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Thread: Ultimate Auction Score - Upgrade Drill Press (with Pics)

  1. #1
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    Ultimate Auction Score - Upgrade Drill Press (with Pics)

    This is my old drill press. I bought it off the seller for $200 about 15 years ago when I bought my house. It's an older Jet JSL-14DP with a 1/3hp motor. I always hated that thing -- it was noisy, the belt change thing was enough of a pain that I rarely changed the speed, and the runout was as you'd expect for a $200 drill press. I made do with it, but in about 2010 when I bought my Bridgeport Vari-speed, I just stopped using it. I wanted to get a dedicated, nicer drill press for the wood shop. I was looking for a used Powermatic 1150 or possibly a PM1200 if I couldn't find an 1150. The problem was, anything advertised around me was in horrible shape and they seemed to be asking insane amounts of money for them.

    IMG_0763 copy.jpg

    After years of looking, I finally found a possible contender to the elusive Powermatics... a Clausing 20 at a local auction house that appeared to be in excellent condition. It had a 1.5hp, 3-phase motor vs. the Jet's wimpy 1/3hp. It was a 20" vs. the Jet's 14". It had Vari-Speed instead of belts, and at 650 lbs., it was a beast compared the the 190 lb. Jet. I figured I'd bid on it after I did some research. They still sell them new for around $4500. I guessed that I'd probably see something like that in excellent condition on Craigslist for around $2200, so maybe it'll go for about $1200-1500 at auction, so I was thinking to bid accordingly.

    When the auction came up, I found my self in the bidding war. I ended up bidding $550, thinking that we had a way to go, and then nobody else bid against me, so I got it for $550 + auction fees. Wow! I was ecstatic! What a score! Since I had to drive an hour or so to the auction house to pick this thing up anyway, I thought I'd peruse the rest of the items to see if I could use something. I found a large pallet of cold-rolled 1018 flat bar that I figured that I could use if the price was right. I normally pay a couple of bucks a pound for the stuff if I buy a few pieces. Looked to be about 1000 lbs. of steel, but the pictures were really poor because there were pallets on top of the steel. Ended up reaching my max bid of $350. I was actually hoping someone would outbid me because I really didn't need 1000 lbs. of this stuff. Oh, well.

    I rented a 16 ft. U-Haul trailer for the steel, and planned on putting the DP in the back of my truck. When I picked up the steel at a remote location, I was told that due to liability concerns, they couldn't use the forklift, so I had load the oily stuff all by hand. I was not impressed, but I plugged away at it. The guy on the phone told me that he figured there was about 1000 lbs. on the pallets, which is what I had guessed looking at the pics. The double-axle trailer had a load limit of 2600 lbs. When I was about 80% finished, I looked at the trailer and it was sitting really, really low. Wow! This was definitely more than 1000 lbs. I measured the pile in my trailer and called a buddy to Google the weight of a cubic foot of steel. Turns out there was 3200 lbs of steel, and about 200 lbs. in wood planks/pallets. I ended up leaving the trailer behind and went to pick up the drill press on a separate trip, so ended up doing about 3 1/2 hours of driving instead of 2 hrs. What a mess!

    So, now for some pics. Here's the Clausing loaded onto the back of my truck, and after I unloaded it into my shop with a chain hoist. I brought some tools to the auction house, and they left me alone for half an hour to lower the table and the head as low as I could get it before loading.

    IMG_0792 copy.jpgIMG_0803 copy.jpg

    I started cleaning up the DP to make it look nice. It was a lot of work, but eventually I got it all done.

    IMG_0804 copy.jpg

    I noticed when loading it, that at some point (probably when it was moved to the auction house), a fork lift operator went in a little too deep under the table and lifted up on the table crank. It bent the shaft and the table would not move very smoothly because the teeth on the clutch would not engage. I looked to order a new shaft, but it was pricey and I didn't want to wait for one to show up, so I went and bought a foot of 1/2" stress-proof steel and machined a new one that was stronger than the original. The first pic shows the new part next to the bent original. The second shows the worm gear attached with a roll pin to my shaft and inserted into the housing. The third shows the roll pin installed on the other side with a circ-clip holding the handle on. Works super smooth now.

    IMG_0819 copy.jpgIMG_0821 copy.jpgIMG_0822 copy.jpgIMG_0823 copy.jpg

    To be continued...
    Last edited by Keith Weber; 01-28-2018 at 12:21 PM. Reason: Fixed picture orientation

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    ...Continued.

    Next, I had to install a plug on the cord, and then I welded up a stable base for it. It had a 3 point mount for stability, so I had to incorporate that into my design. The drill base is bolted to my base with 3 long 1/2" bolts, so it becomes one with my base. I can then use the rubber vibration damping levelers to level the DP. It doesn't put any undue stress on the cast base this way. A 21" pallet jack fits under the base and I can wheel it around if I need to.

