Repowering a Buffalo Forge #21 Drill Press


The summer of 2007 a Buffalo Forge #21 drill press was acquired for the stately sum of $100.00. My neighbor asked if I wanted an industrial sized drill press. He told me it's a Buffalo Forge drill press. I wasn't impressed at the time but went with him to take a look at it. When I saw it I knew I had made a wise choice. This thing was large. Something a home shop machinist needs. Ya! So I brought it home to store for later use. It was laying down and I needed to stand it up in the garage, but first I had to get it off the truck. I have to believe this thing weighs near 1,000lbs. Using the tractor and a set of forks I got it off the truck and to the door of the garage. I was going to stand it up outside and slide it into the garage. Luckily I measured and found the drill press to be a few inches taller than the door opening. Nothing could be removed to shorten it. The only other option would have been to split the top from the bottom and reassemble once inside. Only problem would be how to get it reassembled with out an overhead crane. Clearance is also an issue since the ceiling in the garage is only 10ft. high. So I used the forks on the tractor to stand it up. I now wish I had taken pictures of how I did it because it was quite a feat doing it. I got it to stand up without breaking anything or getting hurt. Quit an accomplishment. Two things need to be done before it can be operational. One is to replace the 3 phase motor and the second is to repair the two miter gears at the top of the spindle drive. Other than that this machine is in very good shape.

drill press The drill press standing upright in the garage with motor removed.
gear cover with embossed #21 The aluminum guard that goes around the miter gears with it's raised letters proclaiming it a model #21. I believe this means that it's 10.5" from the center of the spindle to the outside diameter of the column.
motor plate This is the motor plate. 1HP, 220/440 Voltage, 3 Phase. I'm going to replace this with a 1HP DC motor from a tread mill. I hope it'll work out.
miter gears showing broken teeth These are the two miter gears that need to be fixed. As you can see there are two teeth on the gear and one tooth on the pinion. I'm going to try and run it without fixing them because I have a job for the drill press already. I don't think it'll be a big strain on the gear drive chain. At this point I'm not sure if I'll replace them or put in false teeth. Time will tell.
tapped holes Here are the parts for the jack shaft. The original pulley and key, 1" dia. shaft with the keyway in it already, the original driven pulley from the tread mill and the 2 piece adapter made from aluminum. The shaft already had the keyway cut in it. The adapter has a one inch bore to fit the shaft and a 1.68" diameter to fit the treadmill pulley, plus 4 holes to secure it to the adapter.
temp assmb. Here's what it looks like temporarily assembled. Still waiting for the pillow blocks to arrive.
finished clamps I used hard maple blocks to make the mounting blocks for the pillow blocks and used 2 inch long lag screws to bolt the pillow blocks to the maple blocks. The blocks were then mounted to the motor plate using the same holes that the motor bolts had been in using 2 inch long lag bolts. Aligning the right block took some time. It needed to be shifted around until the belt tracked properly.
finished clamps The jack shaft temporarily assembled to determine were to put the motor. I haven't decided weather to mount the motor as shown in the picture, or to mount the motor above the shaft.
finished clamps This pic shows the second keyway. I wasn't sure if I would be able to use it or not. Now it looks like I will be able to use the keyway. All I need to do is cut a keyway into the pulley adapter bore.

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