LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner
13K views 99 replies 19 participants last post by  RonAylor1760 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
In keeping with the "unplugged" motif, I want to build a hand crank drill press like the one reportedly depicted in Siever's 'Il Pianoforte…' 1868.

Table Chair Rectangle Drawing Art


This is most likely a late 18th or very early 19th century design given the fact that steam power was available way before 1868. I'm trying to find more information, photos, and/or drawings on this particular press or perhaps one similar. I have found several variations using "egg beaters" and the like, but I would really like to stay with the brace design. Any insight would be greatly appreciated … thanks in advance!
 

Attachments

See less See more
2
#2 ·
The only thing I worry about the design above is that you still have to manually insure that the drill is vertical which is the main reason I use my drill press on wood. Without that, you might as well just use a regular hand brace. Unless you are drilling metal with a hand brace, I don't see much advantage to having a press for wood. There are some vintage hand powered drill presses available on eBay and I occasionally see them on my local Craig's List , though they tend to list for as much as a powered one.
 
#3 ·
A quick search and I found this link with some examples that might be worth considering.

About half way down the page there is a design that has the 2 vertical rods to guide the press. Perhaps you could could adapt the above design to incorporate this feature somehow?
 
#5 ·
The version on the left doesn't give you much height to work with but is the simpler design to implement.

You obviously would have to modify the press mechanism on the version on the right so that it pulls down from the base (or somehow locks the sliding frame in place and use the top screw). Perhaps if the sliding pieces extended through the base, you could attach them to a foot pedal that uses a fulcrum rather than a screw to provide the press leverage. If it was spring loaded or counter weighted, it might also be made to retract the bit as well. The foot pedal approach would also free up a hand to help work the drill or hold the piece you are drilling. The press mechanism would have to designed in such as a way as to prevent racking as you press down on it.

Another thought would be to find a broken planer on the cheap and retask the height adjustment mechanism to work the press mechansim. Just thinking out loud.
 
#7 ·
Got it! The design process is half the fun! I like making but designing is what really makes it fun for me.

Instead of a square track, a V-shaped track might work better. I think that this might help reduce the chance of racking as it slides? I saw this approach in a router lift design in Shopnotes magazine. It also provided a way to fine tune the alignment of the track to make it slide smoothly and perfectly straight but if they are long enough that might not be necessary.
 
#11 · (Edited by Moderator)
Very interested thread / discussion. Nothing to contribute, but love the concept!

EDIT: Scratch the 'no contribute' line… I'm wondering if there shouldn't be some kind of foot-actuated control / riser that allows the brace 'carriage' to be lowered with intent. That would keep one hand free to hold the workpiece (the other being busy turning the brace). Either that, or the carriage has to be spring loaded so the foot lever pulls it down to the work.
 
#13 ·
Very interested thread / discussion. Nothing to contribute, but love the concept!

EDIT: Scratch the no contribute line… I m wondering if there shouldn t be some kind of foot-actuated control / riser that allows the brace carriage to be lowered with intent. That would keep one hand free to hold the workpiece (the other being busy turning the brace). Either that, or the carriage has to be spring loaded so the foot lever pulls it down to the work.

- Smitty_Cabinetshop
I'm actually working on that now … rope attached to foot pedal running inside the side channel pieces secured to the frame surrounding the brace. So far no "spring back" mechanism … but I'm thinking about a spring pole attached to the ceiling!!
 
#15 ·
I was going to suggest the same thing that Bandit did. I have one of those that I found in my father-in-law's barn, and it works great. It doesn't take up a huge amount of space, and can be clamped down if needed.

The blacksmith shop at Old Sturbridge Village has a cool beam-type drill press that uses sliding weights to keep pressure on the drill. I know a tinsmith/blacksmith who works there, and he said it works really well on metal. It does take up a lot of space though.

I'll look through some of my books and see if I can find anything on treadle-driven brace type drills. Something like that does seem like it'd be a happy medium between the two.
 
#17 ·
Lazyman - The V-shaped track sounds good, but might be a challenge for hand tools. I was acually thinking of sometihng along these lines …

- Ron Aylor
I am not proficient enough at hand tools to do this myself but my thoughts were that maybe you could basically use a hand plane to sort of make extreme chamfers to make the V, perhaps using a shooting board or donkey's ear type jig to get a consistent angle? They could also be carefully hand cut with a saw and tuned up with a hand plane. This would be pretty easy on a table saw of course.

Colorfulness Rectangle Tints and shades Parallel Electric blue


The 2 blue pieces would each be made separately and glued in as you formed the yellow U-shaped channel. The red pieces could be shaped from a single piece. With this approach you only have 3 sharp points that can dig into the wood channel as the various forces and resistance cause it to rack and 2 obtuse corners that should be less likely to bind rather than 8 corners in the slated groove design. Just seems to me that it would slide more smoothly with fewer pinch points. Might be worth experimenting with to see if my theory is correct.
 

