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It really depends on why the OP wants/needs a drill press surely?. I had an Axi hobby machine (the predecessor of sunnybob's disaster) and it served me well for both metal and woodworking for several years. Sure, it had some slop in the quill and spindle runout, but with a decent punch mark it...

Ta. It's clear from custard's pics (thanks for taking the trouble to find/post them custard - the 2nd looks identical to my machine) that the guide pin on mine has somehow been bent. That can be fixed. I still find it hard to understand how that happened though - but it's an ex-school machine...

Nearly there with this restoration - a further question though. This is the workholding vice: As you can see it seems to have a sort of 'toe-out' - surely that geometry will tend to raise the workpiece from the bed as the screw is tightened? Reason tells me that must be wrong, but otoh I...

Ah, sorted with the help of a 2lb hammer - it is indeed a mechanism for securing the chisel. A bit crude perhaps, just two wedges drawn together by a bolt, but maybe better than a grubscrew: Robin.

Thanks for the info custard, very useful. I found one 'top hat' bush with the machine: I have a metal lathe so can easily make others as necessary. A remaining mystery is this: Looking up the spout of the casting which holds the chisel you can see a round bar which intrudes into the bore...

Well, it's come home, albeit in bits - I had to dismantle it to get into workshop, but it would have to be stripped down anyway. My fears about having bought a lump of scrap were unfounded. The original milling on the slides is still quite crisp, racks and pinions etc look pristine, everything's...

Thanks guys, that's reassuring. I shall certainly check out the counter-weight cable - thanks for the warning, that could be painful! Picking it up this weekend - seller reckons he can summon enough muscle at his end to get it into my car, just got to figure out how to get it out again and into...

I seem to have bought (but not yet got home) a Multico K1 mortising machine. It was a bit of an impulse buy - only 75 quid, looked OK, handles all work (though no power in the shed where it was stored, so not seen/heard it running) and I was assured that it was working fine 5 years ago when...

Thanks - I'll give the Bosch 48T a go then. Robin.

I need to take about 10mm off the bottoms of three modern rail and stile type panelled pine doors. I was thinking to use my cordless CC with a home-made 'track', but experiments with on some scrap are not encouraging. It's borderline OK on the rip, but too much tear out on the crosscut at the...

I had a distressed phone call from my wife the other day - she'd been pulled over by the plod - no insurance on our (rather tatty, but entirely legal I thought) second car. So I drove out (in our other, rather less tatty, main car) to meet them to be told that tatty car would have to be...

+ another for comments so far - but I agree with AES re speeds - 2000 rpm or so is not excessive for 3mm in steel , and TiN coating (I think - the gold stuff) isn't necessarily bad. I have a set of TiN coated Dormers which seem to chomp through anything. There are quite a lot of cheap TiN coated...

Meths has methylene violet and (when I were a lad) pyridine added to discourage consumption - also about 5% methanol to make you blind. The recipe may have changed though. But mostly ethanol. It's surprisingly easy to get a licence to buy IDA (Industrial Denatured Alcohol) which is 99% ethanol...

I recently stripped the plasterboard from the walls of my living room to reveal the original limestone. I did a lot of research and it is indeed complicated! Eventually, because of the age of the place (no DPC or anything) I got in a plasterer who does a lot of restoration, and he advised that...

Perhaps not directly relevant to the OP's quest, but it might be worth noting that screw-in tangs are available for MT arbors designed for use with a drawbar - eg here. I find these handy for for drill chucks - the same chuck/arbor assembly can be used on the mill (drawbar, no drift slots in...

Pigtails with a 6mm male shaft, which can be accommodated in a drill chuck as per novocaine's suggestion can be had eg here. I often use one on those in the chuck on a drill press. If there's some reason specific for wanting a pigtail with a female mount (of the type which are usually...

Thanks Owen - I am indeed in Derbyshire, Wirksworth, about 4m south of Matlock. Any recommendation gratefully received! Rob.

OK, thanks, sounds like the quote I've had is indeed high, but maybe not insanely so. I'm confident that the walls will take the weight because the old gates are a good bit heavier than the new and were hinged on 4x3 softwood posts which were bolted to the walls with a M10 studs set into the...

The gates into my back yard have finally succumbed to wind and weather and need replacing, together with the posts. I've bought new gates (two leaves, each about 5 foot wide by 6 high) but I wasn't confident about hanging them so asked a local contractor for a quote. It came in at £480+VAT for...

Apologies if this is teaching granny, but... To me the long scratches look typical of what happens when either the coarser grit scratch pattern hasn't been fully eliminated by the next grade up, or by poor hygiene when changing grits. It's necessary to be pretty obsessive about cleanliness - I...