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Delta Milwaukee Rockwell Homecraft Drill Press: Restoration Complete - Philip1231 - 04-11-2021
I picked up this DP in pretty rough shape a few years ago (see photo at bottom), and it sat around on the floor collecting dust since then. Recently, I decided to try my hand at a restoration, and this is the result. Details
Paint: Rustoleum Hammered Verde Green for main color, Rustoleum Hammered black for the motor end bells and the retirement light shade. Used a Rustoleum de-rusting spray to deal with the rust, which was not widespread. I used a degreasing chemical made by Castrol to clean everything prior to paint prep.
Bright Work: all non painted parts were brought back to new condition with a combination of work on the wire wheel and deburring wheel. This includes all nuts/bolts/washer/anything else that was not originally painted. Work table surfaces were a bit of a disaster: learned an awful lot about grinders/flap wheels and the differences between finishing wood vs. finishing cast iron.
Guts: I did change the bearings on the motor. The bearings on the press seemed to be in good shape, so I used liberal amounts of grease/oil to get things spinning like a top. So far, so good. New power cord/plug/belt were added. New nameplate on belt cover, original nameplate on body. Drilled/tapped for 4-40 machine screws to re-attach both.
Retirement Light: picked this up on ebay around the same time. I think it adds a little class to the overall build. I will be outfitting this with an LED bulb.
Work Table: I will probably outfit this with a WW work table: the Veritas table is the front runner at the moment.
Overall experience: an awful lot of time/effort was expended on this. Probably explains why you don't see more of these rehabs. It was a great learning experience, but it will be a very long time before I attempt another one of these projects. Right now, I need to get back to a WW project that has been on hold for way too long (the Writing Desk).
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RE: Delta Milwaukee Rockwell Homecraft Drill Press: Restoration Complete - Bill Holt - 04-11-2021
It looks great from here. I have great appreciation for restored "arn" but I have no desire to start down that long difficult path.
RE: Delta Milwaukee Rockwell Homecraft Drill Press: Restoration Complete - stav - 04-12-2021
It looks great. You have quite the pair there.
RE: Delta Milwaukee Rockwell Homecraft Drill Press: Restoration Complete - R Clark - 04-12-2021
Those are a couple of cool DPs. I've restored a couple old pieces of iron, but they don't look near as sharp as yours. Well done.
RE: Delta Milwaukee Rockwell Homecraft Drill Press: Restoration Complete - MarkSingleton - 04-12-2021
Well done indeed. Looking good!
RE: Delta Milwaukee Rockwell Homecraft Drill Press: Restoration Complete - Timberwolf - 04-12-2021
(04-12-2021, 07:45 AM)MarkSingleton Wrote: Well done indeed. Looking good!
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Old ARN RULES...especially when it has been given a new life!!!!!!!!
RE: Delta Milwaukee Rockwell Homecraft Drill Press: Restoration Complete - Philip1231 - 04-12-2021
Thanks everyone for the kind words!
RE: Delta Milwaukee Rockwell Homecraft Drill Press: Restoration Complete - Tony Z - 04-14-2021
I have that exact drill press! Dear, old, longggg departed dad bought it brand spanking new many, many years ago and took excellent care of it. Still runs like a top!
RE: Delta Milwaukee Rockwell Homecraft Drill Press: Restoration Complete - Philip1231 - 04-14-2021
(04-14-2021, 02:18 PM)Tony Z Wrote: I have that exact drill press! Dear, old, longggg departed dad bought it brand spanking new many, many years ago and took excellent care of it. Still runs like a top!
Its a beautiful piece of machinery for sure!