Drillpress Repair
From Fozzee.net
Contents |
This is a Central Machinery drill press that I had donated to me. It'd been used to run a wire-wheel in a manufacturing facility for some time, but was removed from service when the power switch failed. When it got to me, it was in pretty bad shape... As mentioned, the switch had failed (open), the cord was pretty well destroyed, covered in goo, etc, as was the rest of the machine. This page documents my rebuilding efforts
Replace Power Switch
As noted above, the power switch was the first order of business. I didn't have the same type of switch as was originally installed, so I had to improvise. Initially, I just added a lever-toggle switch that fit in the hole with some washers. That switch promptly failed. My current solution was to reuse the power switch out of an old HP LaserJet, which, at 15 amps, I'd think is beefy enough. I had to do a bit of hole-shaping, but it was pretty straight forward.
Replace Power Cord
As you can see in the pictures, the cord was pretty crusty and nasty. The power cable connects power switch, so it made sense to do the replacement at the same time. I didn't want to take too much time, so I just cut a regular orange extension cord in half and used that. I wanted to change the cord between the switch housing and the motor, but it wasn't in so bad of shape and I didn't want to go to the trouble of changing it out.
Lube and general cleaning
This thing was FILTHY. I started by blowing it out with the compressor and washed it with 409. The belt seemed to be in good shape, so I didn't feel bad reusing it. I did take the spindle apart (by removing the return spring and feed handle). I generally cleaned everything with WD40. I also re-lubed the spindle and feed assembly, using white lithium grease. Finally, when I reassembled the feed, I added an extra turn to the feed return spring to refresh it's strength.
Going Forward
Here's the list of things I'd still like to do, as needed:
- The spindle could use new bearings someday; there's a little more play than I'd like.
- I still need new plastic handles for the rod-ends.
- I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of them at the moment. Before I did too much work, I'd probably replace the stupid thing and relegate this one to some kind of support duties...
Milling Duty
This Old Drillpress has become a precision milling and drilling machine. I mounted a cross-slide vise and manufactured a depth gauge and also extended the column by a bit over 6" and it's working out pretty slick.
