How I ended up with 3 non working drill presses (A cautionary tale)

[seanb]

I hate changing speeds on anything with pulleys. Absolutely loathe it. All of my shop equipment has vfd's with the exception of the drill press. I also dont like the look of modern equipment I dont think any of it is designed to be visualy appealing. Lathes and milling are now just square boxes with levers on them with no effort made to make the owner feel like his/her money was well spent.

I have a Rigid drill press ugly square with a plastic belt cover The table is barely big enough to put a small sandwich plate on but it drill holes like it should with some runout. I dont really like it.

After watching some restoration videos of the Delta DP 600 I decided that would be my next project.

This gem here covered in black spraypaint and mud was for sale for $50 Little did I know it is actually with around $5

Pro tip #1 When you find a drillpress in a barn with the base sunken into the mud and the table cut up that's a good indicator that not much maintenance was done to it

After many hours of sandblasting and repainting It came out looking great. But the table had a little issue, there was a rectangle cute out of the middle of it for some reason

I wanted one of those big industrial tables that you could store 2 or 3 sandwich plates on.

I got lucky one was for sale an hour away in IL. This one was $100 dollars which for table alone was a steal.
It wasn't a drill press but an automatic tapper. The company that made them started out with a DP 600 did some extra milling and added a switch to reverse the motor.

I picked it up in what looked like an abandoned trailer park with washing machine carcasses everywhere. ( I am not joking)

He wanted $125 I offered him $100 ( I felt guilty because he looked like he needed the money but the drill part of it not the table was a basket case). Somehow someone bent the spindle. Weirdly this is the second DP600 I bought with an Albrecht 1/2 chuck. Im pretty good at working on them having accidentally bought 20 of the 3/8 model in an industrial auction once. The Albrecht on the latest one is worn out missing the ballbearings not sure why and jaws worn.

I now have 3 drill presses 1 working

I put the big industrial table on my 1st Deta drill press and began the process of retrofitting a 3 phase motor to the drill press. I made a rookie mistake and chucked up the sheeve in the 3 jaw to bore it out for the new motor shaft without indicating it. It wobbles worse than a sailor on shore leave.

No big deal I just order a new sheeve from McMaster I only need 1 step anyway.

My excitement is growing, The first dp600 is put back together, I install the quill with the new bearings and uh oh, theres a lot of slop in the quill to casting interface, Tried shimming it, didnt work, Tried clamping down on the bolt in the casting for that purpose also didnt work. When i take out the slop the quill wont go back up on its own.

I now have 3 drill presses 2 working

Maybe I can use it anyway, I mean it doesnt have side to side force on it like mill right?

Pro tip#2 without a pilot hole or a punch mark the drill press definitely does have side pressure.

Standing in my workshop staring at the drill press which I have spent at least $150 dollars extra on buying missing parts, I came to a revelation. What if I mounted the rigid drill press head to the delta column. It was a stupid idea but I became more excited by the second. I quickly disassembled the Delta drill press (I now know a great deal about how these go together)

Next was the Rigid, its much lighter

I now have 3 drill presses 0 working

1st step drill out the Rigid sheeve for the 3 phase motor. I need the Rigid motor for the delta I am going to sell because i ruined the 2 motors that came with them while "rebuilding" them. I now have 5 non working electric motors between the garage, workshop and backyard. My wife is NOT impressed.

Her dad was a redneck, my dad was a redneck, my grandfather was a redneck. There was no way her dad was going to approve of anyone she brought over to meet him unless he was a redneck as well. She knew what she was getting.

The Rigid does not use a conventional V belt sheeve, It looks more like a serpentine belt from a car. I don't like it because I think it slips more and as a redneck I am suspicious of anything different.

Boring out the sheeve was the point of no return because it would no longer work with original motor. I did it the right way with the 4 jaw and managed to not screw it up. If I try really hard my machining skill would be considered adequate.

