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Rockwell 15-091 drill press restore.

bubinga

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Jul 26, 2014
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Bridgeport Ohio. (Across River From Wheeling WV)
Going by the math, if the speed drops by 1/3, while the hp drops by 1/2, then (yes) the torque is reduced. If the hp only dropped by 1/3 the torque would have been constant.
Yeah, but I think if
you run it on the low pulley speed, that will give more torque than being in the Hi pulley range.
I have a 1/4 HP on a 16 speed, DP, and it cut with a 5/8" bit through steel pretty well. (real well)
Although, I do have a center pulley. I was in the lowest pulley "gear"
All you can do is try it.
I don't think it will be too bad.
That was a good price for that motor.


Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
 
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exmaxima1

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Yeah, but I think if
you run it on the low pulley speed, that will give more torque than being in the Hi pulley range.
I have a 1/4 HP on a 16 speed, DP, and it cut with a 5/8" bit through steel pretty well. (real well)
Although, I do have a center pulley. I was in the lowest pulley "gear"
All you can do is try it.
I don't think it will be too bad.

I agree it should be fine with most anything short of a hole saw. It's a great motor choice.
 

bubinga

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Location
Bridgeport Ohio. (Across River From Wheeling WV)
So I pulled the whole thing apart and surprisingly it gave me no trouble at all. Chuck took some work but I realized why. Someone scored the spindle with something most likely because the chuck kept falling off. Is that something that is repairable? I could put it on my lathe to smooth it down but worried about messing with the angle.

Did you get any where with it?
You said about the lathe, id wager if you put in a 4 jaw, and dial it in as close to "0" as you can get it.
Then take about a 1/4" thick piece of steel as wide as the taper, and glue a piece of 100 0r 150 to it, you ought to be able to maintain the angle.
I agree it should be fine with most anything short of a hole saw. It's a great motor choice.
Yeah, again, the one I'm talking about, (Dare I pollute this delta thread...lol) But it's the better 13" IIRC harbor freight Drill press.
Again, it has the center pulley.
I only gave $50.00 for it, cause The HF motor went bad after a few uses.
I got a nice rebuilt motor, this fellow at the swap meet, goes over them,
new bearings and such, but it's a TEFC dayton, but only 1/4 hp.
But like I said, it did real well in steel, with a 5/8" bitt in one bite.
(Again, I was in low "gear")
BTY that HF drill press is made pretty good.
 
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wiremonkey

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Apr 7, 2017
Messages
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Did you get any where with it?
You said about the lathe, id wager if you put in a 4 jaw, and dial it in as close to "0" as you can get it.
Then take about a 1/4" thick piece of steel as wide as the taper, and glue a piece of 100 0r 150 to it, you ought to be able to maintain the angle.

I haven't tackled it yet. Just been working on trying to get all the rust off it. It's all in pieces. The spindle pulley bearing is really rough. Looking at replacing it with the Hammerscale version. It's that can of worms thing but I like solving problems. Not sure how to deal with the column. Would be easier if I could take it off the base but I'm not sure that will happen.

I've got a lot of life out of an old 1/4hp Ryobi would drill through 1/4" plate with 1/2" all the time. Motor would overheat and thermal out sometimes but it still works. I beat the hell out of that tool but only paid $60 for it. Didn't owe me anything.
 

bubinga

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Jul 26, 2014
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Location
Bridgeport Ohio. (Across River From Wheeling WV)
There Y'a Go,
Know what you mean about not oweing you anything.
I forget that's a floor model right?
too long to get in the lathe.
Guys have rigged up an electric drill to them, on rubber casters, and spun and sanded then. Of course, yes the requires taking it off the base and head.
Might even be able to center it in the 3 jaw, remove your tail stock, and rig up some sort of "out rigged" center support on the end of the bed or the end of the column.
Just a thought.
I polished up my 150 in my wood-lathe, but it was short enough to friction drive the live end, and center the dead end with wooden cones.
 
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wiremonkey

Member
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Apr 7, 2017
Messages
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So finally got this machine working. Still have to do a few tweaks but overall much better. Was in worse shape than I thought. Think it was left outside for a while. For some reason there was a lot of popcorn in the head. Maybe a squirrel. In the end I spent way to much time and bucks but live and learn.

I did send the spindle to Hammerscale and have to say was very impressed at his service. He had to remove 3/16" from the taper to get it clean again. Replaced all the bearing and sent a great looking main pulley bearing as the one in there was grinding. Great customer service and sent me a document with all the adjustments he made.

Because I live with my tools I had to try a less toxic paint. Used a Hybrid Alkide and it came out pretty good. I rushed the last coat so got some brush marks but it levels out decently. Hopefully it hardens totally within about a month.

The return spring is super weak so I ordered the correct size for this machine so hope it will make it better.

Anyways, thanks for all the help. I know a lot more about presses than I did before and hope this one will last me a while.

Added some pictures. Just need to sell that old motor now.
 

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nbpt100

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Oct 19, 2016
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Location
Massachusetts
I am resurrecting this because I have interest in this Rockwell model. I picked up a bench top that seems to work well. What is the vintage of these machines. Mine looks like the pics above but has a toggle switch vs. the push buttons. No date code that I can see. Says made in Canada, 1/2 hp motor made in USA. If anyone knows???? Thanks.
 

nbpt100

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Oct 19, 2016
Messages
2,302
Location
Massachusetts
thanks, I took a look and could not find anything to line up the the serial number on my machine.

Serial number is GU 594776/C83.

It was made in Canada.

I'm not sure if the C83 could be a date code to represent December of 1983? According to that website the date code is a prefix not a suffix.

If anyone has any knowledge I would appreciate you sharing. Thanks.
 

dmike25

New member
Joined
Feb 1, 2025
Messages
2
thanks, I took a look and could not find anything to line up the the serial number on my machine.

Serial number is GU 594776/C83.

It was made in Canada.

I'm not sure if the C83 could be a date code to represent December of 1983? According to that website the date code is a prefix not a suffix.

If anyone has any knowledge I would appreciate you sharing. Thanks.
I have a floor model of that drill press, Serial number: GU597395 I84. I'm looking for what year it was made. I didn't find any help in the link posted by tool_scrounge.

 

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