...Photo...Radial Drill Work...

lathefan · Mar 23, 2017

...1963. Cincinnati Bickford radial drill shown drilling shaft collars in large Series 7000 wheel to be used for pelletizing of Taconite ore. The multitude of bolts seen in the radial blades are holding in place thin renewable wear blades for this abrasive job...

lienjohn · Mar 23, 2017

Nice! I have a question for radial drill users. How far off the centerline of the base can radial drills can be swung without tipping over? I suppose they can go in any position if bolted down, but what about if not?

DDoug · Mar 23, 2017

lienjohn said:
Nice! I have a question for radial drill users. How far off the centerline of the base can radial drills can be swung without tipping over? I suppose they can go in any position if bolted down, but what about if not?

You always bolt them down.
And your supposed (at least on the ones I'm familiar with) grout them to the floor for even support.

sable · Mar 23, 2017

Mine is not bolted down ,it is however a bit different design to most. A bit more weight in the bottom compared to the arm.

Tyrone Shoelaces · Mar 24, 2017

I've never worked on one that wasn't bolted down. I once saw one that had fallen over whilst being moved from shop to shop. Not a pretty sight.

On a good installation you would have a floor plate at the front of the drill for big work and a pit at the back for tall work. If you don't bolt the drill down once you start drilling away from the base you could push the drill over.

What's equally important is the drill should have a jet brake on the spindle.

Regards Tyrone.

Larry Dickman · Mar 24, 2017

that's something I never thought about. I used to use an old Carlton that was about that same size. It wasn't bolted down, but it was stuck between some other shit so you really couldn't swing the head out past the base. That would make for a nasty accident, though.

Greg Menke · Mar 24, 2017

Here's how you do it

lienjohn · Mar 24, 2017

Thanks folks for your replies. Makes good sense to bolt them down. I was wondering if they were designed to be able to swing off the base by some amount, but apparently not.

Greg Menke · Mar 24, 2017

There are variations of the base that make handing the drill easier; for instance T shaped with the column at the joint, to avoid tipping. There are a few radial drill manuals & brochures here

http://pounceatron.dreamhosters.com/docs/index.html

mostly American Tool, but also Carlton, Cinci-Bickford and a couple others.

Garwood · Mar 24, 2017

Carlton made a D shaped base that covered 180+ degrees of swing. Pretty neat.

My 3' arm radial isn't bolted down and I wouldn't try to drill anything that wasn't pushing pushing against the base. I have swung the head out pretty far, but have only done it when the part was well attached to the base.

Tyrone Shoelaces · Mar 24, 2017

Some places I've worked at the base was set into the surrounding concrete with the top of the base about 1/2" above ground level.

Regards Tyrone

Tyrone Shoelaces · Mar 24, 2017

lienjohn said:
Thanks folks for your replies. Makes good sense to bolt them down. I was wondering if they were designed to be able to swing off the base by some amount, but apparently not.

As a rule any radial drill will be bolted down. I've never seen any ecceptions to that rule apart from the very small precision machines.

Regards Tyrone

ADFToolmaker · Mar 24, 2017

lienjohn said:
Nice! I have a question for radial drill users. How far off the centerline of the base can radial drills can be swung without tipping over? I suppose they can go in any position if bolted down, but what about if not?

Mine's not bolted down yet, but will be when the new layout is complete. We only drill above the base for our work. As a safety check I swung the arm to 90 degrees, wound the head to the end of the ram, and got my biggest guy to pull down on the end. Did not look like tipping.
On the other hand, at a shop up the road, a larger machine (not bolted down) was put in the same configuration and tipped unexpectedly. Was not bolted down and the operator did not know. So in answer to the question some tip, and some don't. But as mentioned by other posters, you should never drill off the base without bolting down, cutting forces trump gravity.

