Champion Blower & Forge Co Post Drill No 96

Still have not found any model number in the usual suspects locations, but did ID it in a 1926 catalog

So what I have here is a Model No 96.  Quite the deluxe model, does not seems to come up very often.

It is a two speed, quick return, auto feed model.  Can also be adapted to power with a pulley, max 250 RPMs.  Boy that would be throwing oil and grease everywhere at that speed :-)

By 1926 it sport a thrust ball bearing,

mine does not and also shows up in the 1907 catalog

 

I also seen drawing with ball bearings features from the 1902 catalog

Found this pic, one of the rare few, of a model No 96.  Note that one has ball bearing.

That is the look I am after, except obviously mine 

will be mounted on a post as it is supposed to be.

You can drill in the middle of a 15-1/2 in circle.

Will drill up to 1-1/2 in holes in metal.

That drill has a 3 in quill range, with the added Jacobs chuck, 

you really cut down on the range, or do you??

Pic from Pinterest

You may notice also that this model never sported a handle on the top gear as they mostly do.  That is because the quick return lever makes that unnecessary.

I do not know, yet, when they introduces ball bearings in their models, but they been making this model since 1896.  Guessing mine is from the turn of the century.  That would make her 121 years old approximately.  Not quite twice as old as me.

My first thoughts were to make a wooden table, shimmed it square to the drill quill.  But that would again reduced my range drastically... Unless.

Yes I could use a longer post.  That chunk of solid steel would be anything but cheap.  Using a hollow post?  Not really necessary.

You see, the work table top can swing out of the way to reveal a large opening between the forks

You can now drill down on longer pieces and get your clearances back.

Or, swing the whole bracket to the side.  I also seen the tube separated from the drill body and relocate lower.  Or, simply make a lower table to accommodate longer Wood Working bits.  Many options without having to lengthen the post. 

One mod I would make for sure, is to install a Jacobs chuck under the fixed 1/2 in chuck.

All that is making me re-think the proper location on its post.

Will have to experiment again.  Now that the back board is removed from it, would be a lot easier.

With the hardware attaching the drill to its back board, removed,

I could separate the two.

But I had one square lag bolt that gave me a hard time, 

look how tight the wood was packed around it. Bottom lower right.

I was forever turning with an open end wrench ...

The back board.  Looks like from a nominal 2X6 construction lumber.

But it is not SPF, more like some hardwood.  Very dense and heavy.

Beveled edges, stained, then coated copiously with lubricants. 

Where she stand now.  Still unable to remove flywheel.

Need a gear puller for sure.

I keep picking at it, should be pretty well scraped and ready 

for a quick cleaning degreaser then paint, soon, my minion :-).

Similarly, my plans to remove the damaged gear is stalled.  Removed locking screw, but unable to spin out the handwheel on top.  Removed screw thru it, which I found out is acting like an anti rotation of the jack screw enabling it to push or pull the quill when turning the top handwheel. So now I really mucked up its position and will need re-adjusting.  No big deal.  How difficult can it be?? :-)

She is still surprisingly heavy, even with all the parts I removed.  So now that I know the model number it was easy to find out how much they claim it weigh.

Not 300 plus, not 200, just a mere 130 pounds!  Shipping code Feather.  Yes, it`s the biggest of the small ones (usually between 60 and 100 pounds) after this one you jump into biggest baddest machines, 300 - 400 pounds and up.  The big guy. 

Still, it`s very awkward to pick up, and you have to be mindful of the rotation of the parts cause, they will pinch you (read seriously bruised you or worse) in a hurry.  It`s a big brute.

Bob, who just found out by asking my wife, that we had throw away gloves all along.  Who knew? :-)

Said He, has he washes his hands one more times.

Figured out the return mechanism

I have been frankly scratching  my bald spot for a while trying to figured out the lever activated return mechanism.   Judging by the amount of travel the lever did, there is no way I can see it engaging the spindle gear.  Not even close.

