# Advice needed Boxford Union Pillar Drill (UPDATE)



## mikej460 (25 Sep 2021)

Update - part of my search came up with pond tubing so rummaged through my storage trunk of pond stuff and found that 16mm OD 12mm ID fits! I suspect it could be an imperial equivalent. It's obviously not steel reinforced but it will do for now until I can find better stuff.

I've bought an old 1950's or so Boxford Union drill that has been bodged when converted from 3ph to a single phase Crompton Parkinson motor. This motor has its junction box around the back whereas the pictures I have of the 3 phase Union here show it on the side.
Boxford Drills (lathes.co.uk)

Consequently the corrugated steel conduit doesn't reach the motor junction box and has been held up with a bit of wire and tape. Also the junction box has been hacked so I need to repair or replace it in a way that will take a new connector that will take the new sleeve.

Here is a pic of the offending bits, the back of the metal box is curved to fit against the motor:





Any ideas for finding, fixing or having a new junction box made? I don't have the metal working tools to do a good job of making one myself and the metal looks like some sort of alloy.

The conduit sleeve screws into the solid brass connector that screws into the drill body and looks to be imperial (I don't have an imperial vernier) but the cable gland measures approx 16.5mm which doesn't equate to any standard imperial fraction I can see. It does screw neatly into the cable gland which I would like to keep:





Any ideas where to look for a replacement that will fit into the existing gland?

thanks

Mike


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## TFrench (25 Sep 2021)

Search ebay for flexible metal conduit - 16mm is available. Does the cable gland go through the butchered bit of the box? If so I think the route I would take is to cut the damaged side neat and square, drill a piece of sheet metal for the gland, trim it to fit and epoxy it into place. Possibly use a backer piece to give it strength as well. Should give a low profile neat repair.
Edit - the metal looks to be "pot metal" - can't be welded, which is why I suggested epoxy. If it is cast aluminium a better repair would be to do as I described but tack the repair piece in place with a TIG welder.


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## mikej460 (26 Sep 2021)

TFrench said:


> Search ebay for flexible metal conduit - 16mm is available. Does the cable gland go through the butchered bit of the box? If so I think the route I would take is to cut the damaged side neat and square, drill a piece of sheet metal for the gland, trim it to fit and epoxy it into place. Possibly use a backer piece to give it strength as well. Should give a low profile neat repair.
> Edit - the metal looks to be "pot metal" - can't be welded, which is why I suggested epoxy. If it is cast aluminium a better repair would be to do as I described but tack the repair piece in place with a TIG welder.


Thanks that's useful. I don't have thin bits of metal to use but I do have thin ply so I'm thinking of using that fixed with epoxy. I've found the 16mm conduit and cable gland on eBay and conduit gland from CEF.


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## mikej460 (26 Sep 2021)

Another problem I have is adjusting the belt tension as the belt is very, very loose. I'm only used to hinged motors on more modern drills but the Union doesn't have this. It has two grub screws that clamp each of the motor side rails but I can't move the motor after loosening both - can anybody advise on how this setup should work please?


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## Jameshow (26 Sep 2021)

Penetrating oil leave and then a crowbar to lever it?? 

Cheers James


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## mikej460 (26 Sep 2021)

Thanks James, I'll give it a go tomorrow


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## Fitzroy (26 Sep 2021)

On my Fobco that’s one job I had to do, slide the motor off entirely clean up the slides of burrs, rust and old grease then re grease. Now I can loosen and move the motor without too much bother, still need to use two hands, one either side of the drill else the slides rack and lock.


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## mikej460 (26 Sep 2021)

If I need to change the belt are link belts a better option?


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## TFrench (26 Sep 2021)

Not really, its so easy to change on a drill like this there's no advantage. Link belts are great when they save you pulling gearboxes apart to swap a belt, but they are expensive. Heat, oil and a crowbar will get the motor plate moving, once its out clean the bores out as best as possible, clean and derust everything and it'll be nice and smooth. A lot of people run them a bit loose, then you can change the speed without moving the motor and it acts like a clutch if the drill grabs. If you need some thin aluminium you're welcome to come and get some from me, I'm not that far from Dav.


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## Sandyn (26 Sep 2021)

For cleaning bores, You probably use this technique already, but I get a wood drill and some fairly coarse wire wool, wind it round the drill, while running it slowly then push it into the bore with some penetrating oil, WD40 or something like that. Run it in and out a few times to get any crud off the inside. I find the pointed wood drill bits grab the wire wool really well. I also run the drill in reverse when the wire wool gets wound tight round the drill bit


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## mikej460 (27 Sep 2021)

TFrench said:


> Not really, its so easy to change on a drill like this there's no advantage. Link belts are great when they save you pulling gearboxes apart to swap a belt, but they are expensive. Heat, oil and a crowbar will get the motor plate moving, once its out clean the bores out as best as possible, clean and derust everything and it'll be nice and smooth. A lot of people run them a bit loose, then you can change the speed without moving the motor and it acts like a clutch if the drill grabs. If you need some thin aluminium you're welcome to come and get some from me, I'm not that far from Dav.


Thanks for the offer but I've bought a sheet 200x150mm x 1.5mm thick aluminium sheet on eBay for £2.95 incl delivery. The junction box metal is also 1.5mm thick.


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## Stevekane (27 Sep 2021)

I found your motor plate belt tension adjustment interesting because thats the same set up as I have on my modern Clarke pillar drill, the only difference is that instead of grubscrews mine has wingnut headed bolts, I dont use my drill all the time so I personally like to releave the belt tension when not useing it and when Im changing speeds, and having oiled up the pins its very easy to push the motor back into tension. It would be a very easy mod to change your grub screws to somthing similer.


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## mikej460 (4 Oct 2021)

Thanks for the advice on fixing the motor tensioner, a crowbar fixed it! However, the belt was so slack I had to pull the motor a good way out so as the belt looks relatively new and in good condition I suspect it's not the right length so I'll measure up for a new one. Simply tensioning the belt has made the drill run a lot smoother and quieter. I will clean it all up properly when I take the drill apart for restoring. Any recommendations for a belt supplier?


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## mikej460 (4 Oct 2021)

Now onto the cable junction box, thanks to the advice to glue in a piece of aluminium and sourcing the correct conduit and glands I've gone from this






to this











I've sprayed the repaired junction box 3 coats of etching primer for now, again until I fully restore the drill. For now it's electrically safe and quiet so I'm very pleased with it. However I've just noticed the back nut on the conduit gland is bridging over the patch so needs realigning. My thanks to @TFrench for the advice on how to fix the damage


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## TFrench (4 Oct 2021)

mikej460 said:


> Now onto the cable junction box, thanks to the advice to glue in a piece of aluminium and sourcing the correct conduit and glands I've gone from this
> 
> View attachment 119127
> 
> ...


I'd leave the nut like that, it's pulling the repair together. Nice job


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## MorrisWoodman12 (5 Oct 2021)

TFrench said:


> I'd leave the nut like that, it's pulling the repair together. Nice job


Or put in a large washer or aluminium plate to bridge the gap. It looks as though there may be enough thread on the conduit bush.


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