Attachments

#18 ·
Just had another thought…

It might not fit in with the 18th century aesthetic of the design that has inspired you but I have seen some shop made tools, including a mortising machine, that used heavy duty drawer slides to make a rock solid sliding mechanism. Just food for thought.
 
#20 ·
Hmm, with the V groove design I feel like any side force on the carriage would cause a wedging action, making the whole system more likely to bind. With the rectangular grove rail you wound not get that wedging action.

- Hookedin
Not sure I understand what you mean. Do you mean side force in the direct of the points on the wedges (side to side) or at 90 degrees to that (front to back)? I would think that the front to back force would be about the same for both. On the other hand, my intuition tells me that the wedges would make a side to side force cause it to center itself in the groove which should improve accuracy (which is one reason to build a drill press in the first place). If you round over the point of the wedge so that it can never make contact with the inside of the V it seems to me that it would be less likely to bind. Also, the 2 outside corners on each side might act like a fulcrum or pivot point as you work the brace around in a circle and because they aren't very deep on the tongue and groove version, it just doesn't look as strong to me. Just a guess on my part. I am not an engineer or anything.

But thinking this through makes me think that a linear bearing approach (sort of like sliding mortise and tenon and similar to the image of the antique one I posted above) might be better than either design. For example, have both of the carriage guides shaped like a square box that slides over a square 2"x2" hardwood post (assuming Ron wants to stick with wood). I you use box joints to make the box bearing it will be really strong and rigid and make the whole thing look even more like a work of art.
 
#21 · (Edited by Moderator)
Thanks, Hookedin and Lazyman for your input … as they say there's more than one way to skin a cat. As to the sliding carriage, I have decided to go with the U-shaped channel and square slider. This worked well on my treadle reciprocating (marquetry) saw.

Wood Building Interior design Wood stain Floor


Went to work on it this morning around 9:30 … finished up around 2:30 PM.

Brown Wood Wood stain Basket Hardwood


The horizontal pieces are sassafras, the verticals are white pine 1Ă—2's.

Wood Table Window Interior design Rectangle


Not much to look at, but at least I'm moving forward. Think I'll tackle the base next!
 

Attachments

#22 ·
Looks good. Is there any sort of bearing or bushing at the top or around the bottom of the brace?

I've been thinking about how to apply pressure too. Are you still planning to use a rope connected the frame to apply the downward pressure. You may have already considered this but the reason I am asking is two fold First, don't underestimate the amount of force required to be effective. Powered drill presses can generate considerable pressure. You may need some leverage or pulleys to generate sufficient force. Second, because of the forces, you may want to attach the rope to the vertical slide rather than the horizontal cross beam to avoid pulling the joint apart. The joint at the top may need beefing up as well since the pressure will be transferred through that joint to the top of the brace. Not sure the screws, even with glue, will be strong enough. That's a pretty small joint and might need beefing up if I am right about the forces required?

I was also thinking about the idea about a tilting table so you can drill angled holes. Instead of complex trunnions, a hinge at one side and a way to prop up the other side would be much easier. As long as you do not glue down the table top, you could always add that later if you find you want it.

I hope you don't mind my participating in your design process vicariously.
 
#24 ·
There's always a lot to be learned by exploring our ideas and I think you'll learn a lot from this project, Ron. To my eye, the simple window-style wooden sliding sides could be a trouble point with this. Your whole purpose is to hold the drill bit precisely vertical and frames like that often seem to have some side-to-side sway to them. I'm suspecting that this will defeat your efforts for a consistently vertical hole.

Perhaps if you found a pair of matched rack and pinion rigs and mounted them to the sides it might work satisfactorily. The expense of that could be more than you'd pay for working vintage hand press, though.

Good luck with it. I'm sure we can all learn something from your experiece.
 
#25 ·
It might be worth looking at Shipwright's veneer press and here for examples of similar frames capable of taking some serious pressure. Yours probably will not have to handle as much load as this veneer press but this is more of the type of frame and joinery that I envisioned based upon the antique diagram in the OP.
 
#26 · (Edited by Moderator)
Here is google's translation of the text.
For drilling of big irons like spranche, tailpieces, the pew irons and so on. you and Trapanatoio, that a large Menarola fixed frame on a kind of bench; Menarola this one runs by one or two men if necessary, according to the greatness of the work.

And the original text, if anyone speaks Italian.
Per forare dei ferri grossi come le spranche, le cordiere, i ferri di pancone ecc. vi e il Trapanatoio, cioe una grossa Menarola a telaio fisso sopra una specie di banco; questa menarola si fa girare da uno, o due uomini se occorre, secondo la grandezza del lavoro.

Font Circle Number Monochrome Art


Furniture Table Chair Font Art
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top