC single phase, and before I could get the next word out of my mouth the guy says well that's the problem you need a 3 phase motor. I said what? He said the drive runs on 115 VAC single phase but converts it to 230 VAC 3 phase to run the motor and gives you the ability to run at different frequencies. There are less expensive small HP single phase variable speed drives but for a good package you need to pony up and buy the good stuff. VFD drive controller and the correct VFD rated motor. 60 hertz runs at rated motor RPM, we run ours between 15 hertz and 80 hertz. This is the first time I ever worked with a single phase VFD so I learned a lot the expensive way. It cost us 2 motors. Good thing was I/we didn't ruin the VFD controller.     

[jabberwoki]

Here`s my post on Practical machinist . It`s a 3 hp motor.

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/antique-machinery-history/my-superior-drill-press-277702/