# Buffalo No. 15 Drill Press Restoration



## wildo

Last night I scored a Buffalo No. 15 drill press off craigslist for $50. I've been hunting for a vintage drill press like this (Delta, Rockwell, Atlas, SB, Walker Turner, Buffalo, etc) for about two months now within a 250 mile radius and have been coming up empty. When I saw this listing pop up- I was all over it.

Got the press home and overall it's in decent enough shape. I haven't been able to locate a serial number anywhere, so if anyone knows where it's located- please do let me know. I was told that it was originally sold to Indianapolis Welding way back and was removed from that building as part of an auction or something to that nature. It travelled to Southern Indiana where interest was lost, and then back to Indy with me. So that's kind of a cool story- still in Indy after all these years.

The paint appears to be in decent shape, so I haven't decided if I will strip it and repaint it or not. I kind of like the black Buffalo DPs with the "Buffalo" logo in bare metal. Pretty sharp! So time will tell. EDIT- like this:



The quill was rusted stuck, but I was able to free it with WD40 and a strap wrench once I had the feed pinion out. I plan on replacing the bearings, of course, and then a major cleanup. The table is in pretty good shape with no "arc of shame" -just a couple little pecker holes. Since I'm not too heavily invested I am considering taking it to a welding shop and getting the holes filled and the table ground flat afterwards. I'll price it out. I can't imagine that would cost over $100, but it is a specialty welding so what do I know. Unfortunately, cast iron welding is not a skill I have. Again- if anyone has experience here- please let me know.

Lastly, as far as drives, I'm planning on upgrading to a Baldor 1hp 3ph motor with a VFD. I think that will be make for a very powerful, very useful drill press (with speed control) while still rocking that awesome vintage iron. I'm excited about this project!




One gallon paint can for size reference. This is surprisingly larger than I expected- a nice surprise!
















Oh- I found in a maintenance manual that I can apparently spin the knurled ring (it's on a thread, I guess) against the chuck in order to press the chuck off of the spindle. If anyone knows if I need to do this in order to get the lower bearing off, please let me know. I was not able to determine from any manual I can find what direction the lower spindle bearing is pressed on/off. I assume it will come off the chuck side. Hmmm, thinking about it- I think it would HAVE to come off the chuck side. Otherwise you'd have to press it over the upper bearing seat...


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## Bob Korves

Nice old drill press!  I would leave the holes in the table alone.  First, it is part of the history and age of the tool.  Second, I have never seen welding on cast iron tables that I thought was totally satisfactory.  Sometimes the welding ruined the part.  You could always still see where the damage had been.  If it can be seen, the press might as well wear it as a badge of survival.  Clean up the table like new, but leave the rust in the pecker holes.  That will say "not mine!"  Third, they are not deep enough or large enough to interfere with using the press normally.


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## wildo

Bob Korves said:


> If it can be seen, the press might as well wear it as a badge of survival.  Clean up the table like new, but leave the rust in the pecker holes.  That will say "not mine!"



I think you make some good points! Especially the quoted part. Thanks for the comment; you've given me some good things to contemplate!


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## David VanNorman

Nice find.


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## brino

Real nice machine.
Congrats!
-brino


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## wildo

I was able to find answers to some of the questions I asked above. 

Getting the chuck off was actually really easy. The "chuck remover" (which is what the manual calls that knurled ring) worked exceptionally well. I was able to just use a drift and spin it down which pushed the chuck right off. Easy peasy. This exposed the chuck remover and bearing which I removed just by driving the spindle out of them. Once the chuck was off, it was apparent that in fact the bearing did come off from the chuck end. Now removing the sleeve that the chuck remover threads are on from the bearing without messing it up was pretty hard. But with some careful finesse, I got it done. I'm pretty bummed to see how messed up the taper is on the end of the spindle. I'll have to research how to clean that up.







After that I tackled getting the spindle step pulley off and the bearings pulled. The manual says to just drive the step pulley assembly out from inside the machine head with a wood dowel. That worked fine. Getting the bearings off the step pulley was a bit of a challenge, but I have a fancy gear/bearing puller that helped tremendously. 










I still have the rest of the drill press to disassembly, but probably the next step is the degrease the messy stuff so I can put it all in a box somewhere for storage. I got a new toy for that!


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## chevydyl

That's really cool, so simple, kinda elegant, I like it


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## chevydyl

About the spindle taper, Tom from ox tools did a video on that exact thing, customer wanted their drill press spindle fixed, he welded up the taper and recut it on the lathe, watch the video, you need to make a test piece that blues up perfectly with that taper so you know your compound is set at the right angle when you put the spindle in the lathe after removing the test piece.


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## wildo

chevydyl said:


> About the spindle taper, Tom from ox tools did a video on that exact thing, customer wanted their drill press spindle fixed, he welded up the taper and recut it on the lathe



Thanks! That sort of welding is outside my skill level (I only have a buzzbox welder, and am self taught at that) but I'll definitely try to find the video and watch it. Sounds interesting at least!

