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I Forge Iron

Prentice Bros Camelback Drill Press WIP


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I purchased a large Prentice Bros camelback drill press about a month ago. I plan to restore it and add it to the list tools my shop is equipped with. I'm not sure on the size but it weighs a ton. I will keep yall updated! If there is any advice or tips, feel free to share. I'm receiving it Monday and plan to unload it Tuesday. From what I saw of it when I purchased it the machine seems to be missing or even be lacking an auto download system. 

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It has a pretty decent sized motor on it already however I am not sure on the condition it is in. 220 single phase was all I could make out underneath the tarnish. The motor internals coud very well be seized. To my knowledge the machine has been sitting in the elements for at least a decade.

I agree that an overhead line shaft would be a neat alternative to power the drill. I've seen old lathes that have that were powered that way. Are there any advantages to using thar method?

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Probably not other than the coolness factor.  They were used when motor/engine technology hadn't advanced to the point where there were efficient and fairly powerful small/individual motors.  So, there was one large motor or even steam engine or, in some cases, water power powering the whole shop and the energy was transmitted by the overhead shaft to the different machines.  I've only actually seen one in actual use outside of a museum, in a bicycle shop in Greeley, CO which had been in operation since, I suspect, the 19 teens or 20s.  This was in the early 1990s.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

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