Old Rockwell/Delta Drill Press - Questions

[jonathan snyder]

Hi folks,

I picked up an old Rockwell/Delta drill press this morning. It's only 1/2 hp, but has 5" of quill travel. Anyone have a similar model. I have a few questions for you folks & a few pictures.

47809

Anyone have any idea how old it is? I seems to run nicely.

47810

In this belt configuration, is that the slowest speed? It seems fairly slow, although I have not changed the configuration yet. Which way do I go to increase/decrease speed? The sticker on the GE motor lists the speed at 1725 rpm - that must be the motor speed, not quill speed, is that correct? Any idea what min & max speeds might be?

There is some visable wobble with a freud forstner bit, although it seems to cut a clean hole. I measured runout on two different forstner bit shafts with the quill all the way up & at 5". Runout looks to be approx .014". I'm wondering if I should try to remove the chuck and reseat it? Is so, how do I remove the chuck without damaging it. It looks to be in good shape, no rust.

47812


Last question! The quill return does not seem to work too well. I tried adjusting it , but no luck. Maybe I'm not doing it right, or maybe the spring is shot. Here is a pic of the return mechanism. There is an adjusting screw underneath which truns the gear you see in the pic. Cranking up the tension seems to make the quill stick on its way down.

47811

Any and all help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[Pete Bradley]

The peace sign logo puts it some time after 1973. You might be able to date the serial number from:

http://www.owwm.com/Delta/VintageProject/Part1.asp

I suspect the quill doesn't return well because the mechanism is gummed up.

1725 is the motor speed.

.014 is more runout than you really want.

Dig around on www.owwm.com a bit. You'll find a good bit of useful information relative to your questions and probably manuals as well. acetoolrepair.com should have exploded views also.

Pete

Pete

[Russ Massery]

To remove the chuck move the quill down till you see a slot. Turn the spindle till you get the tang on the chuck to line up with the slot. What you'll need is what's call a drift key. it pushes down on the tang of the chuck arbor. thus removing the chuck. hope it helps.

[Norman Hitt]

Johnathan, in answer to your question about the speeds, the picture you show of the belt and pullys shows it to be in the "Slowest Speed" position. When the belt is on the two top pullys, it will be in the "Fastest" position. Not knowing the diameter of the pullys it would not be possible to determine the speed of the different settings.

[jonathan snyder]

Thanks for the info.

I did find a bit more info on OWWM, including instructions for removing the chuck. I will try removing and reseating the chusk and see if that helps with the runout.

Norman, How does one go about calculating speeds using pully diameters???

Thnaks
Jonathan

[Norman Hitt]

Thanks for the info.

I did find a bit more info on OWWM, including instructions for removing the chuck. I will try removing and reseating the chusk and see if that helps with the runout.

Norman, How does one go about calculating speeds using pully diameters???

Thnaks
Jonathan

Johnathan, I'll use an example.

Motor (Motor Pully Dia.) (Spindle Pully Dia) (Spindle Speed)
_RPM___________________________________________RPM ______
1725..............2"...........................1".......................3450
1725 2" 2" 1725
1725 2" 3" 1294
1725 2" 4" 862.5
1725 2" 5" 575
__________________________________________________ __
1725..............3"...........................6".......................862.5
1725 3" 4.5" 1294
1725 3" 3" 1725
1725 3" 1.5" 3450
__________________________________________________ __
1725..............4"...........................1"........................4312
1725 4" 2" 3450
1725 4" 3" 2587.5

Basically if your motor pully is double the diameter of the spindle pully, the rpm of the spindle will be double the motor rpm. If the motor pully is half the diameter of the spindle pully, the spindle speed will be half the rpm of the motor.

With accurate diameters of the pullys, you can multiply the diameter of each pully by 3.1416 to get its circumference and then do the division of one pully to the other to get the ratio and then multiply that by the motor rpm to get the spindle speed.

(It's late and I was doing the math by hand so I hope I didn't screw the numbers above up):eek: :D

[David Rose]

Similar to what Norman said, a 1" motor pulley to 5" quill pulley would give you 345 rmp for minimum. Divide the 1725rpm by the ratio of the quill pulley to the motor pulley... I think... late here too.