[EDIT]- I'm sure having a hard time finding that video. If you happen to know of it, please link to it. Thanks!


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## chevydyl

It's a series, called Setting Up and Cutting Short Machine Tapers, 4 parts, go to the play lists and lathe related


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## chevydyl

What's the diameter of the spindle?
You could always send me the spindle, I could tig it up


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## wildo

chevydyl said:


> What's the diameter of the spindle?
> You could always send me the spindle, I could tig it up



Sorry for the late response; I had a super busy weekend out of town. That's a really generous offer that I may have to take you up on! I haven't measured the spindle yet, but I believe it's likely a Jacobs 33 taper. Long end: 0.6240 Short end: 0.5605 This seems about right because I think the spindle is probably around .625 overall. I plan on getting all the parts cleaned up in my new parts washer tonight. Then I'll get a better look at it to see if it can be cleaned up with a file or not. Thanks! I'll keep in touch...


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## wildo

A bit more progress. I now have the machine completely disassembled. The post was a real chore to get out of the base. The bottom of the post tube had been mushroomed over from someone hammering on it, and this mushrooming wouldn't pass the machined collar in the base. I had to turn it upside down and dremel off the hammered metal. This allowed the post to pass through the base for removal. I then cleaned up the bottom (and top- for the same reason) on the bandsaw. I only sacrificed about 1/2" of the overall length of the post.







I still have the base and the table to scrub down, but otherwise everything has been degreased and wire brushed. There's still plenty of cleanup to do on the moving parts (like the spindle & quill) but essentially it's all downhill from here!

New bearings arrive today. The new motor (a 1HP 3Ph Baldor) was purchased today. I'm hoping to make it to Tractor Supply tonight to pick up the paint. The only thing left to buy is the VFD.


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## chevydyl

Lookin good, did you finger out what your gonna do with that mucked up spindle taper?


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## wildo

By the way- I still can't find a serial number. If anyone knows where it's located- I'd sure appreciate the info. I did notice that there are two screw nails on the right side of the head that would have assumedly held a nameplate of some sort. I have no idea what was here originally. Beyond that, I don't see anywhere where a serial number would be.


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## wildo

chevydyl said:


> Lookin good, did you finger out what your gonna do with that mucked up spindle taper?



No I didn't. Here's my dilemma- if you haven't noticed, I'm totally new to this. I've been making things my entire life. Lots of wood working, plenty of hobby arc welding and metal working projects. Plenty of wood turning. Carpentry, electrical, etc, etc. BUT- machining is new to me. I don't know if turning down that taper would be a good first turning project or not. I'm sure I have *plenty* of learning to do in order to get good surface finishes and all. And in the meantime- it sure would be nice to have a working drill press.

So what I suspect I'll do at this point is clean it up the best as possible by knocking down the high spots with a file and as carefully as possible clean it up with a light touch of emery cloth (realizing this does take off material). I mean- the chuck female taper is as jacked up as the shaft, so... still not sure what to do about that. I'll get it serviceable until I have more skill/experience and then take someone (you, perhaps) up on the offer to fix it up correctly. I think that seems like a good approach given my experience level. I'm not exactly shying away from turning down the weld buildup, I'm just accepting that my initial skill level probably doesn't lend to this being a good first turning project.


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## chevydyl

Get a new chuck, and I'm not sure you should cut that taper, it needs to be perfect, u kinda need to have the proper tooling to set up for that job, seems to me it's going to have alot of runout if you don't fix it, which means you can't use small drill bits, it will make them break. But also with all drill bits, it means that your holes won't be on size, and to know how much run out you have you kinda need to put it all back together and see, and if it's a large amount, take it all apart again lol


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## Glenn Brooks

I wouldn't touch the spindle until you have some significant experience on the lathe.  Mostly because spare parts for these old machines are mostly non existent- if you mess it up you will need to machine an entirely new replacement.  A big job to get exactly right.  You could take the spindle out to a shop and have it repaired, or put it back together as is and see how it runs.  

Regarding welding up the taper and recutting it, likely any welding that occurs will distort the overall piece, possibly twisting  the axis out of alignment- resulting in worse run out at the end causing outmod round holes when drilling, and broken drill bits. So again, interview a shop or two and see what they say. 

