Antique drill press.

[Altashot]

It was made by Blower & Forge Co. in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada around 1910. It was sold by Sears-Roebuck as a catalog order. An older friend of mine had it in his garage for over 20 years meaning to clean and display it in his "man cave" but never got around to it. Every time we hung out in his garage drinking beer and smoking cigarettes, I would comment on it and tell him that if he didn't clean it up, I'd "steal" it. Well, After his wife passed away, he moved to a smaller house and knowing how much I liked it, he decided to give it to me as a thank you for my support through a tough time.

It was covered in greasy dirt that actually protected it from rusting. I spent a whole day cleaning it and another servicing and painting it. It works really well but requires a lot of effort to drill only a shallow hole. The hand crank runs a set of gears that turns the bit. It also runs an off-center cam which in turns move a lever up and down. The lever has a small ratchet at the end that engages with cogs on a screw that feeds the drill bit into the work. The larger wheel on the left side is to add weigh and momentum to assist drilling. A pulley attachment was also available to have the drill driven by a motor a mill or a horse via a belt.

This one resides in my basement only because it is just to big for the living room.
A picture is worth a 1000 words...Enjoy!

http://s1155.photobucket.com/user/Altashot/media/Antique%20drill%20press/DSC02202_zps9a1ca8a8.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1

M.

[gnarus8429]

That is sweet. I love old tools like that.

[GWiens2001]

I love old stuff like this. You know, even the nicest Black and Decker just does not have the same effect.

Thank you for sharing.

Gordon

[Oldfast]

Insanely nice cleaning/refurbishing job! Would've taken me a week, lol. Beautiful piece.

[huxleypig]

It's hand operated! Cool drill press. I need a drill press and a hand operated one would do at the moment!

[bmrtin]

That is a work of art. Fine job with the restore

[dll932]

Good job. That old stuff was MADE. It's worth putting sweat into. My last job, we tossed a South Bend drill press that was built like a battleship. Wish I'd had space for it...

[Arborigine]

Thats a nice piece of equipment, and looks well restored. With the ratcheter working right it should be easy to drill large holes, provided you start with a smaller pilot hole and keep your bit sharp and oiled. I am working on re-powering a 1912 Monarch lathe.

[Flanigan]

Sorry to bring back an old thread, but I'm pretty sure that drill might function as a "Cole Drill". They are known for being able to drill holes into extremely hard steels by using a combination of pressure, slow bit speed and slow advancement.