Photo Index - Tomlee Tool & Engineering Co. - 75 B

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
Tomlee Tool & Engineering Co.
Minneapolis, MN

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Drill Press
Machine Size:	Bench top
Submitted By:	Peter Hunn

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	75 B
Date of Manufacturer:	circa 1954
Serial Number:	75 B-1738
Last Updated	10/24/2008 8:22:49 PM

Comments:

Presumably, this Model 75B Tomlee drill press was the last version produced before Tomlee's 1954 or 1955 sale to the TORO lawnmower people. The 1952 Tomlee catalog (the latest one I've seen, anyway) lists a Model 75 drill press. I'm not sure what changes necessitated a "B" designation, but the cast triple arms are more deluxe than the plain rod arms of the Model 75. Toro's revamped mid-50s drill press used a triple arm casting similar the this 75B, though has the knobs attached to the side as opposed to the ends. While admittedly an arcane nuance, the vertical casting design on the 75B has a break in the middle instead of going from top to bottom of the pulley guard like the Model 75. Its paint is medium gray crinkle finish. Fascinated by the short-lived TORO tool line, I'd hoped to come across a Toro drill press. No luck out in my Central New York area, but I jumped at the chance to get the next best thing -its predecessor... a Tomlee. This Model 75B (with 1/3-hp Dunlap) and a Tomlee Model 45 bandsaw were offered at a nearby garage sale for $37.50 apiece. The seller had bought them several years earlier from the widow of an amateur furniture maker in Richmond, Virginia. Enigmatically, though, the 75B was set-up to run at low RPM for drilling metal.

Photo 1:

Comments: Tomlee 75B drill press
Source: Peter Hunn

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Photo 2:

Comments: Note: top guard and arm casting
Source: Peter Hunn

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Photo 3:

Comments: Model 75B tag. Likely 1953-54
Source: Peter Hunn

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