vintage drill press for drilling metal

[thenephilm]

I am in the market for a vintage drill press as everything made now is just junk built in China or some other country. The problem is that I will be mostly using it to drill metal and I have been reading that a 3 speed drill press won't cut it. Can you convert one to have higher speeds for metal? I would love an old craftsman or delta but if it won't do what I need it too, then it does me no good. Does anyone have any suggestions of models to watch for otherwise that are setup for metal? Metal thickness I will be drilling would be 1/4" at the most btw.

Thanks,
Justin

 

[tool_scrounge]

I am in the market for a vintage drill press as everything made now is just junk built in China or some other country. The problem is that I will be mostly using it to drill metal and I have been reading that a 3 speed drill press won't cut it. Can you convert one to have higher speeds for metal? I would love an old craftsman or delta but if it won't do what I need it too, then it does me no good. Does anyone have any suggestions of models to watch for otherwise that are setup for metal? Metal thickness I will be drilling would be 1/4" at the most btw.

Thanks,
Justin

Most drill presses for home use run nice and fast for wood, but are too fast for metal work with medium sized drills. It is the diameter of the drill that is the issue, not as much as the depth of hole. I like drill presses that can get down to the 350rpm range or less for metal drilling, such as Rockwell Delta 17" drills (depending on the motor). Converting to a variable speed drive is one way to get there (such as finding an old treadmill and scavenging the old DC motor and speed control).

 

[Outlawmws]

Most vintage DP's can be retrofitted with an interim pulley setup. (most are actually 4 speed not 3, and the interim pulley gets you to 16 speeds)

The real trick is finding the third pulley...

I'm planing on making one for my old Atlas/Craftsman DP. Using the idler from a timing pulley setup as a basis..