doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Machinery Question (drill press)

The spindle/front pulley block combination on my 80+ yr old Delta drill press has been making a rattling noise when I use it. Not sure how they are connected--possibly a very slight taper between the two parts, It works fine but I would appreciate any suggestions. Gil

Sounds like your bearings are getting rough, Gil. At that age they are likely dry. I've never seen a drill press with the means to lube the spindle bearings. But, I'd look closely to see if there's any way to do so. We often try to get a thin oil past the seals into the bearings on farm equipment to keep them running until a task is finished for the year, but we know that the bearings will have to be replaced. They need grease, not oil, but oil will smooth things out for awhile.

Long term I'd be looking at replacing the bearings.

You will need to remove the quill from the headstock casting in order to service or replace the bearings. I did this about 15 years ago on my floor model Rockwell drill press, and believe it is very similar to Delta models. Mine is probably a 1960's to 1970's vintage, but probably not much different than many older versions. I found a series of YouTube videos for restoring a 1937 Delta DP220 Drill Press that you might find very helpful:


Part 2 covers disassembly of the headstock and removing the quill--

Part 3 covers removing and replacing the bearings--

I took a quick look at Part 3 and as I recall, everything looked very similar to what I found in my Rockwell.

There are a few other parts to this YouTube series that cover the complete restoration, and there are other videos on YouTube that cover other Delta Drill Press repairs and restorations.

Gill,
Take it apart. Get the numbers off the bearings, and order them, or, find a distributor close to home, here:

https://www.timken.com/about/

If it is 80 years old you are overdue for a rebuild. If it is 80 years old, you can’t buy one, today, that is near as good. It is a straightforward task to service a drill press, and you will also likely need belts, and maybe brushes in the motor. Sometimes those old motors have an oil port or grease zerks on them, but, it is way past due to be torn down, cleaned out, checked out, and put back together.

Post a photo or two of the project. I have an Atlas, same age, that I rebuilt, painted, and put back into service a decade or so ago.

Best,
Ted