Never ask a cannibal "what's for dinner?"

Although eBay can be a great source for replacement parts, you can often leave your life savings behind when dealing with the one person on the face of the Earth who has exactly what you need.  Another great source for parts comes when you're lucky enough to score an identical (or close) machine for a few bucks. Junk shops, flea markets, garage sales and Craigslist can  provide just the opportunity to acquire an entire machine for parts at a fraction of the cost of a single component, if you're lucky.

Earlier today, I noticed a re-upped ad on my local Craigslist for a Rockwell Drill Press.  I had previously scanned the ad, but dismissed it as I was not in the market for a second press.  I was however, in the market for some spare parts and that thought occurred to me upon reading the ad for the second time.  I called the seller and about an hour later, I was driving away with a Rockwell Model 11-100 bench model drill press in the trunk of my car and $35 less in my wallet.

The fantastic thing about many old tools, especially drill presses, is that they were engineered to incorporate many parts that were interchangeable from one model to another.  Daniel Irvin, a former Educational Director for the Power Tool Division of Rockwell Manufacturing Corporation, states in his authoritative text, Power Tool Maintenance, that:

"Although some specific models and related uses are by far the most popular, large distributors often carry not only complete drill presses, but also component assemblies. Columns, heads, tables, and electricals are individually stocked both for replacement sale and for assembly into complete presses. Within a few minutes some distributors can assemble from these components almost any specific model or catalog number listed, as well as a great many others."

From the serial number, I would guess that this one dates to the mid-1960's and given its age, it was in remarkably good shape.

Somewhere along the line, however, someone had replaced the original Rockwell motor with a ⅓ HP Delco motor running at 1725 rpm.  The replacement motor required a retrofit to the original mounting bracket and the motor pulley didn't seem to match up well to the original spindle pulley.  On load, there seemed to be more than a bit of play at the motor end and further examination revealed that the original set screw holding the step pulley onto the motor shaft had been stripped out and a replacement had been bored and tapped into the shaft just below it.

The motor looks to be older than the drill press and again, only guessing, I'd say it's from the mid 1950's.  With the exception of two holes drilled into the shaft, it appears to be in reasonable shape.  I'm not sure what I'll ultimately do with it...sadly, some junker out there, just like me, is looking for a motor just like this!

Although I had already decided to cannibalize the press, that decision would certainly have been advanced by the slipshod wiring job someone did when replacing the motor.  The connecting wire was rigged through a standard light switch and then again, through what served as a foot switch in an ungrounded metal housing.  Just the thing for those damp workshop locations!

The complete tear down of the press took about a half an hour and produced a number of excellent parts - many of which are in better condition than the originals on the Rockwell 11-280 that I'm restoring.  The plan is to mix and match the parts from the two, using the best of the group in the reassembly of the 11-280.  The rest will be cleaned and stored for use if and when the need arises.

If I can only find them when the time comes...