Mechanism disengaged

Mechanism engaged.

See how far the handle went?

That is as far as the gear makes it, barely touching.

Then there is the mysterious depth stop (?) which has 4 dents for the set screw.

Does not seems to do anything, within the travel of the rods.

But as it is becoming cleaner and cleaner, I can see more small detail like a keyway on the gear shaft.

More cleaning found a matching slot on the gears, Huh.

You can see the gear and the key slots lined up.

key is removed.

The end screw and washer were previously cleaned.

4 teeth missing.

Managed to rotate the gear, was frozen rusted pretty tight, needed to be shocked back into reality. Lined up with sloping frozen key. 

Try lever mechanism again, and omphh, the rods when further than before, the gears meshed, it's working.  And bonus, retract when swinging back the lever. 

Fully engaged and working.

Notice how much further back the lever moved.

The depth stop makes more sense also.

It actually work in that second hole positions it was found.

Disengaged

 Cool.  Now just need a new gear.

Hoping my local millwright can make me a new one.  But first I must get it out to bring it to him

Looks like I'll have to take off the down pressure handle to take off the gear shaft besides it connected to the damage gears, to slip the gear out of the fork.

The gear in question

Notice the fork that engage and retract the gear.

The only way out is to pull back the shaft.

Notice anything curious about one of the bolts

 holding the other half of the casting together?

Yep, its an hexagonal bolt, not square head.  An obvious more recent replacement.

That Post drill has been gone over some time ago.  The frame was obviously opened up (new hexagon bolts).  But the  amazing amount of dried gunk all over suggest it was a long time ago. 

Foot assembly has been taken apart, need a good scraping, derusting etc

Today bought some supplies.  Decided to paint the frame mat black.

Thinking gloss black will look too jarring if I cannot paint every parts without a complete disassembly.  Then I'll highlight the lettering with white paint. 

Got the hardware for the post downstairs, big bolt, washer and nut.

Forgot washers for lag screws, oups, and gloves.

and looks like I also forgot a washer for the bolt.

I was going to buy more Krud Kutter then I spotted this.

Thinking that be great just before painting.

Lots of oil and lubricants all over the poor thing.

After looking at the 3 lag screw out of the bath and brushed,

 too much rust damages, won't trusted them to hold the weight solidly, 

These are the two (2) of the three (3) lag bolts that secured the board mounted post drill to the beam.

Only mystery left is how to take up some of the slack on the drill quill attached to the down pressure wheel.  Guessing the big brass nut that joined them up.   I do not have a wrench big enough, need 1-3/8 inch size wrench.

 Tomorrow list :  Washers for lag bolts, , washer for big bolt, gloves, 1-3/8 wrench

After watching a few videos' on Youtube on similar post drills, came to the conclusion that the flywheel wheel should go off and on a lot easier.  May still need a gear puller, but should not required one.  shaft must have too much rust bloom on it.  Gave it a quick sanding and lube, but not enough apparently.

Tomorrow I have a Rotary business meeting on Zoom, that should take up a lot of my time.  That and her brother is coming over to help with her greenhouse.  May not get much time on the Post drill, but should get those missing items.

Even with all the parts removed already, some being quite heavy, I am surprised at how much wat is left weigh.  Still very heavy.

Bob, who washed his hands a bazillions times already, get some gloves idiot!! :-)

 

Today is the day

 That we both got vaccinated against big bad boy Covid.

Care to guess which book I brought with me :-)

Yes, a lot thicker than the Second Edition I had, this is the 4th, 2020 edition.

In our age group 55-64 we got Astra Zeneca, 65 and up you get Pfizer or Moderna.

Missed it by a few months, so close :-)

Oh well, I am not worry, I'm Happy

On the home front took it easy today, you know : No heavy lifting, building, gardening and washing floors etc. Nurse's order Dear, I'm sorry :-)

Wonder how long I can milk it?? :-)

Joke asides, I read some of my new book and picked up two parcels today.  I had previously order a plane stop for my bench, then within 20 minutes or so, realized, I need two, only bought one, so back online order another and...

