Qualters and Smith Qdm750 Restoration

[Pete.Participant @pete-2]

Earlier in this thread you'll see the top of the drill casting had a slight wear mark where the back gear had worn into it, so I skimmed about a millimeter off the top of the back gear, so I could put an oilite washer underneath.

[Pete.Participant @pete-2]

Removing the quill spring was a mistake, I would advise against removing this for any individual thinking about this, trying to put it back drew blood on both hands, and snapped the centre part where it attaches to the pinion arbor, luckily I was able to anneal it and re-bend a flat to hold in the arbor split, the paint also got a bit damaged

[Pete.Participant @pete-2]

For anyone replacing the bearings, on this revision the bearings are 25mmx52mmx9mm and 1"x2"x3/8" for the upper pulley assembly, and 1"x2 1/4"x5/8" deep groove, 17mmx40mm12mm angular contact for the spindle.

[Oily RagParticipant @oilyrag]

An excellent restoration job Pete. You can be very proud of that and I am sure it will give you many hours of faithful work. Mine is a delight to use and just oozes quality, as you said earlier the quill bore honing demonstrates the level of accuracy the makers were aiming for and achieving. Mine has no measurable slop in the quill even when fully extended and it certainly did not have an easy life being from a car factory.

Well done!

Martin

[AJAXParticipant @ajax]

You've done a great job there, Pete. Makes mine look rough by comparison but then again at least I'm not afraid to use it. The back gear came in handy when I had to drill and tap lots of holes last week.

For anyone considering one, these are very nice drills. I've always assumed they would be on a par with Meddings but I happened to pick up a Meddings drill recently and it's yet to be seen which one I keep.

[Pete.Participant @pete-2]

Thanks both, I've wired up the motor and inverter, so over the weekend I'll have a play with that setting it up.

I also have a Meddings in a quite sorry state, the same as one recently posted on here in a 'what is a Meddings drill worth' thread, so I can't draw any honest comparison yet as I'm yet to fully dismantle it.

Yours is the floor standing model Ajax, so other floor standing equivalents might be comparable, but in the bench top category I don't think there's many comparable, Obviously the Kerry iterations which appear to be linked in design closely, but there aren't many bench top drills rated for putting a 20mm hole in steel.

I'll take a look at the Meddings when time permits and possibly give it the same treatment, although it's not back geared so it will not be replacing this, which model of Meddings do you have Ajax?

[AJAXParticipant @ajax]

Posted by Pete. on 28/01/2022 23:11:08:

Thanks both, I've wired up the motor and inverter, so over the weekend I'll have a play with that setting it up.

I also have a Meddings in a quite sorry state, the same as one recently posted on here in a 'what is a Meddings drill worth' thread, so I can't draw any honest comparison yet as I'm yet to fully dismantle it.

Yours is the floor standing model Ajax, so other floor standing equivalents might be comparable, but in the bench top category I don't think there's many comparable, Obviously the Kerry iterations which appear to be linked in design closely, but there aren't many bench top drills rated for putting a 20mm hole in steel.

I'll take a look at the Meddings when time permits and possibly give it the same treatment, although it's not back geared so it will not be replacing this, which model of Meddings do you have Ajax?

Meddings M4/3 and M5/3. Pulley and backgear driven, up to 25 mm in steel I believe. They are certainly substantial in build.

[Pete.Participant @pete-2]

If you ever decide to do any work on them take some photos of the guts, it'd be interesting to see how they're put together.

Had a play with setting up the inverter, ran an auto-tune which is supposed to make the vector thrust feature work a bit better.

It all appears to be working well.

[Saint TrickyParticipant @sainttricky]

Posted by Pete. on 25/01/2022 01:44:45:

For anyone replacing the bearings, on this revision the bearings are 25mmx52mmx9mm and 1"x2"x3/8" for the upper pulley assembly, and 1"x2 1/4"x5/8" deep groove, 17mmx40mm12mm angular contact for the spindle.

Hi,

Great write up, so glad I found it.

I’ve just removed the bearings from this model drill and am struggling to find replacements at a reasonable price, current total is £165.

Specifically it’s the 25x52x9mm DGB that’s breaking the bank at over £65.

Does anyone know of a good supplier with more respectable pricing please?

Many thanks

[Pete.Participant @pete-2]

Hi, Martin who has commented on this thread recommended a company to me, Longford Bearings, I ordered all of mine from this supplier, two were Japanese Koyo, two were Austrian NSK iirc, with tax they came to about £90 for all four.

Hope this helps, Pete

Edited By Pete. on 12/02/2022 22:56:08

[Saint TrickyParticipant @sainttricky]

Thanks for this, I’ll give them a call on Monday. 👍

[Saint TrickyParticipant @sainttricky]

Hi,

Just a quick note to finish off my bit….

I received the bearings today from Longford Bearings, 3 Koyo and 1 SKF, £95 including postage. 🤗

Thank you for the heads up.👍

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