pillar drill recommendations

[seanc]

In looking for a pillar drill. Bench mount or floor standimg im not to bothered.
Needs to be single phase. Etc. It wont get heavy use but id prefer an older engineering one that I know will last.

Any recommendations of makes/models to keep an eye out for ?

 

[seanc]

Ive seen a few progress ones locally. Made in england look fairly well built.
Prices seem to be all over the place though.

 

[rtbcomp]

Elliott Progress No1 for simplicity, No2 for versatility. Above that too complicated & expensive for hobby use.

 

[seanc]

i know one of the ones locally was a no 15.
anywhere i can find out what all the numbers relate to ?

 

[rtbcomp]

Probably 1S (one ess).

 

[seanc]

ah right could well be. so this would be suitable ?
and yes its a 1S its just been listed wrongly

any idea of roughly what one way be worth ?

 

[rtbcomp]

I've seen them on Ebay for about £100, very good drill, very heavy designed for professional use. 5 Speeds.

 

[outofthefire]

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=42864

 

[ronan]

I have a progess no.2 that was rescued from the scrapmans skip, needs a bit of work as a bearing is getting noisy, but its probably 50 years old so i'll forgive it. They are very heavily built and miles ahead of the chinese crap that passes for pillar drills today. If you can find one in good nick for reasonable money, grab it.

 

[Paul99]

When I was on the look out I'd have gone for anything from
Meddings, Fobco, Startrite, Union, Elliot. Ended up with a Meddings M4 in the end and couldn't be happier - probably overkill for what I need but the back gear taking the speed down to 60rpm is a revelation with bigger bits and holesaws etc TBH I don't think I'd look at another drill press without it being able to go that slow.

 

[waddycall]

I spent ages looking for a decent single phase drill. In the end I bought a three phase startrite mercury floor standing drill in almost new condition for £100 off ebay. It came from a local school. I bought the book "electric motors in the home workshop" (£4 from amazon) which shows how to convert three phase motors to single phase. Another £20 to Maplins and I've got a decent medium duty drill with absolutely no play in the quill. In comparison I bought a brand new ED16 from Axminster for a lot more money, assembled it, dissassembled it and returned it - loads of play in the quill, horrid castings, rise and fall table that got jammed etc. Only problem with the mercury is it hasn't got the oomph to start up on the higher two of the five speeds. For metalwork it's fine and I regularly drill >10mm holes through 8mm steel.

 

[rtbcomp]

.........Only problem with the mercury is it hasn't got the oomph to start up on the higher two of the five speeds. ........

That'll be more to do with coaxing a 3 phase motor to run on single phase.

Now you've mentioned it most of these drills will be 3-phase, I bought a single phase motor for mine.

 

[waddycall]

Yep, definitely the DIY motor conversion which doesn't give the motor much starting torque. In the higher speeds pulling on the belt gets it going!

 

[brightspark]

Yep, definitely the DIY motor conversion which doesn't give the motor much starting torque. In the higher speeds pulling on the belt gets it going!

shell out and put a single phase motor on it .not much point in having a good drill with a dodgy motor

 

[waddycall]

Why? It's been like that for a year or more, runs a treat with plenty of torque at the speeds I need and is a simple conversion back to three phase if needed. It doesn't have a dodgy motor. The purpose of my post was to let the OP know that three phase drills aren't un-useable on single phase.

 

[brightspark]

Why? It's been like that for a year or more, runs a treat with plenty of torque at the speeds I need and is a simple conversion back to three phase if needed. It doesn't have a dodgy motor. The purpose of my post was to let the OP know that three phase drills aren't un-useable on single phase.

yes with reduced power no use when u want to run the drill to its full potential

 

[waddycall]

No lack of power, just starting torque same as if the capacitors gone on a single phase motor. BUT ONLY ON THE TWO HIGHER SPEEDS WHICH I HAVE NO NEED FOR. I WAS IN THE SAME POSITION AS THE OP AND THIS WAS THE SOLUTION WHICH I AM VERY HAPPY WITH!!!

 

[brightspark]

No lack of power, just starting torque same as if the capacitors gone on a single phase motor. BUT ONLY ON THE TWO HIGHER SPEEDS WHICH I HAVE NO NEED FOR. I WAS IN THE SAME POSITION AS THE OP AND THIS WAS THE SOLUTION WHICH I AM VERY HAPPY WITH!!!

good for u

 

[waddycall]

thank you...

 

[cecotto479]

A tidy Fobco Star can't be beaten in my view.