Hi,
I am completely new to posting on this forum, so apologies if I am in the wrong place. Been lurking here for a while when I needed information so I thought I would ask.
I'm also completely new to machining. I've been fascinated by the process for years, particuarly watching people use old lathes and shapers on youtube, but only recently had the space to get my own gear and start learning. As such, I'm a complete layman.
Someone was selling what they were advertising as a bench drill in my city, and after going to check it out, I paid for it and got it home. I strongly suspected it was a drill press, perhaps a meddings from the pictures, from the 1970's, but the only maker's mark it had on it was SOAG, a company I had never heard of, and was not in the pictures when it was advertised. When I got it home, my suspicions were confirmed; I had gotten myself an immaculate british made drill press from the 1970's for less than a brand new pillar drill.
After doing some research on the maker's marks, I came to the conclusion it was one of these, a Mercer 500:
http://www.lathes.co.uk/mercer-drill/img7.jpg
Link to the full post on it:
Merecer Drill Press
Unfortunately for me, this is where my layman's knowledge runs into problems. After doing more research, I found that while it is a mercer drill press, just with the nameplate removed; either mercer themselves, or SOAG, the maker's name that is actually on the drill press, modified the headstock (I think that's what it's called), in order to convert it into a paper drilling machine. From what I can tell, this involved inserting a modified morse taper, and completely changing the headstock of the drill so instead of taking a chuck, it takes paper drilling bits, which use a collar that slots into grooves on the bit itself about a third of the way down the shank to hold them in place. The bits themselves are hollow, to allow the punched paper to pass up through the bit and "chuck" and out the side. You can see the bits I am talking about here:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0...Nyren-Paper-Drill-Bits_5000x.jpg?v=1569216574
I will post some more pictures below to hopefully better illustrate my description, but my question is, if it is possible, how would I go about changing this back into a drill press with a morse taper, or other kind of drill chuck?
I took as much of the head off as I can, the part with the guide comes off easily, but the part where I believe the morse taper is supposed to fit is pinned in place, and has a threaded bolt with the head removed (there's about 5mm sticking out, so I could grind a slot in it). There is also a pin above that bolt, but it is peened over, and I do not want to damage anything without first seeking guidance.
I probably would not have bought it if I had known it needed converting back, but not having any experience with drill presses (I just wanted a cheap compact bench drill!), I had no idea without taking it to bits that this would be an issue.
This has resulted in me owning a far more valuable (I paid peanuts for it), and apparently rare, drill press without the ability to mount a chuck in it, a drill head for paper drill bits, and a box full of the bits which I have no use for. It's in incredibly good condition, because it has never been used to actually drill hard materials. Frankly, I don't know whether to be really happy or very disappointed.
I'm completely new to machining, this was supposed to be the machine that helped me learn, so trying any kind of modifications is well out of my wheelhouse. If it is a question of removing the pins and adding a morse taper where the modified one went, then I am happy to try, but if it means drilling new holes, it's out of the question. It would be a crime for me to damage such a beautifully preserved machine through my ignorance.
Any advice would be welcomed, as I don't even know if what I have said is accurate. I could be completely off the radar, but I wanted to try and describe what it is in as much detail as possible. If I can't change it back, I'm hoping people can direct me to somewhere I might be able to trade or sell it so I can buy one that will actually suit my needs. If someone can use it, and I can't, then that would be great.
Here are the pictures, apologies for the poor quality, I wanted to get this post up tonight before I went to bed. I can absolutely post better pictures tomorrow, but I hope these suffice for now. The drill press is currently residing in the living room with the dog keeping it company, while I try to figure out whether it's going in the workshop or not.
Picture of the SOAG nameplate that is the only identifying mark on the drill itself:
This is the part of the head that was removeable. This whole part is hollow, and the angled part on the side is where the paper feeds through once it has been punched out; there is currently no bit installed, but if you want I can reassemble it and put one in. The bits are held in place with a steel collar that slots over the sides of the bits:
(I ran out of attachments sorry)
This is what confronts you when you take the head off:
https://i.imgur.com/WlGo3jd.jpg
I suspect this is a modified morse taper. The shank until about halfway up is hollow, then there is a hole cut in the side for the paper to pass through. There's a screw inside this hollow, but I didn't want to mess with it. I'm hoping if I remove one of those pins, the shank will fall out like a normal morse taper, but I don't know nearly enough about this stuff to be sure.
The top red circle is where the pin is, it's peened over on one side, I tried to lightly tap it out to no avail, and I didn't want to push my luck. The bottom red circle is a bolt with the head removed for some reason. On one side it sits completely flush, on the other about 5mm of the head sticks out the hole, so I could cut a slot in it and try to remove it. Here's another picture with a different angle:
https://i.imgur.com/KEfThfT.jpg
You can see the base in this one, which is where the hollow bits are inserted. You can also see where the collar fits that holds them in place.
This is just a picture of the front of the removed head:
https://i.imgur.com/nMVMSmZ.jpg
Again, any and all advice would be really appreciated. There are companies I could take this into in my area that could probably do it for me, but I would like to do it myself if possible. Thanks in advance.