Ohhh hahhhh...

Ah shit...

I goofed, my mistake.  When ordering it default to 20 Mm (European MFT) but you can select 19 mm (NA 3/4 inch).   Damn you METRIC!!!

19 mm, fit a bit sloppy, but fit good

20 mm, no way hoser :-(

Left 20 mm, Right 19 mm

Now here is the irony, I since realized that this is a direct copy of the Veritas one   That will teach me.

Only visible differences are, beside the names, is the colour of the metal post.  Polished metal Hongdui and black oxide Veritas.

Pic from Banggood site

Pic from Lee Valley site

Hum, I wonder who copy who??

Funny thing is I also saw same product, same picture, different name on line

So I guess even at half price, it is still going to cost me the same to fix my goof.

Blatant copy.  You will also see copies of Lie Nelsen and Woodpecker (red line) tools, some changed a bit, some look pretty close to original including the colour red.  Good quality nonetheless.

 

So what to do with my 20mm one?  Maybe I'll dabble with that MFT board concept and see how much more money I can waste...or maybe not.

That one (1) Millimeter differences makes a big difference, and I am not about to resize my holes to 20mm on my benches.  My holdfast and LV bench dogs accessories would not work anymore.

My bad, I'll slap myself and call it quit.

Meanwhile

Of course I shower and changes before going to my vaccine appointment, so maybe, just maybe I should not had venture close to my post drill afterward, cause, it's you know, dirty...

Funny thing is when wearing black dress pants you don't notice :-)

So before I got too much into it, I remembered to change pants and glasses, before getting into scraping and brushing etc. 

Especially after she had me moved an exercise machine (heavy) from our gym to the rear basement door for pickup.  Which pickup has changed to tomorrow.

Dust bunnies and lint does shows up on dark dress pants however :-)

Good thing we moved it now babe, cause I can feel my arm getting stiff (wink, wink) so I probably wont be able to do any heavy lifting tomorrow Dear.

What about my post drill?  Oh, that is not tiring much, I just pick at it :-)

That is about as much as I can get that wheel to budge.  Need a gear puller.

But I'm worry if would I be able to press it back on I if I removed it??

Darn tight fit.  And yes there is a locking bolt, removed and soaking

I will really like to pull off the flywheel, it would shed more weight and give me clear access to the three (3) bolts to crack the two casting bolted together apart.  Would be easier to clean and paint also.

Now that I scraped, cleaned pretty well everywhere, some of the damages can be uncovered.

The return mechanism gear is heavily damaged.

It is activated at the end of the drilling operation by flipping a lever which engage that gear  

and has you continue cranking in same direction it rotate backward the down feed mechanism.

Main gears are not damaged, only that gear.

The cam follower on the advance mechanism was stuck and has a flat spot.

Now cleaned and rotate freely.

The brass nut that limit the down travel shows signs of heavy wear.

If you don't disengage the auto feed pawl when done, the mechanism will continue 

to apply pressure as the flywheel still spin

I found that screw to be loose, not quite sure what it does, but there is some play

 in the downward and upward travel of the drill quill.  Can be taken up by the brass nut and that screw??

The screw end goes right thru and is held captive by a groove at the bottom

There is evidence of some welding repair or a bad casting spot on one of the the table slots.

I do not see any signs of damages, other than the bump it causes.

The foot fixture, tube and table bracket all need a good scrubbing.

Did I mentioned how heavy that thing is??

And finally my vantage view tonite.  It is raining outside, 

Sipping a cold one, pondering my next move.

Wear gloves next time idiot!! :-)

Bob, waxing poetical shit on my Post drill :-)

Honey, I don't think my arm is going to be any good to work tomorrow,  I can feel it (wink, wink)

Day whatever...

 Yeah really who is counting at this point??  Still some idiots out there, not helping.  Smart up!

