Try to remove the cross shaft which the handle and return spring fit on first. The gear teeth which mesh with the quill will likely be straight, so careful drifting with a brass or aluminium bar should move it. I cannot see which way it should go, but there should be clues if you look carefully. Also, there should be a screw to stop the quill rotating, probably on the right side of the main casting which needs to come out, and will provide another entry point for the Plus Gas.

Remove the switch/wiring/other combustible parts & get a blowtorch on the head clamp area, until it’s ‘smoking hot’.

The top of the pillar looks ‘beaten’ – you might have to push the head down a bit first and remove any burrs before it will come off the top.

Then the key tray.

Then the table swivel.

If it was mine, I’d bolt the base to the floor so there was a solid foundation to work from, one can then twist the head to and fro and ‘work it’ a bit, etc..

Are you sure you are hitting the taper pin from the right end – it’s not always easy to tell, if they’ve been around the block a bit..

My own use of PlusGas tends to be on smaller items, but the general principle is universal:

It needs to seep into the joint by capillary action, and the best start for that is to clean the area where it will be applied.

It seems reasonably clear that the column of this drill ends slightly below the head casting [yellow arrow] … so get a scriber into that corner, and clean the debris out.

Then, and only then, apply PlusGas in small quantity, all the way round and let it seep-in … repeat periodically !

MichaelG.

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Decades ago in ‘Jeynes Corner’ in ME he explained that when faced with a stubborn bolt rather than get a bigger spanner they would set an apprentice with a spanner and hammer to tap tap tap for hours even days. The little shocks caused microcracks in the rust. You can do the same the lazy way if you have an air hammer or air wrench.
Then apply the penetrating oil, which is just a very light solvent, eg petrol, that will penetrate carrying a trace of oil where thicker oil cannot go. Have you come across such a combination? It is usually called ‘2-stroke fuel’ and is just as effective as proprietary brands of magic fluid.

In the “lathes UK ” website the height adjuster seems to be attached to the top belt cover, have you got that?

Since the drill is not very tall, the table height adjustment would be all that it needs and the head to column joint could be securely locked permanently. Our Elliot at the museum has never needed its head moving in the last 17 years, the table is much easier to move. Not that it gets used often with two mills which make better drilling machines.