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"ZEWO" Manufacturing Works radial drill press

Andy FitzGibbon

Diamond
Joined
Sep 5, 2005
Location
Elkins WV
I have posted photos of this machine here before, but my interest in finding out more about the manufacturer was rekindled recently when I got the machine back from a friend.
I bought this drill press from Dave Sobel back in 2006. Since then, I have seen only three others- one at HGR in Euclid, OH, one at Plaza Machinery in VT, and one at a flea market in MA that peter posted photos of. Mine is the only one I've seen with the factory base. I've never talked to anyone who had ever heard of the company, and my previous attempts to find information on the internet were also fruitless. As of last week, though, Google Books finally caught up- there are now a couple of hits for the ZEWO Manufacturing works. One was a snippet-view advertisement in a 1950 issue of Modern Machine Shop. I emailed the publisher of MMS, and they were kind enough to scan the ad for me:

zewo.JPG


With a low speed of 840 RPM, and a Jacobs-taper chuck mount, tapping or profiling with the machine both seem a bit optimistic.


The other Google hit is a catalog that is held by the Smithsonian:
[WorldCat.org]

What is interesting about the Smithsonian's catalog listing are some references to both Japan and Hawaii. I don't know what the connection is there, but the spindle bearings in the machine are metric 6202 bearings with "Made in Occupied Japan" stamped on them. The machine does not look like an import to me, and the threads all appear to be USS and SAE forms, but I don't know anything about industry in Japan after the war. Is it possible that this machine was built in Japan during the US Post-War Occupation? I have not had a chance to follow up with the Smithsonian (either seeing if they can copy the catalog for me, or driving to DC to look at it).
Here are a couple photos of my machine:

zewo04.jpg


zewo03.jpg


Thanks,
Andy
 
I can't say the name out loud without thinking porky pig had some hand in the company's beginning.
Okay gentlemen, we have decided to start a company to manufacture machine tools. We need specifics people, get legal and accounting in here, so much to do and so many numbers and amounts to crunch but where do we start? Excitedly, porky stands up and says "that's easy sir, you start at zewo.
Cheers,
mitch
 
Not an exact match but the base on a Delta-Milwaukee surface grinder has a lot of resemblance.
 

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The quotes around ZEWO in the ad and on the drill are semi-unusual in my opinion, may have just been in style at the time, but suggests to me a partnership name derived from principals initials or something similiar....not so much a surname or location.

If it is Japanese, I find the Ad and the machine impressive by lack of the quaint misspelling or Chinglish we love to hate on todays imports.

Scott
 
The quotes around ZEWO in the ad and on the drill are semi-unusual in my opinion, may have just been in style at the time, but suggests to me a partnership name derived from principals initials or something similiar....not so much a surname or location.

If it is Japanese, I find the Ad and the machine impressive by lack of the quaint misspelling or Chinglish we love to hate on todays imports.

Scott

I agree about the quotes around the name, and the "Manufacturing Works" part of it also seems unusual to me. The "U. S. Head Office" mentioned in the ad also seems like it might imply some sort of overseas connection.
I always get a chuckle out of the kind of goofy name- maybe ZEWO was a subsidiary of ACME Corporation...
Andy
 
hmmm...occupied japan bearings?.....mitsubishi werks "ZERO" fighter plane manufacturing plant ?...typical green and red handle early japanese machine tool colors.......",INC" i dont think anything in OJ would have been incorporated...but if your an importer trying to sell japanese:D melted down fighter planes in post war NY :smoking:?
mysteeeeerious circumstances...:skep: probably a good story in there somewhere Andy......ocean freighters pulling into harbor late at night and the like ...somewhere the chinese are most likely involved also:popcorn:
 
I am visualizing some sort of Japanese factory that was overseen by American interests. I did read recently that part of the occupation strategy was to demilitarize Japan. The article specifically said that, among other things, the machine tool and ball bearing industries of Japan were scaled down intentionally for this reason. However, maybe they were allowed to build machines for export, as some sort of reparations for the war? Just a guess, and not a very educated one.
A couple things I forgot to add. It does have a serial or lot number: 2244 (stamped prominently on the arm and a bunch of the parts). Also, the quill depth indicator has both inch and metric graduation.
Andy
 
