Alpha-Dave
Established Member
Hi all,
I have picked up a magnetic drill stand from Gumtree, which I suspect might be 40 years old give the ‘80’ in the serial number. It is a MBS-0 from Walter Schweizer, made in Germany [edit: Switzerland]. I can find no information when searching online other than the gumtree thread I bought it from, so if anyone knows of these then any insight is appreciated.
The magnet works great, I haven’t been in to the electronics yet. The mechanics were stiff where they were supposed to be smooth, and lose where supposed to be solid; however some oil in the joints and tightening up or replacing a couple of screws and it is solid and moves beautifully. Now there are only 3 issues.
The first issue is that the drill I intended to use in it is too small for the collar. My drill is 43 mm diameter, while the collar is 54.5 mm. My options are either: 1) to make up a reducing spacer with 2 different hole saws, or mill some aluminium with my CNC router (slow, but possible). 2) buy a drill (probably 2nd hand) that has a 54 mm collar. I will probably go for option 1 initially, but can anyone tell me what type/brand of drills are likely to fit this, or was it something custom made that has since been lost?
The second issue is that 2 of the 3 handles are broken off. I removed the remains from the hub with a drilled hole and screw extractor, leaving the m10 holes in good condition. Now I just need some 10mm rod, thread the ends and it will be mostly done. The issue here is that the plastic balls are surprisingly expensive, I’m seeing about £5 each inc postage. Can anyone suggest an alternative? Snooker balls were my first thought, but they are about the same cost (unless I can get for pence from a car boot sale). I’m actually thinking that casting some epoxy and turning them up on my wood lathe is a reasonable option if I have to make some. Any recommendations for low cost, solid balls ~30mm would be appreciated (I can buy steel ones for ~30p each, but they would be too heavy).
The third issue is the ‘stabilising foot’ at the back is bent so that the locking collar can only move about 5mm. Fortunately this is the useful 5mm, but I would prefer a better solution. The tread is m14. My options are to replace or fix.
1) Replacing with cheap parts would be relatively easy with some m14 rod and a nut (possibly a nut embedded in a larger handle to make adjustment easier.
2) Replacing like-for-like would be nice, but I cannot see a way of making this to a reasonable standard without a metal lathe. Possibly drilling and tapping an m14 hole in some 20 mm rod, and then inserting an m14 rod might be viable, but a bit ugly.
3) Repairing the parts I have. I doubt that this could be straightened cold (although if binning it anyway, it might be worth a try), and I don’t have a way of getting it hot, but any suggestions welcome.
I have picked up a magnetic drill stand from Gumtree, which I suspect might be 40 years old give the ‘80’ in the serial number. It is a MBS-0 from Walter Schweizer, made in Germany [edit: Switzerland]. I can find no information when searching online other than the gumtree thread I bought it from, so if anyone knows of these then any insight is appreciated.
The magnet works great, I haven’t been in to the electronics yet. The mechanics were stiff where they were supposed to be smooth, and lose where supposed to be solid; however some oil in the joints and tightening up or replacing a couple of screws and it is solid and moves beautifully. Now there are only 3 issues.
The first issue is that the drill I intended to use in it is too small for the collar. My drill is 43 mm diameter, while the collar is 54.5 mm. My options are either: 1) to make up a reducing spacer with 2 different hole saws, or mill some aluminium with my CNC router (slow, but possible). 2) buy a drill (probably 2nd hand) that has a 54 mm collar. I will probably go for option 1 initially, but can anyone tell me what type/brand of drills are likely to fit this, or was it something custom made that has since been lost?
The second issue is that 2 of the 3 handles are broken off. I removed the remains from the hub with a drilled hole and screw extractor, leaving the m10 holes in good condition. Now I just need some 10mm rod, thread the ends and it will be mostly done. The issue here is that the plastic balls are surprisingly expensive, I’m seeing about £5 each inc postage. Can anyone suggest an alternative? Snooker balls were my first thought, but they are about the same cost (unless I can get for pence from a car boot sale). I’m actually thinking that casting some epoxy and turning them up on my wood lathe is a reasonable option if I have to make some. Any recommendations for low cost, solid balls ~30mm would be appreciated (I can buy steel ones for ~30p each, but they would be too heavy).
The third issue is the ‘stabilising foot’ at the back is bent so that the locking collar can only move about 5mm. Fortunately this is the useful 5mm, but I would prefer a better solution. The tread is m14. My options are to replace or fix.
1) Replacing with cheap parts would be relatively easy with some m14 rod and a nut (possibly a nut embedded in a larger handle to make adjustment easier.
2) Replacing like-for-like would be nice, but I cannot see a way of making this to a reasonable standard without a metal lathe. Possibly drilling and tapping an m14 hole in some 20 mm rod, and then inserting an m14 rod might be viable, but a bit ugly.
3) Repairing the parts I have. I doubt that this could be straightened cold (although if binning it anyway, it might be worth a try), and I don’t have a way of getting it hot, but any suggestions welcome.
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realistically though it's too big to be sensible and I'd like to get a smaller rotabroach one as well that's more portable.
