Meddings MF4 Manual

[Richard Kirkman 1Participant @richardkirkman1]

Afternoon All,

I’ve just acquired a 2nd hand Meddings MF4 Drill and I would like to reach the manual for it so I know how to service it etc.

I cannot seem to find one online anywhere. Does anyone have a copy they can send me?

Thanks

[renardiere7Participant @renardiere7]

Have you tried contacting Meddings?  I’m pretty sure they are still in existence and active and were helpful to me when I contacted them about one of their jigsaws.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

I don’t have the will to jump through all their Cookie hoops, but I believe this is the homepage:

https://www.meddingsgroup.co.uk/

MichaelG.

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

Have a look on Keith Rucker’s site Vintage Machinery.org where there is a pdf copy of the manual which seems to cover your pillar drill.

John

 

[Richard Kirkman 1]

On 16 June 2025 at 14:30 Richard Kirkman 1 Said:

Afternoon All,

I’ve just acquired a 2nd hand Meddings MF4 Drill and I would like to reach the manual for it so I know how to service it etc.

I cannot seem to find one online anywhere. Does anyone have a copy they can send me?

Thanks

Richard I have a copy of the MF4 manual but it is for an older model than yours, however I think the general arrangement will be very similar.

Its in pdf format and not possible add it here or to a message so please message me via the forum with your email and I will send it to you

John

[Richard Kirkman 1Participant @richardkirkman1]

Thanks all,

I did try to get in touch with meddings but they haven’t got back to me.

 

The vintage machinery one looks close enough, and hopefully John will be able to forward that one too.

 

Thanks again!

[JohnF]

On JohnF Said:

[…] Its in pdf format and not possible add it here […]

Things are not quite that bad, John … You can add pdf files to your Gallery

MichaelG.

[Michael Gilligan]

On Michael Gilligan Said:

On JohnF Said:

[…] Its in pdf format and not possible add it here […]

Things are not quite that bad, John … You can add pdf files to your Gallery

MichaelG.

Thank you Michael I have added the PDF docs to my gallery — no idea this was possible so thanks for the advice.  I also looked at the current Meddings web site and its completely different to the one I downloaded this info from [2013] not as useful as it was for “our” usage but times move on !

One thing in the gallery that’s perplexing is it shows a “delete” tab when I look at them — presumably this does not show when viewed by others ?

John

[Richard Kirkman 1Participant @richardkirkman1]

I chased Meddings again and got an automated response of the following-

I’ve chased the next linked person, but it looks like Meddings might be gone!

[Pete.Participant @pete-2]

I’ve got a similar bench top meddings partially dismantled awaiting some attention, the spindle uses sealed bearings.

There’s nothing to service really other than a drop of oil on the quill periodically.

[larry phelan 1Participant @larryphelan1]

Another one bites the dust !

[Richard Kirkman 1Participant @richardkirkman1]

Good news and bad news

I took the drill apart to check the gearbox as I wasn’t convinced the gears were working

Good news- the gears are absolutely fine

Bad news-the gear selector arm/fork is completely gone

This is where the real manual would come in handy!

Does anyone have ideas?

Meddings is out of the picture now I guess so I’m a little stuck.

[StevePParticipant @stevepye68246]

Hi Richard

I have MF4 which I bought new in the eighties ,so a little older than yours.
I’m sure I still have the original manual . I’m away at the moment but when I’m home I’ll try and post so pictures of the relevant pages.

Steve P

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

Richard,

Maybe you didn’t download the manual I directed you to early on in the thread, or you would have seen this:

That’s a partial screenshot from that operator’s manual.  OK, it doesn’t give any dimensions, but I doubt that information is in any paper manual you’ll find either.  It does, however, give the general form of the fork and with some creative thinking, measurements of the drill and gears, it should allow you to design and manufacture a suitable replacement.

John

 

[Richard Kirkman 1]

On Richard Kirkman 1 Said:

Meddings is out of the picture now I guess so I’m a little stuck.

 

A little thinking will unstick you. Look at what you have. Look at the picture above. Ponder on how the item works and the physical location of the two fixed parts with which the fork interacts.

You can make many prototypes very cheaply from wood (or 3D printing if that is your thing) to refine dimensions before you commit yourself to manufacture in a more permanent material.

The two T-shaped pieces are brass or bronze. Steel, aluminium or cast iron would be good for the fork. It could be fabricated (welded together) and then shaped. If you imagine it in two mirrored halves, it could be laser or water-cut from thick plate and then the halves joined mechanically.

Do a general search for ‘meddings rebuild’ or similar terms. You will find further photographs of the item which will assist. The MIG welding forum and the UK Workshop forum would be two good starting places for your enquiries.