David

[Mike Wilkins]

I have that same drill press. Born-on date form mine is 1974. Mine is the floor model with the same pulley arrangement as yours, a one-armed handle arrangement, and lots of cast iron. I did replace the junk belt that came on mine with the link belts(I think it is called Fenner Drive) for an improvement in vibration, noise and power.
My only comlaint (a minor one) with this machine is the lack of rack and pinion table adjusting feature; but this machine is built much better and heavier than newer ones. Build yourself a 12 X 24 auxilliary table for it with a nice fence and drill away.
Great find.

[jonathan snyder]

Norman & David, Thanks for the info on calculating spindle speeds.

Mike, Do you by any chance have a manual for your machine?? Have you had any issue with the quill return sticking. I think the mechanism is probably just gummed up. I am hesitant to take it apart for cleaning, as there is a flat coil spring in there, & I have horrible visions of that spring going flying off into space when I pull it out of there. Have yuu ever removed the mechanism on yours?

I am also thinking about removing and reseating the chuck to see if that takes care of the runout. I found instructions for removing the chuck, but need to get a spanner wrench. Have you removed the chuck on yours? If so how did it go?

Thanks
Jonathan

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Johnathan, taking the chuck out on a drill press is no big deal, you can even make a drift if you like they are fairly straight forward, but you should be able to buy one just about anywhere.

Removing the chuck to use large drill bits is common with big drill presses, the larger drill bits do not fit into the chuck, they have there own taper that fits into the quill.

Cheers!

PS, nice drill press!:D

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Take a look at this guy's page on the subject, all you need to know, I would think....

Beautiful Iron (http://www.beautifuliron.com/mttaper.htm)

Great site, tons of info, and pics too ;) :D

Cheers!

[Juan Rivera]

Jonathan,

I just removed the chuck on drill press (1973 same as yours but with a mararathon motor/ model # 15-017). There is a small slotted screw inside the chuck please remove before trying to remove chuck. The chuck is just pressed in place and once you remove the screw with right tool it slides out. I just put two small pieces of hardwood and the part above the chuck to increse the distance and it popped out.

I know this is not the way of doing it but I had nothing to loose since I got the drill for nothing. I completely refurbished it and it's running great.
I did not not find a manual for it.

Best regards,

Juan A. Rivera

[jonathan snyder]

Thanks for the additional info. I have determined that the chuck is a 33 jacobs taper. There is no tang on the chuck or slot on the quill so a drift or a wedge will not work. The instructions I found on OWWM don't seem to apply either. There is a very small hole up inside the chuck, but no screw as Juan suggested to look for. I am stumped. I plan to post over on OWWM as soon as my membership is activated.

I measured the run out on the spindle immediately above the chuck. It was only .003. Runout on several different forsterner bit shafts reads .014. I think that could indicate that the the chuck is not seated properly. Anyone agree or disagree? The jaws of the chuck are clean, no foreign matter lodged in there.

Thanks
Again

Stu, how are those dovetails comming along?

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

...................Stu, how are those dovetails comming along?

The Demo went great, the kids loved it, I had fun too.

I'm hoping to use my new skills on the upcoming large display case humidor for the L shop, there are some drawers on it that will need ;) some dovetails!

Thanks for asking!

The guys over at OWWM know there stuff, so I'm sure you will get it sorted.

Cheers!

[Mike Wilkins]

No luck with a manual Jonathan. I got my machine second-hand from an insurance company salvage bid. Might try the OWWM.com website for info on old iron. My return also sticks but not real bad; probably why I have not bothered to touch it. Try shooting some WD-40 into the cracks around the adjustment wheel and see what that does.

[Bruce Wrenn]

No luck with a manual Jonathan. I got my machine second-hand from an insurance company salvage bid. Might try the OWWM.com website for info on old iron. My return also sticks but not real bad; probably why I have not bothered to touch it. Try shooting some WD-40 into the cracks around the adjustment wheel and see what that does.Want some "sticker shock", check with Delta for a price on the return spring. On one I was restoring, they wanted $100+. Grizzly fits nicely and costs a lot less.

[jonathan snyder]

Want some "sticker shock", check with Delta for a price on the return spring. On one I was restoring, they wanted $100+. Grizzly fits nicely and costs a lot less.

Bruce,
Thats what I paid for the drill press!!. I wont be replacing it at that cost. Did you have any issues taking it out? I afraid it will go flying off into outerspace if I remove it for cleaning. Any advise on removing the chuck?

I'm going to post over at OWWM, but my membership has not been activated yet. I not sure how long that takes.

