Old 1930’s atlas drillpress

[AR. Hillbilly]

I just got a very old Atlas drillpress. I haven’t found any others like it. I found a brochure and believe it to be a 1930’s model 70. I need a motor and center speed reduction pulley. I’ve started the restoration. It’s in amazing condition considering it’s age. Sadly it does have a serious ark of shame.

 

[just old al]

Motor can be a plain old 1/2 horsepower capacitor-start motor. Motors on these were never anything fancy, as lots of them were sold without motor and switchgear and had whatever the owner had when put in service.

The press may not have had a third pulley - many didn't and had only four speeds. Depending on how quickly you want to get it back in service you might consider reassembling it that way until you vcan make or find a center pulley setup perhaps cannibalized from another press.

Good luck with it!

 

[AR. Hillbilly]

Motor can be a plain old 1/2 horsepower capacitor-start motor. Motors on these were never anything fancy, as lots of them were sold without motor and switchgear and had whatever the owner had when put in service.

The press may not have had a third pulley - many didn't and had only four speeds. Depending on how quickly you want to get it back in service you might consider reassembling it that way until you vcan make or find a center pulley setup perhaps cannibalized from another press.

Good luck with it!

I do have another press but I lust like the old American made stuff. I figure like you say sooner or later the 3rd pulley will appear on a modern junker. I think I have a motor

 

[NortonDommi]

Well that looks like a prime candidate for an 'upgrade'. Have you given any thought to a treadmill motor? As just old al said many were 3 or 4 speed with no central pulley. If it looks like it did have another pulley they are readily available and cheap at any industrial transmission supplier. That looks like a straight 2-pulley system. If replacing pulleys give some thought to using Multi-rib V belts as they are superior to V-belts in many respects.
Think about building a table counterweight system as well, they make life a lot easier.
Nice machine.

 

[AR. Hillbilly]

Well that looks like a prime candidate for an 'upgrade'. Have you given any thought to a treadmill motor? As just old al said many were 3 or 4 speed with no central pulley. If it looks like it did have another pulley they are readily available and cheap at any industrial transmission supplier. That looks like a straight 2-pulley system. If replacing pulleys give some thought to using Multi-rib V belts as they are superior to V-belts in many respects.
Think about building a table counterweight system as well, they make life a lot easier.
Nice machine.

Anything in specific I need to look for in a treadmill motor? Can I use the control off of a treadmill or will I need to look elsewhere? I’m thinking I like this idea and I may have another project that could benefit from this as well. Any idea of a brand or would any have the same go and rpm range.

 

[NortonDommi]

Hi,
I've been given a few and all were slightly different in that some were brushed and some brushless. The control board is usually near the motor so it is easiest to grab the whole thing if you can then you end up with useful stuff. The controls that you see in use are pretty much junk as they are just remotes for the control board. For re-powering things just the motor and its controller are needed.
You can buy separate controllers but why?
There is a lot of information on the interweb about using these motors both here and on sites like Instructables. About all you may have to do is jump in a 5W potentiometer for speed control. Those I've been given that were not working had simple faults like a wire had been pulled loose while moving and two of them somebody had knocked the fuse cap, broken it and the fuse had fallen out!
Looking at the photo of your drill I'd say go for it full on custom. Keep the original looks and add a bit more versatility.
Type 'treadmill motor on drill press' into the search bar on You Tube and you will get a good idea about the re-power. Personally I'd keep the existing pulleys or preferably go to a Multi-rib V belt with 3 or 4 steps both for looks and a huge range. Small drill bits and drilling wood you want to go fast, using a hole saw you need very slow. The DC treadmill motor has ample torque and are generally smaller than the original motor which makes for a neat package. Best of all you can pick them up for free. Worth checking out the spindle bearing while you are at it as with time they can wear quite a bit.
That will be a nice fun project so I hope you take lots of photo's!

 

[AR. Hillbilly]

Hi,
I've been given a few and all were slightly different in that some were brushed and some brushless. The control board is usually near the motor so it is easiest to grab the whole thing if you can then you end up with useful stuff. The controls that you see in use are pretty much junk as they are just remotes for the control board. For re-powering things just the motor and its controller are needed.
You can buy separate controllers but why?
There is a lot of information on the interweb about using these motors both here and on sites like Instructables. About all you may have to do is jump in a 5W potentiometer for speed control. Those I've been given that were not working had simple faults like a wire had been pulled loose while moving and two of them somebody had knocked the fuse cap, broken it and the fuse had fallen out!
Looking at the photo of your drill I'd say go for it full on custom. Keep the original looks and add a bit more versatility.
Type 'treadmill motor on drill press' into the search bar on You Tube and you will get a good idea about the re-power. Personally I'd keep the existing pulleys or preferably go to a Multi-rib V belt with 3 or 4 steps both for looks and a huge range. Small drill bits and drilling wood you want to go fast, using a hole saw you need very slow. The DC treadmill motor has ample torque and are generally smaller than the original motor which makes for a neat package. Best of all you can pick them up for free. Worth checking out the spindle bearing while you are at it as with time they can wear quite a bit.
That will be a nice fun project so I hope you take lots of photo's!

Thank you sir I truly appreciate this.

 

[Glenn Brooks]

Keep an eye on eBay. You might be able to find a nice replacement table for cheap. Last year, I found an almost unused DP 220 table with no drill holes for my 1939 DElta DP for around $35.

Also, for restoration purposes, the big thing with drill presses is the amount of runout in the quill. You can check runout by putting a dial indicator on the table and measuring the wobble at the drill chuck by hand turning. Decent run out on lightly used DP’s can be anywhere from .001” to .005” . Anything over .010” maybe you would want to think about reconditioning or replacing the quill.

Fine old machines...

Glenn