Drill press gloat and questions

[Dan Andrews]

I was given this Buffalo Forge # 146. It has all original parts and shows very little wear. It was caked in dried grease and dirt which seems to have preserve the original finish on the main casting. Only the gold lettering and the red parts are repaints. The parts I have painted red were originally black, but rusty. I couldn't resist the temptation to add a splash of color. Hopefully no purist will be tempted to shoot me:D.

I see many of these have regular 3 jawed chucks added. The original chuck is just a sleeve with a 1/2" smooth hole and a set screw. Any chucks with an arbor I have seen for sale use a tapered arbor. Any ideas about adapting a chuck to this drill press without the expense of machine shop work?:confused:

I have seen presses simmilar to mine called "post drill". Is this the correct term for this type of drill?

[lowell holmes]

Would a chuck from a brace work? There seems to be a coupling with a set screw on the shaft.

[Dan Andrews]

Oriented the correct way this time I hope. :o

[Dan Andrews]

Thanks for the suggestion Lowell. I would like to use a 3 jaw keyed chuck so I can use conventional twist drill bits and get them tight enough that they won't slip. I have not seen a brace with a 3 jaw chuck. However your suggestion made me think about the chuck off a breast drill and maybe use the spindle off the same breast drill if it was 1/2" in diameter. Most breast drills didn't use Keyed chucks but it would be better than nothing.

The coupling you noticed is what served as a chuck on this early 1900's drill press. They used to make twist drill bits in various sizes with a 1/2" shank and a flat on one side. I only have one of those. Kind'a limits the use of the drill press.

[lowell holmes]

I think George Wilson or Bob Smalser need to weigh in on this. :)

[John McClanahan]

I think they were called "Post Drills" since they needed to be mounted to a post or other internal building support.

John

[John McClanahan]

BTW, looks like you have a good selection of cordless drills!

John

[lawrence dosson]

Dan
wholesale tool co has straight shank arbors 1/2 in. with all the common jacobs tapers to fitt most drill chucks there own brands are two three bucks and jacobs brands for less than twenty called straight shanked arbors in there cataloque lawrence

[george wilson]

What thread size is on the post drill to mount a chuck to? Wholesale tool used to sell a hand tightened 1/2" drill chuck that had a 1/2"-20 thread. It used no key,and the outside was knurled to get a grip while tightening. I doubt the body of the chuck was hardened,and could be re threaded to a larger size,most likely.

Any way to lock the spindle on the post drill so you can tighten a chuck on a bit? Could just jam a piece of wood in the gears while you tightened the chuck.

[Jonathan McCullough]

Are you sure that isn't a morse taper shank? Lots of drill presses and lathe tailstocks use a morse taper--just the friction keeps the chuck in. Check to see that the arbor (hole) doesn't get smaller the further you go into it. You can get three-jaw chucks with morse taper shanks inexpensively from shars.com.

[george wilson]

Looks like if you added a chuck below the existing chuck,there'd be not enough room for the length of a drill and the work beneath it. Maybe you could install a longer round column to make this distance greater.

[brian c miller]

Get a "straight shank to JT" if you go with a Jacobs chuck... 5 bones for an adapter and you're good to go.

http://www.victornet.com/tools/Straight-Shank-Drill-Chuck-Arbors/207.html

Many want to check to see if it is a tapered shank first: Jacbos, Morse or B-S.

JACOBS TAPERS
JACOBS LARGE SMALL
TAPER# DIAMETER DIAMETER LENGTH
---------------------------------------
0 .25000" .22844 .43750
1 .38400 .33341 .65625
2 .55900 .48764 .87500
2 short .54880 .48764 .75000
3 .81100 .74610 1.21875
4 1.12400 1.03720 1.65625
5 1.41300 1.31611 1.87500
6 .67600 .62409 1.00000
33 .62401 .56051 1.00000
---------------------------------------



MORSE TAPERS


LARGE SMALL
MORSE DIAMETER DIAMETER
TAPER# (A) (B) LENGTH
---------------------------------------
0 .35610" .25200 1-15/16
1 .47500 .36900 2-1/16
2 .70000 .57200 2-1/2
3 .93800 .77800 3-1/16
4 1.23100 1.02000 3-7/8
4-1/2 1.50000 1.26600 4-5/16
5 1.74800 1.47500 4-15/16
6 2.49400 2.11600 7
7 3.27000 2.75000 9-1/2
---------------------------------------
BROWN + SHARPE TAPERS
(CALL Victor Machinery for B+S Tooling!)
LARGE SMALL
B+S DIAMETER DIAMETER
TAPER# (A) (B) LENGTH
---------------------------------------
1 .23922" .20000 15/16
2 .29968 .25000 1-3/16
3 .37525 .31250 1-1/2
4 .40233 .35000 1-1/4
5 .52315 .45000 1-3/4

6 .59961 .50000 2-3/8
7 .72537 .60000 3
8 .89873 .75000 3-9/16
9 1.06705 .90010 4
10 1.28927 1.04465 5-11/16

11 1.53176 1.24995 6-3/4
12 1.79681 1.50010 7-1/8
13 2.07310 1.75005 7-3/4
14 2.34375 2.00000 8-1/4
15 2.61458 2.25000 8-3/4

[brian c miller]

And is space is an issue you may want to consider a "power tool" type install where the chuck is bolted on from the inside.

http://www.jacobschuck.com/hammer-drill-chuck-removal.asp

vs.

http://www.jacobschuck.com/drill-chuck-install.asp

[Dan Andrews]

John M.- he,he he, those are only my user drills, the collection is in the house.

Lawrence D. -Sounds ideal. I will check it out.

George W.- There are no threads on the spindle. The collar there now is pressed on,or is part of the spindle. To tighten a keyless chuck I would only have to hold the crank handle with my right hand and tighten with my left. I would still prefer a keyed chuck though.

Johnathan M.- No taper, I have been using a 1/2" drill bit and two other drill bits I have with 1/2" shanks. A set screw holds them in place. Original bits had a flat on one side to tighten the set screw against.

George W.- Your right about running out of space. The table can be lowered some, but space could be an issue. This drill is to use for fun. I can always revert to my (gasp) electric drill press if I have to.

Brian M. Thanks, I will check out the links

Thank you all much. What a wealth of info.
Kinda sounds like the adapter from jacobs to 1/2" may be the best and most direct route to take.

Just as a point of interest, Buffalo Forge is still in business under the name Buffalo Machine Tool. They still sell parts for my 110 year old model 146!! Parts are extreamly pricy though. They also still make drill presses.

I sent them pics of my drill press and they dated it as very early 1900's.

[Dan Andrews]

I bought the recommended adaptor and an inexpensive 3 jaw chuck with key. This set-up works perfectly. It did leave only 6 1/2" between the chuck and the table, though not a problem. Thanks again for turning my quandry into a simple and inexpensive solution.:D

[brian c miller]

Glad to hear everything worked out.

[harry strasil]

The 1/2 inch shank drills were often referred to as Blacksmith bits. They are actually Siver and Deming bits. and its not hard to reproduce them. Just a short piece of 1/2 inch cold rolled round - drill a hole in one end the size of the smaller bit you want to use - bore and tap the side for a small set screw - grind a flat on the bit to line up with the set screw and you got a shop made silver and deming bit, as they don't make them in sizes under 1/2 inch anymore. On the ones that there is not enough meat left for a set screw, silver solder the shank in place.