Walker Turner Drill Press

[540i6]

I'm looking for a drill press and can get a Walker Turner 1-1140 series for $185. It seems to be in fair running condition, could use a clean up, missing the belt cover. Is it worth it or should I keep looking? Are these good machines?

Thanks!

 

[jerryW]

I've got a Walker Turner band saw. Well built USA made tool.

Can you get picture of it?


jerry
​

 

[540i6]

The pictures aren't very good, here they are:

 

[spongerich]

I have a 20" Walker Turner drill press. It's built like a freaking tank.
They made a bunch of them so parts are reasonably available. Bearings can be hard to come by, but I believe that there's at least one company that still makes them.

Check over at owwm.com and owwm.org for lots more info about them.

 

[540i6]

That sounds great! 20"...

Does $185 sound reasonable?

 

[540i6]

Another one for sale here locally - Enco 17" model for $250. Can't decide.

 

[airbuff101]

540,
There's a few pics of mine in this thread.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82634&highlight=Walker+Turner

It looked way worse than the one you are thinking of buying. Took a few days to beautify, working on and off.
Check that the spindle is straight and moves freely.

This one has been a flat joy to use. They are great machines and simple to fix up.

Rob

 

[rsanter]

I have a 20'' for sale for $300
Im in CA, not sure where you are

bob

 

[DHS]

I would offer $150.00 if you need one (its probably worth the full price). My dad pain $100 for the same press with low speed attachment and other extras.

 

[Keep]

That seems pretty high. I picked up one that size, age for $60. Mine was a great deal, but that still seems high.

 

[540i6]

Thanks guys for the feedback.

There's a few pics of mine in this thread.

Rob, I did see your beautiful press before and it's one of the reasons why I'm now interested in this machine.

I did offer $150 and the seller countered at $185 (he's asking for $225 in the ad). I guess I'll keep looking for now.

Alex.

 

[Keep]

To give you a better idea on prices, or even to find one, check these out:

http://owwm.org/viewforum.php?f=83

There are presses listed in both

 

[Graham08]

Another one for sale here locally - Enco 17" model for $250. Can't decide.

I would definitely take the W-T over the Enco. I have a 1200 series W-T drill press and a 16" band saw. Both are great machines...smooth in operation, heavily built. I had a Dayton (Taiwan) drill press before the W-T, and there is no comparison.

There is a company that still supports the Walker-Turner machines with parts. I'm not sure of the 1100 series drill presses use oddball spindle bearings or not, but you can still get them from this company.

 

[airbuff101]

You'll find a good old machine soon Alex.
Lots of nice stuff laying around for years and good selection of various name brands from way back when....

Good luck in your quest,
Rob

 

[chief ben]

Another one for sale here locally - Enco 17" model for $250. Can't decide.

That is way to much for a jap drill press, I have one just like it I have had since 1977 it still works fine, i paid $127.oo for it, and a friend just paid
$ 125.00 for one just like it.

 

[DougB442]

I'm looking for a drill press and can get a Walker Turner 1-1140 series for $185. It seems to be in fair running condition, could use a clean up, missing the belt cover. Is it worth it or should I keep looking? Are these good machines?

that's a Walker Turner 900 series drill press, made between '38 and '48. because it has the 'red' label, it was made between '40 and '45, later models had a black label, earlier models had a differnet label altogether, but they are all identical in looks, parts, color, etc

it's not missing the belt cover. that was an added cost option. the basic models had no belt cover.

its a nice heavy duty 15" drill press. the problem with it is the spindle bearings. they are an oddball size made by SKF bearings, and are no longer made, no aftermarket replacements are made either. once the spindle bearings go, it is costly to repair. However since the original bearings are open bearings, as long as you oil it regularly, the bearings will out live most people...

$185 is a ridiculous price. they normally sell for under $100

 

[Vinko]

I've seen a lot of Walker-Turner around here going for more rather than less. Whether the sellers are getting their asking price or not, I don't know.

They had, from what I understand, a good reputation for quality. I've got a Buffalo 18 that's built like a tank. I need a few parts though, and new (from the newly formed Buffalo forge) the prices are asinine, and I've got to see if I can get them elsewhere for somewhere near a reasonable cost.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I have a 20" Walker Turner drill press. It's built like a freaking tank.
They made a bunch of them so parts are reasonably available. Bearings can be hard to come by, but I believe that there's at least one company that still makes them.

