Brierley Drill Grinder ZB50

[Smouser]

I bought a pretty rough-looking Brierley drill grinder on auction in 2023.

It has been in storage since then but the time has come to get it sorted.
I have LOADS of blunt/tip-damaged Morse taper drill bits which I acquired through various auctions/FB marketplace over the last few years.

Here is a small selection

I also have a fairly expansive tap selection and I am certain there will be some blunt ones mixed in between the good ones.

The Brierley ZB50 when I got it home in 2023.

The Brierley back home in 2024

My Brierley ZB50 came with a few cams.

2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 green cams.
7 red cam.

The cams' uses are listed below.

The Brierley also came with a few accessories.

The original drill steady for round shank drill bits.

Modified Morse Taper adapters (welded on the outside to increase OD) to hold MT drill bits and a few MT sleeves.

 

[Brad93]

Forgot you had this.

What's the purpose of the welded MT arbors?

How much did you pay? Never seen a cheap one come up.

 

[Smouser]

The Brierley ZB50 has a few obvious issues.
Half of the degree marking scale is missing.

The cup wheel or thinning wheel which is supposed to sit next to the main grinding wheel is missing.

Hopefully, @RobCox can help me out when I get stuck with the grinder wheel. He made some very good videos on his tool and cutter grinder and this machine should be much simpler to use and set up.


The previous owner started stripping the dust guards/bellows off for some reason. They are pretty rough. I hope they will clean up ok.
Alternatively, I will see if I can get new generic ones which will fit.

I searched high and low for a Brierley ZB50 manual but could not find one. I did find a few ZB25 and ZB32 manuals though.

Luckily, 'Shed Made' produced a video on a Brierley drill grinder and although it is not the same model as mine, the principle of sharpening the drill bits is the same.

After more searching, I finally found a French version of the Brierley ZB50 manual.

The original scan was not the best and it made translating the manual troublesome.
I used various translators (Google translate, Word translate, OpenGPT ) and got slightly different results on each one.

On OpenGPT I ran the translation 3 times and each time the results were slightly different
I then painstakingly looked at all the translations and tried to make a manual out of the three translations (more work is probably still required).

However, for now, here is the translated Brierley ZB50 Manual.

The brochure photo from lathes.co.uk.

The hard work of stripping the machine, cleaning everything and re-painting will commence in the next few months.

 

[nickk]

What a great find,I used to use one,dormer? Where I did my time,I was spoilt for wheel types/choices,good luck.

 

[Smouser]

Forgot you had this.

What's the purpose of the welded MT arbors?

How much did you pay? Never seen a cheap one come up.

The welded MT arbors are for holding the drill in the 'body' of the Brierley's drill sharpener (steady the rear of the drill).

The 'Box' with the 6-jaw chuck attached to it.

With the original round shank drill steady inserted.

The MT arbors are used like this (I think )

My Brierley was not dirt cheap, especially if you consider the condition.

If I remember correctly, it was between the £300 and £400 mark.

However, a new modern version of the ZB50 is £10k ex vat

 

[Agroshield]

Have you found Rush Drill grinders (https://rushmachinery.com/products/drill-and-tool-grinders/) They are a copy/licensed version/same as a Brierley. They might have a manual that is close. Translating from American to English might be more difficult than translating from French.

Work out the diameter of the angle scale, draw it up as a flat piece and get someone to laser burn a piece of black coated aluminium.

 

[Smouser]

Thanks for the link. Definitely worth having a look but I think I have got the manual in a good enough state to make it workable.

Good tip on the angle scale.
I was thinking of just doing it manually with punches on a strip of brass

I do think the 118 degree angle can be locked in with a pin so I should be good initially to try the machine without getting all the angles on the scale.

 

[Brad93]

The welded MT arbors are for holding the drill in the 'body' of the Brierley's drill sharpener (steady the rear of the drill).

The 'Box' with the 6-jaw chuck attached to it.

View attachment 449983

With the original round shank drill steady inserted.

View attachment 449984

The MT arbors are used like this (I think )

View attachment 449985

View attachment 449986

View attachment 449987

My Brierley was not dirt cheap, especially if you consider the condition.

If I remember correctly, it was between the £300 and £400 mark.

However, a new modern version of the ZB50 is £10k ex vat

Most i see

Have you found Rush Drill grinders (https://rushmachinery.com/products/drill-and-tool-grinders/) They are a copy/licensed version/same as a Brierley. They might have a manual that is close. Translating from American to English might be more difficult than translating from French.

Work out the diameter of the angle scale, draw it up as a flat piece and get someone to laser burn a piece of black coated aluminium.

@Hood

 

[iNf]

Good tip on the angle scale.
I was thinking of just doing it manually with punches on a strip of brass

A certain someone on this site has some very good scale templates Calling @Dr.Al
https://www.cgtk.co.uk/metalwork/calculators/linear
Print and varnish/laminate to get you going?

 

[Erie Fred]

I had the exact same machine pictured under "Shed Made" including the green paint.
Worked good, didn't use it much, sold it for a small profit.