Engineering is about problem solving with finite resources. The best one of those resources is the grey matter between your ears.

[Richard Kirkman 1Participant @richardkirkman1]

John- Yes, i did see that, thank you! I was thinking more about how I was going to sort dimensions and such.

dc31k-I have had to employ a little bit of the grey stuff, I’ve only got a limited amount, so I usually save it for special occasions!

I’ve come up with a design in my head and taken a few measurements.

I made a start making a few bits, but the mill gave up again- New motor on the way, but I won’t be home again for another 2 weekends so it’ll have to wait! I may redesign and order some better material as I now have time to plan.

Meddings M4 Mk3 strip and rebuild was very useful as that has a picture of the MK3 fork, however I will be changing my design to be adjustable so I don’t get issues with the alignment when trying to clamp to the hex selector shaft.

Will update in due course. Thanks all

[Richard Kirkman 1Participant @richardkirkman1]

When making the fork, I am struggling to decide what type of metal to order.

From others with more experience, which would be most suitable from the following?

Cast iron, EN3, or EN8?

I’m currently thinking EN8 would be strongest, but Cast iron would be easier to machine (and may be at less risk of warping when i take lots of material off a block?).

The person I bought the drill from agreed to give me a £30 partial refund for the fork being missing, not much, but it will cover materials!

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Cast iron might not like the loads involved in operation, (They may be small, but C I is weak in tension, and one side of the fork will be in tension from time to time)

If possible, make the fork from steel and the actual “feet” (124) that engage in the groove out of brass or phosphor bronze.

Howard

[Richard Kirkman 1Participant @richardkirkman1]

Thanks Howard, I’ll use EN8 then.

Is Phosphor bronze worth the price difference for the properties?

Also, I believe my company may have a few of these pillar drills at a site near me, so there’s a very small chance that I might be able to take one to pieces and measure the part.

[JohnFParticipant @johnf59703]

Richard, I haven’t watched or seen the re-build referred to earlier and maybe there’s a clue there as to what material was used originally and I have no idea what the one in my older machine is.

However I have seen several gear selector forks particularly in lathes made of bronze or maybe gunmetal,  its worth considering that its better that the fork wears rather than the gear its moving ! If however it has shoes for engagement then the lever can be steel and a suitable sacrificial material for the shoes.

Just my thoughts

John

[Howard Lewis]

On Howard Lewis Said:

Cast iron might not like the loads involved in operation

Given that the OEM item supplied by Meddings themselves was a casting, machined as necessary, perhaps you could reconsider your statement.

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

Could it have been cast steel???

[Richard Kirkman 1Participant @richardkirkman1]

It could have been anything! No point speculating too much. If EN8 will do the job, then I’ll use that and some phosphor bronze too. It’ll be nice to work with some bronze as it’s new to me!

i have been researching more this evening and found a picture of a later model gearbox which aligns with the rebuild thread. However, it looks like a different shaft; mine is still just plain hexagonal. So maybe this is a model after mine?

I will reach out to the person who posted it on that different Forum and see if they can share the full manual.

Judging from the gearbox picture, it looks like the fork holes are on the same plane, so it may be easier to make than i imagined.

Also, in other good news. The other site near me at work has one of the later models of drill press, so I will enquire with the maintenance team if I might be able to take it to pieces and take some measurements!

I have also tried to contact a few employees of Meddings on LinkedIn to get some contacts, but I doubt that’ll go anywhere. One drawing would make my life a lot easier! (Yes, I can do it without, but it’s always better with the real drawings)

[Richard Kirkman 1Participant @richardkirkman1]

Update- The exact part has been listed on eBay, however it is £72 so I will not be purchasing it. I did speak to the shop selling it and ask to do a deal with another part (as I would have to buy the whole assembly to get it to fit my machine), but they weren’t prepared to give free postage (still costing £140 in total). Having paid £200 for the machine, and recieving £30 back for it not having the lever, £140 is too much.

However, i did get some measurements from the seller. And have confirmation that the arm is made from plastic, which simplifes production. 67mm from center to center- I had guessed 68mm from the machine so I was not far off!

From the pics we can see that the two holes are in line with eachother, making things much simpler.

From there I got to designing a new lever in CAD.

One of my colleagues offered to 3D print it for me, which made things very easy.

The pawls will still be made from Bronze, and the holes are all printed undersize so I can ream them to size.

I am unable to index or use a splined shaft (although the current shaft is hexagonal) because I don’t know the relation of the handle lever.

I may look into doing a 2nd one (maybe a good excuse to get a 3d printer…) with a hexagonal hole for the shaft, but Ideally this one will work first time. I will be playing around next weekend as I will be home for the bank hol weekend. (I may have clearance issues also, it’s hard to design without the machine in front of me)

 

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