The Rigid's column is smaller than the Delta so my "plan" is to fit it inside of the delta supported at each end. The lower end will have tubing wrapped around it to take up the space welded in place then machined for a close fit. The upper end near the head will be adjusted using set screws and welded in place maybe.

I cant weld anything right now because the wifes car is in the garage and there is 1 foot of snow on the ground which in Missouri means total societal collapse for at least 3 days

Im not sure if im going to like the Rigid head on the Delta. If I don't find it visually appealing It will bother me and I will have to get rid of it.

Pro tip#3 Check the quill slop and runout of a used drill press

I will update this when I have a finished drill press

 

[GrifterGuru]

So? how did you end up with 3 non-working drill presses then?

Seems the title is what "youtube commenters" call "Clickbait"....

 

[Eddyde]

Yeah, I came to hear about 3 non working drill presses, yet you only speak of one? LOL
I have 4 drill presses 2 working and 2 out of commission. One of the working ones is a Delta similar the one you have pictured, I did a bearing change on it about 30 years ago and added a VFD about 10 years ago, but otherwise it's original.

 

[benmychree]

Yes, clickbait is an apt description of what was presented.

 

[projectnut]

Maybe you should see if you can come across something like this one. It's a Jet JDP-125VS 3. It was built in 1987 and purchased by a machine shop I supervised in West Liberty Iowa. It was used as part of an equipment rebuilding project. The shop closed in 1999, and I was charged with disposing of the assets. Everything in the shop could be claimed by any other facility in the company at whatever the book value was.

This machine and about a dozen others couldn't find a home. The next step was to scrap it. It pained me to see all those good machines go to the scrapper so I asked if I could purchase some. I was told I could have them for whatever the scrapper was willing to pay. I and another employee bought all the leftovers. This one cost me a whole $25.00.

It has a 1 1/2 hp motor and is capable of drilling a 1 1/4" hole through steel. Speed changes are done with a version of a Reeves drive.

 

[seanb]

U need to go back and read it I was saving occasionally

 

[455dan]

I hate changing speeds on anything with pulleys. Absolutely loathe it. All of my shop equipment has vfd's with the exception of the drill press. I also dont like the look of modern equipment I dont think any of it is designed to be visualy appealing. Lathes and milling are now just square boxes with levers on them with no effort made to make the owner feel like his/her money was well spent.

I have a Rigid drill press ugly square with a plastic belt cover The table is barely big enough to put a small sandwich plate on but it drill holes like it should with some runout. I dont really like it.

After watching some restoration videos of the Delta DP 600 I decided that would be my next project.

This gem here covered in black spraypaint and mud was for sale for $50 Little did I know it is actually with around $5

Pro tip #1 When you find a drillpress in a barn with the base sunken into the mud and the table cut up that's a good indicator that not much maintenance was done to it

After many hours of sandblasting and repainting It came out looking great. But the table had a little issue, there was a rectangle cute out of the middle of it for some reason

I wanted one of those big industrial tables that you could store 2 or 3 sandwich plates on.

I got lucky one was for sale an hour away in IL. This one was $100 dollars which for table alone was a steal.
It wasn't a drill press but an automatic tapper. The company that made them started out with a DP 600 did some extra milling and added a switch to reverse the motor.

I picked it up in what looked like an abandoned trailer park with washing machine carcasses everywhere. ( I am not joking)

He wanted $125 I offered him $100 ( I felt guilty because he looked like he needed the money but the drill part of it not the table was a basket case). Somehow someone bent the spindle. Weirdly this is the second DP600 I bought with an Albrecht 1/2 chuck. Im pretty good at working on them having accidentally bought 20 of the 3/8 model in an industrial auction once. The Albrecht on the latest one is worn out missing the ballbearings not sure why and jaws worn.

I now have 3 drill presses 1 working

I put the big industrial table on my 1st Deta drill press and began the process of retrofitting a 3 phase motor to the drill press. I made a rookie mistake and chucked up the sheeve in the 3 jaw to bore it out for the new motor shaft without indicating it. It wobbles worse than a sailor on shore leave.