    IMG_0830 copy.jpgIMG_0831 copy.jpgIMG_0832 copy.jpg

    So, here's my new (to me) upgrade drill press, all cleaned up, wired and running. By serial number it is about a 2005 model. I ended up talking to the previous owner on the phone when I was getting the address to pick up the steel. He said that they bought it brand new, it had very little use drilling just occasional plastic parts and composite decking boards. He said that when he bought it, they signed up for a maintenance program, where a tech would come out and oil it, grease it, run it through all the speeds, etc. about every few months. When I had the table lift apart, this was very evident -- the gears were shiny new looking, and the grease looked like it just came out of the factory. I had read that the Vari-drives on things like this can be noisy, but when I started it up, I was very pleased. It was very smooth and quiet -- not noisy at all. It has a high and low range, allowing you to cover speeds from 150rpm up to 2000rpm. It's a little overkill for woodworking, but I'll probably use it for both metal and wood drilling. The lower speeds are nice for drilling metal.

    IMG_0835 copy.jpg

    Next was the big test, for which I was very nervous. Yeah, it runs smooth, but what is the runout like? It didn't come with a chuck, so I hooked up a Starrett 0.001" indicator to my Noga Magnetic Base/Arm and lined it up inside the 3MT spindle. I reached inside the back of the Vari-drive and turned the drive belt by hand. The indicator wasn't moving, so I readjusted it and tried it again. Same result. I looked a little closer at the needle. It actually was moving as I rotated the spindle. It just wasn't moving much -- maybe about a tenth of an increment, roughly 0.0001" runout. Wow! Never seen a spindle that smooth on a drill press before. So happy!

    So, back to my auction pick up day a couple of days earlier. After dropping off my DP, I headed back to pick up my overloaded trailer. Drove real slow on back roads for the 45 minute drive back to my shop. Unloaded 2800 lbs. of the steel onto some pallets on my shop floor, and stuck the other 400 lbs. onto my storage rack for future use. I managed to sell the 2800 lbs. to a local machinist the next day at 50 cents/lb. He brought his own trailer and forklift. Later, he said he kept some and sold the rest to other machinists, so he got his for free.

    IMG_0799 copy.jpgIMG_0800 copy.jpg

    In the end, I was into everything for $1100 (DP, steel, auction fees, trailer rental, gas, steel for the base/shaft, etc.) Got $1400 for the steel, so basically, I got a like-new, awesome DP and 400 lbs. of steel for free -- plus $300 in my pocket to put towards a nice Albrecht chuck! I find a lot of good deals, but this was probably one of my better ones. Ended up selling my Jet on CL to a nice local guy starting out in woodworking.
    Last edited by Keith Weber; 01-28-2018 at 12:16 PM.

  3. #3
    I'd say you did great!!!! Very nice DP.
    I've been looking for one myself so I can relate to how hard it is to find one in decent shape for a decent price.
    Congrats.
    Last edited by Bruce Page; 01-28-2018 at 1:13 PM.

  4. #4
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    That beast will put any PM to shame,I say you did better than well.Lucky dog

  5. #5
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    Wow...nice machine! Congratulations!
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Silicon Valley, CA
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    989
    Congrats.

    So many good parts to this story -- the patience paying off, your taking good care of your find, and the resulting performance.

    Matt

  7. #7
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    Sooo jealous
    Rick Potter

    DIY journeyman,
    FWW wannabe.
    AKA Village Idiot.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
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    Northern Michigan
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    I have that exact machine, with the two speed motor, paid a grand, chucked a router bit in the superchuck to check runout and the needle did not move. Did the same as you, thought my dial indicator was malfunctioning.

    First thing I bought for mine was a clamp block set, because it will not slip, it will just get you.

    You will never need another drill press most likely, these things are awesome.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
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    West Lafayette, IN
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    Great story! Well done on a sweet DP. How are your back and shoulders doing after moving all that steel?

  10. #10
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    What size is that steel flat?

    Nice score.

  11. #11
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Day View Post
    How are your back and shoulders doing after moving all that steel?
    The shoulders were alright. The back was a little tender for a couple of days. I'm so glad that somebody took all of it that I didn't want and loaded it themselves. That was a condition to me letting him have it at 50 cents/lb. I think everybody involved with that steel made out with the exception of the company that went out of business and ended up at auction.

    Quote Originally Posted by andrew whicker View Post
    What size is that steel flat?
    It was 1018 cold rolled, 1/2" thick, 8 ft. long, and Both 2-1/2" and 3" widths. The weight I mentioned included a few 4.5" x 1/4" wall square tubes that weren't in the pics.

  12. #12
    As drill presses go that is really good looking and an excellent score for you!

    Well done.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
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    Southwestern CT
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    1,392
    The 20" VS is a really nice score. It has the 6-1/2" spindle travel and other features that make it one of the nicest drill presses made ... and with one ten-thousandth runout ... unbelievable! I have the 15" VS which is still a lovely machine. One of the things I just added is the Morton quill stop (depth adjust). I can't quite see in your photo of the head whether your's has one or not. But highly recommended. I'm actually thinking of adding them to my mortiser. Love the leveling base you welded up and fact the press is bolted to it. Congratulations!

    Cold rolled steel is beautiful stuff. You will use it!
    "the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.” Confucius

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