Austolite drill press

[Amrjon]

G'day, here is my old Austolite drill that I have been gradually fixing up over the last few months.

I have basically stripped it down and built it up again with new paint, bearings, seals and grease along the way. I had to source a new (old) motor and make a mount for it too. It runs beautifully smooth and quiet, basically like new I guess, although I still have to finish cleaning-up and refit the chuck.

Something I like about this design is that it has about 6" of travel and the drill head raises and lowers rather than the table.

I have no idea what is 'lite' about it. Its seems to be very heavy duty. The whole thing is heavy cast iron and there's no way I can move it from the spot where I reassembled it now on my own !

I wish that I took some proper before and progress pictures but here are a couple that will give you some idea of how it was when I got it.

I haven't found much information about Austolite or Paull, Roberts & Parsons Eng. Sydney. I'd welcome any info that anyone has?

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[L.S.Barker1970]

Beautiful drill press.
Great job on the restoration !

Melbourne Matty.

[auscab]

That's very cool !
you've done a Jack with an Aussie drill press :)
Ive never seen one of these before.

Rob

[Oldbikerider]

Very nice! That's a most unusual drill. What paint did you use?

Graham.

[bueller]

Very nice! That's a most unusual drill. What paint did you use?

Graham.
Also interested to hear what paint you used, that's the exact finish I want for my Vicmarc restoration but green instead of blue.

[Amrjon]

Interesting that you have asked about the paint. Its hamerite and it occured to me at the time that it is brillant.

I used 2 other hammer finish paints at the time i was doing this drill (the gun metal on the pulleys and a lighter green you might be able to glimpse on a grinder behind the drill) and the hammerite was so much easier to use and get a good finish with a brush that it wasn't funny.

Its not a very heavy hammer pattern but the coverage, ease of use and finish is fantastic. I'd reccomend it to anyone and I'll never use anything else in future.

[Amrjon]

This is the stuff.

Direct to Rust Metal Paint Hammered Finish - Hammerite (http://www.hammerite.com.au/product/direct-to-rust-metal-paint-hammered-finish/)

[bueller]

Interesting that you have asked about the paint. Its hamerite and it occured to me at the time that it is brillant.

I used 2 other hammer finish paints at the time i was doing this drill this drill (the gun metal on the pulleys and a lighter green you might be able to glimpse on a grinder behind the drill) and the hammerite is was so much easier to use and get a good finish with a brush application wasn't funny.

Its not a very heavy hammer pattern but it the coverage, easy of use and finish as fantastic. I'd reccoment it to anyone and I'll never use anything else in future.
Thanks man! That's absolutely perfect for me, I really wanted to try brush application on this restoration because I feel like spray paint just isn't very durable no matter how many coats I put down.

[Amrjon]

Based on my experience it should work well for you. I stripped, cleaned and prepped everything well but the directions on the tin seem almost to good to be true - no primer, paint straight over rust and all!

[bueller]

Based on my experience it should work well for you. I stripped, cleaned and prepped everything well but the direction on the tin seem almost to god to be true - no primer, paint straight over rust and all!
Awesome. I'll get some pics up when I'm done, hopefully going to do the tool rest this weekend.

[Oldbikerider]

This looks like a pretty interesting paint. Can it be sprayed as well? The website isn't very helpful. It certainly produced a nice finish on your drill.

Graham.

[Amrjon]

Im not sure. There aren't any instructions on the tin for thinning or spraying so maybe not.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

[bueller]

This looks like a pretty interesting paint. Can it be sprayed as well? The website isn't very helpful. It certainly produced a nice finish on your drill.

Graham.
They actually have a different version for spraying, should be on their website.

[Amrjon]

Just for completeness, a final picture with the chuck.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160821/15b5f0016b106ac60057d1f5d2bf39f5.jpg

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160821/66c36965c651cb31222d72973d6f5ae0.jpg

[Oldbikerider]

Amrjon,

How's the Austolite drill going?

I have a colour question that you might be able to help me with. I'm trying to match a light green hammer finish for a Brobo cold saw that I'm re-painting. What make was the lighter green hammer finish paint that you used on that grinder in the background? It looks pretty close to what I'm trying to match (photo below). Do you think the colour you used on the grinder is close to the green in this picture?

