Champion B & F Co. Hand-Powered Drill Press

[redsquid2]

Well, I've been watching these things on ebay for a few months now. Finally got one. They have been selling for higher prices than I initially expected. I saw one that was nicely restored, judging from the pictures, etc., and it went for $325, IIRC.

I'm excited. I like the idea of controlling the RPM down to "almost stop" and the torque is reportedly good, with no danger of burning out a motor.

The seller claims it "works great". We'll see. I haven't taken it out of the box yet.

Any of you have experiences to share regarding these? Especially, if you have one, what kind of chuck did you attach? The "chuck" on this thing appears to be a shrink-fit collar with one set screw.

Thanks,

--squid

 

[VA27]

My grandfather had one like that in his shop. When he passed away, my aunt sold everything in his shop for pennies on the dollar. I wish I had all those tools now.

 

[CWL]

That drill press looks awesome. You plan to strip and repaint it, or are you just going to oil & use as-is?

 

[Txknifefan]

My uncle has one he bought at a garage sale a few years back. I don't think he has ever used it yet. I always figured the man who used one all day in a shop had arms like Popeye.

 

[redsquid2]

That drill press looks awesome. You plan to strip and repaint it, or are you just going to oil & use as-is?

I left it at the office, still in the box, so I will look at it tomorrow.

If the bearings look good, I will start using it right away. Woohoo! New toy! [old toy]

Stripping and painting, maybe someday. I saw some pictures of a restored one just like this one, and it was really beautiful.

 

[redsquid2]

[deleted - deleted]

 

[mwerner]

Interesting. Since I was a kid in the 50s, I never saw my dad use a powered drill till much later. He broke down and bought a 1/4" electric sometime in the 60s.
Before that, it was the old "bit and brace", either the offset-handle type or the geared-crank type. He could chew through rather large lumber with one of those, though he sweated a LOT....
Also, he habitually used one of those "Yankee" slide-operated screwdrivers for most all screws; I never saw him drill a pilot hole. He'd just muscle 'em in.
Me... I'm a big fan of electricity.

 

[hung-solo]

Well, I've been watching these things on ebay for a few months now. Finally got one. They have been selling for higher prices than I initially expected. I saw one that was nicely restored, judging from the pictures, etc., and it went for $325, IIRC.

I'm excited. I like the idea of controlling the RPM down to "almost stop" and the torque is reportedly good, with no danger of burning out a motor.

The seller claims it "works great". We'll see. I haven't taken it out of the box yet.

If any of you have experiences to share regarding these, I would like to know.

Thanks,

--squid

looks pretty old. any guess on age? my grandpa did quite a bit of woodworking. i would like to know who got all his shit after he passed. my dad got a bunch of old tools but nothing cool like the above (aside from old shotguns)

 

[redsquid2]

looks pretty old. any guess on age? my grandpa did quite a bit of woodworking. i would like to know who got all his shit after he passed. my dad got a bunch of old tools but nothing cool like the above (aside from old shotguns)

These were manufactured about 100 years ago, from what I have read.

 

[c.m. arrington]

The handle is mounted backward.

 

[redsquid2]

The handle is mounted backward.

Thanks for the tip, arrington. It took me 4 hours to drill a 1/8" hole in a piece of .108 barstock this afternoon. I guess the handle is meant to go around and around, instead of just jiggling back and forth.

 

[redsquid2]

I unpacked it, installed it, greased it, oiled it, and dusted it off. Here it is after I unpacked it:

And here it is after all that other stuff:

I'm still looking for a chuck. I did a little drilling without a chuck. It did OK, but it would do a lot better with a chuck.

Something interesting I have noticed as I look at pictures of old drill presses: many have a flywheel mounted on the left. It looks like about a 15-pound flywheel. I guess the flywheel would make the work much smoother and less physically taxing over long periods of work time. This is a feature that mine does not have, but I still love it.

 

[MEatVT]

So you have to turn the handwheel at the top to advance the bit? Does that throw off your other arm? I would think a lever to just apply constant downward pressure would be better. Or even just a weight on the top.

 

[redsquid2]

So you have to turn the handwheel at the top to advance the bit? Does that throw off your other arm? I would think a lever to just apply constant downward pressure would be better. Or even just a weight on the top.

Yeah, you turn the wheel on top to advance the bit. I haven't done much drilling yet, but I found that if I stand a certain way, it works. It's not the best technology by today's standards, but it works.

 

[redsquid2]

The handle is mounted backward.

That picture is from the ebay seller's auction page. He said he had mounted the handle backwards because he wasn't using the drill press, and he wanted to get the handle out of the way.