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Craftsman Drill Press Broken Spring

T

terratrac20

New member
Joined
Feb 17, 2011
Messages
2
Hello,

My name is Nelson and was referred to this site by a fella on the OWWM web site.

I just recently purchased a Craftsman 15-1/2", 150 drill press. It is model 103.24511 (floor model). What I did not realize until I got the drill press home was the quill return spring is/was MAI. Per the Craftsman parts list it is part number 38989. It is the type spring with a double loop on each end. At one time not too long ago it was available to purchase from Sears. I've tried a couple of springs from my local hardware store but have had no success using them. Oh yeah, it was also missing the depth stop nuts.

I dug up the following info from somewhere on-line:

The dimensions of the spring for Craftsman 15-1/2" 150 DP's:
Type: extension spring
Feed Return Spring part # 38989
body length (minus end loop(s)/tang) = 4"
body diameter = 5/8"
wire diameter - ~0.080"
wire turns = 50
right-hand winding

Hoping someone on this forum may have run into this same issue/problem and may be able to offer a suggestion as to what I can do.

Thank you in advance for any help/advice.

Nelson

I should have titled this "Craftsman Drill Press Missing Spring"
 

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B

BFBOB

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 20, 2011
Messages
5,073
This post really should be in the General Tool Discussion forum - look for a thread there by FrankLee- it covers these drill presses in great detail.

Springs are often rated in pounds per inch. Get a postage scale, put it under the chuck and release all the quill lock/drag adjustments. Let it down and see how much it weighs. I'm guessing 3 lbs or so. Whatever it is, that's a good starting point for the lbs/inch rating you need.

You might have better luck finding a replacement at a real hardware store than a big box. The older the better.

and by the way, that's a really good looking specimen - clearly worth the effort to get it back in working condition. Keep us posted!

And Welcome to GJ!
 
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F

FrankLee

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 13, 2010
Messages
3,547
Location
seMI, 48317
Hello Nelson!

Nelson is local to me and I visited him several times for machine related things. He texted me in January about the spring and, unfortunately, I had nothing available. Ironically, I sold a spring three weeks earlier. I'm still looking for him, but it's been very slow here, especially for 1st to 4th gen Emerson machines with that spring.

These machines use a torsion spring, so the weight of the quill assembly is not directly relevant to a pounds-per-inch measurement like a compression or extension spring would be.

Yes, that is a great looking drill press. With more eyes on this, hopefully a spring will show up.
 
R

row.inc

Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2021
Messages
24
Location
St Louis, MO
Hi, I'm also looking for this spring, have you had any luck finding a source? By chance, do you know the length measurement including the loops? When I go to McMaster Carr, they measure including the loops. Thanks!
 
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M

metlmunchr

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 10, 2011
Messages
1,278
That's a weird spring and likely hard to find. Its a coil spring that looks like an extension spring, but in the application it twists rather than extending, similar to the way a garage door spring works. I'd imagine the doubled loops are there on the ends because the twisting would cause a single loop to disengage sorta regularly.
 
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