freeman Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 I picked up a new (to me anyway) drill press for the shop over the weekend. This is a very old, very heavy duty unit that's seen better days. When I got it, there was two coats of paint on everything, including the parts that shouldn't have paint on them. The wiring was so old the cable sheathing was flaking off in chunks. The handle for locking the bit depth was missing. The motor pulley was on upside down with the set screw jammed in the key way with no key in sight. And for the finale, the quill spring and any keepers that may have belonged in the spring housing was flat gone. I haven't managed to get all the paint off of the placards yet so no clue on the manufacturer or model. I've replaced the wiring, put the motor pulley back on the right way after fabricating a replacement key, and I'm in the process of stripping off all the old paint and repainting. All in all things are progressing nicely and I could have the unit running in 15 minutes. The only thing left to do to get it back to good is to replace that missing quill spring. I tried scavenging a section of spring from an old blown up chainsaw that was lying around, but the silly thing won't stay coiled in the housing. During those brief periods before it uncoils itself it doesn't have enough oomph to pull the drill back up into the housing, and this after I've buffed off the rust and lubed everything up real good. Given the age of the tool I'm pessimistic about finding pre-fabricated replacement parts. Any suggestions on getting a working quill spring? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciladog Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 http://www.mwspring....at-springs.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Ciladog, that looks like an excellent web site, so I bookmarked it. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNewman Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 I had a similar problem with an old drill press I had, the casting that the spring locked into broke and I could not get a replacement. What I had planned to do was something I had seen on really old drill presses. I was just going to rig up a couple of pulleys and use a counterweight rather than a spring. I ended up selling the drill press cheap as I use my milling machine for most drilling these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothBore Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 I was just going to rig up a couple of pulleys and use a counterweight rather than a spring. .You've gotta love the dependable nature of Gravity. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeman Posted October 27, 2011 Author Share Posted October 27, 2011 Update on this: After a failed experiment involving trying to fabricate a replacement spring from a hacksaw blade I decided to scavenge the spring out of my el cheapo harbor freight drill press. Works like a charm! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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