Ajax Pillar Drill

[Spectric]

Hi

Every house may have 230Vac lighting but it is not attached to a machine, but saying that many work lights fitted to drills and lathes were 230Vac and is the reason why many three phase machines were supplied with the neutral. These days you would be better buying an LED lamp which is low voltage and can be plug in or a rechargable unit, the one I use is from Glopro and has a magnetic base, very handy as you can move it from machine to machine to where you want the light. Here are some ideas.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Charnwood-ML28-28LED-Magnetic-Light/dp/B00AO79BCW

https://www.gloforce.com/product/eye-light-10w-rechargeable-floodlight-with-magm8/

 

[Paul Narramore]

Here's a screen capture of another Ajax drill from an expired online auction. This shows the pulley orientation and the spindle speeds for 50Hz.



View attachment 94267

Thanks Mike. The symbol on the right is supposed to resemble the electric motor. As I mentioned, with the pulleys in those positions, the front pulley scrapes on the guard mounting screws although I am waiting for some key steel so when fitted, the pulley might not sit so low. On another matter, the v-belt. Machine Spares has quoted me £22 incl. P&P for a belt. Is the belt going to be identical in section to a car v-belt from Halfords for a fraction of that price?

 

[Paul Narramore]

Hi

Every house may have 230Vac lighting but it is not attached to a machine, but saying that many work lights fitted to drills and lathes were 230Vac and is the reason why many three phase machines were supplied with the neutral. These days you would be better buying an LED lamp which is low voltage and can be plug in or a rechargable unit, the one I use is from Glopro and has a magnetic base, very handy as you can move it from machine to machine to where you want the light. Here are some ideas.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Charnwood-ML28-28LED-Magnetic-Light/dp/B00AO79BCW

https://www.gloforce.com/product/eye-light-10w-rechargeable-floodlight-with-magm8/

Thank you for the tip Roy.

 

[MikeK]

Thanks Mike. The symbol on the right is supposed to resemble the electric motor. As I mentioned, with the pulleys in those positions, the front pulley scrapes on the guard mounting screws although I am waiting for some key steel so when fitted, the pulley might not sit so low. On another matter, the v-belt. Machine Spares has quoted me £22 incl. P&P for a belt. Is the belt going to be identical in section to a car v-belt from Halfords for a fraction of that price?

I can't answer about your drill press, but every drill press I've owned used a v-belt similar to those on a car. When a belt wore out or broke, I replaced it with a belt from the local auto parts store.

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

When I asked Machine Spares why I can't fit a 240v light, I was told it 'was dangerous'. Odd that as every house in the country has 240v lighting.

What do you think 24v or 240v?

Without being able to see your wiring I would have to agree with Machine Spares. For YOUR safety certain creepage and clearance distances are required especially in dusty, and particuarly damp dusty, environments to make sure no parts can become live and dangerous.

If everything was wired properly/correctly/safely then an earth isn't needed . H&S rules!

Yes you can get away without an earth if you are able to provide double insulation. Safety standards generally work on a principle of still safe on a single fault. That is if one layer of insulation fails then live parts are not accessible.
When a product is designed for 24V then the insulation may not be good enough for 240V mains use. Today it may be OK but tomorrow it may start a fire or present you with a surface connected to live mains.

So my advice is don't do it, stick with 24V or rewire it safely. And if you are unsure use a competent person. Or use a separate prewired 'safe' light.

 

[Spinner2000]

Hello,

I purchased an old Ajax Pillar Drill Type B - 16L. I was wondering if anyone has a manual for this machine or know where I can get one.

Thank you,

Eyal

Hi
Did you manage to get a manual for the above....
Spinner2000

 

[Paul Narramore]

Just in case anyone here was interested, I did bite the bullet and bought the v-belt for my Ajax B-16L pillar drill from Machine Spares Ltd even though the overall price including P&P and VAT was pretty eyewatering. It's a Dunlop A-44 belt, 13x8mm A-section.

 

[paul-c]

hi paul
i am not surprised at you saying it cost an eye watering amount , when i got mine (a couple of years ago ) from an engineers merchants i got it for a fiver. now most of the merchants shops have gone and its mostly online suppliers , things are much more expensive and then the overpriced p&p on top. at least your pillar drill belt will last a lifetime.
btw as spinner asked did you find a manual ?
cheers paul

 

[Paul Narramore]

Yes, the self same belt (Dunlop A-44) was about £2.60 on eBay. Oh well I could have measured it with some string but might have bought one a bit too small or a bit too large. Still it's done now. I've noticed a couple of things which aren't quite right though. Using a spirit level across the top of the pulleys, the front one is about 10mm below the rear one. Now unless a make a spacer, I can't raise the front pulley. I've lowered the electric motor and mounting plate to it's highest mounting holes but it's still too high, and the pulley is as far down as it will go on the motor shaft. The motor and motor plate also has a notable tilt yet there is no adjustment in the holes in the motor plate. Incidentally moving the motor to one side and lowering the plate whilst standing on a crowded work bench was quite a strain on my lower back which I'm feeling today. I think I shall drill some ever-so-slightly oversize holes in the mounting plate to give me some wriggle room. No I didn't search for a manual. As you know, these are pretty simple machines and mine just needs some fine tuning. When running, she's not quite as quiet as I remember pillar drills to be. No play anywhere so maybe getting the pulleys more in line will quieten things a little.

