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FS: Royersford 21" Camelback Drill Press, NC

mathamattox

Aluminum
Joined
Nov 1, 2009
Location
Charlotte, NC
Hey guys, I am selling my Royersford Excelsior 21" drill press in Charlotte, NC. I refurbished it some years ago and its in good condition. It has been my primary drill press for the past 5 years or so. The motor is 110V or 220V single phase. The drill has powerfeed which works well. I have always enjoyed using this drill and I'm sure you will too, it just takes up too much floor space for me to keep.

Asking price is $1200

Thanks,

Jonathan
 

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1. That's a cool drill press
2. That's a lot of money for a drill press
3. Better pictures would help. Try using a different source of lighting.
 
Having just purchased a slightly smaller drill press I would say this is the price of a quality drill press these days. And this one comes with chucks and can be plugged into a regular outlet so the only additional cost is transportation. Most of the sub $1000 drill presses I have seen are either in very poor condition or they are in a class below this in terms of features and rugged design (such as a delta/rockwell). Very few of the smaller drill presses I see have powerfeed which I think is an incredibly useful feature.

I will try to take some better pictures, my phone camera's lens cover is cracked and it plays havoc with the lighting.
 
I sure like my Excelsior and would not part with it. Something satisfying about watching it effortlessly plow out a long pair of curls out of a peice of plate. If you don't have enough room, MAKE IT! [Although, I personally never thought of a drill press as a huge "space taker",,]
 
Hello All,

Price has dropped to $950, let me know if you are interested. Still haven't gotten a chance to take better pictures.

Thanks,

Jonathan
 
I bought a Royersfor Excelsior in 1979 for $80. Had to lower it through a trapdoor in second floor and take it apart to haul it in my 1962 Peugeot wagon.

I had to bore out the quill and put in bronze bushings to correct a little looseness in the spindle. Other than that, it is the best dril press I have ever used....I remember the thick twin curls coming out of a 1" hole I was effortlessly enlarging to 2", in back gear, with an APT spade-tool.

Today you can buy a Chinese piece of junk described as a 20" drill press from Northern Tool for....$819. I have no connection to the seller of this Royersford, but if I did not already have one, I would buy it.
 
Help/advice Needed. Magneticanomaly, I share your affection for These Royersfords. Your refurb is very close to what I am setting about to do. I am amateur home machinist with decent lathe and basic tooling, I think, for this effort.

HOW did you bore out the Quill???

I want/need to refurbish quill/spindle on recently acquired Excelsior 21. Old gal was used, a bunch, w/o proper lube plus bottom thrust bearing failed and was ground partly up, sending metal into quill/spindle . Both quill bore and spindle are scored with total slop of about 30 thou. Excelsior drive was hack modified in past so not pristine or a "restore" candidate. Not trying for original precision, only get OK for rough drilling with larger bits.

Current plan is to clean up spindle bore "by hand" best I can, turn down OD on 1 5/16" X 1 1/2" X 3 inch long bronze sleeve bearings to light press fit into Quill. Then turn spindle to clean scoring, deepen original 16 tip threads, fit spindle/bronze bearings to workable bearing tolerance by some combo of boring/reaming sleeve bearings and turning spindle, cut oil channels and holes in sleeve bearings, make 16 tip nuts for spindle(for adjusting thrust bearing preload). New thrust bearings.

Quill has oil channels that I fear will destroy any boring bar cutter (or reamer) I try to use. I hate (and fear) interrupted cuts and have never done internal boring in that situ. Never done much internal boring period. Quill bore is currently 1 7/16", Roughly 3" of boring needed(in from top and in from bottom) to clean quill. Rather than try to clean quill on the lathe, I plan to do best I can to true the repair via turning/boring/reaming the new pressed in bearings and turning the spindle, a plan I think I can implement with ok precision.

Greatly Appreciate any critique/advice on any of the above, including starting a new thread on this if that makes more sense.

Thanks.
 
Help/advice Needed. Magneticanomaly, I share your affection for These Royersfords. Your refurb is very close to what I am setting about to do. I am amateur home machinist with decent lathe and basic tooling, I think, for this effort.

