Pillar drill

[Doug]

Apologies if anyone has read this elsewhere, I posted in on another forum to help a chap who is restoring a Meddings pillar drill, this is how I went about doing mine.


Pick up this poor old tired drill earlier this year

It was pretty grimed up & looked to have had a hard life which included at some point someone painting it cream, but it had very little run out so I thought it would be worth cleaning up. It was single phase though for some reason didn't have an on off switch, it must have been a case of plugging it in to get it to work, not really a problem as I want 3 phase & have managed to pick up a matching 3 phase motor.

I started by dismantling all the parts & getting them dipped to remove all the grot & grime, this picture shows an example the amount of rust & grime that was on the drill when I got it.

It took about 5 hours to sand all the main parts & spray them, the base & pillar clamp are the black pieces in the background.

After painting the body I started on removing bearings this little gizmo made short work of removing the top bearings, borrowed from a mechanic friend.

This is the quill assembly with the top & bottom circlips removed & the shaft knocked out from the top

It was then over to the lathe to turn a block to be able to knock the new bearings on.

This worked for the bottom bearing but another block of wood needed to be drilled for the top bearing.

This is the top & bottom bearing assemblies ready for refitting.

A great tip I picked up was to put items in the freezer over night to aid getting bearings on or in components, this is the top assembly ready for the freezer.

& this is it back in the main body of the drill.

It really did go in quite easily after a night in the cold.

 

[Doug]

At this point I was ready to start putting bits back together, this is the foot & pillar collar bolted together the bolts having been cleaned on a rotary wire brush on a bench grinder, this tool really did make life so much easier.

Next up was cleaning the pillar, this was in a real state but after lots of elbow grease & a tin of Worths rustoff I was happy it was as good as it was going to get, this is pre cleaning.

Pillar reinstalled along with table & bit tray.

Then it was time for the drill body.

The quill was then reattached with the drive shaft.

 

[billyb_imp]

Very nice job Doug

 

[Doug]

This next photo shows the return spring & housing fitted also the hub for the handles with the one undamaged handle attached.

Back to the lathe to turn some knobs on the new levers.

Handles refitted along with the motor housing plate & some pimping started

At this point I cleaned up & painted the Meddings badge

I striped the motor, although this wasn't the original one I wanted to see what state it was in, I changed the bearings & cleaned off all the paint.

The belt cover was in a poor state so I decided to give it a couple of coats of black paint just to see if it would look better than in grey, it did so I fixed the badge, did a little more pimping & fitted the cleaned up motor.

 

[Doug]

At this point I checked the run out

Less than half a thou was good enough for me so on with cleaning the chuck which had seized.

More rotary wire brush & it was like new, well almost

I don't have any photos of the inverter though I did take a video but don't seem to be able to up load it.

This is the drill in action cutting plugs for a job renovating antique church pews.

 

[GeordieB]

What a brilliant job you made of that Doug

 

[Jim]

Respect Doug, next door have their bungalow up for sale if you are thinking of moving ..

The last neighbour didn't know naff all on such stuff ..

 

[Penpal]

Doug your a genius well don:up::bravo::bravo:

Peter.

 

[Kardav]

Brilliant renovation job Doug and a great tool as a result.

 

[donwatson]

A terrific piece of work. Well done that man

 

[chas_41_uk]

Fantastic renovation Doug

 

[paulm]

A fantastic effort Doug and I'm guessing that apart from the satisfaction of making it like new its a better machine that most on the market today

 

[Doug]

Thanks for the comments

A fantastic effort Doug and I'm guessing that apart from the satisfaction of making it like new its a better machine that most on the market today

So much so Paul, I've had 2 modern ones previous to getting the Meddings the second of these supposedly of engineering standard that is still available today at the best part of £400 & is not in the same league as this old girl.

 

[Grump]

Lovely Job Doug, well done mate, I am still sore at missing the Meddings I was after on eBay.

 

[Walter]

Great job Doug. I love restoring hand tools but I have never attempted anything on that scale.

 

[Doug]

Respect Doug, next door have their bungalow up for sale if you are thinking of moving ..

The last neighbour didn't know naff all on such stuff ..

Yebbut what would my present next door neighbour do then, he's took the fence panel out between us so he can pop straight round when he sees me in the workshop

 

[Doug]

, I am still sore

I've some beeswax that might help

 

[Doug]

Great job Doug. I love restoring hand tools but I have never attempted anything on that scale.

Cheers Walter, pillar drills aren't too difficult as there aren't that many parts & are certainly worth the effort.

 

[bassethound]

Brilliant job Doug, looks the business now for sure!

 

[wm460]

You done a brilliant job of that Doug, well done.