Atlas Drill Press 42b?

[AFD256]

Hey everyone, just picked this drill press up from a garage sale, pretty sure it's a 42b. Got it home and it runs, have to clean it up alittle. I looked around for some info on it and got some good stuff but I am stumped by a switch on the back by the motor. Any ideas? It doesn't seem to do anything when flipped- tried all different times. Trying to get sometime to actually get it done but it's at the end of a longggggg list. The only marking on the actually press is at the base - MEC-2382. There's a link at the bottom for a close up
Thanks
Chris

 

[454ragtop]

Welcome. Does the motor run when you plug it in? If not, could be a bad plug, cord, switch or motor. Easiest is to check with a meter, see if there is power at the switch and work from there, either fwd or backward.

 

[AFD256]

Runs great, got it home and did a couple test drills, I definitely have to change the cord though. I've tried flipping the switch when it was running=no changes, then run the drill, let it stop, flip the switch, turn it back on = same no changes. I tried searching the interwebs with no avail. I did download the brochure from vintage machinery site, it makes no mention of the switch. I thought at one point maybe for a light or something but have never seen one mounted on these

 

[jakemac]

What switch are you using to turn on the drill, or are you just plugging it in to turn it on ?


The motor itself should have it's own on/off switch. This was because, back then, the motor was sold separately and could be used on different machines. Some early machines didn't have their own switch because the motor already had one.

Later (late 30's), switches started being put on the machine as a convenience so you didn't have to reach behind to turn it on. This required both switches to be in the ON position to run.

Sometimes, an owner would bypass the motor switch entirely, and just wire the switch on the DP. Other times, after bypassing the motor switch, the owner would rewiire the motor switch to reverse the polarity of the motor to act as a reversing switch. (My grandfather just added a third switch to his for reversing).

Whether you are just plugging the unit in to turn it on, or using a switch on the DP, it sounds like the switch on the motor was bypassed.

 

[Cahark]

I've had to replace switches in a few baldor grinders. turn the switch on, and it would just stay on until you pulled the cord.


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