Pillar Drill Needed - Recommendations Please

[TheRealFingers99]

I agree with the "good old stuff rather than bad new stuff" thought, but for light duty, just about anything should be fine.

As for converting 3 phase to single phase, generally (for one tool) the cheapest way is to swap out the motor (and presumably the switchgear).

[Crafty_]

You can buy a box called a phase converter which will, err, convert phases from single to three and the other way around.

No idea on cost.

[oddball1973]

Cheaper to change the motor

[dbfan]

My Boxford was 3-ph when it was in the school - I got it because the person who bought it thought a new motor was too expensive - and sold the motor before I got it. If it had the motor, I'd have bought a phase converter (there were some on eBay for under £70 at the time) - I told the lad to buy a converter when he bought the drill, but he saw the £1000+ ones - not the cheapo ones!. I had to buy a motor and starter (the lad scrapped that too!) and it cost a little over £120 inc carriage (and a bit of lathe work to sort the pulley).

[Mave]

I got a Clarke bench jobbie for xmas a few years ago, the main problem I found is that while the height between the chuck and table is fine, there isn't actually much travel on the chuck- so you can drill big items, but not deep holes :-(

[EggsBenedict]

Not sure where you are in the country, but I bought my lathe from these guys. They're helpful and have a reasonable turnover of stock.

http://www.homeandworkshop.co.uk/othdrill.htm?2249...

[EggsBenedict]

I should add that I have a clarke metalworker bench drill from machine mart. It's not bad, but it's not that good either. I would get a used jobbie next time from the place above. My lathe is 1962 vintage Colchester Student, but is massively better than any of the 'mini-lathes' I've seen.

[Smiler.]

Thanks for all the replies folks.

In the end, I went for a Sealey unit - £390 (inc VAT).

It was available to view in the flesh at a local independent tool shop.

I also picked up some end of line Ryobi tools for a song.


Whilst the initial set-up took a while, the jig worked just as I'd hoped & all 10 enclosures are now drilled ready for assembly.

This will definitely prove to be a wise investment.

[mgtony]

You might find that if you make the timber on the jig taller around the workpiece, you'll get less vibration and maybe a cleaner cut. (Depending how critical the hole is.)
A heavy drill vice can come in handy as well.

[mattdaniels]

Never mind the drill can we have a close up of the shelves? I think I've just discovered someone more anal than me.

[Smiler.]

mgtony said:

You might find that if you make the timber on the jig taller around the workpiece, you'll get less vibration and maybe a cleaner cut. (Depending how critical the hole is.)
A heavy drill vice can come in handy as well.

Yeah, there was a bit of deflection near the open edge of the enclosure & more so when stood on end.

But not enough to cause any issues for the assembly.

That said, I need to fabricate a jig that makes the hole drilling operation easier.


Also need to find alternatives to hole saws (for 14 & 22mmØ).


Overall though, so much better that using hand drills.

mattdaniels said:

Never mind the drill can we have a close up of the shelves? I think I've just discovered someone more anal than me.

"Little boxes, little boxes......"

[EggsBenedict]

For replacing the hole saw, I'd experiment a bit.

Those 'spade' type drills work on some kinds of plastic pretty well.

Other than that, you could try a 'forstner bit' which are usually used in routers, but work just fine in drills like yours, or a blacksmiths bit, which will have a shank thinner than the drill itself to fit your chuck.

Or, depending on how your drill chuck attaches, you could buy morse taper drills that are of size that fit directly into the drill head itself. If you get really perverse, you could drill it to .5mm undersize and get a reamer to do the final sized hole using the same method.

Your pillar drill will have different speeds. Sometimes it takes a bit of messing about to determine which speed and which tool gives best results.

[mgtony]

A large step-drill bit may be worth a go, should have a 14mm and 22mm in the same bit. Normally get about 3mm depth on each 'step' of the drill bit so as long as what you are drilling isn't thicker than that, it should work. Just make sure to accurately set the depth stop!

[Esseesse]

I agree with the comments about the quality of old vs. new.

Why is this the case and must this be the case? The old stuff seems to be made in Britain, newer stuff abroad? I see this kind of decline (invisible to most I think) all over the place (Hifi is one obvious area to me). It makes me sad that in many areas Britain used to be churning out such quality items and today, much less so.

[GnuBee]

Esseesse said:

I agree with the comments about the quality of old vs. new.

Why is this the case and must this be the case? The old stuff seems to be made in Britain, newer stuff abroad? I see this kind of decline (invisible to most I think) all over the place (Hifi is one obvious area to me). It makes me sad that in many areas Britain used to be churning out such quality items and today, much less so.

Quite often it's not old vs new it's industrial/trade vs DIY. The older industrial machines fall into the price range that means they compete with new DIY machines. There's a world of difference between a machine designed for the odd bit of drilling on Saturday and one that's supposed to work 8 hours a day, 6 days a week...

Britain used to have lots of industrial machine manufactures (lathes.co.uk will provide copious examples) but then Britain used to have lots of manufacturing.