Hand-cranked drill press

Re: Hand-cranked drill press

Todd Hughes

>Even in the old tool Hell I live in Hand Crank "Post Drills" like you are talking about are very common , in the summer i probably see two or three a week at auctions and flea markets.Most times at an auction they can be picked up for under $20 and I have bought a few for $1 that no one wanted to fool with. Less common but still far from rare are the smaller "Bench Drill" type hand crank drill presses that mount on your bench and was made by Goodell Pratt, Yankee, Millers Falls.These in my experance while pretty cool are mainly for small work and if they have an automatic feed mechanism prone to getting out of order while the larger Post Drills are pretty much fool proof....Don't know about converting a electric drill press, probably your best bet would be an old one set up to run off a belt, guess you could rig up a fly wheel.Sounds like a lot of trouble to go to when original post drills are so common and cheap to find.Reverse, I did use for years a Post drill that was hooked up to an old electric washing machine motor, worked fine....Todd

Re: Hand-cranked drill press

Roger Nixon

>I've found several post drills here in Kansas. They were often made by companies who made blacksmith equipment such as Buffalo Forge, Champion Forge & Blower and Cannedy-Otto. The one in my shop is a Buffalo Forge.

I gave one away last year that had a flywheel on the left side that could be driven by a flat belt and it came with a matching pulley that could be mounted on an electric motor.

I have a Millers Falls bench drill but I haven't used it for anything yet.

Re: Hand-cranked drill press

Alan Hamilton

>Bill,

Post drills regularly pop up for sale on E-bay and some other sites that handle old/used tools.

Alan

Re: Hand-cranked drill press

Dirk Wright

>I'd be interested in buying one if any are for sale. I live in Fredericksburg, VA. I don't have time to travel around locally looking for one. I'd need one that was in good condition. I see that most of these are mounted on a 2x4 or some such piece of wood. I suppose they are intended for wall mounting?

Re: Hand-cranked drill press

Bill Lowrance

>Thanks for the responses! Interesting to hear about the bench drill. Clearly I've either got to get out (to the right places) more, or to spend more time trawling eBay... Bill

Re: Hand-cranked drill press

Ernie Miller Topeka

>I don't know if there is clerance for you knuckles when you crank it if you mount it on a wall. That is why they are called post drills. I'm sure that you could make it work if you attached it to a 4x4 or somthing.

Re: Hand-cranked drill press

Todd Hughes

>Think with all that i have seen you wouldn't have no trouble if you just mounted them straight on the wall, though if you don't mount them on a suport might be kind of heavy, and i think that is where the "post" part comes in.Many if not most are mounted on a board,[more likely a 2X6 or 8 then a 2X4 or 4X4] but I think the reason this was , was because it makes it easier to mount them on the wall once they are on a board......Must be getting close to spring as I saw two of them at my Wed. auction today, didn't buy either but did get a mega neat Goodell Pratt Treadle Lathe.....Todd

Re: Hand-cranked drill press

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>And it's a good thing, too, because in some parts of the country, they're about as common as passenger pigeons. I own one, thanks only to my uncle, from whom I inherited it - never seen one in the wild.