Tool Talk
Classic Power Tools => Classic Power Tools => Topic started by: Ken W. on October 22, 2018, 08:03:38 PM
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I found this homemade drill press in a garage I'm cleaning out. It was too dim to take a pic. I'll get some tomorrow. At first I couldn't believe someone would put this much effort into a drill press. I punched in - home made drill press connecting rods - and I found this ad.
http://www.vintageprojects.com/power-tools/drill-press-auto.pdf
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Love the photo. Shirt and tie, ready to go.
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Popular Mechanics found all kinds of uses for automotive connecting rods and pipe fittings. Drill presses, lathes, grinders, and so on. I believe the link you included is of a Popular Mechanics design. It's a sensible way to get something that's machined to precise dimensions.
Looking for pictures, if it follows you home.
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Pics.
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Amazing how these days everything has to be so precise in alignment so the belt runs true. Years ago the belts were a piece of round leather cord, cut to length and connected by pig rings. They could run in any direction and worked great, like on this old drill press. I worked on some sewing machines in the 70s for a seed and grain company. Those old machines used the leather belts and never had trouble. I added a spring loaded idler to them to keep the stretch out of the belts. About every 2 months I would cut the ends off the belts and reconnect them, each leather belt would last right at a year with full time use on those sewing machines.
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About 25 or so years ago I had a chance to buy a complete work shop that included drill press , lathes , mill , planer and a bunch of other machines all run buy a belt and pulley system in the ceiling. It was quite the set up , but I didn't have room for it in my garage. I'm not sure what too do with this drill press. Scrap it or put it on CL as an art piece.
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Don't scrap it, clean it up a little and see if a local museum would want it.
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Hi Ken,
Send a picture to the Curtiss Museum. I donated some vintage wrenches to them several years ago. They use a lot of vintage tools in their restoration shop but also have some on display in the museum.
https://glennhcurtissmuseum.org/ (https://glennhcurtissmuseum.org/)