Meddings A10 radial arm drill restoration

[slim_boy_fat]

except for the pesky badges which I can't get the rivets out of without damaging the badge

Patience, perseverance, a very steady hand and a Powerfile at its lowest speed might get the heads off the rivets?

EDIT: as would a file, I suppose......

 

[brewdexta]

Patience, perseverance, a very steady hand and a Powerfile at its lowest speed might get the heads off the rivets?

EDIT: as would a file, I suppose......

I didn't get around to it today, I was thinking dremel, slitting disk then a screwdriver, but instead I spent most of the day degreasing.

I had some good luck, and some bad. First the bad, the cracked head I was going to use for the kitchen project while I renovated another is foobar. Not only did the casting get some welly, the bolts that hold the gearbox in place have snapped off. I thought they had been removed and only discovered this when trying to put some back in. I could drill them out and retap but its wasted effort as the casting has to go anyway. Here's the bolt above the red knob, all four are the same.

Plan B is a full gearbox/quill transplant from this one to the other casting. The good news is that the gearbox above did have oil in it, just took ages to drain, so chances are its not cracked.

So I started degreasing the old head and the cast lid. More good news, at about 50c, the crap blue paint came off in sheets with a bit of elbow grease and jizer

Next the belt cover, the two took about 3 hours in total, I tried a steam cleaner but that wasn't quicker. Fortunately we are doing building work in the utility room and we are about to rip out the old units so I could use the sink, result as I would not have discovered that 50c would remove the paint if I had used the parts washer.

Now nestling on the bench for a light fill and sand.

Cheers
Andy

 

[MattF]

Regarding the badges, get behind them with a stiff wall scraper to either lift the rivets else shear them. You could also centre tap & drill the heads off. I bought a S&J 3" scraper the other week which is quite handy for the plaques/badges. Stiff blade, ground on one side to an edge, has a striking head on the handle, and cheap to boot.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Always check behind the cast, too. I mean in this case they're probably blind being in the machined quill section, but a lot of times where you've got cast 1/8" ish thick you can see the little things poking out, just.

With regards to getting under the badges, I've found the thin metal strips deform quite easily so you really want as thin and wide a blade as possible/allows, to spread the 'lift'. I've screwed a few scraper blades but kept the brass plaque original which is often easy to do. The Fobco was secured with screws, revealing the switch inside the casting. I liked that arrangement, practical.

The Dremel trick does sometimes work but requires a very steady hand and patience, as well as the thin slitting discs. I used this method to remove this plaque which was firmly hammered into the bed of my lathe, and only after the scraper striking method had failed.

 

[Turbo]

I try to leave the badges in place if I can. They're normally easy enough to mask off so you can paint around them.

 

[brewdexta]

I try to leave the badges in place if I can. They're normally easy enough to mask off so you can paint around them.

I did that with the Viceroy wood lathe, even though I used low tack 3M masking tape and took it off as soon as the paint was dry, it took a lot of the blacking off the badges. It can be repainted but it's creating another job, plus if you need to fill near the badge, it's a pain to sand. The rivets don't show on the other sides of the casting or any holes so I can't push 'em out like I did on the Tom Senior gearbox.

I'll give them a gentle try with the scraper, if they won't come off easily I will mask, but I'll use cardboard and blu-tack. Fortunately I don't think there is much filling to do near them on this job.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Sometimes if you can get them up even half a mil a pair of pliers with a strong grip can finish them off.

 

[brewdexta]

The rivets wouldn't move and rather than slot the rivets or grind them off I will mask of the badges but with paper covering the centre so the masking tape only sticks to the outskirts of the badges where it is plain aluminium.

My job this evening is to finish filling and sanding the head casting and mask off the badges and various bits that don't need paint, I will probably spray it on Friday evening as working away for a few days. The spark is coming over Saturday to wire up the old head, I will just transfer the wiring over to the new head, no big deal. I could try and transfer the head over before he arrives but I like to give the paint time to harden otherwise I will make a mess of it.

It is going to be hammered blue/green to match the viceroy lathe. If it was on the metalwork side of the workshop it would be smooth grey.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Dieselman 63]

The rivets wouldn't move and rather than slot the rivets or grind them off I will mask of the badges but with paper covering the centre so the masking tape only sticks to the outskirts of the badges where it is plain aluminium.

My job this evening is to finish filling and sanding the head casting and mask off the badges and various bits that don't need paint, I will probably spray it on Friday evening as working away for a few days. The spark is coming over Saturday to wire up the old head, I will just transfer the wiring over to the new head, no big deal. I could try and transfer the head over before he arrives but I like to give the paint time to harden otherwise I will make a mess of it.

View attachment 128284

View attachment 128285

It is going to be hammered blue/green to match the viceroy lathe. If it was on the metalwork side of the workshop it would be smooth grey.

Cheers
Andy

Definitely worth factoring in cure time. I've rushed things before and regretted it instantly. When I put the Fobco back together I waited a whole week between finishing the paint and picking the castings up, nearly killed me!

