BACHMAYR Bench Drill?

Hi,

I'm thinking of buying a better bench drill than the 5-speed cheapo I've been using for years and spotted this one on eBay. Does anyone know anything about these? Are they any good? I'm on a rather tight budget s which is why it caught my eye!

It's a 16-speed (210-3340rpm) Bachmayr, 16mm MT2 chuck with a 370watt motor. It's looks very nice and has a rack and pinion rise/fall table which I would like.

I've never heard of the make, but then I haven't heard of a lot of makes!

TIA...Mark

Reply to
MG
Loading thread data ...

"MG" said

It looks to me to be very similar to the 12 speed drill that I bought on eBay before I became more 'Savvy' :(

The description referes to an oblong table but the picture shows a circular one. (That always makes me cautious)

I'm sure that the Rack and Pinion rise/fall is exactly the same as mine, which is a nightmare - backlash in the order of many milimetres - and the rack is not fixed to the column, which is given as an advantage due to the ability to swing the head around, but is a serious design flaw in that re-positioning the table vertically looses the positional accuracy. I paid £100 as near as damit so at £58 +£20 carriage it might have some merit but I would leave well alone.

JG

Reply to
JG

Thanks very much for that JG. Very helpful.

I'm not sure that the shortcomings in the rise/fall mechism you describe would bother me too much so long as the table can be solidly clamped in position once it's arrived at the desired height. The drill I have now only has a clamp, which is impossible to operate by hand and need a 12" section of pipe to be shoved over the handle! Consequently even a sloppy rack and pinion mechanism would be a great advantage! I suppose I'm after something that can more easily raise/lower the table as I've never had an issue with losing the positional accuracy you mentioned.

With that in mind then what is the quality of the head like? My old drill is starting to get some play in the spindle so that's where my main concerns lie I think.

One more thing, what is the overall height of your drill?

Thanks again.

Reply to
MG

We bought a nearly new Ajax floor pillar drill when ABB shut one of their works in Coventry a year or two back. The rack and pinion is cast instead of machined and while you can clamp the table in place it is not especially straight or true to the column.

OTOH the old Elliott 3A Progress 'war horse' still has a smooth rack movement and eveything works very nicely indeed. I'd use the Elliott any time in preference to the Ajax (a British brand that hasn't been made in Britain for some years) except for anything under 1/8" drill size where the smaller machine is probably better.

The head on the Ajax has discernable shake in the quill bearings, and it hasn't done any work yet.

Peter

Reply to
Peter A Forbes

"MG" said

I've only had it six months so canot really comment on issues of wear-over-time. What I would say though is that moving the motor forward on the two pins to change the speed is most inconvenient and frought with so much hassle that I now seldom change the speed - just put up with a middle-of-the-road setting.

The other issue is that the chuck repeatedly drops off the taper spindle and it is utterly impossible to think of using it with an XY table to mill a slot - even with a 0.01mm cut.

850mm (ish)

You're welcome.

JG

Reply to
JG

Serious design flaw? Round column drill presses have been around for well over a 100 years, most of 1/2" capacity, without a rise & fall mechanism. If you want positional accuracy on rise and fall, buy one that the table is elevated on vee ways. Of course, acquiring the skill to reposition the work to the tool bit might come cheaper.

Tom

Reply to
Tom

Just remind us again what you bought?

Tom

Reply to
Tom

Having read the other posters contributions to this thread, the description began to ring a bell. I have had a look at the picture on ebay and as far as I can make out the drill is pictorially identical to an item on sale at Aldi earlier this year at UKP 29.99UKP. The Aldi item is a nine speed, 500W motor and has a square table instead of the round one on the ebay item. The table flexes on the pillar no matter how tight it is clamped. Another possible problem is that the base casting is thin and requires packing before fastening to a work surface. The potential to fracture the casting is high. The comments by other posters about the rack hold for the item ex Aldi. I bought one and it is good enough where accuracy is not essential. I use mine as a replacement for an old B & D vertical hand drill mount.=20 =20 And a starting bid of UKP 58. Forget it.

--=20 ff

Reply to
the_black_hole

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.