Older Delta drill press?

Older Delta drill press? PICTURE ADDED

Are they any good?


ETA: Pictured added in a post further down the page

Define 'good'.

From the prices (and the lies) I have found on craigslist, most belt-driven driven presses are either worn out (and abused) by a wood worker, or abandoned by a metal worker.

Don't trust those 1.75 inch driving pulleys to transmit any useful torque, it's not possible. You will have trouble drilling 3/8 inch holes in 1/4 inch plate.

I have had to learn (with my money, not a teacher) about this class of machine. I will post a few 'gotchas', it's up to you to ask for more information, or to learn more on your own.

Does the machine have a belt-tension adjuster? I'm not making this up, I have a Dayton drill press that didn't have an adjuster.

Release any depth stops, and move the chuck all the way down. Rotate the chuck by hand. Is it still connected to the belts and motor? Yes, I have one of those drill presses, another Dayton.

Does the quill spider downfeed feel loose on its shaft? The Dayton I mentioned had no shaft key installed it only had a set screw.

Take a good hard look at the driven step pulley. Does it have a keyway? The Dayton unit had no keyway to secure the step pulley to the spindle.

For all intents and purposes, a belt-driven drill press is a crap shoot when it comes to drilling holes in metal; those small pulleys cannot transmit adequate torque, and there is no easy modication, it isn't just a matter of "tighten the belt".

My Delta (with the laser pointer) has a tensioner, but I didn't apply a cheater bar to it, and it slips when drilling 3/8 inch.

Yes, you are speaking of Delta, but I don't think anyone should place blind faith in any brand name, nowadays.

yes.

which model?

Pete

"Older Delta" implies a USA made machine made before Rockwell took over the brand, and long before those new Chinese pieces of junk like SWB has.

But there were several models in different sizes. Some meant for home woodworking, some for real metal shops. And there was a sensitive drill for tiny holes in metal. All were pretty good when new, long ago.

Larry

Around 1952 Delta bought walker turner just so they could sell the drilpress under the delta name. That drill press was made prety much unchanged fro mbefore WW2 unti labout 1970. So yes that 20" dp is a good one.
Delta moved the switch to the front of the head casting and made the belt guard from sheet metal instead of cast iron. It is nicew to have a 6" stroke wehn you need it.
Bill D.

I have a couple of 17" Deltas; both date from the late 30's or early 40's. I rebuilt both, repainted and use them daily and have for 20 yrs. They have 6 or 8 speed pulleys which make it pretty easy to change speeds. One is a bench type with a large table which is drilled and tapped for hold downs and has an elevating crank to move the head up and down, and the other is free-standing with a production table. Both have MT2 sockets, which works out well since my lathe uses the same tooling. I use a 5/8" Albrecht chuck most of the time, and find it works well. They are far and away the most used tools in my shop. The free-standing drillpress is in the woodshop and the bench drillpress in the metal shop. Both have the slow speed pulley combination (Delta provided high speed pulleys as an option).

-Dave

Here is a picture of it

They are good. Have you noticed the size of the down feed handle, almost the
size of a walking stick. They newer models have six speeds.
The name change from/to Rockwell & Delta occurred a few times and that was
never a issue for quality in that period, so ignore that.
The picture looks like there is a vise mounted on a production table.
I think you can't go wrong with that drill press.

Tim,
Here's my Delta Milwaukee. Looks to be the same DP. Ser.# 54-3262. Motor pulley is same as others. It's OK for a DP. Never considered a drillpress anything more than something for jabbing inaccurate holes in stuff, but it works fine. 7'' from column to chuck ctr.
Ray

Hi Tim, That's a 14" press. Well made and great for smaller stuff. They have a compact footprint and you should be happy with the quality and construction.

For heavier work I like the 17"ers which are a bit more stout.

The table is funny on that one. I can't quite tell what is going on.

BTW, I recognize that press- we both must be checked the same area classified ads- I'm just outside of saratoga springs.

Pete

I have two pristine 15 inch Deltas that date from the 50's in my home shop. They look like the one in your photo.

Quality of manufacture is good. The tables are machined so flat and smooth that I frequently use the tables instead of my surface plate for layout work. There is no play in the quill. Some of the adjustments/controls are fine, others a nuisance (table adjustment, speed adjustment). I mounted hinges on the motor so that speed changes can be made easily and quickly.

I regard them as decent woodworking drill presses. For a home shop machinist, they are adequate for smaller drill diameters or soft metals but they quickly run out of power, slow enough speeds, and rigidity when drilling cast iron or steel. Also, clamping stuff to the table is a nuisance.

I also have a like-new Jet 20 inch belt driven DP. Junk. It has a lot of desired features but it is all largely negated by poor build quality. Being belt driven, it also lacks sufficient power for the big jobs. Slippage is a way of life with belt drives. Due to its size (more cumbersome to use) and poor build quality, the Deltas are still the ones that get the everyday use.

If I had a real metal working DP (geared head, much more rigid construction), I would keep the Deltas. They are a handy size and good enough for the majority of my hole drilling jobs (typically under 1/4 inch). Hardly perfect, but there is far worse, believe me.

The person is asking $200 for it. How does sound for a price? I haven't bought a used DP in a long time

Does the base have a large foot print? I suspect it does. I would buy it.

Sir,

If your interested in researching photos, model numbers, manuals, rebuild info, prices paid, etc for old drill presses you may want to check: Old Wood-Working Machines (OWWM) - Welcome There is a lot of info available there that is very helpful.

Rog