Craftsman 315. Drill Press switch Plate

[intrepid]

I'm piecing together an older Craftsman Drill Press model 113,,,, I'm down to the switch plate cover and switches. The switches are easy enough to find but the switch mounting cover is much harder to locate. Searching the usual places as eBay with no luck. I did see one listed a while back before I started my search. Anyone have other search suggestions or maybe one laying around you would like to part with? I attached a photo below as to what I am searching for. This was a generic photo from the internet. Thanks all.

 

[RJSakowski]

I would just make my own The most difficult part will be the lettering but not impossible. There are several ways to accomplish this. If the plate is made from aluminum, the lettering can be etched and then back-filled with black paint. The mask for the etching can be made with a photoprocesss with artwork created on a computer and printed onto a transparency. A lye solution is a effective etchant for aluminum. I also had success with an electrochemical etching process. https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/etching-steel-using-a-2-5-watt-diode-laser.76262/

As an alternative, a transparency itself could be used as the final product. In that case, I would print a mirror image so the printing could be on the back side.

 

[intrepid]

Thanks. That could be an option if I do not locate one. With thousands of those presses made over the years I would think parts like the switch plate should be available.

 

[RJSakowski]

The problem with that idea is that each switch plate probably has a drill press associated with it. If, for some reason, a drill press failed, in all likelihood, the switch plate was tossed with the press.It's hard to conceive of a scenario where the plate itself would fail.

Sears used to be good with replacement parts. There is still an entity handling them but you need the Sears part number. Have you tried them?

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[RJSakowski]

Another possibility for the plate is to use a printed circuit board. You can use one of the free apps available to create a photo mask and have a pc board house make the plate for you. PC boards are relatively inexpensive now, even in small quantity. The bonus is that they will do all the cutouts for the switches and mounting holes. Your options would be to etch everything but the lettering and have copper lettering on the contrasting substrate or you could etch the lettering and leave the contrasting background.

 

[Bi11Hudson]

Another option would be another type switch. A while back, I found on the Grizzly site a push button switch that fit a standard single bay (2X4) electrical box and had all the magnetics(relay, et al) self contained. The point of this switch was a huge paddle over the stop button that could be swatted at to shut the machine down. I purchased several but the immediate use was for an older model table saw that I wasn't happy with the switch location. An old C'man by the way, before they came out with the lockable power switch. The others will be used for stationary machines, some day, whenever I get around to it. One for a commercial BelSaw machine. The small relay won't operate the big machine, but will operate the starter solenoid. Some rewiring of the "Run" circuit, I just need to get that round tuit.

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[intrepid]

Thanks guys. I feel really stupid after reading my title. My drill press is a model 113.xxxx I have been looking at so many options I put in the title 315. That was craftsmans replacement of the 113. Anyway the picture is correct of what I am searching for. It is two switches. One for the light and one for the drill. I would really like to keep it original if I can. I'm not in a rush and have a temporary switch to use if needed.