I am completely new to posting on this forum, so apologies if I am in the wrong place. Been lurking here for a while when I needed information so I thought I would ask.
I'm also completely new to machining. I've been fascinated by the process for years, particuarly watching people use old lathes and shapers on youtube, but only recently had the space to get my own gear and start learning. As such, I'm a complete layman.
Someone was selling what they were advertising as a bench drill in my city, and after going to check it out, I paid for it and got it home. I strongly suspected it was a drill press, perhaps a meddings from the pictures, from the 1970's, but the only maker's mark it had on it was SOAG, a company I had never heard of, and was not in the pictures when it was advertised. When I got it home, my suspicions were confirmed; I had gotten myself an immaculate british made drill press from the 1970's for less than a brand new pillar drill.
After doing some research on the maker's marks, I came to the conclusion it was one of these, a Mercer 500:
http://www.lathes.co.uk/mercer-drill/img7.jpg
Link to the full post on it:
Merecer Drill Press
Unfortunately for me, this is where my layman's knowledge runs into problems. After doing more research, I found that while it is a mercer drill press, just with the nameplate removed; either mercer themselves, or SOAG, the maker's name that is actually on the drill press, modified the headstock (I think that's what it's called), in order to convert it into a paper drilling machine. From what I can tell, this involved inserting a modified morse taper, and completely changing the headstock of the drill so instead of taking a chuck, it takes paper drilling bits, which use a collar that slots into grooves on the bit itself about a third of the way down the shank to hold them in place. The bits themselves are hollow, to allow the punched paper to pass up through the bit and "chuck" and out the side. You can see the bits I am talking about here:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0...Nyren-Paper-Drill-Bits_5000x.jpg?v=1569216574
I will post some more pictures below to hopefully better illustrate my description, but my question is, if it is possible, how would I go about changing this back into a drill press with a morse taper, or other kind of drill chuck?
I took as much of the head off as I can, the part with the guide comes off easily, but the part where I believe the morse taper is supposed to fit is pinned in place, and has a threaded bolt with the head removed (there's about 5mm sticking out, so I could grind a slot in it). There is also a pin above that bolt, but it is peened over, and I do not want to damage anything without first seeking guidance.
I probably would not have bought it if I had known it needed converting back, but not having any experience with drill presses (I just wanted a cheap compact bench drill!), I had no idea without taking it to bits that this would be an issue.
This has resulted in me owning a far more valuable (I paid peanuts for it), and apparently rare, drill press without the ability to mount a chuck in it, a drill head for paper drill bits, and a box full of the bits which I have no use for. It's in incredibly good condition, because it has never been used to actually drill hard materials. Frankly, I don't know whether to be really happy or very disappointed.
I'm completely new to machining, this was supposed to be the machine that helped me learn, so trying any kind of modifications is well out of my wheelhouse. If it is a question of removing the pins and adding a morse taper where the modified one went, then I am happy to try, but if it means drilling new holes, it's out of the question. It would be a crime for me to damage such a beautifully preserved machine through my ignorance.
Any advice would be welcomed, as I don't even know if what I have said is accurate. I could be completely off the radar, but I wanted to try and describe what it is in as much detail as possible. If I can't change it back, I'm hoping people can direct me to somewhere I might be able to trade or sell it so I can buy one that will actually suit my needs. If someone can use it, and I can't, then that would be great.
Here are the pictures, apologies for the poor quality, I wanted to get this post up tonight before I went to bed. I can absolutely post better pictures tomorrow, but I hope these suffice for now. The drill press is currently residing in the living room with the dog keeping it company, while I try to figure out whether it's going in the workshop or not.
Picture of the SOAG nameplate that is the only identifying mark on the drill itself:
This is the part of the head that was removeable. This whole part is hollow, and the angled part on the side is where the paper feeds through once it has been punched out; there is currently no bit installed, but if you want I can reassemble it and put one in. The bits are held in place with a steel collar that slots over the sides of the bits:
(I ran out of attachments sorry)
This is what confronts you when you take the head off:
https://i.imgur.com/WlGo3jd.jpg
I suspect this is a modified morse taper. The shank until about halfway up is hollow, then there is a hole cut in the side for the paper to pass through. There's a screw inside this hollow, but I didn't want to mess with it. I'm hoping if I remove one of those pins, the shank will fall out like a normal morse taper, but I don't know nearly enough about this stuff to be sure.
The top red circle is where the pin is, it's peened over on one side, I tried to lightly tap it out to no avail, and I didn't want to push my luck. The bottom red circle is a bolt with the head removed for some reason. On one side it sits completely flush, on the other about 5mm of the head sticks out the hole, so I could cut a slot in it and try to remove it. Here's another picture with a different angle:
https://i.imgur.com/KEfThfT.jpg
You can see the base in this one, which is where the hollow bits are inserted. You can also see where the collar fits that holds them in place.
This is just a picture of the front of the removed head:
https://i.imgur.com/nMVMSmZ.jpg
Again, any and all advice would be really appreciated. There are companies I could take this into in my area that could probably do it for me, but I would like to do it myself if possible. Thanks in advance.
