Light Industrial pillar drills

[W00dy101]

looking for some advice on new light industrial pillar drills. I know most will say to go for an older drill as they don’t make them like they used too but I’m interested to know what’s available new and what sort of quality to expect for around £2k-£3k.

The 2 that keep cropping up are Baileigh and Meyer gear heads with 30mm -35mm capacity, auto-feed and tapping functions. Both appear to be from Taiwan and look like maybe even the same factory.

Anyone any experience with either manufacturer or able to suggest any alternatives

 

[Brad93]

Baleigh is Chinese and I don’t rate their stuff.

Look at German made machines.

 

[winchman]

I believe this company occasionally have used refurbished Startrite machines
https://www.machinespares.net/about-us/

 

[Brad93]

https://www.meddings.co.uk/drills-geared-drive/

 

[Brad93]

id Still go for an older drill though and save a wad of cash!

Do you need auto feed and tapping?

 

[Munkul]

How light? No.2 morse taper, or No.3?

I have a basic No.3MT geared head Arboga which is decent, but brother has just bought an older geared head Pollard Corona No.2MT which the base and work bed is made 2 or 3 times as strong as the simple column and clamped bed on mine.

My Arboga A2608 cost around £1800 brand new 10 years ago.
The Pollard 130A/1 cost £400 two weeks ago. It needs a bit of a clean up and a look at the fwd/rev electric switchbox, other than that it is in great nick (and the design means no drill marks in the bed from idiots using it!!)

To me it's a no brainer. I'd rather spend less, on an older, better quality tool, even if it means a bit of work to restore.

If i was buying my own drill again I'd look for either a small radial arm drill, or something like the next size up Pollard (150A/1 I think). Bargains are everywhere. £2k will buy a proper specced drill with feed and tapping etc if you look around.

 

[Munkul]

https://www.meddings.co.uk/drills-geared-drive/

Just looking, the Meddings 25 looks absolutely identical to my Arboga, even down to the gear speeds. Bet they're made in the same factory.

 

[Rannsachair]

Just looking, the Meddings 25 looks absolutely identical to my Arboga, even down to the gear speeds. Bet they're made in the same factory.

Possibly made by Meddings, I see Arboga got bought in 1992 by Scantool who specialise in grinders, they say on their website "Even though we do not manufacture all machines ourselves, they are often manufactured according to our specifications and we can guarantee the quality."

 

[W00dy101]

Thanks for the advice all. The drill we had been looking at specifically is the Meyer SR32AE which is a MT4 taper with auto feed and tapping function. Also goes right up to 3000rpm so handy for some friction drilling.

We don’t really have time to shop around for an old model and then spend more time re-furbishing it and just want something reliable that can be put to work straight away.

 

[pjk]

Thanks for the advice all. The drill we had been looking at specifically is the Meyer SR32AE which is a MT4 taper with auto feed and tapping function. Also goes right up to 3000rpm so handy for some friction drilling.

We don’t really have time to shop around for an old model and then spend more time re-furbishing it and just want something reliable that can be put to work straight away.

I have that same drill press but with a different brand name on the tag. It is made in China, but I am very pleased with it. I have added a cross feed table and that really helps with positioning.
The only drawback that it has is the raising and lowering of the table- the crank handle is on the left, but the lock is on the right. A bit of back and forth to raise/lower the table. If it had a power table lift it would be perfect.

 

[W00dy101]

Thanks pkj, how long have you had yours? The dealer reckons it’s ok for occasional milling use too. Have you tried this with your cross table? What brand is yours sold as?

 

[pjk]

Thanks pkj, how long have you had yours? The dealer reckons it’s ok for occasional milling use too. Have you tried this with your cross table? What brand is yours sold as?

I have not tried milling with it, but the quill is quite stout and it should hold up for light milling. I purchased my machine together with a mill and lathe used from a steel manufacturing factory in Germany. None of the equipment that I purchased was heavily used and around 7 yrs old. The autofeed and instant reverse for threading both work very well and are great features.
I checked my pillar drill and actually could not find a brand name on it. The paperwork that came with it says that it is from KAMI Maschinen in Germany. Here are a couple of pictures:

 

[8ob]

I am not sure of the make and I cant seem to find anything on the net about this drill but its the nuts Capstan type rotating head and the various chucks including the tapping head all have different geared speeds, it also auto feeds and has suds. No faffing with speeds between pilot and large drills, it auto clicks around to the next chuck/speed when you take the lever to the very top of its stroke.

Bob

 

[Seadog]

That's a Burgmaster, Bob.

 

[eddie49]

Burgmaster user group:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/burgmaster_turret_drills/info
An early model for sale:
https://www.bwmachinetools.co.uk/details/burgmaster-turret-drill-11752

 

[Munkul]

I have not tried milling with it, but the quill is quite stout and it should hold up for light milling.

what compound table is that? It looks like an Axminster? I was looking to get one but thought it might be a bit small... looks good with that 6" mill vice (same as what I have)

 

[Seadog]

It looks like the Axminster. They're a bit rough and ready but do the job. The finish on the dovetails is apalling and generally a fair bit of slack in the screws.

 

[pjk]

what compound table is that? It looks like an Axminster? I was looking to get one but thought it might be a bit small... looks good with that 6" mill vice (same as what I have)

I bought in on Amazon- I do not remember which company it came from- it cost around Eur 130. I'm sure that it's a cheap Chinese piece of steel, but it does have a ground cast iron table. I would not get one with an aluminium table.
The slack on the table and screw is easy enough to eliminate and I am very pleased with it. I have modified the cranks so that I can power feed it with a cordless drill, to quicker get from one drill hole to the next. I have not used the table for milling, but I could see it working for light milling use.