 

[brewdexta]

A lot of the holes I will be drilling are blind holes, I could set up the depth stop but I'm considering one of these vertical linear scales, not sure yet.

The T-track I want for the woodworking table and fence is on back-order until the end of January, so the plan now is to not only complete the head but to paint the rest of it subject to temperature. It will be nice to get another machine fettled and finished and I have just about enough time before I have to start making kitchen cabinets.

Unfortunately, apart from some of the smaller handles, I can't get the rest of it in the utility room sink to get that 'orrible blue paint off and I'm not taking it downstairs again to attack with a hot jet wash so it will be sanded down using elbow grease.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Dieselman 63]

Take a look at the Fobco 5/8 down the bottom of the page. That's hanging off the chuck key holder and using the depth stop to seat a gauge. Nice setup if you're doing a lot of that kind of work. I myself prefer having a chuck key holder as they go walkabout like no man's business! I know it's a different drill but you might be able to work something out.

http://www.lathes.co.uk/fobco/

 

[brewdexta]

Take a look at the Fobco 5/8 down the bottom of the page. That's hanging off the chuck key holder and using the depth stop to seat a gauge. Nice setup if you're doing a lot of that kind of work. I myself prefer having a chuck key holder as they go walkabout like no man's business! I know it's a different drill but you might be able to work something out.

http://www.lathes.co.uk/fobco/

Nice idea I need a bit more travel for woodworking but definitely food for thought. I'm in no rush so can think on it.

 

[brewdexta]

A bit of headway, I got up early this morning, masked and degreased the head casting and gave it a spot of paint

secret weapon as I was spraying the only warm place I can, a corner in the soon to be refurbished utility room

with masking on

and with most of it removed

Not perfect but fortunately most of the rough bits will be hidden behind hardware to go back on, and judging by the Meddings I have that has it's original finish, it's better than what came out of the factory. The colour hasn't changed, just the light, one set is with just a light shone on it, the lighter shots are with flash.

Cheers
Andy

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Looking good.

 

[Turbo]

Looking good, nice colour but then again I'm biased as my meddings is that colour too! I used hammerite on mine but they've discontinued that colour.

Can you remind me what paint that is and is it available in normal tins as well as spray cans?

There's a nice chap on the uk workshop forum refurbishing an identical drill, you don't know him by any chance?

 

[brewdexta]

There's a nice chap on the uk workshop forum refurbishing an identical drill, you don't know him by any chance?

I've met him, several times actually, he's a right pillock

It's Rust-Oleum CombiColor Hammertone Light Blue 7321 and you can get it in a tin too, I have one. To spray it they recommend two different thinners if you read the specs, I forget which is used in what circumstance, but I'm guessing that hammerite toluene based thinners will work but I haven't tried it.

 

[brewdexta]

Not done much recently but hope to amend that over the weekend. I have stripped the cracked head down. Now I've done one it is a 10 minute job, except they changed the design of the gear lever so it uses a roll pin instead of an allen grub screws, I hate roll pins but this only took an extra 5 mins once I realised what we were up against. I also have the motor and gearbox out but this is the last picture I took of that job.

So I have the following bits to fettle this evening so I can get them sprayed over the weekend, it's the youngest daughters 9th birthday so lots of other stuff going on.

I also have the motor casing to tart up. There is a decal on the gearbox level cover, I'm wondering if it is like the old Airfix kit decals that come off in water? If so I may be able to reuse it, masking it will look rubbish as it's too thin, if I lose it it not the end of the world, I can make one with dymo etc. not the same but I don't mind but I will give it a go.

And I started to have a go at the arm that the head sits on, there is all sorts of paint on it, From the most recent to the oldest I think it is Dark blue (probably Fordson Empire blue) green/blue Hammerite, light blue, mid green, light green then original grey. So it's seen a few apprentices in it's time

Most of the paint is coming off with a scraper leaving the original grey behind without a lot of effort. This was about 10 minutes during tea break.

The aim is to get the head and this arm that it sits on painted up soon, ideally before the end of the weekend so I can reassemble it next week.

It probably looked a bit like this in it's original grey livery, it's going to be light blue hammerite, I was going to do it grey but happy with the hammerite now.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Turbo]

What's your plans for the chrome handles for lowering the quill? The ones on my meddings were quite rusty & I painted them with MF silver mist tractol enamel paint. It looks very nice against the blue but I'm not sure how resistant it will be to chipping.

 

[brewdexta]

The chrome handles from the cracked head are in good condition, and I have some SS bars for the one I will make out of the bits of the two others. One has two rusty bars, one missing, the other drill has had the handles welded, badly. I just need to get time to do it, I have one in the lathe with a die ready to go, in fact I started it then got diverted.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Old decals tend to decay over time. Hot water/steam usually just shrivels them and then they fall off, or shatter into a million pieces. That design wouldn't be too hard to make on MS Word or Paint, sheet of transfer paper and you'd be away.

Interesting on that last pic, there's a sheet metal shroud around the entire motor drilled into the casting.