Regarding your table.  It looks to be in remarkable good shape.  You could leave it alone, just lightly clean off any rust and oxidation and be good to go.  Or there are several methods for repairing dings, such as drilling out the hole and driving an interference fit steel rod into the newly drilled hole. Cut and mill or file flush. Reportedly this method gives good results with almost no noticeable repair being visible on the surface of the table.

regarding welding your table, I would only do so if you find a welder with actual experience welding cast iron.  you need to fill up the holes with similar cast iron material or, use a nickel based rod designed specifically for cast iron.  Both are very spendy.  The usual modern welding rods found in most welding shops today will NOT be appropriate for the repair you want to make.  You might see if you can find a cast iron repair shop nearby, if you talk to a knowledable welding supply company.   Welding cast iron is mostly a lost art these days, but a few old timers still are in business. It takes a tremendous supply of evenly distributed heat to controll metal flow into a cast iron part, and a very experienced hand to get it right.  To much heat will melt the surrounding cast iron and crater the hole into an increasingly bigger mess. Then when done, you also need to post heat and hold temperature on the repair, and surrounding casting, to keep it from cracking as it cools and the chemical composition of the casting changes.  Hate to see you take an excellent original Buffalo table and have some guy ruin it trying to weld up a couple of minor dings. 

Overall it looks like you have a very nice example of a fine old drill press!  Good luck with it and have fun with the restoration.


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## wildo

Thanks for the comments Glenn! I have had similar thoughts about the spindle. I don't think I have the skill yet to turn it, and therefore I won't tackle it for the time being. I've also contemplated if doing a weld build up could warp the spindle and cause more problems. I think I'll just leave it be for now. I don't know if it's possible, but at some point I think it would be fun to redesign the entire spindle to be a 3JT type. This would allow for a bigger chuck and bigger bits. It would be nice to put a 5/8" chuck on this drill press. That sounds like a fun future project!

I don't recall who the first person was to respond to this thread, but they also mentioned not having the table welded up. I did take that to heart and trashed the idea of having it welded up. In fact, I took at scotch brite wheel to it tonight and it cleaned up beautifully! There's only a couple of holes in it; you're right that it's in remarkably good shape!

I am definitely having a blast (and learning a LOT) doing this restore.


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## chevydyl

I think your wrong about warping, especially since oxtoolco proves this repair in a video series, and when a good welder such as myself plans for distortion, and knows how to make it minimal, it makes for an easy and great repair. And if you muck up the taper cutting it, just re weld it and cut it again. If you make a test taper that hits good in the chuck and leave the compound set as it is just load the spindle and cut it, well then howdy doody, your done lol. Sorry if I'm sounding like a smart ass but I'm trying to be, I don't want to see you discourage this guy, it's an easy fix, and ive already offered to do the tig welding for free if he wants to take me up on the offer.
And for that matter, I can cut the taper as well if you want

Do it right man, don't make the rest of it look nice then leave a very important piece of the puzzle poor fitting, and with substantial run out, "yeah it looks nice but it can't drill straight holes for chit"


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## Bob Korves

The spindle taper repair is a prime candidate for spray metal welding.  Shops that repair a lot of shafts can do the work.  After the buildup the taper can be turned or ground back to original size.  A good job will be visually and structurally the same as new, and it is possible to use harder metals for the repair as well, which is a plus for a machine taper.  Price will be a factor with any professional repair of the taper. 

The other way to do it is with Prussian blue, fine files, a dial indicator, a GOOD female taper, and infinite patience.  It must be round, to size, aligned with the spindle center line, and to the correct taper, all at the same time.  It is quite doable if YOU are up to it and do not get frustrated easily and reach for the angle grinder.   It will take considerable time.  8^)  The spindle will be very slightly shortened by the work.

If the spindle looks like that, the inside of the chuck probably does, too.  Putting a buggered chuck on a repaired spindle will not result in a good fit and will damage the repaired spindle.  That appears to be a Jacobs chuck.  Jacobs usually stamps the arbor taper size on the chuck.

Here is Abom79 doing a spray weld job in a recent video:


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## wildo

Again- I'm really glad for the comments! You guys give me lots to think about. In the meantime, enjoy some more progress pics...

All parts (except for the post) have now been degreased and wire brushed.



I was able to use a scotchbrite wheel to remove the rust from the base and the table. There is some definite pitting in the table, but overall- it's absolutely useable.



I prepped my bench for paint. I made a little a-frame to hang some parts off of:



I did decide on the black finish with aluminum accents:



The aluminum paint covers much better than I expected:


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## chevydyl

He mentioned the chuck being crap, I said he needed a new one in earlier post, spray welding would probably be just as bad or worse for warpage, and I'm not sure using a harder metal would be ideal, being that the chuck may be of harder metal than the spindle itself already which is the perfect setup. Watch the oxtoolco video series on short machine tapers and how he fixes exactly this type of part. It's a relatively easy fix, and could potentially be free for the guy. 
I think that build up using tig would have less tendency for warpage because you can get in and get out with the heat, allowing it to cool between buildup welds, and seeing exactly what it's doing, as far as warpage, and knowing exactly where to weld next to pull it over if needed. 

His spindle is 5/8 diameter, seems like it would get pretty dang hot with spray welding, I'm not up on that other than watching the interesting videos but with a mig process of spray transfer, that's super hot.....


