Picked up this old Atlas Drill Press today

[cclfn]

Guys,
I bought what I thought was an old Atlas 15 DP today but I have spent 4 hours on the computer and nothing like it. It has an exposed quill and a threaded shaft to adjust the motor mount up and down. Now my almost total lack of experience with old Atlas DP may be showing, but I was hoping one of you could shed some light on the age or model. There are no badges or holes indicating there were before. It was bought from a retired machinist over 10 years ago and has not been used much since, however it was repainted before that so it shows no signs of decals either. The belt guard says Atlas and the motor is a KC so what do you guys think.

Thanks for looking

 

[AceofSpad3s]

Early 40's I would bet, I got a dunlap dp made by atlas and it is from the early 40's and looks mostly the same. http://vintagemachinery.org/photoindex/detail.aspx?id=485 Not mine but you will get the idea. Your's definitely has a motor from around that time, idk exactly but the dunlap ones I have seen have similar motors. Mine has a newer Westinghouse motor so I cannot help any further with motor info.

 

[454ragtop]

I'd ask the experts over at OWWM.org

 

[zkling]

That thing is VERY old as in 30's I'm thinking. I'll dig through my atlas catalogs later.

 

[jakemac]

My guess would be somewhere between 1938 and 1942 based on what I've learned about the Craftsman/Atlas versions of that model. I'm just not sure how much of the design features translate to the Atlas brand during those dates.

 

[cclfn]

That thing is VERY old as in 30's I'm thinking. I'll dig through my atlas catalogs later.

Well I posted it on the OWWM site and found out it is a very early 1930s vintage and only the second one known, so it sounds like I got real lucky on this one. Even found some original decal info for the resto.

If you find something in the early catalogs please let me know. The other one like this one is a 15 inch floor model and apparently there is a 1936 catalog picture of a craftsman DP with a similar adjustable motor mount. Atlas Press company made those for Craftsman from my understanding.

 

[zkling]

That is essentially what I came up with as well. My oldest atlas catalog has something very similar, but without the exposed quill. What threw me for a bit was the base plate and the exposed quill. IIRC Atlas also had a Canadian version where they used that basic script belt cover for a longer period of time. Additionally IIRC Buffalo used the exposed quill up to the mid 50's. However the spring return cover and handle hub helped to confirm that it is an atlas machine. I'd put a rough guess ~35+/-3 years. Certainly something that needs to be saved. You are correct, Atlas made a number of stationary power tools for Craftsman. Their shared parts and designs can be seen quite clearly across the models and brand label.

KC was a common universal power tool motor maker back in the day, up till the ~70's I want to say. Back in the time period we are talking, it was common for machines to be ordered without a motor or at least without a matching motor.

What other dill presses do you have sitting around there? Also I spy an old snap on box stack.

 

[Outlawmws]

Nice find CCL!