Muir Pillar Drill

Pillar drill, no.8. manufactured by William Muir and Co., 1842-1880.

This drill was made by the Manchester engineering company of William Muir & Co. It is numbered 8, suggesting it is an early model by them. Four speed belt pulley drawing drillspindle by single bevil gear. Hand wheel at right for raising and lowering chuck. Drilling table supported by separate swinging column with rack on side. The drill is powered through a four-speed belt pulley, and a single bevel gear drives the drill spindle. There is a hand wheel on the right of the drill spindle that the operator used to raise and lower the chuck holding the drill bit. The drilling table is supported by a column with a rack mechanism, which is separate from the main frame of the drill.

William Muir and Co was established 1842 when William Muir left Whitworths and set up his own workshop in Berwick Street, Manchester, later moving to Oxford Street in 1847 and then to Miller's Lane, Salford. The company was renamed Muir Machine Tools in 1937 and was acquired by David Brown and Sons in 1944.