1940's drill press

[throttlejunkie1]

I had a few of the 50's Craftsman bench top models when I was young and they were fine as long as you didn't need the highest speeds. I got a floor model about 20 years ago and thought it was ok, but the runout was only average, the spindle was sloppy, and highest speed was very noisy. I ditched the floor model when I got a 40's/50's Walker-Turner. It was much smoother and tighter. The table was better, the locks were better, everything was better------and it only cost me $60.
I recently had a MINT 1947 Atlas 12" bench model and it was smooth as butter in every speed. It weighed 147 lbs, the pulleys were machined and balanced (unlike the later Craftsman stuff), and the bearings were real Timkens. Paid $100 for it, and would have kept it except I don't have the room for it .
There are numerous old Delta/Rockwells being sold for cheap, so why not treat yourself to something nicer that performs with precision, runs smoother, has more spindle stroke, and typically has a better table to clamp to (those Craftsman 150's **** for clamps). Put a new belt on it, maybe a nicer chuck if it has a morse taper, and pass it on to your children.

Matthew

Oh, now that my interest for things like this has grown greatly over the last year or two, I've kept my eyes peeled in the local classifieds and CL for deals like the ones you've mentioned. For me, timing is everything. With the wife going to school, kids doing summer sports, me at the drag strip and car shows....I get lost in my own little life sometimes with my family . I'm a hydraulics/sheetmetal/aircraft structures technician in the USN. But for the level of operation I work in, we don't really get to use the cool machine shop stuff for technical repair or remanufacture.

I've been going out of my way here lately to the conveniently local machine shop on base and making friends there I little "on the job training" is priceless for a guy like me not having the opportunity to work in an environment like they do.

 

[omr]

Alright, this mast corrosion is kicking my ****. It's just too damn hot outside for that kind of labor at home lol! I'm just gonna take it with me to work and put it in the lathe and cut .0001 off it. It'll look brand new then.

there is probably gonna be a good deal of run out in that pole , if you have access to an old crappy lathe you could just get it spinning as fast as the lathe will go and hit it with an angle grinder and a layered sanding disc ..

if you move at a fairly constant rate it leaves a really nice machined finish look ..

 

[throttlejunkie1]

Well, that was a no go on the lathe today and the "brand new" media blaster didn't do so well either. Kept clogging up. I was tired and PO'd after a 28 hour shift so I just left.

 

[mrbreezeet1]

What do you mean was a no go on the lathe today
Too much run out, couldn't chuck it up?

Cant you use sand paper as it's spinning in the lathe?
I cleaned mine up like that, albeit it is/was a shorter post.
Thanks,
Tony

 

[omr]

one of these on an angle grinder while spinning the pole in a lathe , the bigger the disc the better ..

http://img1.tradeget.com/xugu1221\WUW3WSRL1zirmonia_flap_disc.jpg

the norton 20x seem to work the best and last the longest , home depot , lowes and most auto parts stores sell them ..

 

[throttlejunkie1]

What do you mean was a no go on the lathe today
Too much run out, couldn't chuck it up?

Cant you use sand paper as it's spinning in the lathe?
I cleaned mine up like that, albeit it is/was a shorter post.
Thanks,
Tony

By the time I figured out the blaster wasn't operational in the airframes shop, all the machinests secured for the day so I couldn't use the lathe. It'll chuck up...its big enough, just a matter of getting access to it again.

I don't want to ruin my welcome over there either so I'll just wait till next week.

 

[mrbreezeet1]

By the time I figured out the blaster wasn't operational in the airframes shop, all the machinests secured for the day so I couldn't use the lathe. It'll chuck up...its big enough, just a matter of getting access to it again.

I don't want to ruin my welcome over there either so I'll just wait till next week.

LOL
There Y'a Go.
Must have some pretty good size metal lathes to take the long post.
When I did mine, I only had my woodworking lathe,
So I turned up some tapered wooden plugs and taped them into the post and was able to drive/support it that way.
Again, it was/is a shorter post.

As far as the Quality of this Drill press, maybe there are better ones, but I have been very happy with this unit.
Never actually measured the run-out, but never seemed to be a problem for my needs.
Thanks,
Tony

 

[GreenGooey]

Those new handles look pretty sweet! I wish I had come across this thread earlier because I have an extra set of handles. I found a perfect set on ebay to replace the ones I had because the threaded part on one was bent. When I cleaned mine up I just ran an orbital sander along the post, it took all the rust off REALLY quick, then I laid on some Johnson's paste wax and it's been fine ever since.

Bent handle.

"New" handles installed.

 

[throttlejunkie1]

Wow thats nice ^^^

Here's my progress. Got some prime and paint done today. I was a sucker for the Hammer finish so I went with that. I'm gonna take the work plate back into work and let the belt sander take care of the work surface later. I'm done for now. I had to mow/edge/weed the yard so I'm calling it a day

I said screw it with the mast....trying to get it to shine by hand. Ain't gonna happen. so I left it the way it is for now

 

[johno]

I might be interested in the handles if you want to get rid of them.

