Atlas Drill Press

[MCMDave]

I've been searching Craig's List for a Unisaw in decent condition at a price I wanted to pay. I found one; 220 V, HP unknown as yet, single phase. It was purchased in a package that also included this drill press. Here's the little I know about it so far:

Atlas Drill Press
1/3 HP
Jacobs 6A Chuck
33 Taper
Cap 0-1/2

If you know answer my questions, I'll be much obliged to read. I don't know where to look for a model number yet. I'd like to know that to make researching it a little easier maybe. There's no power connector, but there is a small wiring diagram on the electrical box of the motor housing. It's got this goofy splice in the electrical line:

Above the splice, one cable goes to a power switch, the other to the motor. I haven't opened the splice to see what's going on in there.

When might this have been made?

There are some possibly related parts I don't understand. This gadget made from strap, for instance. Is it part of the hydraulic contraption in the last image? It appears to be used to move the table up and down. It has 2 brass compression coupling at the ends of lengths 1/4" brass tubing, but I don't have any other parts to which they might have been attached. Were the hydraulic parts added later or as an option?

 

[MCMDave]

Thanks, Frank. The base is also a little unsteady. I've been working out how I want to bolt it to the floor, or at least to a larger base. It hadn't occurred to me that it may have originally been a bench model, but I bet you're right. The main shaft doesn't have the typical vertical machining I might expect to see. I think I'm gonna scrap all that hydraulic equipment.

The motor that's on here is 1/3 HP. There's no zip code on it's badge, so probably 1963 or earlier. Thanks for the link. I had late 30s early 40s in mind, and wondered if it might be military surplus. It's not really heavy enough for that, I thought, but the one in the thread you recommended is dated 1941, so that general time period anyway. I like tools from this era.

 

[1930artdeco]

From the firs picture it looks like mine and I dated it to either 37 or 50 I would have to go home and check my paperwork. It is a very sturdy press either way.

Mike

 

[Whitworth]

Picture of pulley guard would help narrow it down, but I'd guess late 1940's into the 50's.

 

[Lassen Forge]

It reminds me of one of those gigs that ran hydraulics controlled by a foot valve to run the table (and work stock) up and down... I haven't seen one of those in years (it may well be a factory thing), and I kinda really dig that for moving stock and lining stuff up! The wiring will be easy to suss out... and the whole thing just looks cool!

You may have to bolt it down to stabilize the thing, but, well... Good luck!

 

[bmw57isetta]

What you have there is an Atlas model 61 benchtop that's been retrofitted with a longer column to convert it to a floor-stander. If you follow the link below to the 1935 Atlas catalog you'll notice the Model 71 is the same press but with a taller column and much larger base. The 'swoosh' on the side of the head casting is a dead ringer.

Nice snag! That should clean up very nicely. As mentioned, a head shot or two or three would be nice to see.

Note: The catalog pdf file is slow to load, 20-30 seconds.

http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/51/17749.pdf