WEBO mini drill press

joem64 · Nov 20, 2013

I picked up a vintage German mini drill press this morning for $20 made by WEBO. The side plate shows the different speeds the bit can turn at, but when I open up the top there is only a single drive pulley and a bit pulley. I was expecting to see a stack of various pulleys for the various speeds. Is there some other way to change speeds on these things? This thing must weigh all of 100 lbs (btw not sure if I'm in the right forum...I'm guessing this drill press is more vintage as opposed to antique) thanks for any thoughts/help/info in advance if any can share.

Tom A · Nov 20, 2013

Variable-speed motor ?

joem64 · Nov 20, 2013

As a matter of fact I noticed the power switch is actually 2 switches. They are aligned so close together that I thought it was one toggle switch. Do you recognize this type of power switch? Also before I power it on and play with the switches I want to oil it up a little.. the attached tag suggests gear oil for the toothed parts (would 3 in 1 oil work?) and non-acid grease for the bearing parts (is there a common household grease that's non-acid?)

EDIT: I see that the power toggle switch is both a forward and reverse on the bottom and on off on the top but still not seeing how to change speeds.

joem64 · Nov 20, 2013

Finally got the belt cover off and after loosening up some paint I notice the motor mount can slide either nearer or farther away from the spindle.. this action also causes the 2 drive pulleys to move separately but the drive belt is one size or is it possible the drive belt is designed to stretch?? No clue... anyone seen one of these before?

press one · Nov 21, 2013

I have seen some pulleys that were spring loaded and by changing the distance betwine the two it would change the diameter of the pulley and change the speed. I can not really tell from the pictures.
Good luck looks nice.

Dave D · Nov 21, 2013

I think press one has it. At least one is a variable diameter pulley. I can't tell from the pictures but possibly moving the middle lever on the top cover moves the motor in or out and changes the ratio. It might be a two speed motor to give a wider range of speeds. Nice find.

Dave

steamachine · Nov 22, 2013

I don't think a flat belt would work with the variable sheave pulley arrangement and why would there be hard numbers listed on the speeds when it is a (infinite) variable speed. The Webo appears to have a similar arrangement to a Hamilton drill press whereas you release the tension on the belt by moving the motor. This allows you to change the belt position on a 3 step pulley. This, combined with a two speed motor would give you the 6 speeds stated. I have two Hamiltons, both of which have two different pulley ratios. Could be the original owner of the Webo had no need for the different speeds and changed out the three step pulleys for the 2 speed evident now. Could have been on a production line doing repetitive work. Nice find with the 18000 top speed capability.

Todd

Nick Mueller · Nov 22, 2013

That certainly is no two speed motor (if you read the plate). It also isn't a variable speed motor (if you read once more).

Cone pulleys? But then, the speed would be listed at the adjustement-part for the pulley "tension".
Missing pulleys? Would sound more reasonable, as the plate states distinct RPMs and not X to Y RPM (that you would get with cone pulleys).

Only worth $30

Nick

joem64 · Nov 22, 2013

Thanks for all the input.. is it obvious that I'm a beginning hobbyist ?

)
I've attached pics of the motor pulley and the spindle pulley. Do the pulley securing nuts hint that they are designed to change out according to what ever desired speed ? I note that they are different from each other.. btw what kind of nut is that on the spindle pulley and how does that come off?
The center top crank handle only raises or lowers the entire head up or down from the bed/base.

steamachine · Nov 22, 2013

That certainly is no two speed motor (if you read the plate). It also isn't a variable speed motor (if you read once more).

I did look at the plate after responding. I thought it might be a 2 speed as there does not appear to be enough room to fit 6 step pulleys.

btw what kind of nut is that on the spindle pulley and how does that come off?

I think you are referring to the spline that transmits power to the spindle. It should raise and lower with the quill/ drill chuck.

The pulley arrangement you have does not look like it would give you any of the speeds listed on the speed chart. It looks like the spindle speed would be about 400RPM which makes me think this was modified from the original for some specific task (deburring? drilling plastic? ) It might serve your needs just fine as is but this press run at the higher speeds would be perfect for drilling very tiny holes in metal.

Todd

joem64 · Nov 22, 2013

Thanks Todd, when I look down into the spline with a flash light I can see the top of the chuck (spline?) rise and fall as I turn the handle as though drillling but every part of the nut on that pulley in that pic stays fixed. Does that odd shaped nut just thread off? Should I use a special tool to remove it ? Or better yet how do you think the chuck might be removed?
As for the 400 rpm, I'll have to try and see if I can find someone with a similar model drill who might share some pics/descriptions of what the original configuration should be.
thanks for your help!

steamachine · Nov 22, 2013

I was going to explain how you might remove your chuck when I found this Drill Chuck Removal and Installation - Jacobs Chuck Technical Support. You would probably use the second technique using the wedges. Chucks can hold to the arbor pretty tenaciously. Try not to damage the chuck while attempting to remove. The chuck you have on there looks to be a quality make.