PM me if you like.

Those new handles look pretty sweet! I wish I had come across this thread earlier because I have an extra set of handles. I found a perfect set on ebay to replace the ones I had because the threaded part on one was bent. When I cleaned mine up I just ran an orbital sander along the post, it took all the rust off REALLY quick, then I laid on some Johnson's paste wax and it's been fine ever since.

Bent handle.

"New" handles installed.

 

[johno]

Mast looks pretty good to me.

Wow thats nice ^^^

Here's my progress. Got some prime and paint done today. I was a sucker for the Hammer finish so I went with that. I'm gonna take the work plate back into work and let the belt sander take care of the work surface later. I'm done for now. I had to mow/edge/weed the yard so I'm calling it a day

I said screw it with the mast....trying to get it to shine by hand. Ain't gonna happen. so I left it the way it is for now

 

[throttlejunkie1]

Mast looks pretty good to me.

Well, it does in the picture but up close in person it looks decent at best. Also, the long metal emblem that goes across the top is beat to **** so I shined up the back side of it and I'm going to put it on that way.

 

[omr]

Mast looks pretty good to me.

thats what i was thinking but i guess he was looking for a polished chrome look

 

[GreenGooey]

Wow thats nice ^^^

Thanks man!

I'd say yours cleaned up pretty well. I like the dark color, the black and the silver are going to look great together. Post more pictures when you get everything back together.

 

[throttlejunkie1]

Thanks man!

I'd say yours cleaned up pretty well. I like the dark color, the black and the silver are going to look great together. Post more pictures when you get everything back together.

I/m gonna make an attempt to finish it later today. I got new hardware to mount the motor and installed, more old hardware I still have to clean, and I still got this damn arbor soaking in PB blaster. The metal tag that goes across the top from side to side is gonna be painted now. I couldn't salvage that old machined pattern while trying to clean it.

I threw the turn crank up there just to see what it looks like. I think I'm going to shorten the handles down about 2"

 

[mrbreezeet1]

The metal tag that goes across the top from side to side is gonna be painted now. I couldn't salvage that old machined pattern while trying to clean it.

Those metal tags are sort of cool, a lot of the early craftsman had those. Had a common name they gave them, didn't make sense to me, auto turned or automotive or something, can't recall or find it mentioned.
Here it is on a little lathe,
Here are some cool catalogs I found.
http://www.roseantiquetools.com/id116.html

I am looking at the 1931 catalog, some of these old tools are so cool. Check out the gas motor running a tablesaw on page 27.

 

[throttlejunkie1]

Those metal tags are sort of cool, a lot of the early craftsman had those. Had a common name they gave them, didn't make sense to me, auto turned or automotive or something, can't recall or find it mentioned.
Here it is on a little lathe,
Here are some cool catalogs I found.
http://www.roseantiquetools.com/id116.html

I am looking at the 1931 catalog, some of these old tools are so cool. Check out the gas motor running a tablesaw on page 27.

I'm prolly gonna keep my eye out on ebay for another one. I prefer the original look of those bans.

Well, the chuck arbor wouldn't break free. I had it in a vise, using a strap wrench trying to get it to loosen up and it never would. I ended up wackin it with a big dead blow and it shattered to pieces.

I found an old corded drill that didn't work at a garage sale this morning and I bought it for a dollar, thinking I could use the arbor on that one. Got home, disassembled it and found out that the chuck arbor is threaded and the quill shaft that goes to my craftsman isn't. It was pressed in... My momentum is slowing down on this project a little bit lol.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Those metal tags are sort of cool, a lot of the early craftsman had those. Had a common name they gave them, didn't make sense to me, auto turned or automotive or something, can't recall or find it mentioned.

Engine Turning, or Damascening,

 

[throttlejunkie1]

Well, I put it all back together and tried it out. I'm really happy with it. There is still a few things I need to take care of. I'm going to search for a bigger Jacobs chuck/arbor and shorten the handles about 2" and keep searching for that metal band up top. I used high temp grease on everything. Turned it on, and doesn't shake and it quiet as a mouse.

 

[mrbreezeet1]

Engine Turning, or

Yeah That was it
throttlejunkie1
What did you do for a chuck, were you able to use the garage sale one?

 

[throttlejunkie1]

Yes I was able to use the garage sale one. Its a little bit smaller than the original one though. It will do for now.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Looks good! I didn't notice until now that your table and base are different than most Craftsman drill presses I've seen. I wonder if they're from another brand, or if it was just a different style that Craftsman used for a while. Here's a picture of mine for comparison.

 

[throttlejunkie1]

Looks good! I didn't notice until now that your table and base are different than most Craftsman drill presses I've seen. I wonder if they're from another brand, or if it was just a different style that Craftsman used for a while. Here's a picture of mine for comparison

Yea, a few of us talked about that earlier in the thread. I'm pretty certain that someone swapped out the Craftsman head and put it on another brand drill press a long time ago. The table and base looked equally beat up and old as the head was, but I'm sure its a mix/match set up.