Ajax Pillar Drill

[eg]

Hello,

I purchased an old Ajax Pillar Drill Type B - 16L. I was wondering if anyone has a manual for this machine or know where I can get one.

Thank you,

Eyal

 

[DomValente]

Hi Eyal,
I may be mistaken but believe Ajax were mainly foundry drills there is a website here where they specialise in old tools info.
They are very helpful and enjoy a challenge.

Dom

 

[Alan Holtham]

Ajax drills were one of the first Taiwanese drills to be imported into this country and then rebadged. We used to sell them in the early 1980's IIRC for about £180, superb value then, but how things have changed now! We sold so many we had a morticing attachment manufactured in the UK to go with it.

They were imported by the Ajax Machine tool Co who were based in Stcckport and were really engineering tool suppliers.

Sorry, I can't help with a handbook, but there is not really a lot to them, let me know if you want any help.

Cheers,

Alan

 

[Skiprat]

this website does all sorts of manuals.

either give them a ring or scroll through the manual list...(very large)

website is www.lathes.co.uk

Hope this helps

Skiprat

 

[eg]

In parallel to posting to the forum I sent an email to http://www.ajax-mach.co.uk/.

I asked them whether they might have a manual or know where I can get one. The next day I got a reply asking for my address as they were going to send me a copy of the manual. Two days later - the manual landed in my mailbox.

Amazing. And they still stock all spares for the machine.

Eyal

 

[Paul Narramore]

That's interesting as today I bought a old dilapidated Ajax Type B-16L through eBay. I'm looking forward to thoroughly cleaning and painting it even though I can see a number of things wrong. The on-off switch is a metal 'household' switch, there's no cable between motor and switch, the winding up-and-down mechanism doesn't seem to work and there is no chuck. It seems this must require a chuck with a morse taper.

 

[Paul Narramore]

This morning I contacted Ajax Machine Tools International in Lymington, Hants, and can confirm they are unable to supply either a manual or spares. They have put me in touch with Machine Spares Limited (01384-489 000) who can do both.

Perhaps this is the wrong place to ask this but here goes. My drill came without a chuck and I find that this drill requires a Morse type chuck. Not a subject I know anything about. I am presuming the manual (when it arrives) will let me know what size Morse taper my drill has. So will the morse taper I will want come as an adaptor, and then I get a chuck with a matching taper? Will I be able to get a keyless chuck with a morse taper?

 

[Paul Narramore]

Nothing heard from anybody so perhaps nobody cares about 60yr old pillar drills? Machine Spares emailed me a 'manual' and parts list for this model (although it states it's for models AJBD 16 and AJPD 16 which appear identical). I have now stripped, degreased and painted the pillar drill and begun to reassemble it. By and large it is in pretty good condition with just a few things wrong. There is no On-Off switch, the built in lamp should have a transformer to convert 240v down to 24v although I can't see why I can't run it at 240v, and the gear stud is missing thereby preventing the rack & pinion movement of the 'square table' working. It seems most parts are available from Machine Spares Ltd.

 

[Harbo]

Places like Chronos, Arceurotrade, RDG Tools sell keyless chucks with morse taper adapters.

Rod

 

[woodfarmer]

Nothing heard from anybody so perhaps nobody cares about 60yr old pillar drills? Machine Spares emailed me a 'manual' and parts list for this model (although it states it's for models AJBD 16 and AJPD 16 which appear identical). I have now stripped, degreased and painted the pillar drill and begun to reassemble it. By and large it is in pretty good condition with just a few things wrong. There is no On-Off switch, the built in lamp should have a transformer to convert 240v down to 24v although I can't see why I can't run it at 240v, and the gear stud is missing thereby preventing the rack & pinion movement of the 'square table' working. It seems most parts are available from Machine Spares Ltd.

