WÖRNER Precision High-speed Bench Drills
Germany
Wörner drilling machines are still in production and remain of the classic high-speed, high-quality type intended for precision work on small parts. Current models in 2024 included B4, B4ED, BG 4 and BG4ED all updated with electronically-controlled, infinitely-variable speed drive (100 to 12,500 r.p.m. and 100 to 16,000 r.p.m.) yet still similar in design and concept to older types. Of the latter, the first appears to have been the TIBO3, with a drilling capacity of 1/8", eight speeds from 720 to 11,000 r.p.m. and a spindle taper of DIN 328 (B10) and the TIBO 6 with a drilling capacity of 1/4", eight speeds from 980 to 8,000 r.p.m. and a spindle taper of DIN 328 (B12).
Later models included the B4 and B8 (these are shown below with full details of their specifications) with data about BG8, B13 and BG16 as yet unknown. All were intended not for general workshop use, but for industries such as watch and clock making, the production of photographic equipment, mechanical instruments and similar items.
The design of the Wörner types - small but heavily built, of very high quality and capable of running reliably for thousands of hours - was similar to those from other makers including Precise, Jones & Shipman, Progress, Aciera, Cameron, Oldak, and Servo. On the smaller Wörner models, the drive was by a smooth-running flat belt that ran over pulleys able to be either removed and turned over and/or swapped from the drive to driven positions - a rather cumbersome and time-consuming operation to get the required range of speeds. In practice, many users had multiple sets of these drills, sometimes mounted on unusual, "quarter-curved" cast-iron benches, which each set up for a particular job and so rarely needed the speed to be changed.