Rockwell 15-017 drill press holes?

[cheeky]

For the life of me, I can't figure out what these holes are for. Oil ports maybe?

They appear in the parts list, but nothing is attached to them. User's manual doesn't make any reference as far as I can see, but maybe I haven't read closely enough.

Also, I assume that the flange at bottom left of photo is for the light bulb, correct?

 

[My Old Tools]

There are accessories like power downfeeds that could be added back in the day.

 

[MShaw]

They may have been for an outside spindle depth stop like the 1940s Craftsman had.

 

[Lynden]

The lowest hole, the vertical one, is for mounting a Delta Model 882 "retirement light." Here's a picture of a retirement light mounted on a Rockwell 15-017 drill press,

and a better picture of a retirement light mounted on a Rockwell VS drill press.

The upper hole may have been used for mounting a bracket to support a switch rod. As shown in the link below, there apparently was a model of the 15-017 which did not have the switch on the front of the head casting.

http://vintagemachinery.org/photoindex/detail.aspx?id=10927

 

[cheeky]

That's great, thanks so much guys.

 

[cheeky]

The lowest hole, the vertical one, is for mounting a Delta Model 882 "retirement light." Here's a picture of a retirement light mounted on a Rockwell 15-017 drill press,

and a better picture of a retirement light mounted on a Rockwell VS drill press.

The upper hole may have been used for mounting a bracket to support a switch rod. As shown in the link below, there apparently was a model of the 15-017 which did not have the switch on the front of the head casting.

Ok, thanks. I assumed it was for the light, but I hadn't actually seen one so that helps.

That switch rod seems like a silly design, but maybe that's just me. Everything else looks to be over engineered, and then you have the switch that just appears to be an afterthought.