Craftsman 150 drill press questions

[jbrwn]

Hello - I just picked up a craftsman 150 drill press this past weekend and would like to restore it. This will be my first time restoring a tool so apologies in advance for the noob questions.

I did search the forums and read a ton already as well as watched a series of YouTube videos from a channel called Jeff’s shop who I understand also posts here. Blown away by the high quality content the community is putting out.

Anyways a few questions:

1. I don’t plan on repainting which I understand means I shouldn’t soak the painted parts (or badges) in simple green. Should I just wipe these parts with simple green or do a 24hr citric acid soak or maybe both?

2. I don’t need a high polish finish but I do want to make everything look good as long as I have everything dissembled. In the Jeff’s shop video he makes use of lathes for sanding and bench grinder w/ a wire wheel for cleaning things up. I don’t have either. Is it worth it to hand sand and hit parts up with a wire brush or drill mounted wheel instead?

3. Is it possible to service the chuck without complete disassemble? If not completely rebuilding should avoid soaking in degreaser or citric acid?

4. There is no switch on the motor currently. Any tips on how to add one of those toggle switches I’ve seen on a few these old DPs?

THANK YOU!

 

[FrankLee]

I prefer to preserve the original paint.

I use Grez-Off with a small plastic brush on the painted cast iron parts. It does an amazing job. I follow up with a paste wax.
I also use G-O on the pulleys and hub.

Rusty bare steel parts get soaked in citric acid in HOT water. It only takes a couple hours. Steel wool easily removes the residue.


There really is no substitute for dismantling a chuck. I would not recommend soaking an assembled chuck in CA or evaporust. If you must soak in something, ATF would not harm it but it would be dripping for a while.


What’s your location?

 

[FrankLee]

A foot switch works great with a motor with no switch. . You can get a momentary switch at HF for under $20.

 

[gleman]

Nice DP! The paint is fairly tough, I'd scrub the hell out of it before I'd consider repainting.

Clean up the bare metal to your satisfaction only. Is this a garage princess or are you going to use it a lot?

Sandpaper, steel wool, wd40 and a little sweat cleans up most sins. This is a project you should enjoy. No need for extra tools.

@FrankLee is right about the chuck. I've learned a lot, taking time to disassemble a rebuild things.

 

[Davefr]

You can improve the column by getting a roll of 1" sandpaper and wrap it around the column and pull it back and forth and work it from top to bottom. Use WD-40 as a lubricant. Progress from medium to fine then clean it good and apply a coating of Johnsons paste wax. It'll make a nice satin finish.

Hit the table top and base with a DA sander with medium to fine discs then wax.

You won't get Jeff's chrome like finish but it's pretty easy and will look a whole lot better.

 

[jbrwn]

Frank, thanks for the quick reply! I am located in Montana USA.

Is the Grez-Off just a preference vs simple green for painted surfaces or is it a truly superior product. Just curious as i don't think its available locally. I can order it if needed though. Do you do a rinse after applying or just wipe clean.

For the steel wool what grade do you use and do you use any kind of lube with it. is scotch brite pads an equal alternative here as well. asking as i think i already have some lying around.

Thank You!

 

[jbrwn]

Ok yall have convinced my to dig into the chuck as well. Thanks again!

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

I used barkeepers' friend on my Craftsman 100 drill press. It worked great! Did not harm the original paint at all.

 

[FrankLee]

Frank, thanks for the quick reply! I am located in Montana USA.

Is the Grez-Off just a preference vs simple green for painted surfaces or is it a truly superior product.

G-O is my preference but here are other similar products. IMO and IME, simple green doesn’t come close. I’ve posted many examples

Just curious as i don't think it’s available locally. I can order it if needed though. Do you do a rinse after applying or just wipe clean.

Yes rinse

For the steel wool what grade do you use and do you use any kind of lube with it. is scotch brite pads an equal alternative here as well. asking as i think i already have some lying around.

I use multiple grades of steel wool. But use what you have. Scotch brite will work too.

Thank You!

