Superior Camelback

[MattM]

Yesterday I purchased a Superior Cameback DP off Cl for $200.00. I was told it was built in the 1880's and came from a local mill. It is a flat belt machine that at one time was driven from a line shaft. It had since been converted to a one hp electric motor but all the original flat pulleys are still on the machine. It was in working condition.

I got her home and unloaded safely. I pressure washed it, disassembled it, and applied two coats of paint remover. Most of the the unpainted parts are in the solvent tank. The small painted parts are in the the electro-tank. I polished the shafts and handles on the lathe. It is going faster than anticipated. Almost everything has come apart easily. I'll take grease and dirt over rust any day.



The machining is first rate and the finishes under all that crud are just drop dead beautiful. Those old boys sure knew their craft, and no computers or CNC. I feel honored to be doing this refurbishment ( it's not a rebuild because it was a working machine when I got it). Don't know what I'm going to do about the pecker holes in the table...

I would like to find an old electric motor to replace the modern one that was on it. The cobbed up angle bracket it was mounted on will go on the scrap heap.



Under two coats of green It seems the original finish was black. I'm not sure what finish color I'm going to go with. A lot of my rebuilds are Rustoleum Smoke Gray but I might go gloss black. I usually apply two coats of primer then three coats of finish, all Rustoleum rattle cans.

Any suggestions? I could not find any info on Superior Machine and Tool of Kokomo, Ind. on the Webnet.

 

[Terrywerm]

Very nice find!!! I often wish I had a camelback drill press myself, but then again with my limited shop space it's probably a good thing I don't have one!

Thanks for sharing the news of your find!

 

[core-oil]

Matt,

I think I would go with black, they look lovely in that original colour , As regards the pecker holes in the table, You could either have a nice new table cast, it would be a simple pattern -making task, or plate the table over with a steel plate with slots cut to match the original tee slots & bolt the plate on with Allan cap screws, Your machine is a good find

 

[Downwindtracker2]

We had a Denbiegh in our maintenance shop, it really excelled in drilling large deep holes. It went cheap at the closing down auction. It takes a very large radial arm drill press to do the work they do.

 

[MattM]

Matt,

I think I would go with black, they look lovely in that original colour , As regards the pecker holes in the table, You could either have a nice new table cast, it would be a simple pattern -making task, or plate the table over with a steel plate with slots cut to match the original tee slots & bolt the plate on with Allan cap screws, Your machine is a good find

If I had a table cast I would have to machine it on a lathe and my lathe is not nearly large enough. It's an 11" SB.

 

[hermetic]

If you had a table cast you could put it on the drill and gently flycut it, that way you would be sure you were at 90 deg to the spindle! If you plated the old one you would still need to flycut it in the machine to get it square, and steel will be harder to cut than cast. Nice drill press. I have never seen a camelback in the flesh, they seem to have all gone from the UK, and probably come back as Chinee lathes!
Phil.

 

[pineyfolks]

Nice drill. It looks very close to my Silver mfg. drill

 

[MattM]

If you had a table cast you could put it on the drill and gently flycut it, that way you would be sure you were at 90 deg to the spindle! If you plated the old one you would still need to flycut it in the machine to get it square, and steel will be harder to cut than cast. Nice drill press. I have never seen a camelback in the flesh, they seem to have all gone from the UK, and probably come back as Chinee lathes!
Phil.

A friend suggested fly cutting it on my Bridgeport but I would still have to turn the shaft that goes into the elevator on the drill press and my lathe is not big enough. Also I'm thinking casting a table would cost a lot more than I paid for the whole machine.

Does anyone have any info about Superior Machine Tools of Kokomo, IN?

All of the machined gears, shafts, wheels, are pristine, however the babbitt bearings may need replaced (won't know until I re-assemble). Would I be better off replacing with Oilite bushings, I've never done babbitt?

 

[pilotlarry]

A friend suggested fly cutting it on my Bridgeport but I would still have to turn the shaft that goes into the elevator on the drill press and my lathe is not big enough. Also I'm thinking casting a table would cost a lot more than I paid for the whole machine.

Does anyone have any info about Superior Machine Tools of Kokomo, IN?

All of the machined gears, shafts, wheels, are pristine, however the babbitt bearings may need replaced (won't know until I re-assemble). Would I be better off replacing with Oilite bushings, I've never done babbitt?

Matt, I think I'd fly cut the old table surface on your mill, slot-out a matching 1/4' or 5/16" steel plate and screw it to the old table, as was previously suggested. Use a decent grade of plate, it should be consistent enough in thickness for a drill press table.

I've used Oilite bushings often, always happy with the results. Haven't handled a babbitt bearing since the '50s, when I often replaced the 75¢/pair babbitt rod inserts of my Whizzer motor bike. The crankshaft journal was out of round, and those poor inserts would be beat to death in a month or so.

Nice purchase you made, I hope you'll post a pic of the finished machine.

 

[Stonebriar]

Keith Rucker on U tube has several videos on Babbitt.