# Meddings pillar drill (picture heavy)



## Doug B

Pick up this poor old tired drill earlier this year 







It was pretty grimed up & looked to have had a hard life which included at some point someone painting it cream, but it had very little run out so I thought it would be worth cleaning up. It was single phase though for some reason didn't have an on off switch, it must have been a case of plugging it in to get it to work, not really a problem as I want 3 phase & have managed to pick up a matching 3 phase motor.

I started by dismantling all the parts & getting them dipped to remove all the grot & grime, this was a few months ago & I've only just managed to get started on it but today I've sanded all the main parts & started spraying them, the base & pillar clamp are the black pieces in the background.






I'm hoping progress on this renovation will speed up considerably over the Xmas break.


----------



## marcros

What is the factory colour for these? I have a bench model that I am probably going to have powder coated. Not sure whether to have it in the original colour or whether to pimp it!


----------



## Doug B

It was blue under the cream Marcros


----------



## Doug B

Only just sorted the photos I took of this rebuild, the first shows the amount of rust & grime that was on the drill when I got it.






After painting the body I started on removing bearings this little gizmo made short work of removing the top bearings, borrowed from a mechanic friend.






This is the quill assembly with the top & bottom circlips removed & the shaft knocked out from the top






It was then over to the lathe to turn a block to be able to knock the new bearings on.






This worked for the bottom bearing but another block of wood needed to be drilled for the top bearing.






This is the top & bottom bearing assemblies ready for refitting.






A great tip I picked up was to put items in the freezer over night to aid getting bearings on or in components, this is the top assembly ready for the freezer.






& this is it back in the maim body of the drill.






It really did go in quite easily after a night in the cold.


----------



## marcros

I have got the whole quill assembly in one lump at the moment. I can't quite work out how to separate it down, although I haven't looked at it for long. The chuck obviously needs to come off and I need to get a bearing puller.


----------



## Doug B

At this point I was ready to start putting bits back together, this is the foot & pillar collar bolted together the bolts having been cleaned on a rotary wire brush on a bench grinder, this tool really did make life so much easier.






Next up was cleaning the pillar, this was in a real state but after lots of elbow grease & a tin of Worths rustoff I was happy it was as good as it was going to get, this is pre cleaning.






Pillar reinstalled along with table & bit tray.






Then it was time for the drill body.







The quill was then reattached with the drive shaft.


----------



## Doug B

marcros":398iv3dm said:


> I have got the whole quill assembly in one lump at the moment. I can't quite work out how to separate it down, although I haven't looked at it for long. The chuck obviously needs to come off and I need to get a bearing puller.



I've just edited my second post Marcros as I'd missed out a photo.


----------



## Doug B

This next photo shows the return spring & housing fitted also the hub for the handles with the one undamaged handle attached.






Back to the lathe to turn some knobs on the new levers.






Handles refitted along with the motor housing plate & some pimping started 






At this point I cleaned up & painted the Meddings badge 






I striped the motor, although this wasn't the original one I wanted to see what state it was in, I changed the bearings & cleaned off all the paint.







The belt cover was in a poor state so I decided to give it a couple of coats of black paint just to see if it would look better than in grey, it did so I fixed the badge, did a little more pimping & fitted the cleaned up motor.


----------



## marcros

Thanks. I have the circlips off. It may just need a gentle tap.


----------



## Doug B

At this point I checked the run out 






Less than half a thou was good enough for me so on with cleaning the chuck which had seized.











More rotary wire brush & it was like new, well almost






I don't have any photos of the inverter though I did take a video but don't seem to be able to up load it.






This is the drill in action cutting plugs for a job renovating antique church pews.


----------



## Doug B

marcros":1g9lkvhb said:


> Thanks. I have the circlips off. It may just need a gentle tap.




Possibly a tad more than a gentle tap :-" :-"


----------



## Doug B

More as a word of working, when I got this drill I was told it was single phase this is what the wiring looked like






Not ideal, luckily I didn't ever plug it in but I have over the last couple of weeks been renovating this motor I'm not sure if it will work as it was full of a thick greasy substance, this is it striped down.






It's bearings looked like this.






So far after a spell in the dip tank it is looking better.






Fingers crossed I should have this back together in a couple of weeks.


----------



## woodpig

Nice job, looks great now.


