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Pratt Whitney 1 1/2 jig borer needs saving - Easton, MD $200

Looks like a "B", which is about as modern as they get. Takes dedicated P&W collets, has no draw bar

This one still has the "end measures" rig which means all locating is via gauge rods and what appears to ID mics - working with a "tenth" indicator.

No feeds on table or saddle, only on the quill

It has exactly eight speeds 130 to 1800

4200 Lbs
 
Thanks for posting this. I just sent him a message.

Edit: I had to bow out. My ceilings are just too low. I didn't realize this thing was 89" tall.
 
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Does it seem odd that the y axis screw is way over on the side? Seems more likely to rack and stick slip.

L7
 
I'd really like a power fed drill press, with a set up like this. I'm just wondering if you can get quill raised high enough. With the length of a drill bit in, and maybe a vice mounted on table looks like it might be limited work space.

Even looking at round or box column drill presses from Cincinnati Bickford or Cleereman it seems like height might be an issue. With those it seems like even with quill raised all the way, and table lowered, that the work height is real tight.

Any thoughts on that ?
 
I'd really like a power fed drill press, with a set up like this. I'm just wondering if you can get quill raised high enough. With the length of a drill bit in, and maybe a vice mounted on table looks like it might be limited work space.

Even looking at round or box column drill presses from Cincinnati Bickford or Cleereman it seems like height might be an issue. With those it seems like even with quill raised all the way, and table lowered, that the work height is real tight.

Any thoughts on that ?

I researched ALL of those "Grand-Old" DP's. Only a couple - that one cannot ordinarily even find in the USA (Swedish and one English one) would fit.

Got me an early 1950's 7 HP Alzmetall AB5/S "column drill" - the ~ 4,400 lb model with the big rectangular table.

Not as flexible as a small radial, but takes up only a tiny fraction of the floorspace.

Nothing lesser had any POWER to make holes enough better than basic commodity DP's to be worth the bother.

Even so.. the Alzmetall has it's drip-oiler OFF the top of it until... I re-position it to "final".. and cut a well up into the attic over the head.

That's for my 8-foot ceiling ....which it clears.. with 2 inches to spare.. nearly four inches if I were to sit it FLAT to the deck, actually.
Except for the oiler.

I can (and have) fiddled the oiler to a low-profile right-angle banjo I can pump UP to, but still.. the well will also be needed to pull the top cover anyway.

"Plan B" HAD BEEN to pull the column and hacksaw 4 inches off the bottom end.. and an identical amount off the table-elevating rack.

The well in the ceiling is easier.

It's just a low-clearance, low-utilization attic, but CAN support lifting gear, too.

If you have a ten or eleven foot ceiling - or at VERY least, nine foot?

Only THEN do you have any decent range of serious options w/r vertical drillpresses.

A horizontal DP is a whole 'nuther animal.

2CW
 
I researched ALL of those "Grand-Old" DP's. Only a couple - that one cannot ordinarily even find in the USA (Swedish and one English one) would fit.


The well in the ceiling is easier.

It's just a low-clearance, low-utilization attic, but CAN support lifting gear, too.

If you have a ten or eleven foot ceiling - or at VERY least, nine foot?

Only THEN do you have any decent range of serious options w/r vertical drillpresses.

A horizontal DP is a whole 'nuther animal.

2CW

Height definitely could be an issue. Most radial arms I've had a chance at, are simply to tall and too much floor space. Its one reason I was looking at box and round columns, though height still an issue.

In my workspace I have 8' and a few inches till I hit over head beams. Ceiling is not finished, So I was thinking that extension that sticks up above spindle I could position between two of the overhead ceiling beams. . . Not ideal, but could fit.

I really like the Cleereman round column. About 5hp, nice control set up. And with the round column could swing the table away for larger work. But even still, with a large drill bit the table is almost useless due to height between spindle and table. . .

A small-ish radial arm may be the way to go. Just haven't come across the right one yet.
 
Height definitely could be an issue. Most radial arms I've had a chance at, are simply to tall and too much floor space. Its one reason I was looking at box and round columns, though height still an issue.

In my workspace I have 8' and a few inches till I hit over head beams. Ceiling is not finished, So I was thinking that extension that sticks up above spindle I could position between two of the overhead ceiling beams. . . Not ideal, but could fit.

I really like the Cleereman round column. About 5hp, nice control set up. And with the round column could swing the table away for larger work. But even still, with a large drill bit the table is almost useless due to height between spindle and table. . .

A small-ish radial arm may be the way to go. Just haven't come across the right one yet.

They surely exist. 3 or so have crossed PM's pages in the last 5 or so years.

