3d printing, design and engineering.
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News and updates
12/04/2026
I've been working hard on creating and experimenting with new designs whilst completing some interesting engineering projects that showcase developments in 3d printing. There are a significant number of projects I've been working on so I'll be adding a few news articles over the next few weeks.
Repairing a vintage drill using modern technology:
I completed a project repairing a 1960's pillar drill with a broken quill spring. For those not familiar with stationary drills, this is the part that creates resistance against the user as the drill is lowered onto the workpiece and then causes it to retract once hole cutting is complete.
Unfortunately a replacement spring was unavailable, as we quickly discovered. The original manufacturer had gone out of business and it also appeared that the original quill spring housing had been replaced with a modified unit, many years ago.
Rather than attempting to find a replacement spring of great rarity we would have to come up with an alternative solution. My idea was to create a replacement housing that would allow fitment of a standard, modern spring.
This was a particularly challenging project due to the peculiarities of the ancient drill and the extremely limited space available for a replacement housing. I got to work measuring the dimensions of the original spring, housing and appropriate parts. We then researched available materials for 3d printing that would provide sufficient strength, toughness and durability to resist the tension created by the coiled spring.
After designing and prototyping a number of housing iterations that eventually proved successful I created a housing from glass reinforced nylon. This was 3d printed at a high temperature and slow speed to aid layer adhesion and create the strongest possible part. The design was also printed at a 45 degree angle to prevent issues with directions of weakness.
This project was particularly interesting and effective as parts could be rapidly designed, fabricated and tested - something that would not have been possible prior to advances in 3d printing technologies.
If you are interested in taking advantage of this service to repair machinery or vehicles with hard to obtain parts then feel free to get in touch with me to start a consultation.
This is the vintage Meddings pillar drill with quill housing and spring removed.
(below) This is original quill spring housing with a modern spring fitted. The replacement spring was coiled too tight to function so a modified housing was needed to enable the drill to operate again.
(below): one of the rapidly fabricated prototypes created to test function and develop the design.
(below): Photos show the final version of the 3d printed, PA6-GF quill spring housing now fitted to the pillar drill.