Easiest place to find what you want is a metal lathe tool supplier. I know for a fact Axmister has them. chucks and separate morse taper to jt?? to fit the chuck. There is a shiny new cuck on my Holbrook I have just renovated
also warco,

 

[Paul Narramore]

Well I'm pretty disappointed. After being told Machine Spares Ltd would have many spares for my drill, once I sent them a list of parts, all they had was a v-belt, which I could buy at a local bearing shop. Never mind I can buy on-off switches and rubber insulated cable elsewhere. However the missing work gear shaft is going to be turned up by a friend on his lathe. The drill has the remains of a built in light switch which is supposed to be a 24v fitting with a transformer (which I also don't have) . When I asked Machine Spares why I can't fit a 240v light, I was told it 'was dangerous'. Odd that as every house in the country has 240v lighting.

What do you think 24v or 240v?

PS I have since bought for a tenner a Jacobs 0-1/2" chuck with a Morse Taper No2.

 

[Mike.S]

Dangerous, I guess, because the light fitting is very adjacent to very conductive metal - the drill - rather than in a ceiling and the lamp (bulb) is more likely to be broken.

If you can't find the right 24v transformer, perhaps you can adapt the transformers that come with 12v domestic downlighters or LED lighting?

 

[Paul Narramore]

But Mike provided the drill is earthed properly and correctly and safely wired up.........but then electrics was never my strong point. :shock:

 

[Mike.S]

Paul

If everything was wired properly/correctly/safely then an earth isn't needed . H&S rules!

Love the fact you used the 'shocked' smiley at the end of your post. Irony rules!

Mike

 

[Twm]

It can be dangerous to use any rotating machinery with a lamp from an AC supply. At certain speeds the strobe effect can make it appear stationary.

 

[Paul Narramore]

Well after collecting dust and even moving house, I felt it's about time I actually got my Ajax drill going. I fitted a Far Eastern on-off switch i bought on eBay and wired it and the motor up. It spins over nicely although a feint bearing rumble might need rectifying later in the future. I've recently found some excellent videos on YouTube of pillar drill restorations although I haven't gone to the lengths other restorers have. Should any bearings need changing, I'll do that once I have the drill working although I can feel no play at present. After a thorough cleaning and painting, I fitted the multiple pulley to the top of the electric motor. That took far far longer than I imagined as the keyed shaft and pulley needed to be immaculate and burr free. It still took a few whack of a hide hammer to get the pulley seated. Currently I am waiting for a v-belt and 6mm square key steel from Machine Spares and will soon have her running.

 

[Paul Narramore]

Well after collecting dust and even moving house, I felt it's about time I actually got my Ajax drill going. I fitted a Far Eastern on-off switch i bought on eBay and wired it and the motor up. It spins over nicely although a feint bearing rumble might need rectifying later in the future. I've recently found some excellent videos on YouTube of pillar drill restorations although I haven't gone to the lengths other restorers have. Should any bearings need changing, I'll do that once I have the drill working although I can feel no play at present. After a thorough cleaning and painting, I fitted the multiple pulley to the top of the electric motor. That took far far longer than I imagined as the keyed shaft and pulley needed to be immaculate and burr free. It still took a few whack of a hide hammer to get the pulley seated. Currently I am waiting for a v-belt and 6mm square key steel from Machine Spares and will soon have her running.

(Later) Someone help me out please. I've forgotten which way the pulleys go on. Clearly the smaller one goes on the motor and the larger one at the front but which way up? Front - largest groove to the top? It looks right as with the smallest groove at the bottom, it sits too low on the shaft and something scrapes.

 

[Paul Narramore]

Damn it, let's try again. At the front, with the largest groove at the top, it looks right. With the smallest groove at the top, it seems to sit too low on the shaft and scrapes something underneath.

 

[SkinnyB]

It should not matter which way up the pulleys go as long as they are opposite front to back. I.e Front: large pully bottom, back large pully top. That way the belt works in all speed setups. What ever works!

Haven't you just posted a picture of the front of the machine with the pully setup on it? Copy what's on the label!

 

[MikeK]

Here's a screen capture of another Ajax drill from an expired online auction. This shows the pulley orientation and the spindle speeds for 50Hz.