Pedestal Drills

[fridayman Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close fridayman]

Recently I found myself shuttling back and forth between my place and my brothers, with increasing frequency, to use his pedestal drill. So the time came to get my own. I picked the SPD-20B from Hare & Forbes. I assembled the first one a couple of days ago, and found firstly that the pulley casing was bent (it looked like the box may have been dropped as the polystyrene inside was also broken in many places), and more importantly the spindle has some runout. Only a very small amount at the spindle which was very hard to detect, but at the tip of the bit at full extension it was more than 1mm, maybe 1.5mm. So yesterday I swapped it for another one, and the 2nd one has the same problem except its slightly worse - I tried drilling a 16mm hole and at full extension it was moving the cross vice around a bit (maybe a couple of mm), so I bolted the cross vice to the drill table, which then made the whole spindle/chuck/extension assembly move around instead. On the 2nd one the rear motor pulley also hasn't been fitted properly - it looks like it has been forced on but not aligned properly with the flat side on the motor shaft, and long story short it's sitting about 8mm too high and chafing the belt (belt bits/dust already building up in the casing after drilling 1 hole). I'm not too impressed to be honest. They have agreed to send me a 3rd new one today (after I've already made 2 trips there myself). I want to give this one a thorough check before I accept it, so my question is: how much runout is acceptable and what is the best way to measure it with normal home workshop tools? Also what else should I lookout for?

[LeighW Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close LeighW]

I wouldn't expect it to have any noticeable run out at all!

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

Happy to lend you a dial gauge if we can catch up. From new I would suggest no play with new bearings. Have you considered getting your money back and trying something from TradeTools or Carbatech?

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

To check run out with normal home tools I would set the vice of some other similar item up almost touching and measure the gap with a feeler gauge, turn it by hand and check again. A dial indicator as MJ offered would be the best bet though.

Being new it should be running true, but like so much nowadays things are built to a price and quality is dodgy on lots of new equipment.

Personally I try and buy a lot of second hand tools nowadays, old stuff that was made right 40 years ago can be better than brand new off the shelf and for the same price or cheaper sometimes.

Cheers Andrew

[fridayman Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close fridayman]

Thanks MJ, I think I might just buy a dial gauge as I've been meaning to get one for a while - up to now I've been using matches and blue-tac with a white card behind... It will also come in handy when I pull the turbo at some point this year.

I did consider 2nd hand but assumed that Hare & Forbes would be acceptable quality for a home workshop. I might still keep an eye out for a good quality 2nd hand unit if one comes along.

Anyway, the good people from Machinery House have just been round (in a white Prado 150 - might even be a fellow PPer) to swap the unit for another new one. They tested this one before they sent it and reckon the runout is 0.1mm (which is fine for what I'll be using it for). I'll check this for myself when my dial gauge arrives, but for now there is no visible runout even at full extension.

[Fred63 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fred63]

AJ is spot on with the old equipment.
My pedestal drill 25+ years old runs a treat.
the chuck stuffed up so I bought a cheap perhaps made in china one.
the drill had always run true the new chuck was all over the place.
it went in the bin and bought the same brand as the original. all good now

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

I couldn't see the video at work. That was really bad. My drill is ancient too but the Carbatec ones looked good when I first thought about buying one. The ancient one was surplus stock from a sister company so it was the right price.