No big deal I just order a new sheeve from McMaster I only need 1 step anyway.

My excitement is growing, The first dp600 is put back together, I install the quill with the new bearings and uh oh, theres a lot of slop in the quill to casting interface, Tried shimming it, didnt work, Tried clamping down on the bolt in the casting for that purpose also didnt work. When i take out the slop the quill wont go back up on its own.

I now have 3 drill presses 2 working

Maybe I can use it anyway, I mean it doesnt have side to side force on it like mill right?

Pro tip#2 without a pilot hole or a punch mark the drill press definitely does have side pressure.

Standing in my workshop staring at the drill press which I have spent at least $150 dollars extra on buying missing parts, I came to a revelation. What if I mounted the rigid drill press head to the delta column. It was a stupid idea but I became more excited by the second. I quickly disassembled the Delta drill press (I now know a great deal about how these go together)

Next was the Rigid, its much lighter

I now have 3 drill presses 0 working

1st step drill out the Rigid sheeve for the 3 phase motor. I need the Rigid motor for the delta I am going to sell because i ruined the 2 motors that came with them while "rebuilding" them. I now have 5 non working electric motors between the garage, workshop and backyard. My wife is NOT impressed.

Her dad was a redneck, my dad was a redneck, my grandfather was a redneck. There was no way her dad was going to approve of anyone she brought over to meet him unless he was a redneck as well. She knew what she was getting.

The Rigid does not use a conventional V belt sheeve, It looks more like a serpentine belt from a car. I don't like it because I think it slips more and as a redneck I am suspicious of anything different.

Boring out the sheeve was the point of no return because it would no longer work with original motor. I did it the right way with the 4 jaw and managed to not screw it up. If I try really hard my machining skill would be considered adequate.

The Rigid's column is smaller than the Delta so my "plan" is to fit it inside of the delta supported at each end. The lower end will have tubing wrapped around it to take up the space welded in place then machined for a close fit. The upper end near the head will be adjusted using set screws and welded in place maybe.

I cant weld anything right now because the wifes car is in the garage and there is 1 foot of snow on the ground which in Missouri means total societal collapse for at least 3 days

Im not sure if im going to like the Rigid head on the Delta. If I don't find it visually appealing It will bother me and I will have to get rid of it.

Pro tip#3 Check the quill slop and runout of a used drill press

I will update this when I have a finished drill press

You are making me feel real good about spending 700 on a single Arboga E 830. Not sure if I find it's looks appealing, but it will drill Anything I need to drill.

Here is hoping the Rigid head will work like a dream.

 

[seanb]

You are making me feel real good about spending 700 on a single Arboga E 830. Not sure if I find it's looks appealing, but it will drill Anything I need to drill.

Here is hoping the Rigid head will work like a dream.

It doesn’t actually look that bad I just need to plug and refill the center hole and make sure it stays perpendicular to the table

 

[francist]

Clickbait or not, great story!

 

[verbotenwhisky]

Maybe you should see if you can come across something like this one. It's a Jet JDP-125VS 3. It was built in 1987 and purchased by a machine shop I supervised in West Liberty Iowa. It was used as part of an equipment rebuilding project. The shop closed in 1999, and I was charged with disposing of the assets. Everything in the shop could be claimed by any other facility in the company at whatever the book value was.

This machine and about a dozen others couldn't find a home. The next step was to scrap it. It pained me to see all those good machines go to the scrapper so I asked if I could purchase some. I was told I could have them for whatever the scrapper was willing to pay. I and another employee bought all the leftovers. This one cost me a whole $25.00.

It has a 1 1/2 hp motor and is capable of drilling a 1 1/4" hole through steel. Speed changes are done with a version of a Reeves drive.

That is a beautiful machine, well worth more than 25.00, I am, as my daughter would say, jelly....