Walker-Turner Drill Press

[The_General]

Was eyeballing this today. It's a 14in W/T drll press for $180.00 . Anything specifically to look out for on these guys? Also is 180 a fair price?

 

[lafester]

If it is all there and nothing is bent I suppose it is fair but pushing it. Does it have a wt motor? To me the paint job kills it.

 

[The_General]

I’m not a fan of the paint either lol but, there’s no other WT in my area

 

[gte718p]

If you want it it is a fair price, not great

Nothing overly desirable or valuable. It is missing the back cover which would have made it rare and a little valuable. It doesn't have the middle reduction pulley, I'm not sure if any of the bench tops do that would make it desirable.

WT has a weird bearing setup in the head. They are unobtainable. If the quill is loose or there are strange noises run away.

 

[The_General]

I was looking at at craftsman 150 before this, I guess what are the desirable drill presses?

 

[lafester]

I would look for a delta dp220. Pretty much the same thing but way more common.

 

[exmaxima1]

If you want it it is a fair price, not great

Nothing overly desirable or valuable. It is missing the back cover which would have made it rare and a little valuable. It doesn't have the middle reduction pulley, I'm not sure if any of the bench tops do that would make it desirable.

WT has a weird bearing setup in the head. They are unobtainable. If the quill is loose or there are strange noises run away.

+1
Having gone thru the ordeal of replacing the bearings in a WT drill press, I would never even consider another one. I didn’t see anything so great about it when I had it. I feel that both my Atlas and Delta drill presses were better, and parts were easily procured. As far as price, no way I would spend over $75 for that old press unless it was essentially mint condition—-which it clearly is not.

I see you are in IL. Whereabouts?

 

[OccupantRJ]

I would not expect to be able to sell that drill press here for more than $125, and that would have to be to a nostalgic buyer. Bearings acquisition can be an issue. I had to sleeve the upper housing on my 20” model to take a standard bearing.

 

[The_General]

Thanks all, I just wanted a vintage style drill press. Wasn’t sure what direction to go down.

 

[Davefr]

If it's absolutely perfect with no missing parts then it's probably OK but higher then I'd expect to pay.

Once you deviate from CM and Delta, sourcing parts can be difficult and expensive.

If you want vintage then look for a Delta DP220 or DP600 DP. (Pretty straightforward to rebuild and you have a good chance of finding parts.)

 

[Whitworth]

Since it's a bench top I'd try negotiating down on the price. The bearings were/are carried by someone but can't recall the outfits name off hand. Otherwise a nice drill press.

 

[aarcuda]

i have the floor model of this. I think I paid $100. someone painted it green. The belt guard in i large open top piece of curved steel that might not be original. but it runs true and i like it. the motor on it just died and I replaced it with a 1/2hp craftsman notor. Trying to find a place to rebuild the motor that was on it....

 

[dwall174]

+1
Having gone thru the ordeal of replacing the bearings in a WT drill press

Add me to that bearing problem list!

I have a partially restored 20" WT that needs new bearings & I only have two options on new bearings. One option is to have a standard bearing modified, Or probably a better option is to have the spindle machined to fit a standard bearing. Either way it's not a easy or cheap replacement.

Doug

 

[ndnchf]

I restored my WT 900 about 6 years ago. I used the new bearings that were available. They are a couple thousandths loose, so I just set them with Loctite bearing locker. Its been working fine every since. I saved the original bearings that were actually fine. But by the time I had it apart, I already had the new bearings. I also resto-modded mine by adding at VFD and a 3/4hp 220v motor. It runs off 110v and has full variable speed. I love it.

 

[Cleave]

I have a Delta Homecraft benchtop, paid $125, and love it. The quill lock is AMAZING.
Check the runout and spindle squareness to the table before you buy. Bring a machinists square and precision ground drill rod or shaft to chuck up and check it.

 

[lafester]

I'm sure everyone has a machinists square and precision ground drill rod laying around to test $175 drill presses.