Drill Press Mini-Gloat

[Chris Wood]

After doing some running around today with SWMBO, and mowing the lawn, I got a few minutes in the shop. I really hope I get an hour or two tomorrow, because I need to make forward progress on my WW project(s).

I put a tool together. It's electric.

My great-grandfather bought some machine tools. I never met the man; he passed away before I was born. Anyway, he had a lathe and a drill press. The lathe made it from my grandfather's house to my father's house in 1976, where I played with it a bit. It is currently at my brother's in-laws. I was up for a visit last month, but didn't have room for it in the car.

The drill press made it from my grandfather's house much later; it only got to my dad's house after my grandfather passed away. My dad had no use for it, so he said I could have it. He thought the motor was bad. And the power cord definitely had seen better days. Anyway, on the visit I mentioned before, I did have room for the drill press in the car. So it came with us, all wrapped up in burlap, four separate pieces (head, motor, table, and stand).

I tested continuity on the (paired) winding; showed an ohm or two. The switch showed resistance off the scale of my multimeter when open, and less than an ohm when closed. The leads on the multimeter show about a half an ohm resistance when shorted together, so I think the switch closes well enough. Didn't find any shorts from any of the switch or motor contacts to the switch or motor frames. So far, so good.

I walked to my local hardware store, and spent $10 on a 25-foot, 14 gauge extension cord. Cut it in half, and wired the half with the three-prong plug up to the switch. Plug it in, no surprises. Throw the switch, and the motor purrs like a kitten. Only the other end of the motor shaft dug a little divot into my table saw's side table. :-(

The name plate says DELTA MANUFACTURING COMPANY MILWAUKEE WISCONSIN USA in a triangle, with the point down. DP 220 is in raised letters on the side of the casting. The motor is a 1/3rd HP Induction Repulsion motor. Seems to be in good shape, but there's a little lash in the quill's 3" throw. Turning the handle moves the pointer 1/8th inch, but the quill itself doesn't move. My dad suggested the machine was bought in the

1930s, and it has a sticker listing patents that protect it; the newest one is from 1935. The photos on owwm.com suggest this is a 1940s logo (i.e. could be the same logo as this one, identified as "1940s" and definitely is not the same logo as the round red one on this drill press, identified as a 1937: I need to put this on a mobile base, and make a fence for it. But it's alive!

Chris

[Unisaw A100]

It was a good day indeed.

date. The decal with the patent numbers would make it older (maybe very, very late 30's/very, very early 40's).

So it's a floor model? Does it have a round base or is the base tomb stone shaped?

UA100

[Chris Wood]

No serial number tag on the head. On the motor, the nameplate says Model 2140, with a B (or maybe P) stamped before and after the 2140, so it reads Model B2140B, only the Bs are stamped indentations.

Yup. The belt guard is only the clamshell at the front of the head, and isn't the oldest style. The rest of the belt, and the pully for the motor, is open.

Tombstone base.

Chris, old arn getting in the blood.