New Old Drill Press Purchase

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FJRdoc

FJRdoc

FABO Gold Member
FABO Gold Member
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Location
Brownstown, PA
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I've been slowly getting my downstairs work shop cobbled together. I've never owned a drill press and I thought that I would look around for one for the shop. After searching my local Marketplace, I stumbled upon the vintage Craftsman 150 floor press about 10 miles from my home.

I checked out the old girl yesterday. The press is good condition for its age (1950's) and the price was right. She served her first and second owners for 30 years each. I hope that I get as good of service out her myself.

I'll probably polish her up a bit. Haven't decided if I'm going to give her a new coat of paint.
 
She's a sexy hunk of steel. Did you look on Facebook Marketplace?
 
That will outlast the drill presses made today. Mine is about 6 years old,and in my opinion it was junk right out of the box.
 
That's cool man. Old tools rock!
 
I have a 50's vintage Rockwell that will be around for another 100 years....weighs more than my ex GF
 
DO NOT paint it!

They're only original once.
 
Nice score, my friend has one and it is a nice drill press, better than my made in china one
 
i am also a fan of the old Rockwell, Buffalo and Atlas cast originals.Such high quality.
...and i would rather have a really nice original piece rather than a perfect repop for my cars too.
 
Cool piece. My drill press is an older Taiwan piece, but in good shape. My son found it at a yard sale for $30 several years ago...I never peeled the price tag off of it, either...I did bead blast the table, though...
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I don't have a bead blaster but I spent time with my angle grinder and wire wheels to clean the rust off of the support tube. Looks and slides much better.
 
I picked up a 1944 Walker Turner 15” floor model drill press last winter. I need to build a different guard for the belt now since i has to swap the 3 phase motor for a single phase.

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I've seen on YouTube where folks have taken treadmill motors and used them to make the press variable speed. Looks easy to do.
 
pauly said:
I picked up a 1944 Walker Turner 15” floor model drill press last winter. I need to build a different guard for the belt now since i has to swap the 3 phase motor for a single phase.

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Here is a picture of my friends Walker Turner, not sure what year but the cover should be like yours. His is 3 phase also but has a converter.

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Decided to put a variable speed control on the press mostly for slower speeds. I used a Harbor Freight control for a router that I had for my buffer. I fabricated a mounting plate and used Velcro to mount it. It gives me the ability to remove it and use it on another tool if necessary.
 
hard to beat the rugged simplicity of the vintage tools....I have a few older tools, few newer....my oldest are family hand me downs....I have my granddads Craftsman table saw, circa 1941 and also my uncles welder, a Forney, also circa 1941..I think he got it used...both of these passed through my dad to myself. I also have a number of vintage industrial piece I scrounged over the years. They are still the better value.
 
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I am not always a fan of leave it as found. I am one that often will take it down, clean it up, repaint to preserve and protect. This also allow you to totally access what you have and correct any discrepancies to make it safe and reliable...I weight heavy on reliable....before and after of a couple acquired tools...am rebuilding an alignment lift now.

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