Ebay is evil, but oh so satisfying to browse while swilling the morning coffee.
This found me a week ago.
I had always wanted a drill press and I have a bike lift that I'm building that calls for one. It's a 12 speed belt driven 1/2HP Peerless unit made in 1975. There's no country of origin that I can find, so I'd be interested if anyone on here knows more.
It came with a crude workbench frame (huge, I think it used to be a fuel tank tower, see in BG), an 8 drawer Stanley toolbox, a small Taiwanese bench grinder, a Chinese bench linisher/sander and another large truck toolbox that will be turned into a little safe for my powertools. I've always been nervous about leaving an angle grinder in the same space as other things with padlocks on them so it is stored away from all discs and disc fittings. Once I modify the bench frame I'll weld it in so that all handy tools are not there for opportunists.
The real gem was the drill press though. It has had two repairs made to it. The work table housing has been welded at the back of the gear drive and the main spindle for the lowering lever has been brazed. It must have fallen over at some stage - but it was an ex-shire unit that probably went through an auction house or two in its time. The bearings are all good, and the main thing is that the plunge mechanism is solid and sound.
I spent 2 hours de-lousing it, cleaning things up with 800 grit paper, steel wool and kerosene and doing some minor panel beating.