Pillar drill restoration

[Nick9one1]

I've acquired an old single phase floor standing pillar drill that I'm planning on restoring. I've wanted one for ages, and when I saw this one pop up I couldn't resist.

It's in working order, but a little rusty/sticky. The chuck and moving parts seem solid with no play. Its extremely heavy, it took two of us to lift just the base into my car.

My plan is to dismantle it, clean it up with a twist wire wheel and rub it down with methylated spirits and scotch brite. Then prime with some acid etch grey, and topcoat with platikote toolbox blue hammered.

 

[rtbcomp]

Welcome to the forum - photos please!

 

[cumbriasteve]

Welcome:

Please consider introducing yourself in the 'Introductions' section, we like having new members and like to know their hobbys, skills, photo's of projects etc.
Thanks Steve

 

[cumbriasteve]

Very nice, from the local scrappy? or have you just got the scruffiest back garden I have ever seen?

 

[Nick9one1]

Thanks. yep from the scrappy. I paid £30 for it, which i didn't think was bad considering it works as it is.

It does need some of the round plastic handles replacing, I have some old pool balls that I might use

 

[cumbriasteve]

£30 and you think that's not bad! I would still be jumping for joy, I have no idea how anyone finds such bargains as that....think me and the local scrappy need to become best mates.

 

[MattF]

As Steve says, you did a bit better than okay with that price. That's a lot of machine for the money, and the condition looks quite good overall.

 

[roofman]

great find with the added bonus of a good table too...welcome along to btw

 

[Maker]

No arc of shame, it's clearly been looked after, great find.

 

[Nick9one1]

Glad you all think it's a good buy!

Its actually in better condition that I originally thought. I disassembled it over the weekend and it came apart really easily. Everything is well lubricated and nothing at all was seized.

I started to repaint a few parts.. plastikote toolbox blue is quite a nice colour!

 

[Nick9one1]

Its almost complete.

 

[Nick9one1]

I do have a couple of issues... I seem to have lost the drive belt! but I was going to replace it anyway, so no big deal.

The second issue is with the motor. It works and turns at full power, but doesn't always start properly. It just hums until you start it by hand.
It doesn't have a capacitor, which I guess is normal with electric motors that have low friction when starting?
It does have a centrifugal switch in the top, I cleaned it up and made sure the contacts were OK. some of the internal wiring looked a bit crispy, so I replaced it all.

 

[daleyd]

I'm not 100% sure as I've not done a huge amount with single phase stuff, but I think it should have something to start the rotation going , be it a capacitor or something else. (In my fairly limited experience of single phase motors its almost always been a capacitor).

Sounds like there may be something missing off yours if you have to start it by hand first?

 

[Nick9one1]

Thanks, I think you're correct.

I'm not too knowledgeable on electric motors, but when I replaced the wiring I noticed the ends of the run coil had nicely crimped brass connectors. The start coil wires (I didn't know this is what they were at the time) were twisted and connected to the 240v input terminals. So the start coil was running without a cap. - I guess the cap went bad at some point and they chopped it out as it wouldn't start properly.

I've tried to work out the size of cap I need and found the following formula - (2650 x Full load amps ) divided by supply Voltage = MFD
Fortunately the motor still has a badge which says 2.3 Amps. so. 2650 x 2.3 / 230 = 26.5
So I need a 26.5 MFD cap. Does this seem about right for a 0.25 hp motor?

 

[penfold]

I have the bench version of the same drill; the only thing I don't like is not having a morse taper spindle. The lack of a rack on the table makes moving it up and down a bit of a pain too.

 

[Richard.]

The motors for these things although look physically different are all the same thing and picked up cheap second hand.
A good upgrade could be a 0.5 hp motor. These can be picked up for next to nothing in bandsaw spares. Make/mod a fixing plate to make it work and you've added a touch more torque to your drill.

 

[Agroshield]

...I noticed the ends of the run coil had nicely crimped brass connectors. The start coil wires (I didn't know this is what they were at the time) were twisted and connected to the 240v input terminals. So the start coil was running without a cap.

If the motor has a start winding and a run winding, you may not need a capacitor at all. Given the age of the motor, this is the most likely arrangement. The idea is that the motor starts with both windings powered up and then the centrifugal switch disengages the start winding. The two windings are at ninety degrees to each other so they have the necessary phase shift to give the initial rotational impetus/torque (hence why a three phase motor with windings at 120 degrees to each other is always self-starting).

Use a continuity meter to sort out the two ends of the windings, use an ohm meter to measure the resistance of the windings. The start winding has a higher resistance than the main winding. Make sure the start winding is connected through the centrifugal switch and that the switch does actually break the continuity when it operates.

If you misidentify the windings or the switch does not operate correctly, the motor will still start, but the start winding will overheat very fast. If it does this, swap over the windings, double check the centrifugal switch and it should be OK.

I highly recommend Jim Cox' book "Electric motors in the home workshop" (dodgy pdf copies available from you local filesharing site).

Go carefully if you open your motor starter box (red and green buttons): it contains asbestos.

 

[Nick9one1]

Thanks for all the advice. I picked up a cheap 30MFD Chinese cap for £3.

I started having a look at the motor and realised the centrifugal switch wasn't working correctly. When the motor was stationary the starter coil had no connection. So I took it apart and bent the brass switch slightly so that the centrifugal switch made a connection, and disconnected when it was up to speed.

I was quite surprised how well it worked after this, no more failed starts or loud humming. (So I think you were right Agroshield, it didn't have a cap to begin with).

As I had the cap I thought I'd wire it in anyway. There was no obvious mounting point from any previous cap (if there ever was one). So I just tacked a jubilee clip to the side of the motor.

It all works great

 

[Nick9one1]

The final problem I'm having is getting a chuck key that fits.

I bought a cheap 4 way key as I didn't know the correct size. Unfortunately they're all too small (1/4" 3/8" 1/2" 5/8").
An 8mm drill bit fits nicely in the hole.

do I need something more like this?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pilot-Teeth-Design-Drill-Chuck/dp/B0087Y9DQ8

 

[graffian]

Key with a 5/16 pin is probably a jacobs No 3 key.