Strands Mill Drill

flyingpostman · Aug 26, 2011

We bought this second hand Strands S-30 Mill Drill for our shop, the drill is in excellent condition, it was only lightly used, and runs great. As useful as the mill table may be, it isn't ideal for our business so we build a flat round metal table. I was wondering if anyone has any details on this machine, specifically a user manual, routine maintenance and such. We are new to gear head drills and want to make sure it lasts. Would anyone know how old this drill is? My guess is early-mid 1980's.

slnielsen · Aug 26, 2011

Here you go.

http://www.hhrobertsmachinery.com/Support/Manual_machine_Parts_Lists/Strands/S 30 ME spareparts.pdf

Best regards
Søren

flyingpostman · Aug 26, 2011

Thanks! A shame they don't have the operators manual also, but it's better than nothing.

Limy Sami · Aug 26, 2011

flyingpostman said:
Thanks! A shame they don't have the operators manual also, but it's better than nothing.

Might not even have one, a lot of ''simple'' old professional machine builders assumed machinists knew what they were doing.

sa100 · Aug 26, 2011

I'm looking at the pictured machine and am wondering where the "mill" part comes in? It looks like a light to medium drill press with a little x-y table. I see a chuck but the quill looks so small I doubt it has the capability to take any collets, and if that is the case, how will you hold your mill bits? In any event that long, skinny column would flex like a noodle if you tried milling on it.

I'm not putting your machine down, it looks like a decent small drill with a handy little x-y table that should make locating holes a breeze. If you work it within its capabilities, there is no reason you shouldn't be very happy with it. But milling? Methinks not.

Steve

moonlight machine · Aug 26, 2011

sa100 said:
I'm looking at the pictured machine and am wondering where the "mill" part comes in? It looks like a light to medium drill press with a little x-y table. I see a chuck but the quill looks so small I doubt it has the capability to take any collets, and if that is the case, how will you hold your mill bits? In any event that long, skinny column would flex like a noodle if you tried milling on it.

I'm not putting your machine down, it looks like a decent small drill with a handy little x-y table that should make locating holes a breeze. If you work it within its capabilities, there is no reason you shouldn't be very happy with it. But milling? Methinks not.

Steve

I agree.........
I have a Wilton Strands drill press, it looks the same without the x y table. It is a good drill press but it is no mill. I put a real chuck on mine as the original one was a POS. what is wrong with the table that a round one will fix? The nice big square table on mine is one of the things I like about it. I use the T slots for clamping work down, the X Y adjustable table would be nice to have.

flyingpostman · Aug 26, 2011

moonlight machine said:
I agree.........
I have a Wilton Strands drill press, it looks the same without the x y table. It is a good drill press but it is no mill. I put a real chuck on mine as the original one was a POS. what is wrong with the table that a round one will fix? The nice big square table on mine is one of the things I like about it. I use the T slots for clamping work down, the X Y adjustable table would be nice to have.

We don't use the drill for metalwork. We work with friction materials, spot drilling, countersinking, and cutting friction rings up to 20" in diameter (this is where the low 65 rpm of this drill shines, almost all other drills are too fast). We need a large work surface and have to have some holes through the table for countersinking, circle cutting (the pilot hole) and drilling through the linings. We used the stem from the x,y table and bolted it to a 1/2" thick 22" diameter round steel plate. We can switch over to the x,y table in ten minutes and mill slots in friction material if we need. Friction material is relatively soft. Our needs are slightly different, explained to many machine sellers while searching for the right drill press!

Andy St · Aug 28, 2011

Here is my Strands drill press. It's a great drill press!

I have never seen a strands set up for milling like the Arboga drills. They had fine quill feed #3 morse spindle with a screw on collar and the post had a key setup for nonrotation. Good for light milling if you have the proper tooling for it.

flyingpostman if you ever want to sell the X/Y table Let me know I would love to have it for mine.
Andy

flyingpostman · Aug 29, 2011

Andy St said:
Here is my Strands drill press. It's a great drill press!

I have never seen a strands set up for milling like the Arboga drills. They had fine quill feed #3 morse spindle with a screw on collar and the post had a key setup for nonrotation. Good for light milling if you have the proper tooling for it.

flyingpostman if you ever want to sell the X/Y table Let me know I would love to have it for mine.
Andy

The x,y table might come in handy actually. We would be milling soft material, so it might come in useful one day. Not to mention we took the stem off the x,y table to bolt to our new table.

Walter Meier (Manufacturing) Inc. just got back to me with an operator's manual for the Wilton-Strand version of this drill. If anyone needs it I can email them a PDF. I just want to mention how kind the lady was at WM to find this manual and email me a copy.

Trollerudjan · Jan 5, 2018

Hello Folks,

I haven't been here in yrs due to family and life in general.
I have newly bought an old Strands drill press very similar to the one Andy St posted only mine is shorter and the foot stand has Tee slots.... no table.
My question is....
The switch is missing and I need help with a wiring diagram for the 6 leads coming out of the stator. I gather this is a pole change motor with two speeds.
I Have been in direct contact with Strands in Sweden but they were unable to help with this 50 yr old beast.

Thanks
Jan
Anybody with any info please chime in.

Andy St said:
Here is my Strands drill press. It's a great drill press!

I have never seen a strands set up for milling like the Arboga drills. They had fine quill feed #3 morse spindle with a screw on collar and the post had a key setup for nonrotation. Good for light milling if you have the proper tooling for it.

flyingpostman if you ever want to sell the X/Y table Let me know I would love to have it for mine.
Andy

Trollerudjan · Jan 5, 2018

From what I can tell I have a Strands CS-30-3 but the head looks very similar to the model Andy St has as well as others.
Maybe someone that has one could check their switch and give me a hoot.

Thanks
Jan

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