 

[Spinner2000]

Hi
Thanks for the belt size.
Just one question not the right of the drill ajax.
There is wing bolt and next to it is a cone shaped object which I have no idea what it dose not tried to twist or turn it because I don't no what it dose.

Thanks

 

[Paul Narramore]

Hi
Thanks for the belt size.
Just one question not the right of the drill ajax.
There is wing bolt and next to it is a cone shaped object which I have no idea what it dose not tried to twist or turn it because I don't no what it dose.

Thanks

I wonder if you are talking about the belt tensioner and the locking device. The locking device is nearer to the motor. To adjust the belt, lift the lid, slacken the locking device, turn the belt tensioner clockwise and when the belt looks right, lock it in place. Close lid.

 

[Spinner2000]

I wonder if you are talking about the belt tensioner and the locking device. The locking device is nearer to the motor. To adjust the belt, lift the lid, slacken the locking device, turn the belt tensioner clockwise and when the belt looks right, lock it in place. Close lid.

 

[Spinner2000]

Hi paul
Thanks for reply.
When I received the akax drill there was a belt on extremely tight someone had but the wrong size belt on and it was not on the pulleys right.
I thought it might be a tension device but could not workout how it worked.
The tensioner itself seems very tight although I have not tried to hard because was not totally sure.

Thanks Tony

 

[Paul Narramore]

Hi paul
Thanks for reply.
When I received the akax drill there was a belt on extremely tight someone had but the wrong size belt on and it was not on the pulleys right.
I thought it might be a tension device but could not workout how it worked.
The tensioner itself seems very tight although I have not tried to hard because was not totally sure.

Thanks Tony

Tony, On my pillar drill the belt tensioner operates on two horizontal shafts which bolt to the motor mounting plate. The tensioner operates a cam and when the handle it turned, the cam pushes the two shafts forwards and backwards. It sounds as if the shafts need to come out and grease applied as they should be an easy sliding fit.

 

[Spinner2000]

Tony, On my pillar drill the belt tensioner operates on two horizontal shafts which bolt to the motor mounting plate. The tensioner operates a cam and when the handle it turned, the cam pushes the two shafts forwards and backwards. It sounds as if the shafts need to come out and grease applied as they should be an easy sliding fit.

Hi paul
Having a good look at things on the drill
That cone thing as I described it was the top of the lever arm and the threaded bar whitch I think should have had a plastic handle on has been snapped off leaving the tread in side at the back off the drill. If I take the pulley wheels on and the guard would this allow me to free up the tensioner shafts.

Thanks Tony

 

[Spinner2000]

Hi paul
Having a good look at things on the drill
That cone thing as I described it was the top of the lever arm and the threaded bar whitch I think should have had a plastic handle on has been snapped off leaving the tread in side at the back off the drill. If I take the pulley wheels on and the guard would this allow me to free up the tensioner shafts.

Thanks Tony

Hi paul
Did you see my reply.
Just wanted to know if I take the pulley wheels off and the guard will this expose the tensioner.

Thanks Tony

 

[Paul Narramore]

Hi paul
Did you see my reply.
Just wanted to know if I take the pulley wheels off and the guard will this expose the tensioner.

Thanks Tony

Tony, Yes, as you say removing just the front pulley (there's clearance for the motor pulley) and the guard will expose the v-belt tensioning shafts. Wind them out to the full extent of their travel, degrease and grease them up and they should slide easily back and forwards. When fine tuning the pulley alignment, I found I had the front pulley about 3mm to high. Removing the pulley and giving everything a thorough clean and fitting a small piece of key steel (6mm square I think) then replacing the pulley (which required a few thumps with a hide mallet to get the pulley to 'sit down' fully, worked fine. The very heavy electric motor sits vertically on a vertical plate. These were very slightly out of alignment but after checking again and again with a spirit level, I got it just about right. I needed to mount the motor mounting plate to the tensioning shafts using the uppermost holes. This got the rear pulley low enough and no odd scraping noise when being run. It's running well now and I'm dead pleased with it.

 

[Spinner2000]

Hi Paul
All done works fine now thanks for
The info made it easy to do.
Good job I did sort it out got p/0
Were I need to drill holes in..

Thanks Tony