And I love 'em. Cudda' MARRIED that 8-foot ATW we used at Galis.

Think it through. You have to drill and tap .. in the side of the body of .... a mine car! The DRILL lenght is easy.

Its the awkward bulk of the mine car laid-over on its side, top, or bottom

Heavier stuff.. the continuous mining machines themselves .. we'd use one of the HBM's.

But I don' doooo that sorta work, 56 years and counting..

All I need to keep up with, these days, is my Diesels and the Old English "kit cars" (X350, LR322).

"The most reliable Range Rover is the Toyota Land Cruiser."


:(
 
Height definitely could be an issue. Most radial arms I've had a chance at, are simply to tall and too much floor space. Its one reason I was looking at box and round columns, though height still an issue.

In my workspace I have 8' and a few inches till I hit over head beams. Ceiling is not finished, So I was thinking that extension that sticks up above spindle I could position between two of the overhead ceiling beams. . . Not ideal, but could fit.

I really like the Cleereman round column. About 5hp, nice control set up. And with the round column could swing the table away for larger work. But even still, with a large drill bit the table is almost useless due to height between spindle and table. . .

A small-ish radial arm may be the way to go. Just haven't come across the right one yet.

I looked at my cleerman box column and with the sliding head all the way up, there is 21" between the bottom of the quill and the table when the table in in it's highest position. It looks like the table can be lowered another 10-12 inches so i would say 30-33 inches of clearance. The table is not difficult to remove with an engine hoist. That would get you something like 47-48 inches to the base which has t-slots. Over-all height is 9'4".
 
The table is not difficult to remove with an engine hoist. That would get you something like 47-48 inches to the base which has t-slots.

Maybe 80 years ago, some prior owner mounted my bought-used tiny Walker-Turner benchtop DP atop a serious STOUT shop-fabbed steel table. And did so in such a manner one could swing the head out over the edge of the table and ... in mere minutes, the tiny range of travel had the drop from table to deck ADDED.

Charlie?

How close are ye to the Grand Canyon, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, an offshore oil rig platform..

... or even the edge of an ignorant loading dock?

:)

Oh.. and about HORIZONTAL drill-presses? SERIOUSLY LONG work can be addressed. But don't forget you'll need optical goods to correct for the curvature of the Earth.

No joke. Those who build "float" glass factories, and "not only", actually DO such correction.
 
Does it have to be that tall,

For all practical purposes YES!

Whereas...

- A radial DP's column CAN be shortened. Nothing close to a trivial exercise on most, what with driveshafts and all, but the OEM makers did have more than one height on most models.

The Alzmetall AB5/S would be dead easy to shorten.

- There is nothing inside the lower column but the wires for the foot switch.

- The top end has an integral mounting flange, but the bottom end is just a straight cylinder grasped in the collar atop the base.

NB: It DOES have a stiffener partition inside it where the base clamp bears, but that functionality isn't hard to replicate. If even needed.

The table elevation rack isn't rocket-science to shorten, either.

And I even have a Kasto PHS with the capacity to cut both.

Mind - the Alzmetall is a skosh under EIGHT foot at the outset, would not need to shed but 4 to 6 inches, would still be at a convenient operator height AFTER the surgery.

Taller goods once shortened? Maybe not so user-friendly at their controls?

Grab a carpenter/painter/drywall guy's platform and try it. Might find it seriously awkward?

As to "great" drill press?

I'm not convinced. A jig bore was built as.. well.. a jig bore.
If you need that, you need it. A DP - even with a DRO'ed X-Y table - isn't quite as good. Spindle positioning consistency matters, too. Jig bores have it in spades, DP's not so much.

But most hole-making wants fast, "good enough", powerful, and easy more than it wants slower, more deliberate, and uber-accurate.
 
Have you told the guys at Tuckahoe Steam & Gas Association - Home They are located a few miles outside Easton. They may not need it in their collection, but may know someone who may take it. Good Luck. I love the way P&W uses adjustable 3 points on their base.

Thanks for thinking if us but not right for us. I did let the guys in the shop know about it but there is no interest from anyone. I also met some guys at our summer show that were going to go look at it but I don't know if they ever did. I have a feeling it's destined to be turned into a Hyundai
 
If only I had a truck and trailer...
I worked at LTV aerospace in the 1980s as an industrial engineer, yep bean counter but I knew more about the beans and what pot to use and how to cook them than most:) I remember manufacturing instructions for the Jig Bore room always began with: place part in room and allow to temperature normalize for 3 days before working and it was always chilly there in the summers.
Cheers
Charles
And remember, a laser is only as accurate as its container. You have to know where you are to know where you are going.
 








 
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