----------



## marcros

Doug,

did you put new bearings in this, and if so do you remember roughly how much they cost?

I have just had a quote for the 2 large ones at £58 each and the two small ones at £32.50 each. I am taken aback by this- I was expecting them to be far cheaper than this.

Thanks
Mark


----------



## RogerP

.... they'd be the gold plated ones I expect - time shop around I think


----------



## marcros

even meddings themselves are cheaper by a little bit. They have quoted 51 and 25, so there is scope for a bit of a saving, if the OEM is quoting that.

The problem is that I have sent the originals to a local place (the high price that i listed), so I dont have any info other than the meddings part number.

I was expecting a tenner a piece or so.


----------



## chipmunk

Hi Mark,
Did you look here... ?

http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Bearings

Jon


----------



## marcros

Jon,

I didn't- i need to get the old ones back and get the sizes from them. They look well priced though.

Mark


----------



## Doug B

Hi Mark.

I did replace the bearings & like you found the prices varied incredibly though there is a big difference in the quality of available bearings, luckily there is a little shop locally that does bearings, the guy there was very knowledgeable & whilst I didn't go for the best quality he sorted me some which he said would work well. As he only charged me £20 for four I figured I'd got nothing to loose & so far they are working as he said.


----------



## marcros

i am thinking of doing the same- the simply bearings ones are about £25, for no name. the place in leeds offered me Japanese made ones at £75, or English made ones at £170 odd.

since it is a hobby, and my labour is nothing, usage a few hours a year, I am tempted to risk the no names, and if i have to replace them, then i will have learned a valuable lesson. That is unless somebody posts advice to the contrary in the next 12 hours. 

if anybody is looking at this thread, I believe that they are:

2off 7/8" x 2" x 9/16, metal shielded both sides
2off 5/8" x 1 9/16" x 7/16, metal shielded both sides.

i measured to the best of my calipers, and these sizes coincided with stock sizes. I have never seen a review that states the sizes, but nobody has complained about scarcity, or cost, so i conclude that they must be these. My drill looks like yours (curvy bonnet), which suggests a mark 2, (certainly not mark 3 which is square), so imperial sized bearings.


----------



## Doug B

Those sizes do ring a bell Mark, though to be honest I took the old ones to the shop to be doubly sure & it was 3 months ago.

I came to a similar conclusion as yourself, I mainly want the drill for cutting plugs so it's never going to get overly used & as the bearings are straight forward to change & don't take long to do I figured the cheaper bearings were worth a shot, I'll consider the more expensive ones when/if these fail.


----------



## chuckey

With bearings, you get what you pay for, large precision bearings for lathes (3" ID) cost £300 each, if you want a lot of run out, buy cheap!
Frannk


----------



## Doug B

I was told it was more the longevity due to quality of materials used rather than run out, obviously the cheaper bearing will break down quicker which will lead to run out, but as with my own, when new the cheaper bearings are fine.

I will monitor the accuracy of the drill as it will be interesting to see how they fair, but at an eighth of the price quoted for metal shielded ones, in my case, it was worth the saving. Incidentally in the jobs I've all ready done they have more than payed for themselves so I've not lost anything even if they pack up tomorrow & I change them for the more expensive ones.


----------



## sjalloq

Marcos, if you haven't already bought the bearings, take a look at these guys. The no-name bearings I've just bought for the pulley side of my Fobco cost £2 + VAT each. They sell a range of Far Eastern as well as higher quality Japanese/Euro ones. I spoke to them on the phone today and they were helpful. I haven't worked out which bearings I need for the spindle yet but I'll probably try to go for something mid-range there. I'm not going to be using the drill full time as it would be in a pro workshop so I figure for the limited bashing it's going to get it doesn't need gold slippers (but flip-flops look a bit too casual).  

http://www.midlandbearings.com/


----------



## marcros

Ordered today from simply bearings. A bit more than that price but the whole lot (4) was £28 including vat and postage which is a bit less than I first thought. I was expecting about a tenner each which is why I was so taken aback by the Leeds place. I know I am not comparing like for like but I am sure that they will do. 

I think that the fobco are slightly smaller but I will bookmark that link for future use.


----------



## evildrome

.


----------



## evildrome

Which Fobco do you have?


----------

