Finished

Some pictures of the refurbished drill

                 

Testing

So, how does the old girl work, after all that?

I tested by drilling through a 1" thick block of hot-rolled steel. First using a 3mm bit, then a 7. This is a pretty extreme case, I don't think I've ever drilled something that thick, even with an electric.

  

But it came through with flying colours. Took about 10 minutes, and I wont pretend that it wasn't a bit of hard work, but as said a pretty extreme case. A drop of oil on the bit helped things along, and it all works rather well.

     

Now I was planning to use this as my workshop drill...however I have since picked up a bigger Union model which also needs refurbishment...

Edit: In the meantime I have been using the drill, mainly for ally and steel plates up to 2mm thick. It's actually very quick and convenient for such work, and barely more effort than an electric one. There's a bit more play in the quill than I'd like, though it's not a problem if the hole is centre punched, but other than that, good to see that such an old machine can still be useful.