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Thread: The Mother Of All Drill Presses!

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
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    The Mother Of All Drill Presses!

    It took a lot of patience yesterday as the auctioneers waded through tons of stuff at a large farm and auto/truck sale but slowly and surely they waded through it inching closer towards a drill press I had my eye on.

    Our farm has been stuck with a little Taiwanese drill since my brother broke a gear on our 1900 vintage drill that used taper attachment bits over thirty years ago and I now had my eye the Mother Of All Drill Presses! (MOADP)

    Finnally, one of the two auction teams swung onto the row where the MOADP stood.

    I had just one true challenger and we'd become friends, but I did not I realize he was the only one till the dust settled.

    My new friend was only wanting the table from the press but I needed that and as he wanted it for a friend he was not going to out bid me anyway.

    What he really wanted was some of the big bits that sold seperately in an apple bin that came with the press. I told him I'd be pretty easy on him if I were to also get those bits!

    A couple of bids came on the press but when the dust settled I had bought the MOADP for 500 bucks!

    Next were the apple bin of bits!

    Now things heat up!

    My new friend turns to me and in the middle of the fray he offers to split the cost ....... the competition ends with me on top at 700.

    The day of the long wait ends our farm's long wait for a substantial drill press!

    What I bought is a radial arm press which weights somewhere north of 4 tons, it's an Archdale with about 50 inches of travel and it uses up to 5 MT bits.

    During the wait to pick up our treasurers we got more acquainted and he builds cannons, does re-enactments, recently took up handloading, has his first Dillon press.

    We split up the bits in a logical fashion and after he paid his share I am only out about 850 for press and bits. I already have a bunch of MT bits from our old press and also a large lathe so that gave me a head start.

    I also offered our great grey digger resources to him, you know when you have a machinist hunting your ranch you can pick his brain. LOL!

    Life is grand when you are in the company of good people!

    Best Regards and Happy Easter!

    Three 44s
    Last edited by Three44s; 04-16-2017 at 11:41 AM.

  2. #2
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    rancher1913's Avatar
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    sometimes I use my greatgrandfathers drill press just to remember how good we got it. its hand crank, self feeding, stands about 5 foot tall and has to be mounted to a wall to work.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    Fond memories of working on those big old radial arm drills as a machinist. Biggest one I got to run was a old Carlton that had a #5 mt in the spindle. That old dog had to weigh at least 14,000 lbs. with it's 10' arm. After drilling a pilot hole, it would take a 4" drill and go right through steel without any complaint or chatter. If you got the tombstone and the vise with it, they make fine tools for doing intermediate size line boring as well with a boring bar in the spindle. That one had a 25hp main motor. I can't imagine getting one that cheap, congratulations on your purchase. You have to have some good 3ph power in your shop.
    Chris

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    rancher1913,

    We have been going round and round with half inch hand drills or chattering up our bigger bits on the Taiwanese press from running them too fast for so long that your Greatgrandfathers press might have looked tempting to us!

    cwheel,

    I have 3 ph but it's 208v I believe as we have two pots instead of three, delta three phase I believe?

    I am likely going to build another shop or add on to the existing structure because of how tall this press is, especially when you run the arm to the top so we have some work to do before we can use it ....but first we have to get it home in one piece. The auction company can't load it out until next week when their yard is pretty clear of most of this sale. They almost lost it unloading from the County truck (this press was in the County road shop most recently) and their fork lifts are maxed out with it.

    I have been told the delta power would be fine. I do not know about the press but I also have one of the old shipyard Hobart DC welders that we've been running for thirty years, it is a 20 hp Three phase motor running a D.C. generator.

    The biggest motor on this press is perhaps a five hp?

    I also have a 3 ph generator capable of running it if necessary so we can work that out one way or the other.

    I told my wife I was not going to go out looking for any Easter eggs today as I think I got one great BIG one at the auction!

