Vintage Craftsman Drill Press - Repairable?

[Gilmourisgod]

I inherited this nice old Craftsman drill press from my grandfather, not sure the exact age, but he had it in his basement for years when I was a kid, so I'm guessing late 50's-early 60's? The only repair I'm aware of was a replacement motor about 20 years ago, which was actually exactly the correct model motor that had been refurbished.

It developed an issue recently, which may or may not be related: the return spring on the quill stopped working, you have to manually lift the chuck up out of the work, it won't spring back up when you release the lever. That was a minor annoyance until a few days ago when this happened:

The shaft the chuck mounts to suddenly just dropped down out of the body of the drill. It looks like it has a splined end with some kind of stop collar on the top, but short of pulling the shaft pulley, I can't see how you get to that spline end. The shaft can be lifted up and rotated so the splines seem to engage, but nothing is holding it from dropping.

Edit... Hmmmmm.. just noticed in the photo above that the pinion gear that connects to the raising/lowering lever looks like it might have some broken teeth? Is that what I'm seeing?

At this point the value is mostly sentimental, but it's always worked like a champ, so I'd hate to scrap it. If anybody is familar with these and can advise me before I start messing with a gear puller, let me know.

 

[Spidey2112]

Pretty sure you're on the right track.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Pretty sure you're on the right track.

Ah geeze, just found this image on Ebay, lools very similar to my drillpress handle, complete with a full compliment of spline teeth on the end of the lever shaft.... which appear to be partially missing on mine.
Craftsman/King Seeley Drill Press Hand Feed Lever Assembly for 103.23640 | eBay

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Seek and ye shall find......
I think what I have here is Craftsman Model #103.23640 Drill Press, the one in the link below looks nearly identical, and that one is circa 1946-1947, so this may be a lot older than I realize. That would make sense, my grandfather didn't move to Cape Cod until just after WWII, he was flight surgeon at Otis Air Force Base for a couple of years after the war, serving out the rest of his Reserve duty. Makes sense that he would have set up his basement shop not long after moving here. What are my chances of finding an exploded parts diagram, or the parts themselves?
My 103.23640 Craftsman Drill Press Restoration - The Garage Journal Board
The cast iron body is open to dust and debris, I have yet to see one of these online that has any kind of dust cover, maybe everyone just removed them. It looks like it was meant to have one, that would be a gas to find one, as you can see the innards are pretty crusty with sawdust and old grease.

 

[cholyoke]

There are usually useful publications scanned into vintagemachinery (parts diagram near the end of the pdf below)

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I found several threads about restoring the same type of Dunlap (Sears) lathe my grandfather gave me.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Thanks @cholyoke! Were you able to find parts for your restoration?

 

[cholyoke]

You're welcome. Vintage machinery is a great resource and giant rabbit hole. After finding the manual, it was easier to find part numbers. Some things are no longer available, but I could find most things on eBay and other places. Luckily, I didn't need much since my grandfather took good care of the lathe.

It seems like these old hobby machines are fairly robust and relatively easy to fix. There are also enterprising people to serve the market for weirdos who want to fix/use janky, old machinery rather than buying new machinery with modern conveniences like safety features.

Good luck with the fix!

 

[boxerrider]

Thanks @cholyoke! Were you able to find parts for your restoration?

The sister site to Vintage Machinery is the Old Woodworking Machines forum Old Woodworking Machines - Index page.
You can search for work that other members have done on the same machine, start a thread with questions and pictures of yours, and there is a classifieds section (Bring Out Your Dead) where you can place an advertisement for parts you need.
Enjoy!

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Heh, another hobby to obsess over in the making...... "Honey, I bought a 1932 Boyce/Crane Jointer Planer, it weighs 2,300 lbs., so I need to rent a hoist...."

 

[flannel cat]

thats a sweet drill press and i hope you find what you need to get it back in shape, its a gem!

 

[Rabidhamster]

Save the parts you take out even if they’re broken. There are things you can do if you can’t find original parts. Some people have hobbies of sandcasting.
Even if you spent the cost of a new harbor freight drill press getting this one back up and running you’d still have this one back up and running. Hope it’s easier and cheaper than you expect

 

[bassdude51]

In today's age of the internet, eBay, Craigslist, Facebook Market Place, etc...........yes, you can repair your grand dad's drill press. You can probably locate another one and switch parts.

Beware! Open and exposed drive belts and pulleys are VERY DANGEROUS! Try to get a cover over the top of your press!

