Hi everyone,
A couple of years ago I picked up an AJAX pillar drill off Facebook for something silly like £50. It's cast iron, weights an awful lot, and from what I can tell is 1940s - though happy to be corrected! It's as tall as me, and believe it or not I managed to get it home in the back of a 2014 Skoda.
The guy I bought it off had got it from someone else, and they've done a horrible powder coating job on the base and table. I'll remove this off the table, and eventually the rest too - any tips on how best to do this?
The original motor had had it and was dangerous, so I picked up an old 750W lathe motor and had a mount fabricated as it had a different mounting method to the original. I had to rewire this to work in the right direction and with the NVR switch I replaced on the drill rather than the motors own switch.
I've also fabricated my own belt tensioning system for it. This is a steel plate with a slot cut that an M10 coach bolt runs along on it's shoulders so it can't spin. Then a 10mm ID aluminium tube can be clamped down on the plate using the wingnut (which I might change to a normal nut), and a second tube spins on sealed bearings to run against the belt. Needs refining, but it works a treat!
There is a small amount of runout on the spindle which I've been hunting down. I've stripped apart the upper pulley assembly and cleaned and regreased that and the relevant bearings, and I'm happy with that. I'm now looking at where the spindle goes through the section which moves up and down with the lever arm, and I've got this apart to an extent, but am now stuck - no amount of hammering is getting anything out! If anyone has any advice, I'd love it
My future plans are to strip down all the paint and redo it, but that's a long way off - we're doing up the house which takes priority! Long term, I'd like to probably get a more powerful motor, and have this mounted in a way that I can tension the belt like you would with a modern pillar drill - but working with what I've got at the moment. I'd love to know more about the history of the machine too.
It's my first time working on something this size, go easy on me! Photos below
Above - my DIY belt tensioning system. I've since added a couple more bolts to secure to the drill, and countersunk them too.
The assembly where the run out is coming from, pre dissasembly
Managed to get it out the car with a 2x4 as a lever!
Excuse the messy workshop...
Some big bearings in the top assembly!
The offending part in the vice. The chuck attached on to the left most piece, and the right most piece rotates in the pulleys. Need to get them out and replace bearings, but heat and a hammer aren't helping. The wider non-rotating part might be threaded on to the bit which interfaces with the lever?
The extent of my info on the machine!
Original photo from the seller showing the height of the machine better.
A couple of years ago I picked up an AJAX pillar drill off Facebook for something silly like £50. It's cast iron, weights an awful lot, and from what I can tell is 1940s - though happy to be corrected! It's as tall as me, and believe it or not I managed to get it home in the back of a 2014 Skoda.
The guy I bought it off had got it from someone else, and they've done a horrible powder coating job on the base and table. I'll remove this off the table, and eventually the rest too - any tips on how best to do this?
The original motor had had it and was dangerous, so I picked up an old 750W lathe motor and had a mount fabricated as it had a different mounting method to the original. I had to rewire this to work in the right direction and with the NVR switch I replaced on the drill rather than the motors own switch.
I've also fabricated my own belt tensioning system for it. This is a steel plate with a slot cut that an M10 coach bolt runs along on it's shoulders so it can't spin. Then a 10mm ID aluminium tube can be clamped down on the plate using the wingnut (which I might change to a normal nut), and a second tube spins on sealed bearings to run against the belt. Needs refining, but it works a treat!
There is a small amount of runout on the spindle which I've been hunting down. I've stripped apart the upper pulley assembly and cleaned and regreased that and the relevant bearings, and I'm happy with that. I'm now looking at where the spindle goes through the section which moves up and down with the lever arm, and I've got this apart to an extent, but am now stuck - no amount of hammering is getting anything out! If anyone has any advice, I'd love it
My future plans are to strip down all the paint and redo it, but that's a long way off - we're doing up the house which takes priority! Long term, I'd like to probably get a more powerful motor, and have this mounted in a way that I can tension the belt like you would with a modern pillar drill - but working with what I've got at the moment. I'd love to know more about the history of the machine too.
It's my first time working on something this size, go easy on me! Photos below
Above - my DIY belt tensioning system. I've since added a couple more bolts to secure to the drill, and countersunk them too.
The assembly where the run out is coming from, pre dissasembly
Managed to get it out the car with a 2x4 as a lever!
Excuse the messy workshop...
Some big bearings in the top assembly!
The offending part in the vice. The chuck attached on to the left most piece, and the right most piece rotates in the pulleys. Need to get them out and replace bearings, but heat and a hammer aren't helping. The wider non-rotating part might be threaded on to the bit which interfaces with the lever?
The extent of my info on the machine!
Original photo from the seller showing the height of the machine better.
