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EDIT I've already ordered a handle and I'm 95% sure I have a solution for the base. No need for more suggestions on those two problems! The only lingering concerns I have are building a small housing for the replacement switch, since it's much larger than original, and at some point dealing with the slight wobble in the spindle.
Scored a Craftsman floor drill press Saturday evening. Guy wanted $75 for the press and $1 each for 10 Jorgensen wood clamps, and $2 each for 6 quick grip clamps of various sizes. I took all of it!
A few downers on the press. First, the crank handle that raises the table is broken.
I'd like to make a replacement partly out of red oak, if that's even a good idea. I'm thinking I could grind the broken area flat, tap 2 bolt holes. Attach an aluminum plate to that flat spot that would have 2 bolts going in, and 1 going out into a piece of red oak. That piece could be 4 inches, then I could use a dowel that would rotate freely for the actual handle.
He also replaced the OEM power switch with a house power switch. It's functional, but it's ugly.
I'd like to replace it with something like this:
Will I have to make some sort of housing for that switch? Looks like the back is naked.
He said the cast iron base broke, so he hacked together something out of some 2x6 pine.
It's stable, but it takes up way more room that it should, so I'll definitely make something better. I'm thinking I could mount the pole on a box about the shape of the original base with a solid concrete block in it for weight.
When I tested it, he was unsure how to change the speed. I've never owned a drill press before, but I knew the basic concept. He never knew the top popped up and the belts could go on different pulleys. He'd ran it at 200 rpm it's entire life. I knew this was true because the pulleys looked brand new. The only ones that had any kind of indication of use were the ones for 200 rpm.
Even though the speed was very low it's entire life, I feel like the operation is not all that balanced. I lucked out and found a tutorial on how to rebuild what looks like a very similar drill press. Seems like new bearings are quite affordable, so I'll try those first. I fear whatever happened to the handle and base is why the balance is off. What the worst case scenario?
Scored a Craftsman floor drill press Saturday evening. Guy wanted $75 for the press and $1 each for 10 Jorgensen wood clamps, and $2 each for 6 quick grip clamps of various sizes. I took all of it!
A few downers on the press. First, the crank handle that raises the table is broken.

I'd like to make a replacement partly out of red oak, if that's even a good idea. I'm thinking I could grind the broken area flat, tap 2 bolt holes. Attach an aluminum plate to that flat spot that would have 2 bolts going in, and 1 going out into a piece of red oak. That piece could be 4 inches, then I could use a dowel that would rotate freely for the actual handle.
He also replaced the OEM power switch with a house power switch. It's functional, but it's ugly.

I'd like to replace it with something like this:

Will I have to make some sort of housing for that switch? Looks like the back is naked.
He said the cast iron base broke, so he hacked together something out of some 2x6 pine.

It's stable, but it takes up way more room that it should, so I'll definitely make something better. I'm thinking I could mount the pole on a box about the shape of the original base with a solid concrete block in it for weight.
When I tested it, he was unsure how to change the speed. I've never owned a drill press before, but I knew the basic concept. He never knew the top popped up and the belts could go on different pulleys. He'd ran it at 200 rpm it's entire life. I knew this was true because the pulleys looked brand new. The only ones that had any kind of indication of use were the ones for 200 rpm.
Even though the speed was very low it's entire life, I feel like the operation is not all that balanced. I lucked out and found a tutorial on how to rebuild what looks like a very similar drill press. Seems like new bearings are quite affordable, so I'll try those first. I fear whatever happened to the handle and base is why the balance is off. What the worst case scenario?