Rewiring a Vintage Craftsman drill

[toolcollector109]

I’ve taken apart an old black Bakelite Craftsman drill 315.11480 from the 70’s to install a new cord on it. While I have it apart, I have a few questions:

1. What kind of grease would have been used in the gear assembly on these 70’s era drills? Ideally I’d take all this old grease out and completely regrease it with brand new grease. If I can’t get it all out, is it ok to mix some new grease in with the old?

2. The original plug is non grounded and non-polarized. I have another non-grounded but polarized plug and cord from a 90’s Craftsman drill that I want to install on this one. The wires in the new cord are black and white. I’m assuming the white is hot? If so, would I wire the trigger switch with the same configuration due to this new plug/cord being polarized? Is there any way to ground these old drills?

 

[RTM]

Black is hot, white is neutral on most cords. As the old cord didn’t care, I wouldn’t sweat it too much, match black to black from the old cord, should be fine.

Most of the older drills were considered double insulated if the have a square logo on them, or the manual says so on the cover.

SEARS CRAFTSMAN 3/8 INCH ELECTRIC DRILL VINTAGE OWNERS MANUAL 315.11480 | eBay

Complete parts list and schematic diagram. Repair Parts.

www.ebay.com

I try not to mix greases, having had a bad meltdown on a piece of industrial equipment seals when someone switched it up.

If it’s truly from the 70s, doubt it’s Bakelite.

Remember Craftsman didn’t make the tool. 315 was Diehl, Ryan , or Ryobi, so see what they recommend . I’d guess Ryan as the maker.

 

[bonneyman]

Agreed, I try and not mix greases. It can be a mess and a bit of work to clean out all the old grease from a tool, but I think it's worth it. Kerosene is a good degreaser and shouldn't harm old winding insulation. Then add some new grease. I use SuperLube synthetic grease. A nice light grease, infused with teflon, low drag that helps reduce friction inside the tool.
And agree that bakelite is an old "plastic". Without looking it up I'm thinking it was created in the pre-war period. The first commercial thermoplastic material. Now when it was discarded I don't know.

 

[rooster59]

I would clean it out best I could and use a sticky, tacky grease. Tool gear cases I take apart have the old grease slung away from the gears, gears are bone dry.

 

[TedsGMC]

I would use a high temperature silicone based grease.

 

[driftpin]

This thread may help in describing greases for drill gear cases:

Equivalent to Milwaukee type G grease

I just got an old Milwaukee 6020 sander/grinder. They recommend type C grease in the manual, but then say that it was later updated to type G grease in their recent grease catalog. I'm just curious if there is a cheaper option that would work (type g is hard to find, and then it's $25-30 for...

www.garagejournal.com

Be sure to read all of it, as there are some points made about the greases people suggest, and sources of information. My input came from Milwaukee Tools Help Line, and specifically about drill gear cases' lubrication requirements.

Another tip, do some searching for the grease source, as I found a wide variety of pricing, it pays to shop. I got the Milwaukee Type G.

I have a Craftsman 1/2" VSR drill which is probably very-similar to yours. It's got a metal gear case/vault and a black plastic housing. I bought it in probably 1978 or thereabouts. Still working, though it's no-longer a first-line piece of equipment.

 

[FastDave]

I’ve taken apart an old black Bakelite Craftsman drill 315.11480 from the 70’s to install a new cord on it. While I have it apart, I have a few questions:

1. What kind of grease would have been used in the gear assembly on these 70’s era drills? Ideally I’d take all this old grease out and completely regrease it with brand new grease. If I can’t get it all out, is it ok to mix some new grease in with the old?

2. The original plug is non grounded and non-polarized. I have another non-grounded but polarized plug and cord from a 90’s Craftsman drill that I want to install on this one. The wires in the new cord are black and white. I’m assuming the white is hot? If so, would I wire the trigger switch with the same configuration due to this new plug/cord being polarized? Is there any way to ground these old drills?

 

[FastDave]

Reply

From FastDave

I bought a Craftsmen 3/8 inch electric drill model 31511480 inch 1977. It worked great until a few years ago when we were remodeling our house and the crew all had the new ones but preferred this more powerful drill so we just cut the wires off and put on a toggle switch but noticed that the plastic (Bakelite) broke and would not screw back together. So they duck taped it just to finish the job. But I miss it since all my new tools are so horrible and really are built to break.

1.So I fixed the broken parts that the screws were supposed to hold both halves together with the screw & nut. I mixed up some JB weld. And let it sit for 2 days for the maximum strength.

2.But now the problem not only were the wires cut making them shorter but now it’s hard to see where they belong. Plus they are not just black and white. There is a red and a yellow.

3.So now I am stuck trying to figure out how to do the soldering wires back in? They were soldered in at the factory and were using micro push in types that are hard to separate once soldered.

If anyone has done the kind of repair please let me know. I even have the micro solder but it starts to melt back the shrink wrap.