I typed up a nice story on my drill for another site, and didn't feel like doing it again so I just cut and paste...here it is.
24" Prentice Bros. Sliding Head Drill
I finally got this thing finished up tonight, and drilling holes. It has been a long battle, and this is the second large drill I have restored(also did a 20" Silver Manufacturing Co.). Next is a 18" Canedy Otto Bench model.
I picked this drill up after restoring the 20" silver, and quickly deciding I wanted something larger. So I sold the 20", and went after this. It was almost 3 hours away 1 way, and I had to hire a friend with trailer to help pick it up. The place that I picked the drill up from, was an old ********* factory in South Bend, Washington. I was thinking the drill was used to fix boats as it was in a large barn, literally halfway hanging into the water. The old man that owned the place had a bunch of line-converted tools, but he used them all except the drill. I loaded and unloaded this beast by myself, no tools, no help, and it was safe! Just don't ask how...
I should have known better when the old man told me the drill worked before it was shut down, and none of the pieces were broken or missing. There were a few small broken things like bolts and a gear with a chipped tooth. Nothing too big from what I saw. The table on the other hand was a warzone. Somebody had drilled out the t-slots, so it makes mounting anything kinda tricky. I have a spare 23" lathe faceplate that I have been thinking about adapting to it, but that is for another thread. In the meantime, all the vises I have will mount in the abused t-slots. Once I got it home and apart, there was a bronze bearing that was broken up and needed replacing. The drill was in really good shape rustwise, almost none. I was surprised since it was right on the seawater working on boats, but it was so caked in grease/chips that it was preserved. It also came with a 5 gallon bucket full of large bits, those on the other hand were very rusted and pitted.
I stripped the machine and repainted everything, it looked like nobody had done it since new. I wanted a custom color, so I mixed black and white until it seemed good. I was going for a dark grey but it has some blue to it, I like it. Everything looked to be in good shape given it's age, and actually had less use than the 20" Silver(thank god). I was in the process of fixing my lathe, so I couldn't make the bronze bushing, plus I didn't have the bronze stock anyways. Fast forward about six months (thats why the drill is dirty and dusty) and finally got the bushing made and machine in 1 piece.
The drill weighs 2300lbs, a lot more than the 750 or so for the 20". It has a #4 mt spindle, backgear and powerfeed(still need a belt for that). It has a 22" table. I put the jacobs 20n on it, and it looks right. I also picked up a monster sized 14 inch jaw shaper vise for it, that looks right as well. The motor is a US Motors 3 phase 3hp, probably from around the 40's-50's. One notable thing about this drill, is the age. It has 2 patent dates stamped into it. One for may 12, 1874 on the spindle, and one for dec. 31, 1889 on the backgear casting(i took this while painting). Also, every single casting on the machine is stamped with the number 1, and I mean everything except the bolts(shafts, gears, etc.). Could it be serial number 1? lol maybe in my dreams. Anyways, the drill works great tonight I tested it on some half inch aluminum plate, 1 inch bit. I was astonished how quickly it ate through the plate, and with such little effort. It was like drilling a 1/4" hole on my small drill. Thanks for looking...