tool_scrounge
Well-known member
I do not need another drill press, but I saw this forsale ad and was intrigued. after a long drive, I found it to be a late 1960's vintage Rockwell 15" 6+6 type drill press. The "6 + 6" refers to the 6 speed pulleys (nice and low for metal work) and the 6" spindle travel. It also had the Rockwell 3/4" HP motor.
The Good:
The previous owners dad was a wood worker and did not use it much. The spindle was pretty tight in the casting. It still had the original paint and no drill holes in the table.
The Not So Good:
The spindle would hardly move up and down, the table was pretty rusty, and the chuck had about 0.030"+ of runout
I was a bit wary of the problems, especially the chuck runout. But my foolish self figured I could probably fix it. So I ended up getting a discount ($250 down to $200) based on the problems. So at 2:30pm Saturday I got it home.
I found that the hook end of the spindle return spring was bent and not hooked up. To keep the spindle from falling down, they cranked down the nut on the end of the pinion to interfere and add friction. This was fixable but a pain as Rockwell really tempered that spring.
The drill chuck has an integral spinning nut (like the older Craftsman 150's with the Jacobs 336C chuck). Fortunately I had the right spanner wrench and was able to remove the chuck. After I removed the chuck, cleaned the tapers, and remounted it in various orientations. I was able to get it below 0.005" runout which is more where I like it.
So after a little cleanup this morning, it looks as shown in the photos below. I may need to keep this one.
The Good:
The previous owners dad was a wood worker and did not use it much. The spindle was pretty tight in the casting. It still had the original paint and no drill holes in the table.
The Not So Good:
The spindle would hardly move up and down, the table was pretty rusty, and the chuck had about 0.030"+ of runout
I was a bit wary of the problems, especially the chuck runout. But my foolish self figured I could probably fix it. So I ended up getting a discount ($250 down to $200) based on the problems. So at 2:30pm Saturday I got it home.
I found that the hook end of the spindle return spring was bent and not hooked up. To keep the spindle from falling down, they cranked down the nut on the end of the pinion to interfere and add friction. This was fixable but a pain as Rockwell really tempered that spring.
The drill chuck has an integral spinning nut (like the older Craftsman 150's with the Jacobs 336C chuck). Fortunately I had the right spanner wrench and was able to remove the chuck. After I removed the chuck, cleaned the tapers, and remounted it in various orientations. I was able to get it below 0.005" runout which is more where I like it.
So after a little cleanup this morning, it looks as shown in the photos below. I may need to keep this one.