 

[Smouser]

I had the exact same machine pictured under "Shed Made" including the green paint.
Worked good, didn't use it much, sold it for a small profit.

I don't think I will use it a lot (after I sharpened and sorted all my blunt drills).

The plan is to refurbish it, get it working 100%, sharpen all my drills and then maybe move it along.

 

[RobCox]

The plan is to refurbish it, get it working 100%, sharpen all my drills and then maybe move it along

At which point you'll blunt a drill then wish you hadnt sold it!

 

[Smouser]

At which point you'll blunt a drill then wish you hadnt sold it!

Don't worry, I know a guy with a tool and cutter grinder that can sharpen ANYTHING!

 

[Erie Fred]

I had a bunch of large drills that I got cheap, that some were very badly cracked/chipped.
Grinding would have taken a long time, and I'm sure i would burn the HSS.
So using the chopsaw, cut them off square, and then roughed them with the belt sander.
Then off to the Brierley to correct the angles & clearance's.

 

[Smouser]

I had a bunch of large drills that I got cheap, that some were very badly cracked/chipped.
Grinding would have taken a long time, and I'm sure i would burn the HSS.
So using the chopsaw, cut them off square, and then roughed them with the belt sander.
Then off to the Brierley to correct the angles & clearance's.

Good idea.

I am planning to run coolant on mine (even though it causes havoc when the water/coolant get into bearings and small spaces).

 

[Erie Fred]

Good idea.

I am planning to run coolant on mine (even though it causes havoc when the water/coolant get into bearings and small spaces).

I used a cold air gun, but have plenty of compressed air.

 

[Agroshield]

I don't think I will use it a lot (after I sharpened and sorted all my blunt drills).

It has other uses than drills. If you take/switch off the cam and lock the rocking action, it will grind anything with circular symmetry. Touch up all your centre punches, lathe centres and scribers. The workholding might be a challenge, but you'd have the sharpest stilletto heels in town.

It needs a bit of imagination but you can make it do a lot of the things this does:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NEWTRY-Punching-Grinder-Precision-Accuracy/dp/B083XLK8DB

The workholding adaptation is not so difficult; it is the angular control and rotation stops that would need thinking about.

I wonder if it is possible to find a diamond wheel for it and then you could make Bosch multi-material bits from standard masonary bits.

 

[Smouser]

I have been slowly starting to strip the grinder when I get some time in the evenings.

I started with the bottom bracket which holds the workhead.

A cap with an O-ring protects the two locknuts. It looks like some coolant did make its way in there before as there was a bit of corrosion.

To remove the workhead lower section (item 9) I first had to take the workhead's handle and cover plate off to disconnect the cranklink.

Once the cranklink was disconnected, the workhead lower section including the workhead could be removed.

The thrust bearings and thrust washers are knackered with corrosion and pitting.

The bottom bracket could then be removed.

The two thrust bearings and their washers (different thicknesses) are:
NTA2031 Needle Roller Cage Only 1.25x1.9375x0.0781 inch
TRA2031 Needle Roller Thrust Washer 1.25x1.937x0.031 inch
TRC2031 Needle Roller Thrust Washer 1.25x1.937x0.094 inch

I have added them to my basket @ Simplybearings but have not ordered them yet.
I will probably change most of the bearings on the machine but I don't know what the sizes are yet.

I then removed the main grinding wheel (heat was required to get the nut undone).

Another bearing. 6304RS. Added to my bearing basket.

 

[Brad93]

I have been slowly starting to strip the grinder when I get some time in the evenings.

I started with the bottom bracket which holds the workhead.

View attachment 450340


View attachment 450341

A cap with an O-ring protects the two locknuts. It looks like some coolant did make its way in there before as there was a bit of corrosion.

To remove the workhead lower section (item 9) I first had to take the workhead's handle and cover plate off to disconnect the cranklink.

View attachment 450342

Once the cranklink was disconnected, the workhead lower section including the workhead could be removed.

View attachment 450343

View attachment 450344

View attachment 450346

The thrust bearings and thrust washers are knackered with corrosion and pitting.

The bottom bracket could then be removed.

View attachment 450345

The two thrust bearings and their washers (different thicknesses) are:
NTA2031 Needle Roller Cage Only 1.25x1.9375x0.0781 inch
TRA2031 Needle Roller Thrust Washer 1.25x1.937x0.031 inch
TRC2031 Needle Roller Thrust Washer 1.25x1.937x0.094 inch

I have added them to my basket @ Simplybearings but have not ordered them yet.
I will probably change most of the bearings on the machine but I don't know what the sizes are yet.

I then removed the main grinding wheel (heat was required to get the nut undone).

View attachment 450347

View attachment 450348

Another bearing. 6304RS. Added to my bearing basket.


View attachment 450349

try bearings r us, ⅓ cheaper than simply bearing

 

[Smouser]

try bearings r us, ⅓ cheaper than simply bearing

Thanks.

I normally use Simplybearing's website to find the bearings I need, add them to my basket and then use the list to see if there is significant savings to be made on eBay/other websites.