Check over at owwm.com and owwm.org for lots more info about them.

I was given a large drill press with a bad bearing because the owner could not find a replacement. I machined a steel adapter ring for the OD of a more readily available bearing, and put the press back to work.

 

[Valkyrie Rider]

......

its a nice heavy duty 15" drill press. the problem with it is the spindle bearings. they are an oddball size made by SKF bearings, and are no longer made, no aftermarket replacements are made either. once the spindle bearings go, it is costly to repair....

I used to work for SKF machine tool in the bearings division. I still have a friend who works there currently. Do you have a part number for the bearing by chance? maybe there is some old stuff laying around in the warehouse?

 

[blueflame6]

This thread caught my eye......I've had my old Walker Turner over 30 years, I picked it up from the factory I used to work for, it was ready for the dumpster. In the mid 90's I replaced the table (now with crank) and base with parts from an old Rockwell drill press because they were bigger and square. Solidly built and a real workhorse. The label seems to be orange in color, maybe red at one time, I don't see any model numbers anywhere. Maybe as stated above early 40's? .......Love that old stuff..........

 

[airbuff101]

That's a sweetheart you've got there Blueflame.
I'd love to get a rack setup like your table at some point. Good to know that others will fit it easily, I wasn't sure how common the 2 3/4" column was amongst other mfg's.
Rob

 

[DougB442]

I used to work for SKF machine tool in the bearings division. I still have a friend who works there currently. Do you have a part number for the bearing by chance? maybe there is some old stuff laying around in the warehouse?

original WT specified underbore bearings mfd by SKF (p/n 70336) which provided for light interference fit on nominal 0.625" diameter spindles

The label seems to be orange in color, maybe red at one time, I don't see any model numbers anywhere. Maybe as stated above early 40's?

that is a really early '40's ('40 or '41) model...before they started putting the serial #s on the tag....original color would have been dark olive drab green....it's been repainted that 'clown' orange color. the motor would have been painted all black, with textured end bells. You actually have two nice optinons on that DP...the Cast iron belt guard, and the rare low speed (center pulley) assembly.

 

[540i6]

Again, thanks, everyone, for sharing. This site and people here are great! I decided not to get that WT and instead got a different DP today, couldn't pass what I thought was a good deal, got this DP in a pretty decent shape for $30. The model number is 103.23120. I'll clean it up later, will be a fun winter project. It needs a good lube and a new belt and it should be good to go. Did anyone have any experience with these presses?

 

[Vinko]

If you haven't found it already, you really got to check out owwm.org -- a lot of knowledge.

 

[DougB442]

Again, thanks, everyone, for sharing. This site and people here are great! I decided not to get that WT and instead got a different DP today, couldn't pass what I thought was a good deal, got this DP in a pretty decent shape for $30. The model number is 103.23120. I'll clean it up later, will be a fun winter project. It needs a good lube and a new belt and it should be good to go. Did anyone have any experience with these presses?

here's the catalog reprint for a slightly later model, but almost identical...

http://www.owwm.com/pubs/detail.aspx?id=3117

and this is a slightly earlier model:

http://www.owwm.com/pubs/detail.aspx?id=2997

and yes, I am a member of OWWM

 

[540i6]

Thanks for the links, 23100 seems to be the closest. I also became a member OWWM and found a 23130 manual here: 130.23130, which seems to be very similar to 23140, except it's a bench top model. Do you know if these were produced for a number of years, or you can pretty much tell the production year by when the manual was published? Accordingly to the manuals, these were made in 1946-1950.

 

[DougB442]

they were only produced for a few years, then the model number would change...although they were all fairly similar with very few differences between them. many parts would be interchangeable between them.

 

[Ed Lenheim]

Looking for help in locating bearings for top front 4 groove, have long inner races, @Walker Turner floor model 1 147 serial also blueprint or diagram of same.

 

[DougB442]

Looking for help in locating bearings for top front 4 groove, have long inner races, @Walker Turner floor model 1 147 serial also blueprint or diagram of same.

Those bearings were specially made for WT, and are no longer available, New.

If you browse the OWWM site, there are multiple discussions on replacing the bearings.

OWWM Classifieds and eBay usually have used bearings for sale.