    Three 44s

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    I think the hardest part for you will be getting big enough equipment to safely move it to your shop. It will help if the arm is moved as close to the base as possible, and the head is moved as close to the column, to lower the center of gravity. Our stuff was all 440 volts so I don't know how the power part is going to work out for you in a home or farm shop. Also, hope you have a friend with one big lift truck or a crane. Once on the ground in your shop, can be moved with pipes as rolls or regular machinery movers that can be rented. I recommend the machinery movers because in most cases 2 people can safely get it moved into position in your shop.
    Chris

  6. #6
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    leebuilder's Avatar
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    Neat. I ran a massive 25hp one as an apprentice. Its foot print was the size of a car. Drilled and tapped many many man hole covers and bases on it. Using big spade bits under power feed with coolant was neat. The chips were massive !!!.
    Be safe
    When you read the fine print you get an education
    when you ignore the fine print you get experience

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    I think it's likely you are going to find a larger hp. motor on the main spindle, especially with a #5 mt. on the spindle. Depends on the speed ranges, but it should handle a 2 1/2" drill just fine, might do much bigger with the right setup. I'd forgot because it had been so long, footprint on that old Carlton was about the size of a small car as well. What you might end up considering for power is what I had to do here to run my milling machine. A VFT phase converter ends up being a true 3 phase power and also gives you a variable speed control in between the speed ranges. Also a soft start for the motor when you power it up. You might google it and see what is available for what you have. Be sure to add together all motors for a total hp. rating, not just the main motor. I've run mine for more than 10 years and never a problem. Gives you full motor rated hp. and not de-rated like the others. My VFD phase converter was about $500 back then. Have fun.
    Chris

  8. #8
    Boolit Master NoAngel's Avatar
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    Drilled many a hole on a Cincinnati radial arm drill. The bigger the machine, the cooler it is. LOL!

    Looked similar to this one.

    Click image for larger version. 

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ID:	193393
    When dealing with islam one should always ask themselves: "What would Leonidas do?"

  9. #9
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by cwheel View Post
    I think the hardest part for you will be getting big enough equipment to safely move it to your shop. It will help if the arm is moved as close to the base as possible, and the head is moved as close to the column, to lower the center of gravity. Our stuff was all 440 volts so I don't know how the power part is going to work out for you in a home or farm shop. Also, hope you have a friend with one big lift truck or a crane. Once on the ground in your shop, can be moved with pipes as rolls or regular machinery movers that can be rented. I recommend the machinery movers because in most cases 2 people can safely get it moved into position in your shoptalk it here in one piece to enjoy .
    Chris
    Chris,

    Our press's motors are tagged as 220/440 so we will see. My irrigation pump house is 480 but it's 1 1/2 miles away from the main farm shop. That suggestion of a vari drive is excellent, being able to split speeds would be golden and our three phase lathes would be in line to benefit.

    You are spot on that moving as it's my main worry. We have to get it here in one piece to make use of it!

    Mark
    Last edited by Three44s; 04-16-2017 at 11:24 PM.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by cwheel View Post
    I think it's likely you are going to find a larger hp. motor on the main spindle, especially with a #5 mt. on the spindle. Depends on the speed ranges, but it should handle a 2 1/2" drill just fine, might do much bigger with the right setup. I'd forgot because it had been so long, footprint on that old Carlton was about the size of a small car as well. What you might end up considering for power is what I had to do here to run my milling machine. A VFT phase converter ends up being a true 3 phase power and also gives you a variable speed control in between the speed ranges. Also a soft start for the motor when you power it up. You might google it and see what is available for what you have. Be sure to add together all motors for a total hp. rating, not just the main motor. I've run mine for more than 10 years and never a problem. Gives you full motor rated hp. and not de-rated like the others. My VFD phase converter was about $500 back then. Have fun.
    Chris
    I think the biggest bit in the bin was about 2 7/8", I am going by what the machinist that was also eyeing it said about the size of the taper is but I see an adapter in the box that's a jaw droper as to taper size so I would be surprised if it was not a "five". The base on this drill is about the length of a Datsun pup bed but not quite as wide.

    Best regards

    Mark
    Last edited by Three44s; 04-16-2017 at 11:25 PM.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by leebuilder View Post
    Neat. I ran a massive 25hp one as an apprentice. Its foot print was the size of a car. Drilled and tapped many many man hole covers and bases on it. Using big spade bits under power feed with coolant was neat. The chips were massive !!!.
    Be safe
    That would be quite a responsibility as an apprentice!

    Best regards

    Mark

  12. #12
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by NoAngel View Post
    Drilled many a hole on a Cincinnati radial arm drill. The bigger the machine, the cooler it is. LOL!