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## Glenn Brooks

Interesting discussion... I rebuilt a Buffalo 15 floor mount DP years ago and loved  it. Great machine.  I've got another one now - beat up, abused, and tired - sitting in the shop waiting it's turn to come back to life.  So this is a very good discussion, particularly your photos showing components.

So, thinking, another option to repair your taper  is simply take the spindle to a shop and just have them grind a new, good taper on the existing end.  The process would involve removing a little material along the existing damaged taper until you reach good material all around -  removing maybe not more than .030 or so.  then face off the end to comply with the minimum diameter measurement needed to mount a new chuck.  Grinding produces a smoother finish, resulting in less run out than turning with a lathe. This would shorten the quill by a few thousands, but that is negligable and you would never notice the difference once reassembled. 

In any event, one other thing you can do is put the existing spindle, as is, on a pair of centers and run a dial indicator along the length.  This will tell you if the spindle is tweaked off the axis or not, and by how much...


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## wildo

I definitely appreciate the alternative options, Glenn! Thanks for bringing that to my attention. It's funny- although I've been making things my entire life, although I feel like I can build the things I build without much thought, although I have boxes and boxes of tools, I'm absolutely completely new to machining! I thought my many years of experience in other areas of making stuff would apply (and it probably does) but I am very quickly learning that there is so much that I take for granted in the areas I know about and so much that I simply don't know about in machining! Even down the most basic of the basics: where to get stuff is not something I know. I'm familiar with Enco and McMaster Carr, but I have a feeling these are not the end-all, be-all places that you all shop at. I guess I'm just saying that I'm learning a lot and have a _long_ way to go. So I definitely appreciate you mentioning the alternative option.

...And it seems like a really good option in this case.

So here's another newbie question. How do I ensure a NOS chuck has a clean female taper? I see plenty on ebay, but they almost all have an arbor in them. Is it safe to assume that there's a clean female taper there once the arbor is pulled out? How could you know? Or maybe the only "real" way to know here is to actually buy a brand new chuck.

I'm glad you're enjoying the pictures!! Certainly over sharing is a major character flaw of mine.


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## chevydyl

Buy a brand new chuck or have a taper gage, which you can make with proper tooling, importantly a sine bar and the right gage blocks for the taper, when I made my chuck adapter I had to do this, my lathe being a threaded spindle and the chuck I had being a d1-6, I had to match the taper to my adapter to the chuck back, also having the chuck when fitted be in tolerance for runout, which it was....
You could buy an arbor and use it as a gage to spot with


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## wildo

chevydyl- I finally got through that whole spindle taper series from oxtoolco tonight. That was super informative... He did mention near the very end of part four that one option for the female taper is to bore a new taper (since you already have the lathe setup) and then cut a sleeve. You'd bore out the chuck and press fit the new sleeve into it. That's a neat idea for sure!


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## Glenn Brooks

Wildo,  
Your prior experience and background will surely  help your understanding of machining principles and making parts.  For me, one of the biggest achievements and remaining challenge is to consistently make parts to desired tolerances - particularly when working with old tired out equipment.  It's a real art to turn down a piece of raw stock to one thousandth of an inch, particularly when your lathe is 60 or 70 years old and well worn.  So there is  an art inside of the art, so to speak.  Which is the reason I recommended a bit of caution earlier in approaching the taper on your spindle.  Not that it is greatly difficult to do,only that as an initial project, maybe it's better to practise on a few things that you can afford to discard, before taking on an irreplaceable spindle  if your process goes awry. Everybody has a parts bin full of undersized parts!  The senior machinists just have more parts thrown away than we 'new' guys in the hobby. Just part of the learning process.


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## chevydyl

Here's my favorite quote, "don't be scared, it's just metal"


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## 110octane

I have a comparable drill press.  There is one nearly identical to mine on the vintagemachinery.com website.  That one is a 1936-1939 15" model that was in a GM of Canada workshop.  Mine must be a 1940 or so model and yours may be a wartime product or shortly thereafter.  This is a total guess, but I worked with the successors to Buffalo to try and determine the year (+ or -) of manufacture.  Including an extensive web search the only O&M manuals I can find are post WWII.  My search was a while ago so perhaps some other literature is now available.  The main thing with this style of 15" Buffalo drill press, is the way the head clamps to the column.  A bolt through the head casting and located _in front_ of the column squeezes the casting around the column.
Over tighten this bolt and crack goes the casting.  Post war 15" models used clamps on the head behind the column, just like Delta and Atlas.  My drill press came from a municipal shop and had been racked and broken.  I brazed the head casting with bronze rod and machined a new bolt with a shoulder and a sleeve so that the tightening nut can only be turned within limits to prevent breaking the casting.  So far, the head has not slipped on the column.  I had to replace the spindle pulley because the spline was wiped out (!).  I found a Harbor Freight drill press on display at the local HF store that had a pulley that looked about right, so I took down the model number and ordered one.  HF was good about spares then, not so much now.