 

[11b30b4]

Hello and welcome to GJ. I am glad you found my YT channel helpful. It looks like everyone here has made several great suggestions. If you want to preserve the paint then avoid simple green. With all the tools and methods I show in videos I intend to strip and repaint all the tools I work on. Getting your 150 into tiptop work order should not be too hard. I will say that honestly the only way to get the chuck working like new is to disassemble it, clean it, grease it, then assemble it. I have a video that is all about the Jacob's chuck here:

 

[jbrwn]

Right on. Appreciate all the guidance!

One more question what do you all usually do for motors?

The powr kraft motor runs pretty smooth but I do need to replace the power cord. I was thinking about pulling it apart and cleaning the internals but hesitate as I have never worked on an electric motor before and I can’t find much info about this model online.

One interesting note is that it seems to have lube ports on each end.

 

[11b30b4]

Lube ports are because it has sleeve bearings rather than ball bearings. I would not recommend opening the motor unless you know what your are doing or are willing to risk damaging the motor. Personally, I would replace the motor with a used Craftsman 115.6962 motor. They are easily found on Craigs list, FB marketplace, etc... The Craftsman would complement the drill press and be period correct. If you do replace the motor just make sure its 1/2 HP or more and runs at 1725 or 1750 rpm. Do not get anything faster like 3650 rpm, those motor are for saws not drill presses. If you decide to keep the power kraft motor you can install a power switch when you replace the power cord. should be fairly simple.

 

[jbrwn]

Thanks again for the response. Unfortunately I live in a somewhat remote area so craigslist and FB are pretty limited when it comes to this stuff. Ill probably just rock the powr kraft for now. If im not opening it up is it worth hitting the internals with compressed air and/or contact cleaner through vents or something like that?. probably overthinking things at this point but am excited to work on this DP.

 

[FrankLee]

Grez-Off examples:

 

[alfadan]

If you keep the motor with oil cups, I would take it off the press and put just 2 or 3 drops of light oil in the cups and let it sit horizontally for a day or so. Put a cord on it with whatever switch you want and run it!

 

[jbrwn]

If you keep the motor with oil cups, I would take it off the press and put just 2 or 3 drops of light oil in the cups and let it sit horizontally for a day or so. Put a cord on it with whatever switch you want and run it!

Right on. I was just looking up how to oil these things. Thanks!

 

[jbrwn]

Frank, the Grez-Off pictures are amazing. Honestly a bit shocked at how much grime came off. Thanks for following up on that!

 

[Davefr]

Right on. Appreciate all the guidance!

One more question what do you all usually do for motors?

The powr kraft motor runs pretty smooth but I do need to replace the power cord. I was thinking about pulling it apart and cleaning the internals but hesitate as I have never worked on an electric motor before and I can’t find much info about this model online.

One interesting note is that it seems to have lube ports on each end.

There's really not a lot that needs cleaning in a DP motor other than ball bearings but yours has sleeve bearings. If you do replace the motor I'd go 3 phase and VFD it. A VFD and DP is a marriage made in heaven.

 

[jbrwn]

Hello everyone - The chuck on my DP is a Jacobs 633C. Im missing a key. I believe the "correct" key is a jacobs k3c but I have seen folks say that a k3 will work as well. Does anyone know what the difference between these two keys are? The appear identical.


Also, how similar is the 633C to the 34-33C. Would the video jeff posted above still serve as a good guide for rebuilding this chuck?

Thanks again!

 

[jfk92]

Congrats on the DP - I recently finished restoring one of mine. Don't let the chuck intimidate - the video offered is great. I pressed mine apart to find a handful of teeth were destroyed internally on each of the chuck jaws - the jacobs rebuild kits I've seen are twice what I paid for the DP - so now lurking and waiting for an appropriate chuck to come up for sale online! Good luck!

 

[FrankLee]

Also, how similar is the 633C to the 34-33C. Would the video jeff posted above still serve as a good guide for rebuilding this chuck?

Those chucks are very similar. Yes, follow Jeff's dismantle and reassembly procedure.

 

[FrankLee]

I pressed mine apart to find a handful of teeth were destroyed internally on each of the chuck jaws

Which model is yours? If your can't find replacement jaws, save the sleeve for dismantling and reassembling other chucks.

 

[jfk92]

Good idea. It's a No. 33 chuck

 

[Indexmill]

Hello everyone - The chuck on my DP is a Jacobs 633C. Im missing a key. I believe the "correct" key is a jacobs k3c but I have seen folks say that a k3 will work as well. Does anyone know what the difference between these two keys are? The appear identical.

