Thread: drilling machine made by Tough of Belmont, Perth

Hello Judy and Ray. Sorry to hear of your situation. Tough drills are not widely known and I've seen them go cheaply. I was actually given one! But it is an excellent machine and a piece of Aussie history and I consider myself very fortunate. Someone in the know would pay a fair price. As I'm not in the market I hesitate to pick a number, but 2 or 3 hundred springs to mind. For some people the 3 phase motor will be a hassle, requiring replacement or extra electronics to work on single phase power. And of course condition is important. Could you post a pic or two? We'd be interested to compare it with the few we know of. Hopefully some members in your corner of the country will be able to help.

From memory I paid around $150 for my bench mount Tough brand drill a few years ago, that was in Adelaide which is a small market, I'm not sure how much demand there is in your area. That was for a single phase unit with no drill holes in the table. As Bryan has said, because so few of these drills come up for purchase it's going to be hard to specify a value for the drill. As ever, pictures would help to judge condition and to try and identify the age of the drill. Pictures of the table and the belt guard as well as the area where the quill adjustment is located would be good. There are a few of us on the forum who have these drills.

Rgds - Gavin

Hello Judy and Ray,

I also have a Tough drill. I paid very little for mine because it was in appalling condition and the owner was only too happy to see it go. Sadly, Bryan's suggested price range is probably correct. Ebay may be an option and if you choose to pursue that option, good photos are essential in realizing a high selling price. The Quokka is usually the haunt of bargain hunters.

Tough made some neat gear that is still held in high regard. Only yesterday I drove past their old rusty tin roofed former factory just off Abernathy Road.

Good luck
Bob.

Thanks everyone for the information. I will endeavour to get some photos in the next day or two and post them for you to see.

Attachment 194913

Attachment 194914

Attachment 194915

Hi,
Not sure if I have done the attachment correctly but took some photos of drilling machine for any member to have a look at and see what perhaps they are going for as we have to start selling my husbands gear due to ill health.
Thank you
Cheers Ray and Judy

A lot of people will be interested in the table to see if it has been abused, so a picture of that might help.
Also there is a for sale section on the forum where you could advertise it when you decide on a price.
METALWORK - Machinery, Equipment, MARKET - Woodwork Forums

Dave

photos of drilling machine table etc.
Thanks if anyone could give us a ballpark price figure that would be great.
Cheers
Ray and Judy
Attachment 194994

Attachment 194995

Attachment 194996

Attachment 194997

Attachment 194998

Is that paint original or a respray? Either way it looks in good shape. I'll stand by my original (inexpert) estimate. It has some good features, but 3 phase is against it. It's just a matter of finding the right buyer. Which realistically means local (WA). If you have no joy here you may want to consider local outlets like trading post etc. Clubs like model engineers maybe? And there's always ebay. Best of luck.

BTW, the protocol is to reply to your original post, so it appears in the same thread. Just keeps related material together.

The price depends highly on the buyer: I'd pay maybe $120 if I was desperate. It needs a belt, it lacks guarding so it'll be hobby shed only buyers. The rust does not endear it to me, and I'd be suspicious of bearings etc given the condition.

I cannot shed any light on the nameplate. I suspect that it is a typical Asian made thing carrying the nameplate of a local machinery dealer-a common practice*

*or do we write "practise" here?

on edit: three phase motor...reduces the market by 90%.

on edit #2: The quill is stuck down, indicating either a broken return spring or rust in the bore. Reduce my original estimate to zero. Sorry.

in 1969 Toughs were here:

F & R Tough
24 Faulkner Avenue
BELMONT WA 6104

Originally Posted by Bryan

BTW, the protocol is to reply to your original post, so it appears in the same thread. Just keeps related material together.

I have now merged the 3 threads, the lady is obviously new to forums and we need to be supportive considering her circumstances.

Hi Greg,
I don't think the quill is stuck down as the depth stop is still up. Just a long spindle or maybe it has an extension?
It's a shame to say about $100 would be about what I'd pay if I was in the market, but then I've given up guessing at this sort of thing on ebay, anything could happen lol

Stuart

I'd happily give you $150 if I were nearby and be chuffed with it. The rust is probably just surface and removeable. It seems to be a nice solid machine as opposed to others I have seen. Belt $7, cleanup free, make a belt guard if you chose, 2nd hand single phase motor $50 and you would have a very solid machine. Wish I was nearby.

Greg I believe you are in error I think you're mistaken. That is an Australian made machine. Bob Thomas, Gavin Newman and myself own similar ones. The long spindle is normal for early morse tapers. Waldown did it too. They apparently thought they had to have the ejection slot permanently exposed. Here is a recent thread about them: https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/to...-gloat-140045/.

Originally Posted by Greg Q

The price depends highly on the buyer: I'd pay maybe $120 if I was desperate. It needs a belt, it lacks guarding so it'll be hobby shed only buyers. The rust does not endear it to me, and I'd be suspicious of bearings etc given the condition.

I cannot shed any light on the nameplate. I suspect that it is a typical Asian made thing carrying the nameplate of a local machinery dealer-a common practice*

*or do we write "practise" here?

on edit: three phase motor...reduces the market by 90%.

on edit #2: The quill is stuck down, indicating either a broken return spring or rust in the bore. Reduce my original estimate to zero. Sorry.

in 1969 Toughs were here:

F & R Tough
24 Faulkner Avenue
BELMONT WA 6104

Greg

These are Australian made drills, well built and very heavy.

The extended quill is normal, they have a 2MT and the ejection slot is exposed. There are some variants without the extended quill, these have JT arbors as far as I'm aware.

I don't think the belt guard is missing, there is no provision on mine to fit one and I suspect this is the same, these drills date from a time before OH&S.

This has the same double locking mechanism to take up any slack in the quill as mine does but it's missing the cast name plate on the front of the belt guard.

It does have the intermediate pulley on the motor which mine doesn't have and which I've never seen on a Tough drill before - I'm envious

As others have said, because these items come up so infrequently the price is going to depend on the type of buyer you get. If it's someone who just wants a general purpose drill press then I don't think you'll get that much for it given the motor. On the other hand if you could find someone who appreciates good, traditional, machinery you could get $200 for it as a restoration project, depending on the state of the bearings. If I was in WA I'd be a definite starter but I suspect freight to SA would be the killer.

I'd put it up in the sale section of this board to see what sort of interest there is and if that gets nothing then put it up on e-bay with a starting price of $150.

Good Luck