Finished restoring an old rusty crud covered Champion
#90 post drill for my forge shed. The drill was a mess and the whole thing was seized
up. The guy I got it from told me it had been lying in his grandfather’s barn
ever since he could remember so that’s at least 30 years. I believe the drill
would have been made in the early 1900’s.
I tore the
whole thing apart and scraped what dried crud I could and then used an angle
grinder with a metal brush to clean up the rest. After a paint job and some lubrication,
the drill works surprisingly well. These old post drills have some wobble in
them but for what I’m using it for it won’t be a problem. I also installed an adjustable chuck as I can’t
find any bits made for post drills.
Operation is simple, just put in your bit adjust the
top wheel by turning it until the drill is in contact with the work and start
turning.This type has a knurled knob up by the top wheel that lets you adjust
the advance 1 or 2 clicks every revelotion of the handle. When the hole is
drilled you flip up the feed paw and unscrew the top wheel to remove the drill
bit from the work.
I also took a picture of my anvil and vice bench.
Before the shed, I had been doing my blacksmithing outside. That’s hard to do
in Nebraska because there is almost always a strong wind around 30mph. I will
take more pictures of my forge shed once I get everything done. I can’t wait!
