# Craftsman Drill Press



## gredpe3 (Jun 24, 2014)

I have been tinkering with an old drill press,The cast base has a date of 11/68 on the bottom.The motor is 1/3 hp and has a shaft coming out both ends.The plate is marked Sears and Roebuck.My Question is why the shaft on both ends?
Eddie


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## JimDawson (Jun 24, 2014)

My best guess is that it is not the original motor.  I can't think of any reason you would need a double shaft motor on a drill press.


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## gredpe3 (Jun 24, 2014)

Theres one on flea bay just like the one I have , same motor and all.
Eddie


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## JimDawson (Jun 24, 2014)

In that case, I guess you could flip the motor over and run the drill press in reverse for left handed drill bits  :lmao:  , dunno


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## gredpe3 (Jun 24, 2014)

Well alrighty then.


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## Tool-in-the-Box (Jun 24, 2014)

I guess you could add a flexible shaft to it. -J


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## JimDawson (Jun 24, 2014)

Tool-in-the-Box said:


> I guess you could add a flexible shaft to it. -J



You may have just nailed it.  I think I remember an accessory flexible shaft tool for the old Craftsman drill presses.


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## Andre (Jun 24, 2014)

Get a motor shaft chuck adapter https://www.grizzly.com/products/Motor-Arbors-5-8-Arbor-1-2-Keyless-Chuck/G5553 

And put a countersink on the other shaft of the motor. That way you can drill and countersink without a tool change. It will run fast and have no table, but hey, it will work. Or keep the drill press head loose on the column and flip turn it 180* to use direct drive motor speed for micro drill bits without worrying about belt changes. 

I don't think a 1750 rpm motor would be fast enough for a flex shaft. Dremels run 5k minimum and that's even too slow.


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## wa5cab (Jun 25, 2014)

And the other possibility is that whomever built the DP for Sears was overstocked with double-ended shaft motors that year.  :whistle: 

Robert D.


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## Tool-in-the-Box (Jun 25, 2014)

Ok, I checked a few old Craftsman catalogs. All the drill presses had duel shaft motor. It didn't say why though.

I also found out that the vintage Craftsman flexible shafts were paired with 1/3 1/4 or 1/2 HP 1725 motor.


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## gredpe3 (Jun 25, 2014)

Thanks for the possabillities,and checking it out.:thinking:


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## jererp (Jun 25, 2014)

I have a 70's vintage Craftsman radial arm saw that has a dual shaft motor.  The rear shaft had a small hand activated brake to slow down the spindle after the motor was shut off. 
Maybe something similar was included on the drill presses?


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## george wilson (Jun 25, 2014)

My 1963 Craftsman drill press that I bought new,has a single shaft motor. It finally pooped out last year.

You need to be sure that your motor was made to be mounted vertically. It has to have the correct type bearings.


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## gredpe3 (Jun 25, 2014)

What would denote the way it can be mounted? Something on the service tag?


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## wa5cab (Jun 26, 2014)

The first requirement would be ball instead of sleeve bearings.

On the double shaft question, it just occurred to me that the motors on the Craftsman band saw and the belt/disk sander that I had before I converted the wood working part of my shop to Shopsmith both had double ended shafts.  And plastic guards over the unused ends.  Sears may have standardized on double ended shafts simply to reduce the number of motor types needed on all of their equipment.

Robert D.


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## AR1911 (Jun 26, 2014)

wa5cab said:


> Sears may have standardized on double ended shafts simply to reduce the number of motor types needed on all of their equipment.



I think this was the case. Most of the Sears tools I have run across from the 1960s and 1970s that had original motors were double-shafted.


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## mzayd3 (Jun 27, 2014)

My radial arm saw has a double shaft.  The literature eludes to a router attachment.  Although the motor speed is way too slow to be an effective router.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## gredpe3 (Jun 28, 2014)

Thanks to all of you that helped in that ?. I'm happy with the machine.One more thing,How do I determine it's designation.15" /17"/20"?What is actually measured to determine this?
Eddie


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## Tool-in-the-Box (Jun 28, 2014)

Measure from the front of the pole to the center of the drill chuck, then x that number by 2. -J


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## decklow (Jul 3, 2014)

Mine has it also. Probably a PTO for flex shaft?


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## CluelessNewB (Jul 3, 2014)

Take a look at this 1969 Craftsman catalog on the Vintage Machinery web site. It shows a double shafted motor on a similar drill press (page 36).  Many Craftsman DP's came without motors so that's another possibility.  

http://www.vintagemachinery.org/pubs/222/4562.pdf


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## Andre (Jul 3, 2014)

jererp said:


> I have a 70's vintage Craftsman radial arm saw that has a dual shaft motor.  The rear shaft had a small hand activated brake to slow down the spindle after the motor was shut off.
> Maybe something similar was included on the drill presses?



I have a Craftsman 10" RAS and it has a dual end shaft. They all do, for accessories. Usually a drill chuck but tons exist.

http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Radial-Arm-Saw-A-Guide-of-Sorts/step6/Sanding-drum-operations/


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