New here - Atlas Drill Press Model 74

[martinjdoman]

Hey all:

I just joined this group.

I came across an old atlas drill press that someone is throwing out and I am trying to find out if I would be getting into more than I can handle with fixing it. It has several parts missing, but it is a tall 74 model. I have a cheap one at home and I would love to use this one.

Any advice from someone who has refurbished one of these would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Martin
South Lyon, MI

 

[FrankLee]

Welcome Martin!

Unless there are parts not shown, it looks like most of the desirable and expensive parts have been stripped; the spindle pulley, the motor pulley, the spring assembly and the feed stop assembly.

However, there are several good parts remaining; the motor, the quill/spindle assembly and the base/column/table.

The base/column/table can be repurposed to make an outstanding bench grinder stand. I have three of those.

Motors can always be reused if still good.

 

[RoninB4]

Martin;
Welcome to the ranch, pull up a chair. As for your drill press I'd have to ask what your capabilities are? What you have is not an heirloom but it IS a nice drill press worthy of returning to service. If you have no experience with repair of machine tooling this can be either a rewarding experience or a frustrating PITA, depends upon what you're willing to do. As mentioned, some of the expensive parts are MIA, some remain. The main casting, base, table, and column appear in decent shape. Nothing magic about the casting but it is likely a much better material than the other one you mentioned at home. What materials will you using this on? Makes a difference.

Were it me (former toolmaker) I'd definitely bring it back to working order but I have all the measuring instruments and other metal working machinery to help. If you don't have any of these you'll be in the circumstances of buying everything off the shelf and hope it works out. If you decide to try bringing it back to working condition I'd advise getting a vernier/dial caliper to help determining sizes of things you'll need. It's doable if you're willing and have some cash. Research the cost of parts before committing to it. Also check for how much side-to-side play there is in the quill. If it's slap worn out it might not be worth dumping a lot of cash into it.

Not to knock what others do but I cringe a little whenever I see an older machine butchered for "re-purposing", I don't like to see classic cars destroyed in movies either. JMO

 

[martinjdoman]

I don't have a lot of cash
I don't have any experience refurbishing tools, although I have watched videos of folks doing that and I find it fascinating. I am a woodshop person and I don't have the time to work on this.
However, I did notice online that the parts on this thing are worth a lot (at least parts like this are selling for a lot on Ebay) and I might try to sell some of the parts since I was given the OK to haul it away for free. That is my plan at this point, anyway.

 

[martinjdoman]

But I am happy for this group as I can check in about other tooling interests that I have. I am currenty redoing my entire shop to organize my tools and things are insane in there as I build places for everything to go. Any suggestions on that process I welcome.
Happy to be here.
Martin

 

[martinjdoman]

Martin;
Welcome to the ranch, pull up a chair. As for your drill press I'd have to ask what your capabilities are? What you have is not an heirloom but it IS a nice drill press worthy of returning to service. If you have no experience with repair of machine tooling this can be either a rewarding experience or a frustrating PITA, depends upon what you're willing to do. As mentioned, some of the expensive parts are MIA, some remain. The main casting, base, table, and column appear in decent shape. Nothing magic about the casting but it is likely a much better material than the other one you mentioned at home. What materials will you using this on? Makes a difference.

Were it me (former toolmaker) I'd definitely bring it back to working order but I have all the measuring instruments and other metal working machinery to help. If you don't have any of these you'll be in the circumstances of buying everything off the shelf and hope it works out. If you decide to try bringing it back to working condition I'd advise getting a vernier/dial caliper to help determining sizes of things you'll need. It's doable if you're willing and have some cash. Research the cost of parts before committing to it. Also check for how much side-to-side play there is in the quill. If it's slap worn out it might not be worth dumping a lot of cash into it.

Not to knock what others do but I cringe a little whenever I see an older machine butchered for "re-purposing", I don't like to see classic cars destroyed in movies either. JMO

Any advice on how to check the side to side play in the quill?

 

[martinjdoman]

Also to reply to your mention of materials, I am a woodworker pretty exclusively unless the thing I am making have hardware that need to be modified/made.

 

[nadogail]

Welcome to the Forum, I don't know enough to answer your questions about your Atlas Drill Press. Atlas Machine Tools, to the best of my knowledge enjoyed a fine reputation.

 

[martinjdoman]

Spent this morning taking the Atlas 74 apart and cleaning it. Wow. I was amazed that I was able to get the upper and lower units off the pole with a healthy amount of W240. That made it a lot easier to move to my car from where it was sitting for years. The engine alone is so heavy. No idea if it works yet. Gonna take it home, clean it, etc...

 

[RoninB4]

Any advice on how to check the side to side play in the quill?

It's apart now but if you can lock the head on a bench so it doesn't move just grab it with your hand(s) and try moving it from side to side when the spindle is fully retracted and also when extended. Standard procedure is to do this when mounted on "the pole" with an indicator set on the spindle to get a reading. If you don't have an indicator you can use any stationary object. chuck up a straight, round piece of anything, move the spindle/quill to one side, touch the stationary object to set the "zero" and then push the spindle the other direction. The difference will show how much slop/wear/play is in the casting housing to spindle.

You're doing woodworking so the amount of play/wear isn't as critical as metalworking. The bearings should also be listened to for excessive noise. If there's no motor you can rotate the spindle (belts off pulleys) by hand and feel for whether the bearings rotate smoothly or not. This is all SOP for anybody with a new-to-them machine and I do it too with more expensive machinery. It's all part of evaluation. Bearing replacement isn't a huge task beyond you either (if needed), there's a few simple guidelines to go by that would net you a much better drill press than you already have. Like many other things, the better made items are a pleasure to use.

Parts for that press don't necessarily have to be OEM either. Bearings were NOT made by Atlas or (with rare specific exceptions) any other machine maker, they specified off-the-shelf bearings during the design phase. Bearings come in different types and grades but yours should be a fairly common size without being absurdly expensive. Some searching on the internet should pull up some info on rebuilding. There's even at least one or two videos I came across in a quick search. Although this may be your first go at rebuilding a machine tool it's a fairly simple machine to get working again. You'll have to decide just how pretty it needs to be and how much of a project you want it to be. Ask questions, lots of experience on this board.