Long time lurker, first time poster here.

I have acquired a Forbes re-badged drill press recently.

Forbes Bench Drill
Model:FDB-16mm
12-Speed
MFG. Date: 1976
Made in Taiwan

I am attaching here a photo of a similar model posted by someone on the wood working forum (although mine has the round table rather than the square table you see here): Help needed on an Ancient Forbes Drill Press

drill.jpg

I did not manage to take a photo of the complete drill press as I had to break it apart to be able to transport it alone one late Monday night. But here are some photos of the lot and its all there. I have started to slowly pull more stuff apart.

1.jpg
3.jpg

Below the dirt and grime there is very little surface rust, almost no play in the quill/spindle and not much wear on the machine.

I do own a few hobby grade machines (referred to as boat anchors on some forums) but based on that limited experience I will say the drill press has lived a good life and has been used carefully enough as there are only a few shallow drilled holes in the case iron round table.

Since I have the drill in parts at the moment, I am going to give it a quick clean, degrease, clean the surface rust on the column and spindle handles, lubricate and put it back together. I might put in new wiring while I'm at it.

The drill press of course has a couple of concerns :

1- The spindle/pulley/belt top cover is missing because the owner took it off as it was in the way of an overhanging shelf.

Most of these are generic machines rebadged and sold across the world in the past however the odds of finding a top cover is highly unlikely (it will probably cost me more than what I paid for the drill). I do not have the panel beating or welding skills to top cover out of sheet metal.

2- The drill press was converted to single belt/ 5 speed by removing the entire center pulley assembly because he was tired of changing the belts. I would like to restore the drill back to the original 12 speed configuration to take advantage of the lower speeds for metal.

The step pulley is the easy part as I assume it will have the same dimensions as the motor pulley. But the eccentric pulley shaft will be a problem to source and I have no reference dimensions but I can guess shaft mounting on the spindle head (13.5mm) and the other end can be adjusted for pulley bore size.

2.jpg

The original owner lost these parts somewhere over the last 40 years. I can imagine how that can happen.

I also have no clue what the rough belt sizes are for the original 3 pulley / 12 speed system.

I am assuming Hare & Forbes Machineryhouse are not even worth asking for parts for something they sold in the late 70's or early 80's.

Any hints/tips on where I can look?
Attached Images




Read the full thread at metalworkforums.com...