Another Delta Triple Duty Grinder

[Davefr]

I just finished restoring this old girl. It was in great shape for it's age and the only parts needed were LED light bulbs for the eye shields, replaced glass lenses with polycarbonate, new cord and fresh grinding wheels. The name plates cleanup up like new. I cheated by deciding to paint the end bells black to create some contrast with the gray. Before and after. These are the best adjustable tool rests I've ever seen on a grinder. I think it's from the late 40's or very early '50's.

 

[RTM]

Looks sharp with the two tone.

 

[Southern83]

Looks good!

 

[Jayman17]

Beautiful job on that!

 

[Provincial]

Very nice!

 

[Tarnished]

Nice job Davefr, Looks like new, and should hold up for the next 50yr's with just a little care! There wonderful pedestal grinders, thanks for posting.

 

[8pack]

Amazing job!

I just was gifted one on a pedestal last week along with a South Bend 14" drill press. I just started restoring the drill press but would love to know how you restored the badge. This is what mine looks like right now and I have no idea how to get the result you did. Amazing!

The entire badge was unreadable when I started cleaning it up. The first picture was after a few minutes of cleaning and you can see what it looked like by looking at the top 1/2 of the badge. Some fast orange hand cleaner got it cleaned up enough to be readable.

As an aside any idea what these are realistically worth. Internet prices are all over the place. Thanks!

 

[Davefr]

On mine I got lucky and all the name plate needed was polishing followed by a clear coat of lacquer. On yours, you could spray the entire nameplate with red lacquer and then sand out the areas that should be bare metal with a very fine sandpaper. Then you do they same thing with Delta and the specs using black lacquer. It helps to mask as much as you can along the way. It's not a quick and easy process and you really need a nameplate with relief in the stamping. Another option is to get the artwork and have bayphoto.com make a new nameplate with their direct on aluminum printing process. Vintagemachinery.org has some artwork files in their wiki.

As far as value it's all over the place. That pedestal alone is very hard to find and probably in the $300+ range. The quench pot is also hard to find. I saw one about like yours a few weeks ago on FB with an asking price of $450 and it was gone in a week. There's another similar on FB for $375 and it's been there quite a while.

 

[designvdo]

I just finished restoring this old girl. It was in great shape for it's age and the only parts needed were LED light bulbs for the eye shields, replaced glass lenses with polycarbonate, new cord and fresh grinding wheels. The name plates cleanup up like new. I cheated by deciding to paint the end bells black to create some contrast with the gray. Before and after. These are the best adjustable tool rests I've ever seen on a grinder. I think it's from the late 40's or very early '50's.

Wow great job. I am just starting my restoration on the same grinder. Can you please let me know the information on the LED bulbs from amazon?

 

[Davefr]

Wow great job. I am just starting my restoration on the same grinder. Can you please let me know the information on the LED bulbs from amazon?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VB3QC9W/?tag=atomicindus08-20

P.S. I'd highly recommend you keep the grinder and lighting on two separate circuits. I rewired mine to do this after discovering you need the illumination before and after the grinder is on, You can do this with two separate switched circuits or one DPDT switch that does Off, Lights, Both.

 

[8pack]

Look up "Vintage Delta Rockwell Parts on eBay". He has almost everything you need to restore your grinder. That's the good news. The bad news is he is retiring and will no longer be selling those parts when he runs out so buy now!

However, if you contact him directly and not through flea bay you can get a MUCH better deal. I will not post his email here as it can get picked up by bots so private message me if you want his contact information. He is very responsive and the discounts are considerable along with cheaper shipping.

 

[RoninB4]

-I've used dozens of this model over the years, you did a nice job restoring it. Matter of fact I've never used one looking that good.

 

[bmwrd0]

This might work for you and the lighting:

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[8pack]

This might work for you and the lighting:

Pardon Our Interruption...

If you PM me I will give you his email address and there is probably a significant discount on it if you contact him directly.

 

[Davefr]

This might work for you and the lighting:

Pardon Our Interruption...