I'm not sure how you should remove the pulley but that special nut would require a hook spanner wrench. You might have to come up with some way to hold or lock the spindle pulley to apply torque with the wrench.

This is the pulley arrangement on my Hamilton drill press. It only has 2 speed options which serves me just fine. Probably gives me 1000 rpm amd 3600 rpm

Nick Mueller · Nov 22, 2013

Sorry, I missed that you have a flat belt! Now that is even more weird, no cone pulley that way.

You should have 6 speeds
Motor-RPM 3400
Spindle RPMs from 3000 to 18000
So lowest gear the pulley ratio must be 3000/3400 = 0.88
Highest gear the pulley ratio must be 18000/3400 = 5.3

That means:
In low gear, the diameter of the pulley on the motor is 0.88 times bigger than on the spindle.
In high gear, the motor pulley is 5.3 times bigger than the spindle pulley.

I don't see at all that that would fit!

You have bought a puzzle.

Nick

press one · Nov 22, 2013

This may not be a nut? If it has four splines does it also have a set screw on the hub ,collar (the center ) ? If there was a screw then maby it just slides up on the splines. One key way would be familiar but since you have more than one , or four then makes me think they would just slide up on the splines to make it easy to change pulleys for speed changes.
Why is the bottom half look yellow? Did the belt ride on just the top, in the middle or where. Paint makes me think the belt ran on top.
Maby if the pulley slides up then could there be a smaller one on the other side recessed in the bottom. Then all that would be nessary would be Loosen belt, slide up pulley , flip over slide down and tighten belt? Just thinking not sure .
Nice find

Ray Behner · Nov 22, 2013

Here's my 2 cents.
The motor is all the way in now. That's the lowest speed. The nut on the spindle is removed with a spanner. The pulley is removed and (from the set that you don't have) you grab a smaller pulley. Slide the motor out 'til tight. There's your next speed, and so on.

Heavey Metal · Nov 22, 2013

Appears to be a v/s assembly between column and spindle

Some type of shifter in first pic?

3400 motor so lowspeed would be 1/1 big pulley would be turning aprox 1000 so would have to be a step up some where.

kitno455 · Nov 22, 2013

This thing has an 18k top speed. You would need a very small spindle pulley if that was the only one you were gonna swap.

So, how about the OP makes a rotation of the spindle pulley, and counts the rotations of the chuck?

allan

joem64 · Nov 22, 2013

thanks for all the input.. as I slowly take it apart (some of you guys would have it torn down in less than 5 minutes I have no doubt

I noticed that it appears as though the motor pulley might flip over to a smaller diameter? Does that sound reasonable ? Would that suggest there were a set of 3 pulleys on the spindle side ? I got the pulley removed from the spindle side (that weird nut threaded off, as some suggested) I have no clue what I'm looking at.. do these added pics confirm or refute any further incite into how this drill reaches top speed ?

Jim Christie · Nov 22, 2013

I think the guard and pulleys may be reversed .
I did a search
https://www.google.ca/#q=webo+drilling+machine
and found this example that is quite similar to yours
Machine photo 1 - Drilling Machine WEBO but with the guard reversed .
Perhaps some one can save the picture or you may find a better one .
A previous owner may have reversed this to give a slower speed of something like 400 RPM to run larger drills .
If the motor only runs between 3400 and 3600 RPM then you would need a pulley ratio of about 5 to 1 to give you 18,000 of a top speed with the motor pulley being the largest.
I think this machine may have been sold for production use with an extra set of pulleys much like you find on some Dumore tool post grinders so that you could change the speed for a long production run .
That way the operator couldn’t easily change the speed use it for something else and then burn the drills by running too fast or break the very small drills running too slow when they forgot to change it back .
If some can do a German Google image search you may find some more examples and information about your drill will turn up .
Regards,
Jim

joem64 · Nov 22, 2013

Well I'll be damned Jim!! you nailed it!!! Thanks for the link!!! ... and as soon as I tried flipping the top around some of the mysterious tapped holes in the head lined up perfectly with the cast iron pulley cover

thank you sir!!

WEBO mini drill press

Plastic

Hot Rolled

Plastic

Plastic

Plastic

Hot Rolled

Cast Iron

Titanium

Plastic

Cast Iron

Plastic

Cast Iron

Titanium

Plastic

Diamond

Banned

Titanium

Plastic

Titanium

Plastic

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