Delta drill presses - what’s a reasonable offer?

[bliorg]

Hi, all -

My drill press died a few days ago. Have needed (wanted) a Delta floor drill press for a good while; found a couple.



Seller only says they’re both “in working order”. He wanted to start negotiating at $187. He’s a good 90 minute drive from here. Obviously I’m testing before buying, but not sure what a reasonable offer is contingent on how functional they are. $187 ain’t it. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Scott

 

[whateg01]

Depends on how bad you want them, and what do they normally go for in your area. You don't seem to have your location posted, so nobody can say what that is. I personally stay away from machines that somebody has painted, especially a badly painted one like that. I don't know if they are trying to hide things or are just bad at painting. Running condition is pretty vague. The spindle bearings could be awful but the machine still runs. The quill could have a lot of wear. The rack and pinion could have missing teeth. Lots of variables, iow. What flaws are you willing to live with? What are you willing to fix? Personally, I wouldn't drive that far for those machines at that price. But I drove across town to pay 300 for a WT 1100 because that's what I wanted.

 

[bliorg]

Depends on how bad you want them, and what do they normally go for in your area. You don't seem to have your location posted, so nobody can say what that is. I personally stay away from machines that somebody has painted, especially a badly painted one like that. I don't know if they are trying to hide things or are just bad at painting. Running condition is pretty vague. The spindle bearings could be awful but the machine still runs. The quill could have a lot of wear. The rack and pinion could have missing teeth. Lots of variables, iow. What flaws are you willing to live with? What are you willing to fix? Personally, I wouldn't drive that far for those machines at that price. But I drove across town to pay 300 for a WT 1100 because that's what I wanted.

Fair enough. I'm NW of Philly, FWIW. I've seen these, generally, listed on Marketplace for $150 give or take. I'd want the "take" end of that spectrum. I feel good about old tools, but also have a Surplus of projects right now, and not sure I want another rabbit hole to fall into. Offered $115 for one of them, contingent on inspection, but he countered with "split the difference. Guessing I'll pass on that., Thanks for the input.

 

[The Cobbler]

I agree, that paint job is done to try & make make them look purdy , but with the lack of time spent to do that, I have to wonder how good they are

 

[lilredex]

You know its an A hole paint job when you see the switch and cover painted over. I wouldn't be interested in that one because it has no intermediate pulley and no rack and pinion table lift........but that's just me.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Hi, all -

My drill press died a few days ago. Have needed (wanted) a Delta floor drill press for a good while; found a couple.



Seller only says they’re both “in working order”. He wanted to start negotiating at $187. He’s a good 90 minute drive from here. Obviously I’m testing before buying, but not sure what a reasonable offer is contingent on how functional they are. $187 ain’t it. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Scott

What kind of material are you planning to drill?
For wood, most any cheap DP will do.
If you are going to use it primarily for metal then SLOW is the name of the game and you are not going to get SLOW with your typical two pully DP.
At a minimum you need a 3 pully set up.
And the slower it spins the more expensive it will be.
Yeah, an old 2 pully Delta DP may be cool, it may be collectable and might give you more longevity and enjoyment but they are no more accurate or desirable for drilling metal than a cheap harbor freight DP will be.

 

[exmaxima1]

Slowest speed is about 660rpm. Spindle stroke is only 3.5". Spindle bearings are special, AFAIK no longer made. No table lift.

I don't see any reason to pursue a DP-220.

 

[crguy]

Slowest speed is about 660rpm. Spindle stroke is only 3.5". Spindle bearings are special, AFAIK no longer made. No table lift.

I don't see any reason to pursue a DP-220.

Actually a Delta 220 with the intermediate pulley setup is good for most home shops.

 

[tool_scrounge]

Older quality drill presses with variable speed motors is also an option to slow them down. I have been fortunate to find industrial grade Baldor or Leeson DC NEMA 56 motors as NOS or lightly used for cheap. Quality Speed controllers are available used on ebay for cheap too. I like DC motors as they do not while like 3 phase motors with VFDs.

 

[whateg01]

Actually a Delta 220 with the intermediate pulley setup is good for most home shops.

as long as no repairs are needed that require the unobtainium parts

 

[Snip's]

Spindle bearings are special, AFAIK no longer made.

Virtually everything needed to repair your 14" Rockwell-Delta Drill Press (aka DP220) is found here !

 

[BreeStephany]

All depends on how far you want to go into getting it back into 'correct' condition, if you are interested in getting it into 'restored' condition or if you just want a new drill press.

Judging from the parts and pieces missing, you are at least a couple hundred into sourcing original equipment, the attempted 'restoration' work / "paint job" definitely says that it likely has never been taken apart / gone through. These drill presses are pretty resilient to abuse, but I do know that the bearings are a common are the most common failure point, and while inexpensive, they are still an added cost.

If it were me, I would offer scrap weight prices for them, but honestly not much more. Worst case scenario that they are beyond your scope of repair and restore, you aren't out anything, best case, you got a new drill press that needs a little work.

Just my two cents.

 

[exmaxima1]

Virtually everything needed to repair your 14" Rockwell-Delta Drill Press (aka DP220) is found here !

But at what cost? A pair of new replacement spindle bearings costs more than a used DP-220....

 

[Whitworth]

A toy-*** Harbor Fright drill press probably costs more.
I like the first, has 3 lever feed and the original motor switch rod.

 

[aquinob]

Can't tell much from the pix. The first is collectively referred to as a dp220, that wasn't the real model number but a number off one of the castings. No arc of shame on the table, looks pretty complete.
Second is a bit newer, but still fairly old. Crappy paint job as well, no pix of the table or anything else.

As others have said, they could turn on and run, but there may be tons of runnout or other slop that will make for a nice project. Was the 187 for each or both?

If it were me, I'd be looking for one of the delta reeves drives VS machines. I've had a few through my hands and they are pretty good. Real industrial quality. Or you could look for a Powermatic 1100, 1150 or 1200 or a Clausing. They will be more but they are much more machine. Quill stroke of 4 inches is minimum but you can find machines with 5 or 6 inches, again more along the lines of industrial iron.

But if you dont need much out of a press then any of the far east imports will probably do just as well.

 

[rsanter]

Depends on condition when inspected

i would likly be asking $150 to sell it
i would likly be willing to pay $75 as I would clean it up a bit to sell it