Thanks
Jonathan

[Norman Hitt]

Johnathan, I do not have first hand knowledge of your DP, BUT from looking at the picture of the tension adjuster for the return spring, I would assume (from seeing other similar tensioners before), that that it has a "Flat Wound coil" spring and that you probably have to loosen the nut slightly and move the tension knob in the appropriate direction and then retighten the knob to maintain the setting. IF.....this is the case, then you should be able to loosen the nut slightly and then slowly turn the knob in the Decrease Direction and keep turning it until all the tension is off the spring. If this is possible, then you could remove the nut and slide the spring unit out with no problems. I would count the turns while decreasing the tension so you have a ballpark figure to go back to after you clean and reinstall it.

I feel reasonably sure that when the spring assembly is initially installed, it is rotated around until the flat area in the center of the spring will slip into a slot in the shaft that drives the gear to move the rack up or down, and then the nut is installed to hold it in place and the knob is turned which winds up the spring until the proper tension is reached and then the nut is tightened to maintain the setting.

Hope this helps, and good luck.

[CPeter James]

You can down load the manual from the Delta site. The spring is expensive, I bought one last year from Delta. I paid about $30. There is an adjustment for play in the quill. It is the bolt near the quill lock.

CPeter

[Chris Rosenberger]

Bruce,
Thats what I paid for the drill press!!. I wont be replacing it at that cost. Did you have any issues taking it out? I afraid it will go flying off into outerspace if I remove it for cleaning. Any advise on removing the chuck?

I'm going to post over at OWWM, but my membership has not been activated yet. I not sure how long that takes.

Thanks
Jonathan

To adjust the spring tension there is a slotted scew on the bottom of the head just behind the spring cartridge. It is very easy to adjust. You may also need to adjust the head tension on the quill. This is the upper nut on the front of the drill press. To remove the spring you need to remove the tension on the spring(the adjusting screw will drop out of the head when all tension is removed), remove the large nut & pull the cartrige out. The spring will stay in the cartridge.
If the quill is just sticking. Lower it and spray some WD 40 on it & in the center hole of the front pulley & adjust the spring tension.
Once the spring is removed the quill can be removed by removing the hand crank. Be sure to hole on to the quill when removing the crank.

[robert kashata]

It appears that I have a threaded chuck no 33 and I do not know how to remove. Also The Quill seems to want and return down instead of back up. Please help

[Rick Pettit]

I have an old packard drill press that was binding. After I took the quill out I saw that a couple of the gear teeth were broke. They were still there just cracked. I finished beaking them out and it didn't stick anymore. Has a little miss in the travel now but that's better than it was. Just take the nut off of the spring and unwind slowly. Turn the handle until the quill comes out. I used a cylinder honing stone to clean out the bore for the quill and some fine sand paper for the quill. Nice clean heavy grease and you'll be good to go.

[Myk Rian]

Last question! The quill return does not seem to work too well. I tried adjusting it , but no luck. Maybe I'm not doing it right, or maybe the spring is shot. Here is a pic of the return mechanism. There is an adjusting screw underneath which truns the gear you see in the pic. Cranking up the tension seems to make the quill stick on its way down.
It could be the pinion and/or the quill is/are sticking.
Remove the spring, carefully with gloves on, and pull the pinion out while holding the quill. Clean everything with mineral spirits.

[Lee Schierer]

I have an older Homecraft Drill press that has the same chuck. It is removed using two slotted wedges between the top of the chuck and the bottom of the quill. I had a pair made by an uncle years ago. They are metal, and straddle the tapered shaft. They are about 3" long and taper from 1/16" to about 1/14" in thickness. Put one in from each side and squeeze them tight by hand then tap on one lightly and the chuck will pop right off.

Here's a link for wedges (http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT?PMPXNO=1785469&PMT4NO=0)

[Joe Bradshaw]

Jonathan, Nice looking DP. Quick and dirty way for calculating spindle speed.Motor rpm X motor pulley dia. divided by spindle pulley dia. Close is good enough.

[Joe Tuminello]

Bruce can you tell me what part number grizzly return spring you were referring to? I know it has been a long time.
Want some "sticker shock", check with Delta for a price on the return spring. On one I was restoring, they wanted $100+. Grizzly fits nicely and costs a lot less.
Hi Bruce, Can you tell me what part number grizzly return spring you were referring to? I know it has been a long time. I need one for my 15-069 Rockwell DP.

Thanks Joe