I had to machine a new spindle and a top bearing housing incorporating a double row angular contact ball bearing.  I also machined out the quill at the bottom and fitted a double row angular contact ball bearing.  Cutting the spline was my first attempt at that.  I was lucky.  The new chuck is a Rohm.


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## 110octane

I had a strange font appear in my post and I could not get it to go away.  There were some other items missing.  The belt guard was conjured up from 16 gauge mild steel sheet.  I made the depth adjustment screw out of a piece of half decent all thread.  The motor that came with it was an old cast iron 1/3 HP model and the starting coils and switch were fried beyond all repair. The motor mount is a hinged rig made from 11 gauge sheet.  The original rigging allowed the motor to pivot in the Z axis plane.  This design tends to twist the belt slightly, so I went with a horizontal pivot idea.   The motor pulley had been pilfered, the new pulley is from ebay.  I got the head/column stop from Joe at Plaza Machinery.  The column is the same size as the competing Delta and Atlas.  This is a fantastic little press, smooth as glass, with spindle runout < 0.002".  Someday I might be able to budget a decent keyless chuck; it might come close to performing as a "sensitive" drill press.  Hope yours meets expectations.

Your choice of the Majic brand of paint is an excellent choice.


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## wildo

Wow- awesome stuff 110octane! Really good info there- especially about not cranking down on the head column clamp. Also interesting about the pre/post war models! Sounds like you've really put a lot of work into yours! It sure is a looker!

I'm a little bummed about the paint. The first coat I put on had a nice gloss to it (in spite of being a matte finish- apparently the catalysis is supposed to increase the gloss). I have a space heater in the room blasting on high to help the cure time; it's likely around upper 80s maybe low 90s in the room at the moment. When I went in to put coat #2 on, the second coat seemed to dry quite fast and is not at all glossy. It also left a good amount of brush marks. I guess I have the temp a bit too hot. Kind of a drag. Still looks cool, but I did like the gloss finish I had going.


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## 110octane

Thanks for the kudos.  I was given the little press  by a friend who bought it along with a South Bend 10" lathe.  He was not interested in the drill press primarily because it was filthy, seriously damaged, and missing some bits and he already had a drill press.  The table looks like a practice plate for testing bits (the arc of shame).  I took a liking to it because of the Buffalo name.  There was more work than I bargained for, but the fact that it was free gave me a reasonable budget to get it running.  It would look more vintage with an old motor, but I went for functionality over authenticity.  I used it as a test to see how well double row angular contact ball bearings perform in these little drill presses as compared with the el cheapo single row (deep race?) ball bearings.  The difference is very noticeable and I have since replaced the spindle bearings in my little DuraCraft Taiwan drill press with the angular contact pattern.  I really like the little Buffalo, it is very smooth operating; it is just a pleasure to use for light small work.

I had good results with the Majic enamel with the catalyst on the Atlas lathe stand (I sprayed it).  It did seem to take longer to "set" than most of the automotive urethanes that I have used.  I may not have added enough catalyst.  I painted the Buffalo with the "hammered finish" single component spray cans.  That paint is a stock item at the big box stores, Ace Hardware, etc.  The Buffalo was stripped with a number of agents, including lye, the head had to be very clean for the brazing task,  all bare metal was covered first with an etching primer, followed by a standard one component enamel primer, and then three top coats of hammered.   Sometimes if the first coat is not thoroughly cured, a premature second coat will "melt" the coat underneath and will lose gloss or worse, crinkle.  For we home shops painting is problematic and take great patience.

Let us know how things work out.
Geoff


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## chevydyl

Lol that arc is pretty awesome, other than that it looks great man, I appreciate you guys sharing the restoration of these old tools, very inspiring and will hopefully drive others to do the same, I'd rather have old used American iron over brand new import iron any day


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## wildo

Yeah- it just blows me away that these machines- hell ANY machine can have an arc of shame like that. People are really stupid... How could you not know that you're through your material?? Just crazy. I love all the upgrades you've done to your machine, Geoff- inspiring for sure! Once a get a bit more experience under my belt, I will definitely be revisiting this project. I have a couple things in mind that I'd like to do. Regarding the spindle itself, I found a machine shop around here that specifically specializes (is that redundant?) in machine spindle repair. Now, I think they probably specialize in LARGE machine spindle repair, but I sent them an email enquiring about cleaning up this spindle. I'm not really one to farm out work, but I also recognize limits to my skill set. That said, I am so unbelievably excited to be picking up my SB 9A lathe this weekend!  (See- I don't even have a metal lathe yet, let alone the experience of running one.) In time, I can revisit this project. It's certainly not going anywhere! I'd like to get the spindle in decent shape and purchase a new chuck. Otherwise, I'll put it back together and just deal with whatever runout I have from the quill bearing seats. I know this stuff is minor work for you guys, but it's not minor work for me.

