Hi. Anyone here got a Dawn #611 post drill? If so, how useful do you find it? I'm guessing the drilling speed is too slow for drilling wood?

I'm thinking of bidding on a #611 tonight.

I see forum member blooh has one, but his one and only posting is a bit old, so I though a new thread was appropriate.

Cheers, Vann.

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Gatherer of rusty planes tools...

Not at all.
These are also called Blacksmiths drills for obvious reasons.
I used one years ago that my grandfather had that was setup in his shed.
Of course you would struggle to drill a 3/4" inch hole in 4" hardwood but for smaller drill sizes and timber they work OK.
My grandfather relegated his to countersinking duties but for everything else he used his electric drill press. The manual drill was just a slower way of doing things.

Stewie

Hi Vann,
have a look here and read up and down the thread.
Mine works OK in hardwood, but you realy have to use spiral drills or Forstener bits.
I doubt that it is fast enough for spade bits, but I haven't tried .
BTW, Stewie, 3/4" holes are perfectly OK in wood or steel on mine.
Joe

Thanks for the link Joe. I missed that thread when I did a search.

Well, I won the drill (the only bid actually). I'll pick it up over the weekend.

I'm sure I'm a mug . It looks complete-ish, apart from the flywheel and bottom bracket. I have an idea for a flywheel...

Cheers, Vann.

Attached Images

drill press UH.jpg (28.6 KB, 52 views)

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Gatherer of rusty planes tools...

Nice one Vann!
If you want detailed dimensions for the flywheel, let me know and I'll measure mine.
Something like a large barbell weight could be made into a suitable flywheel I think.
Same with the bottom bracket. That's an easy fabrication.
There is another issue with these drills: they were very poorly made and the auto feed lever that runs on the crank wheel cam is far too far away from the cam. To give you the possible 3 ratchet steps per revolution that you will want for dmaller hole in wood can't be achieved the way it is. Do test yours - I could only get one tooth per revolution feed, and Phil (steamwhisperer) found the same on his.
I screwed a strip of bronze onto the surface of my fee lever/cam follower with a couple of 5/32" screws to close the gap. That gives me a range of one to three teeth per rev feed.
Cheers,
Joe

I picked up the post drill yesterday. The seller was sorry to see it go – but he said he had too much junk (hmmm) .

I found that the seller’s photo left me with little idea of scale. It’s much smaller that I expected (that’s a good thing – I wondered if I’d bought a monster ). It’s pictured below along side Steck’s No.7 woodplane. As you can see, the body of the drill is much shorter than the body of the plane (Steck, if you’re reading this – your plane is off to NZstu tonight, and I believe he’s flying your way in about a week)

The post drill looks to be in reasonable condition, although it’s gunked up and doesn’t turn freely (in fact I can’t get the screw feed to rotate more than about 90°). I’m guessing the feed actuating arm should rock freely on the shaft, but they’re stuck together and the shaft rocks in the casting instead. There are a few drill-throughs in the table .

There’s little obvious rust (although the table shaft is painted black).

I’ve removed the table and vertical shaft, cleaned the gunk out of the oil holes, and applied oil at various points. That’s probably as far as I’ll go for a few weeks (too many other jobs on the go ). I think this is going to be an ongoing project.

Meanwhile I’ll look around for a flywheel.

Cheers, Vann.

Attached Images

	Dawn 611.2a.jpg (163.4 KB, 34 views)
	Dawn 611.2d.jpg (242.4 KB, 27 views)
	Dawn 611.2g.jpg (192.7 KB, 27 views)

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Gatherer of rusty planes tools...

Hi Vann,

The annual Northam swap meet was held yesterday and there was a complete Dawn 611 for sale for $50.00. A bargain I thought. The eventual purchaser got it for $40.00! Even more bargainsome.

Regards,
Geoff.

You lucky so-and-so Geoff. Just put a postage stamp on the flywheel and send it to me..

Or were you not the purchaser (and if not, why not)...?

Cheers, Vann.

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Gatherer of rusty planes tools...

Probably true Joe.
I recall I was a skinny 11 yr old back then so anything bigger than boring through 2" with a 1/4 " bit was probably seen as too hard by me !
I stand corrected.
On another note I remember seeing a much bigger blacksmiths drill about 5 or 6 years ago that looked about three times the size of Vanns new drill. It also had three gears so you could really gear it down to get through tougher material.
Not as portable as the Dawn obviously but still doable.

Stewie

Hi Vann,
No, it wasn't me, and I already had a back pack full of rust. As I was coming back from off loading to the car I met this chap coming up grinning like Davey Crocket, lugging his Dawn 611.
Happily, he informed me that it's going into his shed as a user, not decor.
I've got a Tough (made in Western Australia 1946-1966) post drill that I find useful, and I've also got a Buffalo Forge 611 that's missing some parts so I'm on the lookout for parts for that.

Regards,
Geoff.

Hi Geoff. What parts are you missing? And are you after genuine Buffalo Forge parts, or any parts that can be made to fit?

Cheers, Vann.

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Gatherer of rusty planes tools...

Hi Vann,
The primary cog with the bevel and straight gears is the main culprit, as the part that holds the crank handle is broken and the cam that operates the feed is quite badly worn. The lever between the cam and the feeder is also missing. Happily the flywheel is in good condition.
I've had it for a long time and would prefer to replace the missing / broken parts with genuine if possible, but it's not on my urgent list.
A friend in Perth has over 50 post drills in his collection and he is also keeping an eye out for me.
Regards,
Geoff.

There's a guy over here who's been listing a Dawn 611, along with another, similar post drill that's damaged. He thinks the damaged one is a Canadian Forge & Blower Co. - which is/was the Canadian division of Buffalo Forge. However the auction closed and I'll have to wait for him to relist in order to ask more questions (you'd think he'd be more forthcoming with info if he wants to sell ).
Trouble is he's asking too much & his descriptions are too vague (and only one photo).Cripes, and I've only just bought my first one. I bet we've got more braces between us than he's got...

Cheers, Vann.

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Gatherer of rusty planes tools...

Hi Vann,
You've got to start somewhere. I don't know how long he's been collecting PDs but his collection is well set out and he really needs a bigger shed. But we've definately got more braces between us.
Here are some of mine.

Regards,
Geoff.

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braces 002.jpg (153.0 KB, 32 views)

I am frightened .. amazed .. excited .. and even a trifle scared

Very nice

Paul McGee