What would you include in the perfect Austin Seven workshop?

[Tony Griffiths]

For me to allow a complete A7 restoration I would consider the following very desirable :-

Means of having the chassis at waist height
An engine stand with a ledge underneath for bits
A parts washer
Oxcy /Acetylene
A decent lathe
A decent Piller drill
A big compressor
Plenty of LED tube lighting
Heating
Good firm benches with at least one big vice
Power grinders/ polisher/ big wire brush

That's the best concise list so far - I'd add just one thing a 'Mill-Drill" that would replace the pillar drill and be a most useful piece of kit. Being able to position the vice directly under the drill bit or milling cutter makes life so much easier. On a budget? Get a cheap compound screw-feed vice to bolt to the table of the pillar drill - again, it transforms the machine and makes many jobs so very much easier.

I brought this compound table,on a cheap one off eBay.16 1/2 x 6 1/2 table for around 100 quid and since fitting it haven't swung the drilling table back and find it more useful than clamping down on the drilling table.
The drilling machine in my mind is one of the most dangerous things in the workshop,either trying to hold something by hand or often in a loose vice can spin and catch you out.
The other useful item I purchased then was a 2 Morse taper to ER 25 collet chuck and now use a Jacobs type chuck in it with a plain 16 mm shank.It gives you the option to hold light milling cutters more ridigly too.
Ridigity,there's no substitute for cast iron.try and get hold of a heavily built drill if this is what you intend to do.Mine an old Meddings ,bought for scrap 30 odd years ago is ideal.

Spot on! A T-slotted compound table simply transforms a drill. Yours looks to be a Meddings MB4 with internal "backgearing" that gives 10 speeds from 80 to 4000 r.p.m. If you can find one at a reasonable price (they are very popular and do command a lot) it's the drill to go for. I did spot one on Facebook 'Marketplace" last year where, clearly, the seller had no idea what it was and listed it for £80 (they usually make £650 or more). Other small drills with slow-speed gearing include the very compact Kerry Super 8, Progress 2G and 2GS and the rather larger Fobco 7/8 and 10/8.  The idea of using ER collets is an excellent one and, for those who don't know about them, they have so powerful a grip that milling cutters are not screwed in but simply clamped. Sets are available from the likes of RGD tools for very little money. Some of the Mill-Drills have an R8 Bridgeport-type taper and for that fitting a wide variety of inexpensive tooling is available.