1983 Delta Rockwell 14" Drill Press

[ThatGuyFromTexas]

Good evening,

I have a Rockwell 14-321 that's all original, except for missing a table, and has zero side to side play. According to the manual, the speed range is between 12K, 8K, and 5K RPM. I was wondering if I could get a variable speed controller for the stock AC motor, or if I had to get a treadmill motor for this. Any direction would be wonderful.

I want to drill steel, but I also want to drill through various other material, so rigging up some pulleys isn't ideal, and they're flat belt pulleys, so I'd have a hard enough time finding the pulleys anyway, along with different length belts.

I don't honestly know much about electric motors, a basic idea of how they operate is all, so learning a bit more about them through this would be nice.

I'm also missing a table, there's a makeshift one that the previous owner made, which isn't bad, but I'd like one that's more solid. 2.5" Steel collars are expensive, but that's where my guess is to start. Any ideas on what I could do would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: I will post pictures after I get to five posts

Any other information anybody has would be really nice too

 

[lafester]

I would imagine a dp220 table would be a good replacement.
What is the column diameter?

A small vfd is ideal for speed control, if you can find a 3 phase motor.

 

[ThatGuyFromTexas]

The column is 2.75" wide.

Would I need to have 240V input for a 3 phase?

 

[lafester]

2 3/4 is perfect for a dp220 table. No, for 1.5hp or less you can get a 110 input vfd.

I just noticed your incredibly high rpm settings. I'm not entirely sure you could slow that puppy down enough and still have enough power to drill through steel.

 

[ThatGuyFromTexas]

Now I'll just have to find one, Amy idea where to look? I figured eBay, but would there be a local place that deals in this stuff?

Well, the motor is 1/3 horse running 3,450 RPM before it hits the pulleys. Motor pulley is 4" at its smallest and spindle pulley is 2.5" at its biggest. Thankfully I got a manual with it.

 

[tool_scrounge]

That is the high speed sensitive drill press. Does it have a flat belt? Great for metal provided you are drilling 1.5mm or less diameter holes. Not good for general use. Sell it and get a regular drill press. Too much torque and it will break unobtainable parts in the drivetrain of the spindle.

 

[ThatGuyFromTexas]

Yes it does have the flat belt and pulleys.

Well that explains why it has a 1/4" chuck.

Maybe I'll hold onto it and not jack with it. I still need to drill things that aren't steel.

 

[ThatGuyFromTexas]

https://ibb.co/HY3XQfP

https://ibb.co/Gvwg7w2

What was it originally for? I'm good to drill wood and synthetics with it, correct?

 

[tool_scrounge]

They were used to drill holes in printed circuit boards in the olden days. They work well but take up a lot of bench space compared to smaller high speed drill presses.

 

[lafester]

That thing looks almost identical to the dp220. Can't you swap in normal pulleys?
What is the shaft diameter on the spindle and motor?

I love that quill lock knob...

 

[Whitworth]

Vastly different from the old DP-220. Spindle, splines, pulleys all proprietary.
Unless you're doing jewelry making or printed circuit boards it's nothing but a conversation piece.

 

[ThatGuyFromTexas]

Motor shaft is 1/2" and I think the spindle has a screw that sets it into the quill, which is about an inch.

Ok, so now I have a different question. I got this because I was wanting to get back into knife making, meaning I'd be punching holes in handle material, liners, and unhardened steel blades. I wouldn't be using anything larger than an 1/8" and probably no thicker than 1/8". Could I use this? Or would I screw something up?

I'm with you, I love the quill lock. I really like the general layout of everything.

 

[tool_scrounge]

For 1/8 holes, the spindle speed for drilling steel is about 2000rpm for High speed steel and 3000rpm for carbide drills. What speed is the motor? Is it 3450 rpm?

Edit - yes, that is a 3450 rpm motor. One option - buy a used 1725 motor with the same shaft size and you will end up with 2500 rpm mini um speed, which is about what you want. Keep the old motor though for when you want to resell it.

 

[WAS Jr]

The column is 2.75" wide.

Would I need to have 240V input for a 3 phase?

That column is standard for American light drill presses thru the 80’s. Any table from any 14-15 inch will fit. You’re in luck there.

That drill press, though, is made to drill tiny holes thru non ferrous materials. The guys are right, keep that one and get a conventional drill press, you could find a slow speed kit or pulley easier than trying to reduce speeds on the other one.

A VFD would solve the three phase issue.
Bill S

 

[ThatGuyFromTexas]

Fortunately I have a motor just like that.

https://ibb.co/0DhP08v

I'll just need to double check that it works.

That's great to hear, I'll just have to keep an eye out. Need to find some flea markets to go to.

 

[lafester]

I wasn't thinking about the motor rpm. Get a low rpm 3 phase and a vfd and you would be good to go.

 

[ThatGuyFromTexas]

I wasn't thinking about the motor rpm. Get a low rpm 3 phase and a vfd and you would be good to go.

That'd be nice, I could spend a bit to get something with a wide range of options. About how much does that combo run?

 

[tool_scrounge]

Regardless of how you slow it down, it is not designed to drill anything but small holes.

From the catalog description:

This Rockwell Super-Hi Sensitive Drill Press meets the
special problems of small hole drilling. It's ideal for man-
ufacturers of j ewelry, carburetors, brass fittings, elec-
tronic devices and specialty parts where small hole drill-
ing is a problem.
While recommended for all drillable materials, it is
especially suitable for non-ferrous metals like brass,
copper, aluminum and all the precious metals. Also ideal
for phenolics.

