Lots of people on here seem to be into the classic tools so I thought many on here would enjoy this story:
I learned some cool stuff researching the other night. A few years ago I bought a nice old heavy duty drill press from the company I used to work for. It was my first job out of college and I learned a lot. I worked closely with the owner of the company and he became a bit of a mentor. He said he had personally drilled tens of thousands of holes with that press as he worked his way to the top, which I thought was pretty cool. I lived with my parents at the time, so the drill press went into storage in their barn.
I've got a house now and have been setting up my garage for almost a year now, among other projects. I had picked up an import benchtop drill press a few months ago on craigslist figuring it'd help me save space in the garage and planned to sell the old one. I finally got the old press out of storage last weekend and tried it out. Not only does it function perfectly, but it's an American made Rockwell/Delta Milwaukee manufactured in 1950. It's smooth, quiet, powerful, and precise. It just plain works awesome and will DEFINITELY be replacing the import drill press.
Now for the kicker: As if it weren't cool enough that it's 34 years older than me and still working better than the new junk, I also found out that my Grandpa, one of the biggest and best role models I've had in my life, worked for Rockwell at the time this was built. While I didn't actually get the press from him, I still think it's awesome to have that connection with him and his past. I just wish he were still around to hear the story!
And since everybody is gonna ask anyway, here's the drill press! It's probably blasphemy to have it sitting next to a Harbor Freight hydraulic press, but unfortunately I'm not made of money...
It's a 1950 Rockwell/Delta Milwaukee DP 220 with the low speed pulley setup. I do lots of metal work, so I'm very happy to have the low speed setup. The motor isn't original, but considering its previous use on production lines I'm not surprised. It works great and purrs like a kitten so I'm okay with it. It's been repainted, has plenty of signs of use, and lots of drill marks in the table. Eventually I'll probably do a basic restoration, but for now it'll be my workhorse so I'm not too worried about it looking perfect. I may fix the table, but it doesn't affect function anyway.
Just thought I'd share
I learned some cool stuff researching the other night. A few years ago I bought a nice old heavy duty drill press from the company I used to work for. It was my first job out of college and I learned a lot. I worked closely with the owner of the company and he became a bit of a mentor. He said he had personally drilled tens of thousands of holes with that press as he worked his way to the top, which I thought was pretty cool. I lived with my parents at the time, so the drill press went into storage in their barn.
I've got a house now and have been setting up my garage for almost a year now, among other projects. I had picked up an import benchtop drill press a few months ago on craigslist figuring it'd help me save space in the garage and planned to sell the old one. I finally got the old press out of storage last weekend and tried it out. Not only does it function perfectly, but it's an American made Rockwell/Delta Milwaukee manufactured in 1950. It's smooth, quiet, powerful, and precise. It just plain works awesome and will DEFINITELY be replacing the import drill press.
Now for the kicker: As if it weren't cool enough that it's 34 years older than me and still working better than the new junk, I also found out that my Grandpa, one of the biggest and best role models I've had in my life, worked for Rockwell at the time this was built. While I didn't actually get the press from him, I still think it's awesome to have that connection with him and his past. I just wish he were still around to hear the story!
And since everybody is gonna ask anyway, here's the drill press! It's probably blasphemy to have it sitting next to a Harbor Freight hydraulic press, but unfortunately I'm not made of money...
It's a 1950 Rockwell/Delta Milwaukee DP 220 with the low speed pulley setup. I do lots of metal work, so I'm very happy to have the low speed setup. The motor isn't original, but considering its previous use on production lines I'm not surprised. It works great and purrs like a kitten so I'm okay with it. It's been repainted, has plenty of signs of use, and lots of drill marks in the table. Eventually I'll probably do a basic restoration, but for now it'll be my workhorse so I'm not too worried about it looking perfect. I may fix the table, but it doesn't affect function anyway.
Just thought I'd share
Last edited:
