Just Bought a Walker Turner Drill Press - good buy?

Ditto on Rich's note about the belt guard. I don't know WT machines, but a cast iron guard for a Delta DP could cost ~half what you paid for the whole press.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I can appreciate a clean pristine machine (didn't mean to rhyme that much) however I prefer to keep the patina and battle scars. I'll clean the grime off, the surface rust and oil it but I won't be doing a paint job or trying to fix the holes in the table, unless it poses a problem. Maybe fill with solder or something. I agree with you Bob that these machines are old and I'm not trying to hide that fact!

Wow, I'm surprised that the belt guard is that expensive. I didn't know these things were that sought after.

Roger that, regarding the pulley. I'll see what I come up with. I was looking into the reducer pulleys that I see some have. That might be a nice addition...

The VFD is interesting. I don't really know if I like adding these new electronics on there, we'll see if I give in. I bet they're super useful.

I will want to find a period correct (ish) light. I don't know if these ever came with one.

Thanks everyone for easing my mind!

And thanks for the manuals! Now I'll have some reading on the train home from work!
 
Nice DP. I wouldn't worry much about the price. A few bucks either way doesn't matter. Around the Northwest Walker Turner anything commands a high price. Very good reputation and highly desirable.

Follow eBay for awhile and you will likely find a replacement table. They seem to be be very similar for W-T, Delta, and Buffalo DP's of that era. Ihave three different DP's and they all are interchangeable.

On my Delta and Buffalo floor models, the table is bolted to a casting that slides up and down on the column. Then, underneath, a threaded rod with a bend in the end for hand grip, screws into a hole through the table to set the angle. Sometimes these just get lost. You could make one, or just use a bolt.
 
Thanks Glenn. My table has a hole for the column that's casted in, not bolted together like you're describing. And sadly, I looked under my table and I did see a place where a bolt/threaded lever was supposed to go but half of that part is broken off. I only see the partial threads that remain. I will probably be looking on Craigslist and eBay for a table in better condition, but I'd like it to be the blue that I have. Tall order probably, but hopefully in the future I come across one.

And weirdly, a friend's grandfather (old machinist, actually still working full time at 95 years old) has an old Delta DP220 with the "retirement light". I could either buy it from him or he said I could sell it for him and take a bit of the money. Seems to be in good shape except rust on the column and chuck. The light needs a re-wire. Is this anything to hold on to or is my Walker Turner a better machine for drilling metal?
 
I'm late to the thread.
Looks like she cleaned up very nice.
Personally, I'll take the vintage iron over the new stuff even if she costs more $.
It may require some effort on clean-up. Sometimes alot.
However, if you aren't running a business, and using it to pay the bills, a better machine might be a better answer.
Nice score!!

Daryl
MN
 
I recently restored an old Delta drill press. If you replace the spindle bearings, it will drill as true as it did when it was new. We have an old Walker-Turner DP at work, and it is a good solid machine, but the spindle bearings have a lot of wear on them.

GG
 
I wish I knew as much now as I did when I was buying this thing, haha. Seems like a decent buy, though. Too bad the motor is small and I have to get a new pulley to use the slowest speed and also the table lock is broken. Oh well, you live you learn.

Once I get this thing really cleaned up I'll be happy. I found a used motor at the local habitat restore. $35 1/2hp reversible 110/220v capacitor start or something like that. (It's got a capacitor on the side). It's also painted bright red, even the oiler caps were painted shut. I haven't bought it yet, hopefully it's still there by the weekend.
 
You might be able to repair the pulley.
If you have access to a TIG welder, and depending on the damage you might be able to build up some material with good penetration and then turn her to match the belt grooves. Takes some time to do all this. And it may be cheaper to purchase a new pulley. But, depending on shaft size, pulley steps, etc that may not be an easy feat to achieve. I've repaired several pulleys and made others from 6061 aluminum when I couldn't find one to get the spindle speeds I wanted.

Are the painted oil cup caps pointing the correct direction? Enabling you to fill them? Are the bearings spinning freely? Have they done a bench test so that you know she works?

Bright Red is ideal. Tell everyone you got it off an old fire truck!

Daryl
MN
 
Thanks Daryl, haha, yeah bright red isn't my favorite color. Regarding the oil caps, I don't know. It seems as though these would just be pressed in so I wonder if I could spin them around. My current 1/4hp motor has nice oil caps with 90° elbows. Maybe I could swap them.

The pulley isn't cracked at all so I won't need to TIG anything, thankfully. It's the table that's cracked. I'd like a new pulley just because it has fewer steps than the spindle pulley. Motor has 3 spindle has 4.
 
A motor with oil cups probably (but not always) means it has bushings instead of ball bearings. A bushing repair job could be a little harder to do especially if the shaft is worn at the bushing sights. Bearings could be a little more expensive to replace? IMHO I would always go for the motor with ball bearings…Dave.
 
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