DRILL PRESS KIT FIND

[Ken W.]

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

[Yadda]

Love the photo.  Shirt and tie, ready to go.

[Bill Houghton]

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.

[Ken W.]

Pics.

[papadan]

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.

[Ken W.]

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.

[papadan]

Don't scrap it, clean it up a little and see if a local museum would want it.

[amecks]

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/