Those chucks are the same; one is just older than the other. The keys are the same.

 

[jbrwn]

Thanks everyone it’s happening!

 

[11b30b4]

My video goes over the key and how to grab one. They go for around 10.00. Also check out this thread:

Craftsman Drill Press Information Belts, Bearings, Chucks, Keys, etc…1946-1984

Welcome to the newly Updated (May 2023) Craftsman Drill Press “go to thread”. If you have one of these types of drill presses, this thread is for you. Bookmark, subscribe, whatever; so that you can find it when you need it. This thread is primarily targeted at new owners of vintage Craftsman...

www.garagejournal.com

About halfway down on the first page is a ton of info for parts and where to get them.
Lastly, when you press the chuck apart be sure to have the jaws protrude about 1/2" otherwise you will break off teeth. I do not know if thats what happened with JFK92s chuck or if they were broken previously but I have snapped a back tooth or two in disassembly before.
The rebuild kits are way overpriced in my opinion and when I needed a chuck, I just ordered a new one. The new Jacob's chucks are not made in the USA but they are good quality and I have had no issues with them.

 

[jfk92]

So I believe the damage was already done to my chuck teeth - it was always difficult to manipulate and locked up at times. I did keep the jaws protruding when pressing it apart - upon disassembly there was also no debris of teeth that fell out (if I had done it). But jbrwn if you follow 11b30b4's video's closely - all is rather easy - they are very thorough and clear!

 

[jbrwn]

Ok another update - got everything disassembled except for the chuck. Watched Jeff’s videos of the chuck rebuild. Very very helpful.

For removing the chuck sleeve, Jeff mentions using a section of pipe/tubing. Is there something off the shelf from the big box stores that works well for this or are people fabricating their own pieces (or in franks case just using another sleeve)?

 

[jbrwn]

Ok Jacobs chuck is disassembled. I removed the sleeve with a cheap harbor freight puller. Took a lot of wrestling but I didn't have a vice big enough for this. I *do not* recommend this method lol.

For the “sleeve tube”I used a 1 1/2 EMT coupling cut in half. i measured the sleeve at 1.67 ID and 1.93 OD and the coupling ID is something like 1.75 It’s pretty thin metal. probably something a bit more substantial would be better. As you can see I almost ripped it apart with the puller.

Anyways happy Mother’s Day to all who celebrate

 

[bugzilla46310]

Right on. I was just looking up how to oil these things. Thanks!

You can get oil cups that have a 90 degree bend so you could utilize them on a vertical motor. Agree with the comment on find a ball bearing motor, if not now, down the road.

 

[11b30b4]

congrats on getting the chuck apart. I need to turn notifications on for this thread so I can respond in a more timely manner. I now use an old sleeve that FrankLee sent me but before that i was using a coupler. No idea what size it was, I too the chuck (assembled) to home Depot and walked around until I found something that fit. The coupler I have (at work now or I would measure it for you) is loose so not a great fit and you can see me struggle to keep it aligned in my videos but it works. I did purchase an actual tool for this but it was designed for the 33b and the the 34c with the safe lock ring so its too short and now sites in a bin.

 

[jbrwn]

congrats on getting the chuck apart. I need to turn notifications on for this thread so I can respond in a more timely manner. I now use an old sleeve that FrankLee sent me but before that i was using a coupler. No idea what size it was, I too the chuck (assembled) to home Depot and walked around until I found something that fit. The coupler I have (at work now or I would measure it for you) is loose so not a great fit and you can see me struggle to keep it aligned in my videos but it works. I did purchase an actual tool for this but it was designed for the 33b and the the 34c with the safe lock ring so its too short and now sites in a bin.

Hey no worries. Yeah it sounds like an old sleeve is really the best. Just need to collect more DPs and parts .

 

[jbrwn]

And here are a few progress pictures. Sanded/polished the column and pulleys by hand. Would not recommend unless you are looking for an arm workout lol.

A couple other notes. I used a brass brush to clean the pulleys and it did leave some scratches that I couldn’t completely sand away. Just a note to my future self to be less aggressive when cleaning parts.

Hard to tell from the picture but the column does have some pitting. Very hard to remove it just with hand sanding.