Tyrone Shoelaces · Mar 24, 2017

ADFToolmaker said:
Mine's not bolted down yet, but will be when the new layout is complete. We only drill above the base for our work. As a safety check I swung the arm to 90 degrees, wound the head to the end of the ram, and got my biggest guy to pull down on the end. Did not look like tipping.
On the other hand, at a shop up the road, a larger machine (not bolted down) was put in the same configuration and tipped unexpectedly. Was not bolted down and the operator did not know. So in answer to the question some tip, and some don't. But as mentioned by other posters, you should never drill off the base without bolting down, cutting forces trump gravity.

What were you planning to do if the drill fell over ? Sounds like Russian Roulette without the gun.

Regards Tyrone

ADFToolmaker · Mar 24, 2017

Tyrone Shoelaces said:
What were you planning to do if the drill fell over ? Sounds like Russian Roulette without the gun.

Regards Tyrone

Not be under it. Based on the design and mass of the machine and some simple calcs we knew tipping was very unlikely, we just had to be sure.

Tyrone Shoelaces · Mar 24, 2017

ADFToolmaker said:
Not be under it. Based on the design and mass of the machine and some simple calcs we knew tipping was very unlikely, we just had to be sure.

I've seen a couple of machines fall over and they didn't send me a text message before they went over. It all happens really quickly. Bolt it down and be safe. Has it got a jet brake ? That's equally important, there used to be a guy going around my town that had an argument with a radial arm drill spindle. The drill won the contest and put him in a wheel chair with a damaged spine.

Regards Tyrone.

ADFToolmaker · Mar 24, 2017

As I said is is about to be moved to a new location and bolted down. The bolts are there ready.
I'll admit I don't know what a jet brake is. The spindle stops quickly rather than winding down, is the what you mean?

Kyle Smith · Mar 24, 2017

ADFToolmaker said:
As a safety check I swung the arm to 90 degrees, wound the head to the end of the ram, and got my biggest guy to pull down on the end. Did not look like tipping.

Aside from obviously bolting the machine down, I would have voted to lower the arm completely, swing 90°, and stand on the end.

cutting oil Mac · Mar 24, 2017

An idiot fitter where Ionce worked, was tasked with moving a box bed radial drill, It was one of the old fashioned designs where the arm was at a fixed height, The location he was moving her from was not of the best, No chance of using the overhead crane, In spite of not heeding my instructions which were firstly to lock the arm from swinging round, and just pinch the machine 1/4" off the ground and slip steel plates under it , with a slight touch off washing up liquid, & pull it along the plates with a Yale , (Come-along), Until he was at a position to use the crane.
This meant due to the clutter around him, He had a poor chance of eascape should it go over,

Well, our man , when I was not looking thought he knew best, and decided to pinch it up at one corner with a pinch bar and put under it a 3" dia tube, Surprise , Surprise ! It came over on him pretty damned quick, He was lucky to avoid serious injuries or death, The poor od machine ended up a basket case.

Tyrone Shoelaces · Mar 25, 2017

ADFToolmaker said:
As I said is is about to be moved to a new location and bolted down. The bolts are there ready.
I'll admit I don't know what a jet brake is. The spindle stops quickly rather than winding down, is the what you mean?

Yeah, that's a jet brake. I'm told it injects DC voltage into an AC motor. It should stop the spindle more of less instantaneously.

Normally the drill will have a telescopic probe located near the spindle. They can be a nuisance at times with long spiralling swarf hitting the probe but I wouldn't work a drill without one.

I saw the aftermath when a guy got picked up off his feet and swung around when he was using a portable radial drill with the spindle in an horizontal position.
Only the jet brake saved him from being beaten to death by the drill. He escaped with cuts and bruises and a broken rib or two.

Regards Tyrone.

...Photo...Radial Drill Work...

Titanium

Aluminum

Diamond

Titanium

Diamond

Titanium

Diamond

Aluminum

Diamond

Diamond

Diamond

Diamond

Cast Iron

Diamond

Cast Iron

Diamond

Cast Iron

Stainless

Stainless

Diamond

Similar threads