 

[Arie X]

Beware! Open and exposed drive belts and pulleys are VERY DANGEROUS! Try to get a cover over the top of your press!

some sort of cover would be a good idea.

back when those roamed the earth, people were expected to be cognizant of where they put their fingers and hair which is why you don't see a lot of safety stuff on vintage gear. these days point-of-use laws encrust machinery with so many guards that you can't see the work anymore and cause their own hazards.

 

[JW56789]

It's a personal decision for you from a cost standpoint, but I can tell you of a very highly-regarded builder that refuses to buy any new power tools (aside from CAD/CAM pieces) that are operated by using their Mk. 1 eyeballs as they feel none of them last, and will spend serious money maintaining pieces like yours as it's cheaper for them in the long run than constantly repairing/replacing currently-available choices.

I work for a producer of auto transmission parts. All of our products are built to micron tolerances, and in our maintenance shop filled with a serious complement of computer-driven 5-axis machines from Europe, in one corner is a classic Bridgeport mill that's older than I am . . . . . that they would no sooner think of getting rid of than one of the digital rigs.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

In today's age of the internet, eBay, Craigslist, Facebook Market Place, etc...........yes, you can repair your grand dad's drill press. You can probably locate another one and switch parts.

Beware! Open and exposed drive belts and pulleys are VERY DANGEROUS! Try to get a cover over the top of your press!

It's never had a cover in my lifetime, and I haven't seen a single version of it with a cover. Even the original manual (see pdf link below) shows no cover of any kind, which is weird, but hey, it was 1947. Guys who just finished defeating the Hun and Tojo were not too worried about safety! This a MAN's drill press! I have it mounted on a stand, so the Craftsman logo is about eye level, really no reason to reach over it, and the switch is on the bottom of the motor, so I feel pretty safe using it. If nothing else, you'd have thought they would put a cover on it just to keep all the dust and grunge out, but.... nope. I could probably cobble together some kind of sheet metal cover, which even my crappy little backup Chinesium drill press has, though it rattles like a set of castanets every time I fire it up.
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[farace]

I recently rehabbed my grandfather’s Craftsman drill press from the 1947-49 time period. It’s very similar to yours. Before:

After:

I believe that yours is the next model up from mine. Plenty of info out there. It seems you have found the owner’s manual. It’s amazing that the manuals for pretty much everything Craftsman offered is out there online. The exploded parts diagram can lack the resolution you’d want, but it’s still useful.

I had mine all apart for cleaning/de-rusting. You shouldn’t need any gear pullers. The top pulley should have two set screws. With the pulley out of the way you should see a locking collar with a set screw, and some metal and fiber washers. Removing the Jacobs chuck should give you a bit more working room to drop the shaft. The chuck is only held on with a taper on the shaft and can be carefully knocked off, just be careful not to damage the taper or socket. (I also disassembled the Jacobs chuck to cleanse/degrease/derust that; there are YouTube videos if you want to go there.) Once you start taking it apart, disassembly becomes pretty obvious, but keep track of the order of washers, locking collars, bearings, etc. Oh, and you’ll of course have to take the handle and shaft out; if there are stripped teeth you might be able to drop the shaft, but normally those teeth would be engaging with the shaft. If the teeth are stripped, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone on the OWWM group on Facebook had a spare. Someone ther was able to supply me with a correct motor for a reasonable price. (There is also a Craftsman Tool Collectors group on Facebook that sometimes deals with these, but seems mostly filled with people that obsess over tool boxes and collecting every single wrench and socket Craftsman offered.)

Edit: For reference, mine is a 103.23620. Someone had shared with me the scanned catalog page from when it was offered, but I can’t find it right now.

 

[farace]

Just for kicks, here’s my floor-standing Craftsman drill press from about 1968. Inherited from my dad, who bought it from a neighbor that was moving in the early ‘70s. They started putting a shield over the pulleys and belt by then.

 

[farace]

Here’s the link to the catalog page, go down a few pages:

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[james condino]

You can put up a free wanted ad over at OWWM.com for any parts you need and you will likely get a response very quick. My entire shop is filled with vintage machinery that those folks either helped me find or rebuild. It is an incredible resource. Their parts prices are about 1/3 of what you will pay on Epay....

They also have a fantastic system worked out called the "Rucker's Rodeo" whereby they arrange to transport each other's big heavy items around the country for almost free. It would be great to have that here for moving things like big SVT cabinets or uprights!

 

[Stewie]

Heh, another hobby to obsess over in the making...... "Honey, I bought a 1932 Boyce/Crane Jointer Planer, it weighs 2,300 lbs., so I need to rent a hoist...."

Wrong! should read "so I need to buy a hoist"