Today before lunch I had the tractor & trailer hitched, moved the pile of wood that was in my way to transport the post drill.  Redistributed those piles strategically out where they will be needed on ongoing yard projects.

And finally repositioned my cutting grid near the rear entrance.  

Plan B is now 

To lift and move to awaiting trailer at the garage door,.

without tripping on the power cord.  Safety first :-)

Yes I will be glad when that patio door will be installed, stalled since last year due to Covid ;-(

It is holding up deck replacement and hardwood flooring installation in living/dining room.

Use tractor to move to cutting grid, unload on it.

Tractor pointed in wrong direction in this pic.

That was the area I had to clear.

Once washed, lift and move downstairs to awaiting hand tool shop.

I have water faucet nearby, will also bring vacuum and small compressor to clean.

The back door entrance to the basement and the basement windows are being replaced this year.

Re-assembled on the floor then lift gingerly and hang on for dear life to the post.

Ok, so yes, also working on a Plan C :-)  And my bright plans are weather dependent.

Also looked at my bright plan to used the generator to fired up Unisaw.

Nope, only 120 Volts 30A.

But it got a remote start :-)

Meanwhile:

More scraping on parts disassemble some, soak rinse repeat, then power brushed.

Post Drill also got some more scraping, and more parts loosening.  Debating if I should crack open the frame.  It is two castings bolted together with three (3) bolts.  Humm, If I do that, I may as well.. Ohh slippery slope.

I hope to get the frame cleaned enough to take on some rust paint, without too too much disassembly??

Been shedding some weight off it.

Holy cow, that was a solid core tube, no wonder that thing is heavy.

I may forego my bright idea of using a longer tube, gulp

Table got scraped

the top given a light sanding 80 grit.

Ready for its dunk in Evaporust.

Trying to get the flywheel off. It's a tight fit.

That should remove a few pounds also

Where I stopped tonite.

Much lighter already, should be doable...ish

As usual , more pieces and parts soaking in Evaporust.

Once reassembled will used some graphite or lithium grease, something dry that wont attract saw dust.

Not planning to go thru it again in my lifetime...

Been experimenting with the chuck travel.  By now I have twisted and turned every gears every which'd way.  So I know how far it travel with a standard twist bit installed.  It was after all a metal drilling post drill.

Sometimes referred to as a blacksmith drill.  Suitable for wood?  Oh yeah.  But most of the bits are longer than your typical 1/2 in shank metal cutting bits.  And I plan to add a Jacobs chuck at the end of the existing fixed 1/2 in chuck.  The usual mod done to those.  All that to say that it may be wise to get longer tube to extend the range a few inches.  Hoping it is a standard OD metal tube???  Only one way to find out. Holy cow, NO, its a solid tube.

Since the base casting bracket for the small metal working table is twisted a bit, I plan to install a more suitable wood table and will simply shim it to be square to the drilling bits.  That will also eat up some of my clearance between the bits and the table.

Meanwhile in quarantine, I also did some more prep work to resuscitate her temporary greenhouse.

My cement footings are done.

Next is strapping, bottom boards, make a face frame both ends in wood, 

doors, window/ventilation and etc. Almost done :-)

Got some of my wood pieces ready

Need to trace top to make a template for the curve top.

Today she bought the special commercial  greenhouse plastic, she is getting impatient :-)

And then, this arrived ...

I'm done for the day, but first:

Apparently too soon, I am to help her with her portables one's then trace the template so I can get her face frame done, and...

She put both pop up greenhouse on top of each other.  Double coverage

Should get warmer faster

She put it over the Veg Trug who took a beating from the high winds.  

I have a few connector pieces to replace.

Rudy making sure there are no squirrels around.  All clear dad.

OK Honey I am going out, getting low on quarantine beer's 

Bob, who survived another day, but my back is getting other ideas. 

This book arrived just in time.  Honey I'm busy :-)

NO, not watching cat's video.  Ohh it's a thick book ;-)