Craftsman Model 100 Drill Press Refurbish

[chestmaker matt]

Hello, first time posting here on the board. The press is a Craftsman Model 103.23640 which I believe is a 13” that I got for 75 bucks. The unit looks mostly complete and runs great. I am knee deep in refurbishing it and really excited to clean this old gem up. This is the first time I have ever done something like this so I am relying almost solely on looking at old threads from The Garage Journal. And may I say what a wonderful resource it is. Nice job guys.

I have disassembled most of the press except for taking the quill out of the head and taking apart the motor. I am firmly committed to really going through the entire press, cleaning, lubing, and repainting it. I would like it to last another lifetime. I just started looking at the original craftsman 1/3 hp motor and well, pretty much just scratched my head. I opened up the back and noticed a flat rectangular box with two wires coming out if it. Is this some sort of resistor or transformer? I guess I was just going to clean the motor and paint it but I am thinking about checking the bearings, and maybe updating the wiring and change the switch. Any thoughts? Plus I read somewhere that I may need to get a puller to get the motor apart… is this true?

 

[1982fxr]

what color are you going to paint it?

 

[chestmaker matt]

Not sure yet... After I pulled the aluminum head band off that the press I noticed the factory job was a boring grey. I'll probably paint the motor the factory colors. Maybe for the press a sleek machine light green like I have seen before on this board.

 

[1982fxr]

I'm painting mine Rustoleum gloss Regal Red. I think it's turning out really cool. How did you post your pics? I still haven't figured that out yet

 

[balane]

I did mine in a green like you are describing, in fact I did all my old Craftsman bench power tools in that color. I really like it. Mine is Krylon Italian Olive.

Good luck with your resto. The drill press was the most fun one I did.

 

[chestmaker matt]

1982fxr,

When you post a new thread, you'll notice a window below the one that you are typing in. Its called the "Additional Options " window. In that window there is a button called "Manage Attachments." Click on that and it will open another window where you can pick files to upload to the message board.

Cheers

 

[930dreamer]

Carefully remove each bell end (side cover) this will expose the bearings on the shaft. Use a bearing puller (HF has a decent set) to remove. That looks like a start/run capacitor.

 

[chestmaker matt]

I dug a little deeper into the motor and found a surprise... mud wasp nests throughout the inside of the motor. I am amazed the motor ran so smooth with the **** inside prior to disassembling. So I feel I need to clean the windings and most of the inside of the motor but I noticed lost of little strips of leather or cardboard in between the windings. Can I still spray that stuff with cleaner? What should I do?

 

[thehazmatguy]

I dug a little deeper into the motor and found a surprise... mud wasp nests throughout the inside of the motor. I am amazed the motor ran so smooth with the **** inside prior to disassembling. So I feel I need to clean the windings and most of the inside of the motor but I noticed lost of little strips of leather or cardboard in between the windings. Can I still spray that stuff with cleaner? What should I do?

I found a wasp nest inside my motor too:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=150684

I was tempted to use a cleaner but I didn't. I used compressed air to blow the dust out and that's it.

 

[balane]

I bet those wasps were in for a hell of a surprise one day. WEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

 

[chestmaker matt]

Well, I have been working on my Craftsman 1/3 HP Thermotron motor and I am getting closer to getting it back together again. During the disassembly I noticed that the overloading/overheating reset button was dismantled by the PO. Both wires were clipped to it. Is it bad not to have that hooked up?

Anyway, I just finished fabricating a new motor jacket out of stainless to go between the two bell ends. Its gonna look pretty nice I think. Also ordered a new switch and new bearings... now if I can only remember how the bearings go back in with the springs, gaskets, felt etc. Does anyone know?

 

[HeloMech]

I'm cleaning up my first drill press now. It's a Craftsman also. I'll probably get grief for it, but i painted mine canary yellow. All the original badging was trash. I did it because the press was cheap but now I'm having a blast redoing it.

 

[chestmaker matt]

Sorry all, it has been a half a year since I posted. I got all of the parts blasted and I also finished the 1/3 HP Cman motor with new switch assembly. The motor bell ends were primed and painted gloss black and I also fabricated a stainless motor jacket. I think it looks pretty good. It had been soooo long since I took the motor apart I had some real head scratching moments putting it back together. The biggest problem was trying to remember which side of the motor the pair of bearing springs went to. I found a manual to a similar motor on the owwm website that had an exploded view drawing that was very helpful. I put the pair of bearing springs on the side opposite the governer. I hope that is correct. The motor does make a few very minute clicking noises but I think it's not a real problem.

 

[d.mcfarland]

The motor cleaned up great and looks excellent!

 

[Catalyze]

Gorgeous work on the motor!!
Keep the good effort going.
Craig

 

[nine4gmc]

Can't wait to see it all together!