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Camel-back drill press

jodi lynd

Plastic
Joined
Jan 14, 2013
Location
NJ USA
Hi
I have been reading for a little while figured I would post some I just acquired a camel-back drill press that I am going to restore yes it is way over my skill level I think but I am very mechanically inclined but this will be a huge learning curve for me but I am going for it figure it out as I go so far I found the drive shaft is worn pretty bad going to try and fill with the Mig weld and then turn down on the lathe and hope it works and that I don’t warp it as far as the flat belt pulleys I have one going to try and make the second one all the gears are in great shape no chips missing or rust was very happy with that I do have one question for now do I leave the original paint on it or do I strip it and repaint I am torn on that one
 
Welcome to the forum.

1. posting some photos of the drill press would help us answer some of your questions.

2. using some periods in your posts would make it a lot easier for us to read them.

Andy
 
if you are asking opinions on the shaft I would not weld it up. my choices would be.

1. Assume babbit bearing. If true you might leave it as it is and pour new babbit. The babbit will conform to the shaft. Or,

2. Get a new piece of round stock to machine a replacement shaft. Less work for better result, I would think.

Anyway no harm in trying the tig, its just a hobby. not life and death.
 
Mig welding=localized hot spots on carbon steel shaft. I'd expect warping, bending and hardened spots.
Maybe turn and polish the ends, bushings or Babbit could be considered.
Stripping and refilling voids for new paint is a PIA but the results may be more pleasing later.
John
 
I think what jhruska means is turn down the bearing surface, make it undersize but clean up and then re-babbit. I have seen that quite a few times on old line shafting or machines. easier than starting from scratch (my no2) and a cleaner job and last longer than my no1 suggestion.
 
Don't want to steal this thread......But why are they called CAMEL BACKS makes no senses to me? They don't resemble camels in anyway.
 
The babbit is in great shape it had to be redone already. It is the flat pull that is in need of work .The inside dia. is oval and the shaft is in bad shape. I tried to take a photo but does not come out good


The hump on the back of the drill
IMG_4931paint.jpg
 
If the shaft is fairly simple, with just a few keyways, it's probably easiest to make a new one. If it's more complex, trying to save the original might be easier. Not sure what your abilities are or what equipment you have access to.

Andy
 
On my Royersford camel back there wasn't even any key ways. Everything was kept in place with set screws. The quickest thing would be to pick up a piece of 1144 ground shafting. The spindle cone if out of round could be bored over and sleeved with a bushing.
 
But why are they called CAMEL BACKS makes no senses to me? They don't resemble camels in anyway.

Indeed, these are upright drill. Camelback is internet jargon with no precedence in the real world. get used to it language always changing. Like taking you executive assistant out to lunch or following the sanitation engineers doing curbside pickups. Now the newbies log in and ask if what they got a CB or not. Some have two columns or other style variations. It was to complicated to say flat belt driven upright drill. The other fad dejour is initials, why not call them "CB". or just "C".
 
I think that's a good looking drill press-it is remarkably intact.

I've built up a lot of shafts with mig welder. Trick is turn it down a bit first then build it up and turn to original size. Usually takes more bead than you think to get a 100% clean surface and the nicer your beads the less bone jarring the turning will be.

Low chance of that being original paint, so I would feel no qualms about a nicely done refinish.
 
Nice find jodi lynd,
I rebuilt a 21" Royersford a couple of years ago and had a lot of fun with it. I had to buy two of them to gather enough parts for one. I was very fortunate that one of them had a good drive shaft and babbits. I am always please when I run it because of how smooth & quiet the drill press runs. I hope you have luck and fun rebuilding yours. It's worth it.
toolles
 
Nice find jodi lynd,
I rebuilt a 21" Royersford a couple of years ago and had a lot of fun with it. I had to buy two of them to gather enough parts for one. I was very fortunate that one of them had a good drive shaft and babbits. I am always please when I run it because of how smooth & quiet the drill press runs. I hope you have luck and fun rebuilding yours. It's worth it.
toolles

Yunno. Old Ern Disease usually starts with DPs. Then a lathe. And a grinder to maintain the tool bits. And then having the inside and outside curves covered, then on to the straights. Milling machine, shaper and then, dare I say it...a planer?

Pretty soon an Atlas Booster or the UP Big Boy is sitting in your backyard waiting...

Joe in NH
 
I have been following this thread, own a Camelback drill and have been around a number of them. If the shaft is the horizontal shaft at the top of the drill press, it is usually a fairly simple shaft in terms of machine work required. My own take on things is to try to avoid the matter of doing a weld repair on the shaft. As noted, you will have to turn the shaft undersize to a true and constant "cylinder". The worn areas that are turned undersized will need to have the shoulders transition back to full/original shaft diameter with a radius or smooth taper to avoid a bad stress concentration. The welding will likely be several passes deep. The potential, even with MIG welding, to warp the shaft is quite good. How good a quality weld you get with MIG is another matter.

As an engineer and Certified Welding Inspector with many years experience, I tend to shy away from MIG welding on anything that requires a sound weld with good penetration. On new work such as plate or light structural, GMAW (MIG) is OK, but we tend to shy away from it on piping, prerssure vessel and heavy structural work. We also avoid GMAW for something like building up a smaller diameter worn shaft. Unless the GMAW is put on automatically, such as in a lathe with a closely controlled process, there is too much chance of warpage. We normally would use GTAW (TIG) for a job on a smaller shaft such as you are describing, if the shaft were something special, such as a pump shaft having a stainless steel overlay. Otherwise, we just replace the shaft. A small shaft with no special features to it is not worth repairing with welding.

For the shaft in a camelback drill, I'd get a piece of "Stressproof" turned/ground/polished shafting steel, turn to whatever other diameters are needed, and mill the keyways. Stressproof is wonderful steel, about .40% carbon IIRC, and will maintain dimensional stability if you machine it. Cold rolled will often warp like a snake if you machine it assymetrically, and cold rolled does not have the strength of Stressproof. A lot of the older shafting was made from 1030 steel (.30% carbon), and had a bit more strength than cold rolled. For a few bucks, a piece of TGP Stressproof will save you a LOT of grief and save you a LOT of time. I've made a number of replacement shafts for various machinery out of Stressproof TGP, doing jobs in my home machine shop as well as incorporating into designs at work.

If you have a hole in a pulley that is worn egg shaped, I am assuming this is on a tight/loose pulley (clutch) arrangement ? A pulley which is "tight" (keyed to the shaft) should not have an egg shaped bore. A "loose pulley" is meant to freewheel on the shaft and the belt is shifted onto it to disengage the power from driving the drill press. Lineshaft driven drills often had the tight and loose pulleys on the bottom horizontal shaft with the bottom cone pulley. If the bore in this type pulley is worn egg shaped, then it needs to be bored oversized and a bearing sleeve shrunk in and bored to correct size for the shaft.
 
Camelback is internet jargon with no precedence in the real world.

In some previous threads here, we determined that the "camelback" term was applied to certain geared drills made by Barnes, long before the internet was around. Its not really the correct term for this style of flat belt drill- but there is a historical precedent for its use.

Andy
 
I remember the thread (I guess), but; maybe my stubborn streak has me forgetting the Barnes scan. I still got to gimmace every time a new guy logs on to ask if he has a 'real' camelback as if thats means anything (to me I guess). I guess there is no need to rehash that no-win discussion.
 








 
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