Anyway, here's some kind of low res sneak peaks of the paint job. Clearly I was inspired by that press on vintagemachinery.


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## wildo

Oh- regarding the motor, I also went with functionality over authenticity. I have the old cast iron motor, but that wasn't my intention. I bought a new Baldor M3116 1hp motor (another lesson learned, obviously 1hp is far too much for a drill press that I can only get a 1/2" chuck for!) and VFD. I want it to look cool, but I also bought it specifically for the "old iron meets new technology" handiness.


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## chevydyl

Nice, yeah 1hp is quite alot for that application. You can always swap it out for a 1/2 or 3/4 when you need the 1hp for a belt sander build


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## wildo

chevydyl said:


> Nice, yeah 1hp is quite alot for that application. You can always swap it out for a 1/2 or 3/4 when you need the 1hp for a belt sander build



To be fair, when I got it I thought it would be a piece of cake to mount a 5/8" chuck on there and go to town drilling big stuff. Ha! We all start somewhere, right!? Like I said- lesson learned. And you're absolutely right- not like this motor will go to waste. I can definitely swap it out for something smaller later. Hey- maybe I'll put the 1hp motor on the lathe...


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## wildo

Here's an update on the drill press. 

Painting is complete (outside of a few touch up areas) and the drill press is assembled. I haven't pressed in the new bearings yet as I'm still trying to figure out what to do about the spindle. I have a couple real leads now for repair/replacement though.

I choose to color match the Baldor motor color in hopes of tying in the new looking motor with the vintage equipment.






I then moved on to electrical. I made a mounting plate for the VFD and mounted a hobby box on standoffs so that the front of the box would match the front of the VFD. This is for a main power switch.



The VFD and main switch mount are then sandwiched between the motor and motor mount:



After that I fabricated a mounting bracket to hold the remote speed and direction control. I was going to bend this bracket, but ended up cutting it and welding it together. Probably for the better, anyway.



There was _just_ enough extra room on the quill pinion shaft to account for the piece of steel mounting between the head and the quill return spring housing. So that's where I mounted my control. The control box has a graphic that I created and had printed onto sticky backed vinyl. I didn't exactly get the colors right (the intention was to match the VFD colors) but I think it's good enough.



Here's an overall view of the electronics mounting:



Note that all of the electronics are purposefully mounted on the left side of the head because of how the drill press will sit in my machine shop. You won't be able to see all those electronics when you walk into the room and look at it, and therefore maintain that wicked cool vintage look. That was intentional.



Really all that's left now is to get the spindle repaired/replaced and then assemble those parts into the head.


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## wildo

Here is a video showing the electronics in action.


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## chevydyl

Nice job man, paint looks good


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## wildo

chevydyl said:


> Nice job man, paint looks good



Thank you! If I do it again, I think I'll purchase a HVLP paint sprayer from Harbor Freight. The thickness of that industrial style paint did not self level as much as I had hoped. There are some brush marks still apparent. It looks really nice from 5' away. Up close, it's kind of... eh... But in reality- it's a drill press. Not painting the Mona Lisa here! This is the best job I could do with a brush. I'm happy enough with it.


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## wildo

Exciting update: I was able to find a new (reconditioned) spindle direct from Buffalo! It's a #33JT, which is kind of a drag since I already bought a brand new #2JT heavy duty chuck, but the nice folks at Buffalo are throwing in a #33JT chuck for me as well. One nice thing is that while the 34-02 Jacobs chuck I ordered already was an upgrade to a 1/2" capacity, it appears that all of the #33JT chucks are 1/2" capacity by default. The #33JT is also a larger taper and therefore more surface area. This will be nice for the larger capacity chuck as well. And super bonus- they also had ONE pulley guard in stock as well, which I properly snatched up!

So a huge shout out to Buffalo Machines, Inc. Did you guys know that they are still around and still producing machines? More importantly- did you know that they still stock OEM parts for these old, vintage machines?? I sure didn't! I couldn't be more excited to have found a reground spindle and the pulley guard. Man, I looked all over the internet for a pulley guard- they just don't seem to be out there. Be sure to check them out if you're looking for parts! Nice folks- I personally talked with them on the phone for the parts order.

http://www.bmt-usa.com/6.html


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## chevydyl

That's badass dude, good on you for sniffing them out lol
And in that case send me the spindle and I'll fix it, you can either keep it or pass it along to another buffalo owner, what'd you think about that, unless you gotta send that one in for a core


What'd the replacement parts cost you?


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## wildo

chevydyl said:


> That's badass dude, good on you for sniffing them out lol
> And in that case send me the spindle and I'll fix it, you can either keep it or pass it along to another buffalo owner, what'd you think about that, unless you gotta send that one in for a core
> 
> 
> What'd the replacement parts cost you?



