Photo Index - Vocational Industries Corp. (VICO) - Floor model

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
Vocational Industries Corp. (VICO)
Salem, OR

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Metal Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Drill Press
Machine Size:	18”
Submitted By:	Reuben Deumling

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	Floor model
Date of Manufacturer:	1947 est.
Serial Number:
Last Updated	5/17/2020 12:52:22 AM

Comments:

This is the third of these presses to show up here in Salem, Oregon. And the first I got to lay eyes on. This one showed up in fairly low quality photos advertising an estate sale that ran yesterday and today (May 15, 16, 2020) in NE Salem. I was able to buy it for 50% of the asking price on the second day of the sale and feel that I got a very good deal. History doesn’t always come in such large, affordable helpings.
If you look closely, all three of these presses differ slightly, the position of the knobs and the depth stops being just the most obvious. This one is fairly complete, the only obvious missing piece being the third (motor) step pulley. The table raising mechanism immediately drew my attention. It seems well executed if also quite laborious to produce what with all the castings, parts that required machining, etc. So far in my examination of the press the tolerances seem quite close, and the design of several features suggest that the person designing this press was a machinist.
The motor is a 1725rpm 3/4hp Brown-Brockmeyer which runs very quietly. The two substantial pins that hold the motor plate to the head casting incorporate a hinge that allows the operator to change belts fairly easily (the rear belt). Changing the front belt is a bit more involved as the belt guard is hinged at the back, and at least in my experience so far requires the excentric pin on which the intermediate pulley is mounted to be rotated forward.
The depth stop is ingenious, and is operated by the large knurled knob underneath which raises or lowers the stop inside a steel frame. The stroke as measured by the usable length of the depth stop mechanism is a mere 3 inches. The motor speed, and present pulley ratios suggest this was, if not conceived then set up, for drilling in metal, where extra stroke depth would perhaps be less crucial. The chuck is a substantial Jacobs.
Unlike many of the small, short-lived postwar woodworking machine product lines originating on the West Coast which featured a smaller or larger share of cast or machined aluminum parts this one is entirely iron and steel (and bronze). Though the turquoise model which features the Vico name cast into the head appears to have some aluminum knobs.

We still know basically nothing about this company. I will try to investigate, see what I can dig up. Two of the three presses discovered to date appear to lack any inscription mentioning Vico, and although the castings and finish on this one appear better than on the brown one, the level of machining I have now been able to discover suggests this may still have been a pre-production model. No evidence of cost cutting, value engineering that I can see. The only markings I have so far found are in the center of the individual castings, small two-digit numbers: 29, 30, 31, etc.

If anyone reading this knows about or can shed any light on the history of this company I would be very interested.

Photo 1:

Comments: side view of the whole press
Source: own photo

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Photo 2:

Comments: right side showing foot, table and part of the head
Source: own photo

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Photo 3:

Comments: depth stop mechanism
Source: own photo

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Photo 4:

Comments: table raising detail
Source: own photo at estate sale

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Photo 5:

Comments: table clamp detail: brass semicircular plate set into a semicircular machined slot. The five loved knob bears on the back side of the plate which effortlessly grips the shaft under the table. The other three clamps are assumed to use the same mechanism
Source: own photo

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Photo 6:

Comments: excentric mount for the intermediate pulley and machined steel pulley, bolted together out of two pieces
Source: own photo

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