I have looked at the Hammerite colour range on their website, and their green is too dark for this saw. I called them and they are reluctant to say whether I can add tints to their base colours, or what colour I will end up with if I mix their white and their green.

Taubmans tell me I can tint their hammer finish silver enamel (White Knight) with some green tint, but only in a limited quantity before the hammer effect starts to diminish, so I'm not sure if I can get enough green in their silver.

Graham.

400730

[hiroller]

Wattyl have a hammer finish paint in Silver Green that looks pretty close.
http://www.wattylindustrial.com.au/documents/industrial/Hammerfinish%20Card_v7.pdf

[Amrjon]

Hi. Sorry for the slow reply. 'roller is spot on. That watyl product is exactly what i bought and used. Compared to the hammerite it was WAY harder to apply and achieve a decent finish.

I dont know if i should have tried thinning it or something, the result was OK, but not great. My conclusion from the exercise was to stick with hammerite in future.

It was an expensive exercise too as the smallest i could buy was 4l.

[Oldbikerider]

Thanks guys,

Following hiroller's lead I got 4 litres of the Wattyl hammer finish tinted silver green at the Wattyl trade centre at Padstow in Sydney. They were really helpful and gave me at no charge an extra small tin of the same tint, so I could make it darker if needed, which I did need to do. I applied the first coat with a combination of brush and fine nap roller, which kind of worked, but I sprayed the second coat un-thinned straight from the tin, which worked much better. The trick is to get it on really thick, then the hammer effect has a chance to do its magic.

I found it quite a good paint to use, very fast drying in Sydney's heat this past weekend. The colour match is close enough for this machine. It's not an oil-based enamel as the man at Wattyl customer service said it was, so we'll see how it survives being soaked in water soluble cutting oil.

For a reference on the colour I'll post a picture when it's finished, but in the mean time here's one of the tin.

Graham.

[Amrjon]

Good to hear its going well. I look forward to seeing some pictures when ready.

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[Amrjon]

Hi. Coming back to this thread now that I have finished the stand/cabinet for it.

The outer skin and drawer fronts are all from a single sheet so the grain pattern runs across the whole thing.

The curved shape is to match some other stuff i have made for for my workshop.

The wheels are brilliant, it glides effortlessly if it needs to be moved and sits very securly when locked.


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[bueller]

Beautiful work mate! Almost too pretty for workshop storage 😂

[Oldbikerider]

Wow! That looks fantastic.

I assume that's veneer? What is the construction underneath?

What castors did you use? Because of limited space I too need to have many of my machines on mobile stands so I'm interested to know what you used.

Graham.

[Amrjon]

Its 12mm plywood. Cut through to a single layer (about 1-2mm) for the bends. I also used hot water when bending.

Here are a couple of WIP pictures that should give a general idea of the construction.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170126/9e0ac7aa9a558c05008cbb43cc50e30a.jpg

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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170126/748257da1b7deab0a35628419bd6fc7c.jpg

[Amrjon]

These are the castors i used.
Ive used them on a few other things including workbenches and Im very happy with them. When they lock both the turning of the wheels and the pivoting lock which seems to make everything quite solid (I have no affiliation with the seller).

3"(75mm) Elastic Rubber Castor Wheels,4 Swivel Castors with Brake Casters,Caster | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/131877910248)

[Oldbikerider]

Cool bending technique! Thanks for the lead on the castors, I'll try those next time.

Graham.

[old1955]

Terrific job, congratulations.

[LukeDunne]

Here's a few pics of mine I thought you'd like. Notice the belt shroud and a badge of a melbourne engineering company. I only got my hands on it recently, but it looks like it has been restored previously. Runs like a dream. I like being able to adjust the head height, it allows me to have the handle in the most comfortable position at the critical 'drilling' part.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170416/ca2477ed33e6705b3585b36c43f81aa6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170416/003931cc1557b7cd0eb9fa14a0fc7f9a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170416/a76331836bbcbdb8ec66e8350fb36ad1.jpg

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