Wanted to add one more interesting fact about this drill- all the flat machined surfaces (arm, table, head sliding surfaces) are hand scraped.
Andy
 
Just got scans of everything the Smithsonian has on ZEWO. Further evidence indicates that these were probably a very early import from Japan. If anyone is interested I can convert the PDF to JPEGs and post them here.
Andy
 
zewo01.JPG


zewo02.JPG


In some letters that accompanied the above brochure, there are two different addresses listed for the Capitol Machinery Corporation; 197-199 Mott Street and 253 Centre Street. Both are within a few blocks of each other in downtown Manhattan. The Cedar Street address printed in the MMS ad in my first post is farther south, in the Battery Park area.
Below is another, more refined version of the drill press. Older? Newer? I don't know. Note that the head has graduated lead screw movement, and the three belt pulleys allow a wider range of speeds than what my machine has. I have never heard the "Gotham-Trubor" name before, and Google turns up nothing besides the listing that I got these documents from.
I have never seen a Zewo bench drill, but I have seen four of the radials.

gt01.JPG


gt02.JPG


gt03.JPG


gt04.JPG


At this point I am leaning towards these machines being early Japanese imports.
Andy
 
That Mott St. / Centre St. area in lower Manhattan used to be known as "The Machinery District" - as late as the 1970's, there were still a dozen or more new & used machinery dealers there.

A search of the forum will turn up an interesting thread about the characters that ran those dealerships.

JRR
 
question on how to change chuck in zewo?

My sons friend has a working zewo drill/mill. The manual that was posted in this thread claims a taper collet can be put in in place of the drill chuck that is currently in his machine.
Can someone describe to me how to remove the drill chuck?
Its not obvious to me how to remove it.

We would like to do some light profile/milling with it on some car parts for some performance things we're working on.

We are (honestly) not machinist savvy but have a need and need to learn how to do the job with what we have. (Hmm, I took machine shop in hi school - uh, 45 years ago)


Thanks!
 
We would like to do some light profile/milling with it on some car parts for some performance things we're working on

Unless you can install a drawbar (long bolt) to keep the collet in place, side loads will pop out the collet/chuck.

Should be an slot in the spindle, above the chuck.
Place something soft on the drill press table, to catch the chuck when it pops out.
Place a proper wedge/drifter in the slot.
Drive the wedge in with a hammer.
The chuck (on its arbor) will pop out.
Watch your feet.

You really need access to a genuine vertical mill, not a mill drill, not anything made in China.
[And if Milacron was present, he would "approve this message"].

Give us a zip code and city, and your helpful PM associates will tell you what is out there on craigslist and ebay.
 
Love that thing Andy!

A little light for me but if it had a bigger brother, say 1-1/2HP and 20N chuck in an MT #3 taper......

It just looks like quality to me and the versatility is obvious.

Most bearings have been metric, long before other things began to head that way....

Standards kind of established in the 20's and 30's, quantity production in places like Dresden.

Bob
 
Should be an slot in the spindle, above the chuck.
Place something soft on the drill press table, to catch the chuck when it pops out.
Place a proper wedge/drifter in the slot.
Drive the wedge in with a hammer.
The chuck (on its arbor) will pop out.
Watch your feet.

Nope. The Zewo does not have a Morse socket or arbor. The chuck mounts on a Jacobs taper stub that is turned directly on the end of the spindle.

On my Zewo, the chuck is removed from the spindle with a threaded collar that has a hole in it for a pin spanner wrench. Loosening the collar pushes the chuck off of the spindle.

However, I wouldn't recommend a Zewo for any kind of milling or profiling, or any kind of activity that involves side loads on the spindle. The Jacobs taper certainly wouldn't take side loads well. Even if a Morse taper adapter (which would likely have to be custom made) was installed, Morse tapers aren't so great at handling side loads if they aren't held in with a drawbar, which would be impossible with the Zewo's solid spindle.

Andy
 








 
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