Elliott Progress 1 - where to start?

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Jimmy Thomson

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Hi guys,

I've just made an impulse buy of an Elliott Progress 1 bench drill :shock:

Right now, I don't know what I don't know, so I'm on a fact finding mission. My questions right now, are:

1) How do identify the exact model (I'm finding lathes.co.uk quite good for this so far)
2) How can I tell whether it's in good condition? It turns on and rotates as you'd expect, but do I need to look for play in certain parts or anything like that?
3) Do any parts need to be replaced on a regular basis? I think I spotted a couple of grease nipples so I'm assuming it needs topping up at certain intervals.
4) Is there any documentation available online (I'll probably purchase the manuals available from lathes.co.uk anyway)

It cost £175, so hopefully if it's in good condition, then I don't need to feel so bad about my impulsiveness. I like the idea of owning a piece of history like this, and it'll definitely be well used, but I want to make sure it's in good condition first - and that I can keep it that way.

Any advice, information or general comments welcome.

Here's a few photos...

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Thanks,

Jimmy.
 

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That's in almost immaculate condition cosmetically, I would give you £300 on the spot, every day of the week for it. Absolutely no holes in the table or grinning table of doom, knurled parts arent marred up with people using mole grips and water pump pliers on them, the paintwork is very good and looks original or if not original it was redone very well.

That's a little gem of a machine you've bought there :D

As far as dating the machine and what exact model is I have no idea. The main thing to look for when looking for play in one of these is how much slop there is in the main spindle, this can pretty much be done by hand by grabbing the chuck and jiggling it left and right, if you hear a knocking sound it might have a bit of play but it it's silent and feels solid it should be fine. You can go overkill and put a dial indicator on the chuck and check for runout etc but it's not overly necessary. For parts needing to be replaced on a regular basis there really shouldn't be any, it should all be maintained how it says in the manual which you might have to fork out the cash for. They don't make Shell Alvania grease anymore, what you're wanting is Shell Gadus s2 v220 2 which replaced Alvania. Give each nipple a couple of shots every year or sooner depending on how often you use it and you should be alright.

Geoffrey Crocker has an excellent restoration series on youtube where he fixes up an old Elliot Progress 2D. Well worth a watch just so you have a basic idea of what's inside one of these even if it isn't the exact same machine.

[youtube]4uSih6ZFefo[/youtube]
 
it is an odd table on it- there is nowhere to clamp a rise to. may have been standard, but will help date it.

I would drill a couple of holes and measure them- see what results you get in the first instance.
 
Thanks Trevanion - sounds promising then. I'll give the spindle a wiggle in the morning and see how it feels. I'll also get hold of some Gadus grease and top it up. Thanks for the YouTube link. I'll have to watch that on the weekend. Thanks again for the info.

marcros - yep, the table seemed a little strange to me. The underside of the table is interesting too....

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the underside is "normal", I wonder whether and why something extra has been added. Odd also that it doesn't appear to be a repair to the table.

I dont know much about these, but I bought one a couple of weeks ago. weighs a lot, particularly when trying to assemble the parts on a tall bench. the table size helps date it- the early ones had small tables, the later ones a 13" x 13" table I think. Yours looks similar to mine in size, which I think is the 13" one.
 
That is weird, it looks like the slots were never milled out. I assume it's on purpose for some reason, perhaps at customer request?
 
I checked for slop in the main spindle today and pleased to say it felt really solid. I've ordered a manual so will be having a read through that later in the week O:)
 
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