That's exactly what I added to mine. I don't think he has too many left. He also has replacement lenses. Get a pair to have as spares. They're cheap.

 

[8pack]

What paint did you use on yours? Spray can or brush on? I have rustoleum in a quart can that I used on my drill press and was perfect given the casting etc. I am under the impression it is more durable but maybe that is because it leaves a thicker coat. It takes at least a week to properly cure and ideally a month before it is really done. Time is not a consideration here.

The lense holders/covers and motor seem from a final finish perspective might be better with a spray can and the cast items like the pedestal, motor stand and wheel covers better suited to a brush on but I am just not sure. I haven't been able to find a match grey in both the brush on and spray can. The feet on mine is much darker. Has slight blue hue to it but definitely still grey. I wiped it down throughly with acetone and in a couple of areas I made sure I took enough of the paint off to be able to see the original color.

Any perspective on paint type and brand would be welcome. I am just finishing priming all my parts and getting ready for the top coat.

Thanks!

 

[Davefr]

What paint did you use on yours? Spray can or brush on? I have rustoleum in a quart can that I used on my drill press and was perfect given the casting etc. I am under the impression it is more durable but maybe that is because it leaves a thicker coat. It takes at least a week to properly cure and ideally a month before it is really done. Time is not a consideration here.

The lense holders/covers and motor seem from a final finish perspective might be better with a spray can and the cast items like the pedestal, motor stand and wheel covers better suited to a brush on but I am just not sure. I haven't been able to find a match grey in both the brush on and spray can. The feet on mine is much darker. Has slight blue hue to it but definitely still grey. I wiped it down throughly with acetone and in a couple of areas I made sure I took enough of the paint off to be able to see the original color.

Any perspective on paint type and brand would be welcome. I am just finishing priming all my parts and getting ready for the top coat.

Thanks!

I used Krylon Rust Stop Battleship Gray and Rustoleum Satin Black spray cans. The light housings were sprayed with Rust Oleum aluminum.

 

[designvdo]

I just finished restoring this old girl. It was in great shape for it's age and the only parts needed were LED light bulbs for the eye shields, replaced glass lenses with polycarbonate, new cord and fresh grinding wheels. The name plates cleanup up like new. I cheated by deciding to paint the end bells black to create some contrast with the gray. Before and after. These are the best adjustable tool rests I've ever seen on a grinder. I think it's from the late 40's or very early '50's.

Nice job. What size on the cable. 16 or 18 gauge?

 

[Davefr]

It's been nearly a year later and I've finally found a decent original cast iron quench pot with mounting arm to finish this project. They are super scarce and often in crappy condition. This one restored nicely. I stripped all the old paint and rust scale and coated the inside with two coats of POR15 and then painted the entire pot with Rustoleum satin black.

 

[8pack]

That's exactly what I did with mine except the outside I painted grey like the rest of the unit. That POR15 is bulletproof. Would love to get a second quench pot but like you said, rare as hens teeth.

 

[jayemm]

Amazing job!

I just was gifted one on a pedestal last week along with a South Bend 14" drill press. I just started restoring the drill press but would love to know how you restored the badge. This is what mine looks like right now and I have no idea how to get the result you did. Amazing!

The entire badge was unreadable when I started cleaning it up. The first picture was after a few minutes of cleaning and you can see what it looked like by looking at the top 1/2 of the badge. Some fast orange hand cleaner got it cleaned up enough to be readable.

As an aside any idea what these are realistically worth. Internet prices are all over the place. Thanks!

The data plate shows 6.6 amps for 1/2 HP. Back when things were rated more conservative or honest.

 

[jayemm]

I just finished restoring this old girl. It was in great shape for it's age and the only parts needed were LED light bulbs for the eye shields, replaced glass lenses with polycarbonate, new cord and fresh grinding wheels. The name plates cleanup up like new. I cheated by deciding to paint the end bells black to create some contrast with the gray. Before and after. These are the best adjustable tool rests I've ever seen on a grinder. I think it's from the late 40's or very early '50's.

Beautiful job.

 

[RoninB4]

-Niiiiice job you did. Looks great.