I did offer the spindle as a core, but they said it was beyond repair and didn't mention anything at all about sending it back to them. So... Sure thing! I'll send you a PM for shipping address. And I know- who would have thought they'd have these parts sitting on a shelf there!? Or that the were even still in business! I'm super stoked! 

Yeah- the parts were NOT cheap, but I could find only *ONE* shop willing to take on the project (a precision tool grinding company) and their quote was far more than the replacement cost... I just keep telling myself "you only spent $50 on the drill press; you can splurge on an expensive replacement spindle." I have to be honest- I'm so new to machining that I think I _also_ have to adjust my perception of what "expensive" means. Good grief is EVERYTHING in machining well over $100 each!?


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## chevydyl

to be honest, that's what got me into machining, I went to a shop and wanted two 4 small bushings made, he quoted like 250 or something, he said I know a guy with a small lathe for sale, I bought it, and I been buying machines ever since, it never stops. I run it as a machine shop welding shop on the side, and will be taking over some work when that same guy retires


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## 110octane

VFD's are great.  Saves all the hassle of a phase converter with less expense (at least until one has purchased more VFDs dedicated to separate machines).  Your Buffalo is an interesting model.  It looks like a transition from the one that I have (and the one on Vintagemachinery(dot)com) in that it has the sliding rod motor mount yet still uses the forward column clamp arrangement.  By all means be extremely careful with that forward clamp; I really suggest that you rig an interior sleeve to prevent the bolt from being over-tightened.  Buffalo changed the column clamping arrangement to the rear pattern like Atlas and Delta when they manufactured the official "15 inch" model.  There are O&M manuals and catalog details readily available for those later models.  Buffalo is still in existence or least they were about 6 years ago, but they do not have much information on the older products.
 Enjoy your "new" drill press.
Regards, Geoff


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## wildo

110octane said:


> VFD's are great.  Saves all the hassle of a phase converter with less expense (at least until one has purchased more VFDs dedicated to separate machines).  Your Buffalo is an interesting model.  It looks like a transition from the one that I have (and the one on Vintagemachinery(dot)com) in that it has the sliding rod motor mount yet still uses the forward column clamp arrangement.  By all means be extremely careful with that forward clamp; I really suggest that you rig an interior sleeve to prevent the bolt from being over-tightened.  Buffalo changed the column clamping arrangement to the rear pattern like Atlas and Delta when they manufactured the official "15 inch" model.  There are O&M manuals and catalog details readily available for those later models.  Buffalo is still in existence or least they were about 6 years ago, but they do not have much information on the older products.
> Enjoy your "new" drill press.
> Regards, Geoff



Buffalo is still in business. I was able to purchase a new spindle and, by luck, the pulley guard over the front pulley. It should arrive here on Monday. That's a good idea about machining a spacer. Once I get this lathe up and running, that sounds like a nice first project! I was curious though- you mentioned that you made your own spindle. What material did you make it out of and how did you cut the splines? I've been kind of curious if the splines could be cut on the lathe. I've seen what I'm going to call a "scratch method" where you advance the cutter longitudinally down the work with cutting a thousandth at a time. But this method was used to cut a keyway in aluminum. I'm not sure that would work in a very hard steel bar (drill rod?). Of course if you have a mill, this is probably a nonissue. I don't anticipate getting my mill for another year.


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## chevydyl

Not all spindles are hard, take a file to one and check, the spindle on my mill is soft the spindle in my lathe is soft, the spindle in my friends big ol prototrak k4 is soft, is has a 40 taper spindle


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## 110octane

I believe that I used ANSI 1144 steel which is a proprietary product sometimes called "Stressproof" or "Nealloy", etc. by Niagara-Lasalle Steel.  This steel machines very well but is very tough, not hard, although it can be heat treated if desired.  However, as far as I can tell none of these light drill press spindles are heat treated so any decent steel, like 1018, or 12L14 (smooth to machine), or even 1045 (not so easy to machine, 1045) would work nicely.  Buffalo told me they had nothing for my machine, so I'm glad you were able to get the parts you need.  The spline was a sort of metric hybrid with the spindle pulley from Harbor Freight; I measured it as best I could and took some liberty with the ID radius.  I was lucky and the fit came out very nice.

 I am fortunate to have a 1944 Nichols horizontal mill, and I cut the spline with that machine using a shaped cutter.  I have a typical photo of the spline machining.  I had never used a single point cutter before in this sort of application, but it worked beyond any expectations I had.  I would NOT recommend trying to use your lathe carriage as a shaper to cut splines.  It takes a lifetime to do it and it loads the apron.  My Asian "Birmingham" 14 X 40 lathe does not have a robust carriage travel rack and I had a bad experience trying to use it to cut a keyway once.  My 10" Logan was far better for that, but still it is agonizingly slow just to cut one short keyway.  I have a photo that leaves a lot to be desired, but maybe it will give you an idea of the setup.
Geoff


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## wildo

Wow! That is a cool setup, 110octane! Thanks for the info, very informative!