HOW did you bore out the Quill???

I want/need to refurbish quill/spindle on recently acquired Excelsior 21. Old gal was used, a bunch, w/o proper lube plus bottom thrust bearing failed and was ground partly up, sending metal into quill/spindle . Both quill bore and spindle are scored with total slop of about 30 thou. Excelsior drive was hack modified in past so not pristine or a "restore" candidate. Not trying for original precision, only get OK for rough drilling with larger bits.

Current plan is to clean up spindle bore "by hand" best I can, turn down OD on 1 5/16" X 1 1/2" X 3 inch long bronze sleeve bearings to light press fit into Quill. Then turn spindle to clean scoring, deepen original 16 tip threads, fit spindle/bronze bearings to workable bearing tolerance by some combo of boring/reaming sleeve bearings and turning spindle, cut oil channels and holes in sleeve bearings, make 16 tip nuts for spindle(for adjusting thrust bearing preload). New thrust bearings.

Quill has oil channels that I fear will destroy any boring bar cutter (or reamer) I try to use. I hate (and fear) interrupted cuts and have never done internal boring in that situ. Never done much internal boring period. Quill bore is currently 1 7/16", Roughly 3" of boring needed(in from top and in from bottom) to clean quill. Rather than try to clean quill on the lathe, I plan to do best I can to true the repair via turning/boring/reaming the new pressed in bearings and turning the spindle, a plan I think I can implement with ok precision.

Greatly Appreciate any critique/advice on any of the above, including starting a new thread on this if that makes more sense.

Thanks.

You should start a new thread.

But, I would line-bore your quill. Doable on a lathe. Trivial if you know someone with an HBM or horizontal mill, especially since it has the flat on the back. That would be my approach. Interrupted cut will pose no issue to the boring process with cast iron.
 
Thank you ClappedOutBport. Line boring the quill was my first thought, but more I looked into boring with interrupted cut the more I went toward other approaches. You say "Interrupted cut - - - -no issues to the boring process with cast iron". The Quill I need to line bore is steel, not the cast iron of the frame that surrounds the OD of the steel quill. The Quill OD/cast iron frame ID is fine (and built to adjust fit). The steel quill is not super hard, meaning I can file it, but it's not cast iron.

With that clarification, do you still think line boring the quill with its oil channel is good way to go? I read up on boring on lathe involving interrupted (internal) cuts and with my skills, equipment and experience sounded like disaster waiting to happen. I have a vertical mill, but no HBM or Horiz mill.

I am fine with trying to line bore on my 13x36 Taiwan lathe, but do not want to make the spindle worse than it currently is. "First, do no harm". I would start with HSS cutters rather than chip/trash carbides. I have plenty of HSS and "need" practice at grinding cutters!! Plus finish is not critical since this is sizing for a press fit sleeve bearing. Would appreciate advice on feeds and speeds. Including advice on using carbide that would reduce chances of chipping the tool.

Will start new thread.

Regards.
 
Thank you ClappedOutBport. Line boring the quill was my first thought, but more I looked into boring with interrupted cut the more I went toward other approaches. You say "Interrupted cut - - - -no issues to the boring process with cast iron". The Quill I need to line bore is steel, not the cast iron of the frame that surrounds the OD of the steel quill. The Quill OD/cast iron frame ID is fine (and built to adjust fit). The steel quill is not super hard, meaning I can file it, but it's not cast iron.

With that clarification, do you still think line boring the quill with its oil channel is good way to go? I read up on boring on lathe involving interrupted (internal) cuts and with my skills, equipment and experience sounded like disaster waiting to happen. I have a vertical mill, but no HBM or Horiz mill.

I am fine with trying to line bore on my 13x36 Taiwan lathe, but do not want to make the spindle worse than it currently is. "First, do no harm". I would start with HSS cutters rather than chip/trash carbides. I have plenty of HSS and "need" practice at grinding cutters!! Plus finish is not critical since this is sizing for a press fit sleeve bearing. Would appreciate advice on feeds and speeds. Including advice on using carbide that would reduce chances of chipping the tool.