    Looked similar to this one.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	d570016_2.jpg 
Views:	192 
Size:	56.5 KB 
ID:	193393
    That's a dandy pic of one that would eat my new to me press's LUNCH ......LOL!

    Most impressive!!


    Best regards

    Mark

  13. #13
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    Can you get those at Harbor Freight?

  14. #14
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Traffer View Post
    Can you get those at Harbor Freight?
    Traffer,

    If not now, SOON!

    Mark

  15. #15
    Boolit Master

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    Cwheel is spot on. Phase converter is easy way to go. Being a machine tool repairman for years, worked on larger size drill presses, arms over 15' many 20' tall. Some were missing their fancy name tags when I left. Back in the 70-90's most of the big mfgs of just about everyting had quite a few left over tooling from WWII, still had the War Department tags on them. Foundation is the most important issue you may face, need thick slab or deep holes filled with grout under each leveling pad. Could write a book on stupid installations Ive seen.
    10-x

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  16. #16
    Boolit Master
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    10-x,

    We realize that this drill will need a good foundation and be bolted down to it and we have the capability to do that well.

    We are likely going to have to build a place for it and as such we will be starting with a clean slate.

    I have a number of chain and electric hoists and a tool crane likely ought to be added to the mix as well. Once we wall in the drill, running a forklift in there narrows as an option and that also runs the risk of damaging something. Tool crane rash is also a concern ........... you pay your money and take your chances!

    We will be looking at the power issue as well and a VFD/converter is certainly in the possible mix, I like the added flexibility and what with our lathes, having a unit like that would present more dividends than just the drill. About the only 3 ph motors I have in the shop that wouldn't be a big advantage in having it would be an air compressor and our big WWII Hobart motor drive welder.

    So my main concern is still getting it home in one piece. As cwheel suggested, it would be nice if we could run the arm down and bring the spindle in close to the column but I don't have an easy way to get power to it.

    It came from our county road maintanence shop and I might be able to rangle a brief plug in as it's on our way home but we would already all tied down by then.

    We will see.

    Best regards and thank you

    Three 44s

  17. #17
    Boolit Master
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    I've never run into that brand of radial drill. But one of the ways you can tell something about capacity it has is the size of the taper in the spindle. #5 a is respectable size, you can go to the standard taper size chart and tell something about it's capacity by the drill sizes listed for that taper. Also, a neat thing is you do have a lathe and can make single point ( or boring tools ) to fit your own needs. Depending on the feeds and speeds available on the machine, think you should be able to bore up to 6" in steel with the right setup, and some will cut threads as well. You most likely know clamping stuff down is a big deal, anything that gets that much power from large tooling can be turned to junk in a heartbeat. You have not said if it has the tombstone or a vise. Typically we would get a nice vise off a old 20" shaper ( or larger ) and mount to the tombstone. That 2 7/8" drill is a nice size and be used as a pilot hole for boring jobs. If you can't lower the arm, at least crank the head all the way into the column clamp it down. Also might want a chain on the end of the arm so it can't swing in transport. I've move much bigger stuff, but always had the right equipment available, guess I'm spoiled by that. Can see how moving it could cause some stress !!
    Chris

  18. #18
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    This forum is such a great source of knowledge. I will never need such a machine, but so many of the comments give insight into other areas of useful information. This one has helped me to learn about moving heavy machinery, capabilities of large machines, general understandings of size variations in machine tapers, practical use of three phase power, the relative worth of some old iron, tips on auctions, and more. That is just this thread. CB has given me quite an education in the past couple of years. My thanks to all of you who share your valuable hard earned knowledge.
    Sincerely
    Traffer

  19. #19
    Boolit Grand Master

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    A good drill press is as accurate as the lay out and set up work. We did hole patterns and laid them out with a height gage on surface plate then prick punched and checked with magnifying glass then center punched and drilled in the drill press. A piece can be indicated in and bored in the drill press with a little work. At work we had a few extra drill presses for those times when a part needed modified or changed a little. Set it up and a fixture then run the parts needing to be modified thru. The drill press is a versatile piece of equipment. A nice addition to them is a tapping head for multiple holes makes tapping much easier and faster.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master

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    Three44s, check the drive for both axis, unless really strange there should be a means to manually turn the head down the collum as well as move it toward the collum. Interested how it goes, almost makes me want to back to work,LOL.
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