Alfred Herbert High Speed Drill

[BrianCork]

Hi all,

Looking for some info on the above mentioned. I have finally finished building the first section of my workshop, so myself and my father decided to resurrect the pillar drill he knew he had lurking at the back of the 40ft container in his yard.

It happened to be an Alfred Herbert high speed drill, haven’t come across one before and he can’t even remember where he got it!

Nice little bit of history with it, has a tag from the Wolseley Motor Company.

It needs a new chuck, but I wired it up temporarily and it turns beautifully! They really don’t make things like this anymore. 12,000 rpm and it honestly sounds sweeter than some of the modern DMG/Bridgeport CNC’s we use at work!

I’m kind of in two minds about it, the speeds realistically are too high for what I’m doing and space is at a premium, but then again it’s a lovely unit and unlikely I’d ever come across one again if I did part with it.

Has anyone here seen/used one before? I’ve seen a few high speed bench mounted Herbert drills, but never a floor standing like this.

 

[fizzy]

I have a small bench mounted high speed drill by some Italian company. Great for precision work.
But I have never seen a big one like that before.
It deserves some tlc

 

[BrianCork]

I thought the same, but I don't want to take away from the originality. I have belt guard and original switch, the only thing missing as far as I can tell is there should be a counterweight of sorts hanging at the rear of the column to take the weight off when adjusting the table.

I'd rather leave it in it's working clothes, so maybe a good scotchbrite to the table and a good degreasing! Also has very few apprentice marks on the table, so that's a plus!

Must investigate getting the chuck off further, seems to be held with a thread and locking collar type arrangement. Hopefully I should be able to find a replacement!

 

[Gragson]

I have a very similar in design Pollard high speed floor standing one, with the sash type table & chuck adjusting rails, it's now on a VFD so I can turn down the speed.

I resisted paining mine as well

 

[voipio]

Could it be that the existing chuck just needs a bit of TLC?

 

[merryman]

In a past life I worked at Leyland Motors and used a similar Herbert on production, for a couple of nightshifts. Boring as hell, I was glad to get back on assembly work.

 

[BrianCork]

I have a very similar in design Pollard high speed floor standing one, with the sash type table & chuck adjusting rails, it's now on a VFD so I can turn down the speed.

I resisted paining mine as well

Have you found running it on a VFD has reduced the torque considerably? I must see if the motor can be rewired to run from a single to 3 phase 230v VFD as I don't have a three phase supply sorted yet for my shed.
Do you mind if i ask what brand/spec VFD you use on your Pollard?

Could it be that the existing chuck just needs a bit of TLC?

Unfortunately its missing one of the jaws, so unless i got very lucky and found a replacement jaw I'd imagine a replacememnt chuck might be the way to go!

 

[Gragson]

Have you found running it on a VFD has reduced the torque considerably? I must see if the motor can be rewired to run from a single to 3 phase 230v VFD as I don't have a three phase supply sorted yet for my shed.
Do you mind if i ask what brand/spec VFD you use on your Pollard?

No not that I have noticed but I fitted a new TEC motor and a Parker VFD, I will get you details when I get home later

 

[BrianCork]

Thanks Gragson, appreciate it.

 

[Brad93]

Quality machine

 

[frank horton]

I got in with a job lot a Harrison ^I think) H/Speed bench drill.....tiny thing prob the biggest drill would be 5/16-3/8ths....
3 phase and max out at 23,000.....god knows what it was used for....it's as new....
was thinking of useing it at as an overhead pin router for wood butchery....

 

[Agroshield]

I must see if the motor can be rewired to run from a single to 3 phase 230v VFD

It would be a good idea to check the motor out fully before making any decision. Right now, something does not jive with the speed plate, the pulley set up and the motor.

The speed plate shows six speeds. The pulleys are three step. So the only way to get 6 speeds is to have a two speed motor. And rewiring a two speed 415v 3-phase motor for 230v 3-phase is not possible.

Similarly with the highest speed. Measure the diameter of the small spindle pulley and the big motor pulley. From the photo, the ratio looks maybe 3:1. To achieve the 12000 rpm, the motor would need to spin at 4000 rpm. Note also that the high and low speeds are not half or double each other, which they would be if the motor speed is the only thing that changes.

People have posted here in the past the benchtop versions and they have a different motor pulley for the high speeds. Does the belt guard give any clues (i.e. is it generously sized at the motor end)?

 

[Gragson]

Hi Brian, this is what drives mine now, 3 phase originally but had been converted to 1 phase and was just too fast to be useful for me at rated 950/1670/3025 3 speed.
Apart from that I don't think it's lost originality, even managed to keep the original pulleys

Parker AC10 IP20 2.2kW 230V 1ph to 3ph AC Inverter Drive, DBr, C3 EMC - £200 + vat
TEC IE2 2.2kW Aluminium Three Phase Motor 230V/400V 4P 100L Frame B3 - £150 + vat

I know what you mean about the counterweight, mine was knocking around a fair bit when I moved it but thankfully all good and still in place.
My chuck was on a JT2, I made a pair of splitters copied from @slim_boy_fat pair which work a treat, but yours attachment could be totally different - can't really make it out.
Original chuck was ok but small at 8mm, so got a 13mm on now.

Bt of a post on it here - > https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/pollard-12ax-upgrades.123160/





Hope this helps
Chris

 

[BrianCork]

It would be a good idea to check the motor out fully before making any decision. Right now, something does not jive with the speed plate, the pulley set up and the motor.

The speed plate shows six speeds. The pulleys are three step. So the only way to get 6 speeds is to have a two speed motor. And rewiring a two speed 415v 3-phase motor for 230v 3-phase is not possible.

Similarly with the highest speed. Measure the diameter of the small spindle pulley and the big motor pulley. From the photo, the ratio looks maybe 3:1. To achieve the 12000 rpm, the motor would need to spin at 4000 rpm. Note also that the high and low speeds are not half or double each other, which they would be if the motor speed is the only thing that changes.

People have posted here in the past the benchtop versions and they have a different motor pulley for the high speeds. Does the belt guard give any clues (i.e. is it generously sized at the motor end)?

My understanding of the speed changes is that it is only a single speed motor, with the pulleys being interchangeable between the spindle shaft and motor shaft, which is giving the 6 speeds?

 

[BrianCork]

@Gragson Thanks Chris, that's some brilliant info. I'll have to do some more investigation when I get a chance on the chuck. I only had a quick look at it to free off the locking collar, but it seems to be a UNF threaded mount on mine.

 

[Pete.]

My understanding of the speed changes is that it is only a single speed motor, with the pulleys being interchangeable between the spindle shaft and motor shaft, which is giving the 6 speeds?

Yep, same as the Herbert 0V milling machine. One small and one large 3-step pulley which can be swapped.

 

[arther dailey]

thats a loverly bit of kit

 

[Maker]

Yep, same as the Herbert 0V milling machine. One small and one large 3-step pulley which can be swapped.

My little Herbert B high speed drill uses a 2 step pulley at the front and 3 interchangeable, non-step pulleys on the motor. There's a few pictures on my thread a few years back