Overload it and the phenolic female spline blows up. Hard to find replacemts as Joe at Plaza machinery passed on.

https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general-archive/rockwell-delta-sensitive-drill-press-87014/

 

[ThatGuyFromTexas]

Regardless of how you slow it down, it is not designed to drill anything but small holes.

From the catalog description:

This Rockwell Super-Hi Sensitive Drill Press meets the
special problems of small hole drilling. It's ideal for man-
ufacturers of jewelry, carburetors, brass fittings, elec-
tronic devices and specialty parts where small hole drill-
ing is a problem.
While recommended for all drillable materials, it is
especially suitable for non-ferrous metals like brass,
copper, aluminum and all the precious metals. Also ideal
for phenolics.

Overload it and the phenolic female spline blows up. Hard to find replacements as Joe at Plaza machinery passed on.

https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general-archive/rockwell-delta-sensitive-drill-press-87014/

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I was disregarding what you were saying.

I'm just going to use this for small holes for handles and when I get there, slip joint knives. Which after what you were saying makes it sound even more promising, there's some materials that people have a hard time blowing out the back of or trouble drilling without breaking, like pearl and other precious materials.

I figured I'd keep an eye out for a standard benchtop drill press for when I need something more robust or bigger holes.

You quoting that out of the catalog reminded me that I got an instruction and parts manual with this thing. Why I didn't check that out first I'll never know

In here it says that:

"The recommended range of drill sizes is #72 through 1/8 inch. Drills up to 1/4 inch can be held in the chuck, but it should be understood that 1/8 to 1/4 inch drills may be used only in soft materials such as aluminum, brass, wood, and plastics, where light loads and high surface speeds are required. For Iron, steel, and other metals requiring low speeds use the standard 14-inch drill press when drilling holes larger than 1/8 inch."

Just looked up #72, man, 0.025" is a tiny little bit!
You could even order a special bit to go all the way down to #80, no wonder it's so fast.

So according to this, I should be able to use this, within the specified ranges, without changing the motor, correct? 1/8" being the absolute maximum size, #72 being the absolute smallest size.

I'm fairly certain I can keep all my holes, including any pivot pin holes down to 3/32 even. Could I run 3/32 at 5K safely?

This sure seems like a sweet drill, I don't want to screw anything up, but I'd like it to work for the niche I'm in as well. Please let me know if there's anything I'm missing or if I'm flat out wrong on this. Thank y'all for all the help!

 

[WAS Jr]

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I was disregarding what you were saying.

I'm just going to use this for small holes for handles and when I get there, slip joint knives. Which after what you were saying makes it sound even more promising, there's some materials that people have a hard time blowing out the back of or trouble drilling without breaking, like pearl and other precious materials.

I figured I'd keep an eye out for a standard benchtop drill press for when I need something more robust or bigger holes.

You quoting that out of the catalog reminded me that I got an instruction and parts manual with this thing. Why I didn't check that out first I'll never know

In here it says that:

"The recommended range of drill sizes is #72 through 1/8 inch. Drills up to 1/4 inch can be held in the chuck, but it should be understood that 1/8 to 1/4 inch drills may be used only in soft materials such as aluminum, brass, wood, and plastics, where light loads and high surface speeds are required. For Iron, steel, and other metals requiring low speeds use the standard 14-inch drill press when drilling holes larger than 1/8 inch."

Just looked up #72, man, 0.025" is a tiny little bit!
You could even order a special bit to go all the way down to #80, no wonder it's so fast.

So according to this, I should be able to use this, within the specified ranges, without changing the motor, correct? 1/8" being the absolute maximum size, #72 being the absolute smallest size.

I'm fairly certain I can keep all my holes, including any pivot pin holes down to 3/32 even. Could I run 3/32 at 5K safely?

This sure seems like a sweet drill, I don't want to screw anything up, but I'd like it to work for the niche I'm in as well. Please let me know if there's anything I'm missing or if I'm flat out wrong on this. Thank y'all for all the help!

Honestly, you don't need anything this precise for knifemaking. As a rule, the harder the material the slower the speed. For the cost and effort of modifying this machine, you could get a more appropriate machine. You are trying to use a surgical scalpel to cut barbeque.

 

[ThatGuyFromTexas]

Well, that's certainly true

 

[lafester]

I bet if you parted that one out you could get a nice dp that fits your needs.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

 

[macgee]

I have a lot of clients who are knife makers and have sold numerous (cameron's and others) high speed sensitive drill presses to them. High speed drill presses are popular with people making slip joints. Your drill press is in high demand and should not be altered to make it do something that it was was not designed to do that so many other more common cheaper drill presses can do. These fill a niche designed to something that a lot of typical drill presses can't pull off.

Highly recommend buying another drill press to do bigger holes, much slower speeds. You could sell yours for good money if in good shape that will allow you to buy a nice regular DP..

 

[ThatGuyFromTexas]

I was just thinking about this yesterday, I'm going to leave it unaltered and use it for liners and handle material, exclusively non ferrous. As seems to be the consensus here. Even better since I was wanting to switch to slip joints anyways.

I'm going to keep an eye out for a bench top model, any suggestions?

Also, since I can drill brass with it (is 5k RPM ok for that on small holes?) would I be able to drill titanium with it? Or should I leave that to a normal bench top model?

 

[ThatGuyFromTexas]

Wait, nope, titanium alloys are 20 ft/minute, that'd be almost like spring steel. Nevermind.