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## The Liberal Arts Garage

For the spindle taper: wire brush gently, take a wide straight partly worn
out file and go around it lightly; often a tough looking taper is quite good
 good enough..........BLJHB


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## Theo Timber

Good day. I am new here.  That drill press looks really great. You did a thorough job there sir.
Here is something I learned from an old guy many years ago. A damaged taper can be repaired by filing down the high spots and then spinning the tapered shaft inside the chuck with grinding paste used to seat car valves. One can secure the chuck by gripping a threaded stud in the jaw  and then bolting the stud to the table. Be sure to use a stud with a non threaded end to ensure that the chuck is well centered  in order to avoid run out after the grinding was done. The non threaded end will be inside the chuck. We did this to cure a loose chuck problem on a big drill press and it worked well.


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## wildo

Update on the drill press. This was a super fun project and I learned so much from doing it. I sure am glad that I did this one prior to starting the lathe restoration because lots of the things I learned from this drill press were applied to the lathe restoration. Because a couple parts on the lathe did need some black paint, I restripped the less-than-stellar paint job on the drill press head and repainted it using the HVLP sprayer this time. The finish is far better than the brushed on paint.

I did do a pretty extensive masking job so I could also spray the letters with the Baldor color-matched paint.



The spindle assembly was completed. It was a lot of fun pressing those bearings in place:



I two-toned the Baldor motor and reinstalled the nameplate using drive screws:



The drill press is now more/less complete. There's a few things I'd like to tidy up, and a couple places where the paint needs touched up, but for all intents and purposes it is complete:









Run out was measured to be .004" which is probably twice as much as I was hoping for. However, taking into account the fact that the spindle sleeve was literally rusted to the bore in the head, had to be pounded out, the bore honed, and the spindle sleeve polished- I'd say that's probably not too bad. A drill press isn't exactly a precision instrument anyway. This will be nice for general drilling, and once I eventually get a mill, drilled holes can be cleaned up on the mill if more precision is needed.





I guess that's it for this one. Getter Done, as Keith says.


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## 110octane

Great job!  It is arguably rare to find a light commercial drill press (not counting the very expensive "sensitive" drill presses) that has less than 0.003" run out.  This is based on my experience.


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## LeakyCanoe

Most impressive...kudos on possessing both the machine and the spirit to bring it back to life again.


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## raymondf

Glenn Brooks said:


> Interesting discussion... I rebuilt a Buffalo 15 floor mount DP years ago and loved  it. Great machine.  I've got another one now - beat up, abused, and tired - sitting in the shop waiting it's turn to come back to life.  So this is a very good discussion, particularly your photos showing components.
> 
> So, thinking, another option to repair your taper  is simply take the spindle to a shop and just have them grind a new, good taper on the existing end.  The process would involve removing a little material along the existing damaged taper until you reach good material all around -  removing maybe not more than .030 or so.  then face off the end to comply with the minimum diameter measurement needed to mount a new chuck.  Grinding produces a smoother finish, resulting in less run out than turning with a lathe. This would shorten the quill by a few thousands, but that is negligable and you would never notice the difference once reassembled.
> 
> In any event, one other thing you can do is put the existing spindle, as is, on a pair of centers and run a dial indicator along the length.  This will tell you if the spindle is tweaked off the axis or not, and by how much...


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## raymondf

I have a buffalo 15 also and need a new tapered chuck. Do you where and what to buy one its a 1/2 in drill chuck 5/5 taper spindle . any help would be great . Unknown if its a Jacob or Morse chuck Ray


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## wildo

raymondf said:


> I have a buffalo 15 also and need a new tapered chuck. Do you where and what to buy one its a 1/2 in drill chuck 5/5 taper spindle . any help would be great . Unknown if its a Jacob or Morse chuck Ray


Once you figure out the spindle taper, you can easily find a chuck on ebay, or from any of the many tooling suppliers like KBC, Shars, or MSC


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## wildo

Looks like it has been just about two years since I finished this up. The Teco drive has been working very well, and I've had zero issues with the drill press. It's an important piece of equipment in my shop and I've been really happy with it!


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## Janderso

Another beauty brought back to life.
That's a lot of work. Nice job.
Thank you for taking us along your journey!


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## raymondf

I have one just like it for sale runs great needs a 1/2 chuck is all


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## theshadetreefixitman

I recently purchased a Buffalo 15 drill press and was only going to clean up a couple of pieces and use it. It is complete and worked well, but...and now I have it all torn apart and going to replace all the bearings and have been cleaning and painting parts as I go. What a massive piece of equipment. I will take some pictures of it apart (as it is now) sitting next to my previous drill press. This thread is being a great help to me in the process.


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