 

[jfk92]

Looking good jbrwn!

 

[jbrwn]

Happy Friday y’all. More progress pics.

Got everything cleaned up except for the chuck. For cleaning the painted cast iron parts i first tried simple green and a nylon scrub brush. While this worked ok i found that doing a soak for ~20 minutes in a tub of simple green worked a lot better. Hard to tell from the pics but the body got quite a bit cleaner than the base and table which didn't get the soak treatment.

For the parts i did a 24hr simple green soak followed by 24hr citric acid solution soak. Then for the small parts i used 00 steel wool to clean them up. For the bigger cylindrical parts i hand sanded with 600/800/1000 wet sand paper and then polished with a metal polish. Lastly everything is sprayed down with super lube spray and wiped down again. This is pretty much step for step what Jeff did in his rebuild videos minus the use of a lathe and wire wheel.

You may also noticed that i stripped the paint off the motor mount (it was painted black). I didn't actually mean to do this but the mount got put into the simple green bath which does strip paint if you let it work long enough. Oh well. its just going to be unpainted metal now.

 

[jbrwn]

Ok everything is put back together and up and running. Big thanks to everyone who helped me out in this thread an to everyone who has posted about their DP rebuilds online.


One thing i asked about previously was about adding a switch to the motor. Here is what i came up with. It just a steel L bracket with a toggle switch attached to one of the motor end bracket screws. it gets the job done but not sure i would recommend this approach due to the exposed wiring. Already gave myself a shock fiddling with the motor position lol.


One thing that did give me a bit of trouble is the motor/pulley position and belt tension. Im not actually sure i have this totally figured out. When i first set things up i had issues with the motor "bouncing" on start up. Like the torque of the motor would pull the top towards the DP and the bottom with the threaded stud would swing away and bounce a few times. Not exactly the same as described in this thread but some of the advice did help.

Craftsman 150 Drill Press Motor Bounce

I recently picked up a Craftsman 150 drill press and overall its in great condition and works wonderfully. The belt it came with though was pretty rough, so I picked up a replacemement 44" kevlar belt. It has the swivel motor mount and a 1/2hp motor. My problem is that the motor bounces...

www.garagejournal.com

I ended up reducing tension in the belt which seemed to help but i still get some bounce on startup when the belt is on the top pulleys (fastest speed). Reducing tension any more seems to make things a bit too sloppy.


Lastly i did replace the belt with this cogged v-belt which honestly didn't seem to make any difference. It actually feels a bit stiff to be honest. Maybe its the synthetic rubber vs natural rubber? Anyways if anyone has any additional tips that would be great. i could probably live with it as is but would love fix the bounce and get this thing dialed in.

https://www.autozone.com/cooling-heating-and-climate-control/belt/p/duralast-belt-17443/304980_0_0

 

[FrankLee]

Very nice job cleaning up that machine!

One thing i asked about previously was about adding a switch to the motor. Here is what i came up with. It just a steel L bracket with a toggle switch attached to one of the motor end bracket screws. it gets the job done but not sure i would recommend this approach due to the exposed wiring. Already gave myself a shock fiddling with the motor position lol.

You might reconsider that foot switch. Or at least use some shrink tubing over the switch terminals.

Lastly i did replace the belt with this cogged v-belt which honestly didn't seem to make any difference. It actually feels a bit stiff to be honest. Maybe its the synthetic rubber vs natural rubber? Anyways if anyone has any additional tips that would be great. i could probably live with it as is but would love fix the bounce and get this thing dialed in.

Several years ago, Autozone started sourcing some belts from Mexico. I found those to be terrible... very stiff. I could always identify those belts immediately because they had a very shiny outside circumference. If yours is Mexico, return it. Belts from U.S. or India were always good.

 

[JoCoSawdust]

Nice work. Here's a home-made option to solve the switch issue. I don't think I'd be a big fan if the exposed wiring.

 

[alfadan]

Could use a plain ol light switch in a metal switch box

 

[jbrwn]

Probably my final post on this thread. Thanks again everyone! Regarding the motor, pulley and belt alignment. I did swap out the cheap Duralast made in Mexico belt with a more expensive gates belt and it did seem to help. Also added a rubber bumper to the threaded post on The motor mount and this actually helped reduce the chatter and vibration quite a bit.