The Champion Blower and Forge Drill Press: A Blacksmith's Machine Worth Saving

Open the door of an old blacksmith shop, a farm forge, or a barn that has not changed in a century, and there is a fair chance you will find a Champion Blower and Forge drill press bolted to a post, its big flywheel and cast gears still turning by hand. Champion Blower and Forge was one of the great American names in blacksmith and farm equipment, and its post drills were built to drill steel with muscle alone, no motor, no cord. Finding one today is finding a piece of working history, and understanding what it is, what to check, and how to bring it back is the key to saving one. This guide covers it.

A Champion Blower and Forge drill press is typically a post drill, a hand-cranked, wall or post mounted drilling machine made by the Champion Blower and Forge Company for blacksmiths, farms, and shops of the pre-electric era. You turn a crank, gears step up the motion, a heavy flywheel carries it through the cut, and many models add an automatic feed that advances the spindle a little with each turn. It was built to drill accurate holes in iron and steel by hand, and its heavy cast construction is why so many survive and are worth restoring today.

What makes these machines special

A few things set a Champion Blower and Forge post drill apart and explain why people seek them out. They are built almost entirely of cast iron and steel, heavy and durable, which is why century-old examples still work. Many feature an automatic feed, a ratchet-and-pawl mechanism that advances the drill steadily into the work with each crank, a genuinely clever piece of engineering that leaves your free hand for the work. And they carry the maker’s markings, Champion Blower and Forge, often with a location, cast right into the iron, which identifies the machine and is part of its appeal to collectors and smiths. A sound one is both a usable tool and a handsome piece of shop history.

Inspecting one before you commit

With a hand-powered antique, the gears and feed are everything, so inspect those first. Turn the crank and check that the gears mesh and turn smoothly, and inspect the gear teeth closely, since broken or badly worn teeth are the hardest fault to fix on these machines and can be a dealbreaker. Test the automatic feed if the model has one, confirming the pawl advances the spindle, since a seized or missing feed mechanism is a significant loss. Check the spindle for straightness and the crank and flywheel for free, smooth motion. Confirm the drill-holding end, many post drills use a square-shank socket or a simple chuck, and check what it takes. Surface rust is expected and fixable; broken castings and missing gears are what to avoid.

Bringing one back to life

Restoring a Champion Blower and Forge drill is mostly patient cleanup rather than fabrication, which is what makes it satisfying. Free the decades of hardened grease and grime from the gears, feed, and spindle so the mechanism moves as designed. Remove the rust from the iron and steel with a chelating remover like Evapo-Rust, which lifts rust without harming sound metal or the cast markings. Once clean and dry, protect the surfaces against future rust with a product like Boeshield T-9, developed for exactly this kind of long-term metal protection. Re-grease the gears and oil the moving parts, then mount the drill solidly to a post or bench so it does not move as you crank against it.

Identifying and researching your machine

Part of the pleasure of these machines is learning their history, and the cast markings give you a start. Note exactly what is cast into the iron, the Champion Blower and Forge name and any location or model markings, and use them to research the machine. Free machine-tool history archives such as VintageMachinery.org hold manufacturer records, catalog reprints, and photographs that help identify and date antique American machines like these, and the maker’s own history is well documented there. This research tells you what you have, how it was meant to work, and often how to set the feed and use it as intended, turning a rusty find into a machine you understand.

Conclusion

A Champion Blower and Forge drill press is a hand-cranked post drill from America’s blacksmithing age, built of heavy cast iron with clever automatic feed and made to drill steel by muscle alone. Finding one is finding working history, and saving it comes down to inspecting the parts that matter, sound gear teeth, a working feed, a straight spindle, and free motion, since rust is fixable but broken castings and missing gears are not. Restore it with patient cleaning, rust removal, protection, and fresh grease, mount it solidly, and research its cast markings to understand what you have. Treated this way, a Champion Blower and Forge drill returns to doing exactly what it did a century ago.

Three takeaways: a Champion Blower and Forge drill press is a heavy cast-iron hand-cranked post drill, often with clever automatic feed, from the pre-electric blacksmithing era; inspect the gear teeth, feed, and spindle first, since rust is fixable but broken gears and castings are not; and restore it with patient cleaning, rust removal and protection, fresh grease, and solid mounting.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Champion Blower and Forge drill press? Usually a post drill, a hand-cranked, wall or post mounted drilling machine made by the Champion Blower and Forge Company for blacksmiths, farms, and shops before electricity. You crank it, gears and a flywheel drive the cut, and many have an automatic feed.

How does the automatic feed work? A ratchet-and-pawl mechanism advances the spindle a small amount with each turn of the crank, feeding the drill steadily into the work so you do not have to push it in by hand. It is a clever, prized feature when it still works.

What should I check before buying one? The gear teeth (broken or badly worn teeth are the hardest fault to fix), the automatic feed if fitted, the spindle for straightness, and the crank and flywheel for smooth motion. Surface rust is fine; broken castings and missing gears are not.

How do I restore a Champion Blower and Forge drill? Clean out the hardened grease and grime, remove rust with a chelating remover, protect the metal with a rust preventive, re-grease the gears and oil the moving parts, and mount it solidly to a post or bench so it stays put as you crank.

How do I identify and date my machine? Note the name and any location or model markings cast into the iron, then research them through free machine-tool history archives, which hold manufacturer records and catalogs for antique American machines like these and document the maker’s history.

Can I still use one to drill? Yes, a sound one drills accurate holes in steel by hand, which is what it was built for. Restore the gears, feed, and spindle, mount it solidly, use the correct drills for the holder, and it works as it did a century ago.

References

• VintageMachinery.org, manufacturer index and historical records for antique American machine tools. http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=129
• CRC Industries, Evapo-Rust Rust Remover product information. https://www.crcindustries.com/evapo-rust/