Will start new thread.

Regards.


Chuck,

My mistake. Browsing too late at night I guess, I was thinking quill housing. Yes, I would try to bore it out. Not line boring, just toss it in a 4 jaw. I don't think the oil grooves will cause that much harm. Carbide would be my tool of choice, but it should matter. I would ream it to final size like you thought. Feed, probably around 5 thou, don't make your nose radius too sharp.

Alternately, F the old quill. Probably easier to start with a brand new piece of stock from McMaster. I'd buy pre-ground stock (maybe even chrome bar), then just bore it and add the oil grooves and holes and rack mount. You'd lose the number scale, but that is a small loss.
 
Thanks, ClappedOutBport.

Would a small depth of cut increase likely tool life or is this something I just need to figure out given the work, carbide being used, tool rigidity and so forth? Probably need to quit thinking this so much and just try to make some chips.

Your "start with new stock" suggestion is spot on. In fact that is what I have as my back-up plan if refurbishing the original quill does not work out.

Given this is a hobby/antique repair that will get very little and careful use, any problem with using 1215 steel for the blank. Its ease of machining is a plus given my skills and equipment. OD will slide up/down in cast iron, ID will have the spindle (whatever steel)rotating slowly in it. Pre-ground stock I think is problematic given that I need to end up with approx 2 5/16" OD for (proper sliding)fit in the cast frame.

Have a good Thanksgiving!
 
I believe the quill is cast iron. The way I bored mine in my 10" SB lather, was to hold one end in 4-jaw chuck and support other end in steady-rest. I bored the end only deep enough for a bronze bushing..maybe 2" long. I do not remember waht I did about the flat on which the rack is mounted on the quill...seems to me it stopped before the end so I had a round surface for the steady...If not, I must have/would have made a full round ring, bored and turned in same set-up for concetricity, to slip over the quill to provide a riding surface for the steady fingers. You could also ignore concentricity and clamp the ring in the sterady and let the quill turn in the ID.

As I recall my spindle journal was okay, but if it had not been, my preferred repair would be to press a sleeve over it, then finish the OD of the sleeve 1/16" or 1/8" over the original journal diameter, while supporting the spindle same way I described for the quill. I would run the OD of the large internally-tapered section of the spindle in the steady, and check the internal taper with indicator to be sure it is concenetric. If the OD of the spindle and the taper are not concentric, then i would find somethng that fits in it, and has at least 1.4" to 1/2" of smoth concentric surface to run in the steady.

You might have to open up the ID of the new thrust bearings a little, and of course the bore of the new bronze radial bearing would have to match your new sleeved journal , plus a thousandth or so.
 
Thanks, Magneticanomaly. Much Appreciate the help. Like your idea of using a tool in the MT4 spindle as part of the setup. In the end (pun not intended), that is one thing that needs to be true for the drill to function well. Will compare this to my initial plan to turn between centers with a steady rest for support.

I had assumed the quill was steel, not cast iron, for some reason. But you are likely correct. I think steel spindle running in cast iron quill makes more sense. About to take a shot at boring the quill for bronze bushings/plain bearings. Goal is a clean, reasonably true quill bore so I can press fit in the bearings. Finish not important. The more precise Turning to fit will be bronze bearings/IDs and spindle journal OD. Less intimidating than the two 3 inch deep interrupted cut bores I need to do to the quill but does involve some precision and finish. Unfortunately I do not have an adjustable reamer to finish the quill bearings so will try to do with boring bar.

I say 3 inches deep because I planned to end up with the same spindle to quill bearing surface (6 inches) as original. Given the expected light service duty of my old machine, do you think I would be better off with, say, 2 inch bearings thereby needing to only bore 2 inches (from each end of the quill)? Plus pressing in 2 inches of sleeve bearing would be easier than 3 inches. Unless I purchase tooling, I will be finish boring with some china carbide boring bar(s)in BXA QC toolpost.
 








 
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