I spent a good portion of the day yesterday making some progress on my drill press restoration. I was able to break it down the rest of the way and start cleaning some parts. If you recall in my last post I did not remove the chuck prior to removing the quill out of the head. I quickly realized that it would be hard to remove the chuck while the quill was out of the head because the leverage advantage is now gone without it being secured in place while tapping away at the chuck to get it to come off. Ken Rassmusen confirmed my concerns in my last post as well. So I went ahead and re-installed the quill with the chuck back into the head, it was not big deal really, it took all of 3 minutes to do so and I am glad I did. Once back in the head I was able to take a wedge and tap between the quill and the chuck with the leverage I needed. It was not budging. I soaked it WD-40 and let the liquid run down the top of the chuck. I let it set for about 10 minutes and I came back with the wedge and after about 3 taps the chuck fell right off. It actually surprised me how easily it came off.

Quill with chuck still attached

Chuck is off! Yay!! in the below picture you can also see I have the upper bearing stop collar removed up the shaft a bit allowing the center shaft to come out of the quill. I had to tap the top of the center shaft to break loose the upper bearing. One problem I am going to have is removing the lower bearing (above the chuck) all the way up the shaft. How do I do this? And getting one back on as well.

Now I was trying to remove the hand wheel gear that moves the quill up and down. But there was this pesky nib that holds the spring in place that was preventing me from sliding the gear out of the head. It appeared to me to be a pressure fit nib that I could force out. As you can see I broke the top off, and after that I found that it was threaded! It came off easily by just finger turning it out of the shaft! This was my first oops, and it really ticked me off.

Next pic you can see the way it was supposed to be removed.

Once I got the press completely apart, I started wire wheeling all the rust and 70 years of sweat and grime off the handles and other parts. This was pretty fun because I actually got to see some shine coming through.

I also created a notebook for the Walker Turner manual that Larry Buskirk emailed me. I believe the manual came from the good folks over at OWWM. There abounds a ton of information for old machinery.

The next pic is my press broken down.

I labeled some of the bolts with blue tape, I know when it's time to reassemble, I'll have a hard time telling where they went.

I also have a box for each component of the press, one box for all motor components with plastic baggies holding small parts and the baggies are labeled as well.

And a box for anything that has to do with the press head, holding the quill and other gear parts with baggies as well and labeled.

Well that's it for now folks, I am going out into the ol shop now to put in some more time on the wire wheel and cleaning parts. See ya ll when we get back!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Take a fine mill file to the damaged area and carefully clean it up. Nice work so far John. Looking forward to seeing more

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My job is to give my kids things to discuss with their therapist

You're doing great John. Enjoying following along.

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John Moody
John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

John,

You picked an excellent drill press to restore and use as the WT 900 is rugged, dependable, and also is in my opinion a neat representation of art deco design from an era when the Industrial Designer took pride in his/her designs of what was not only very functional, but pleasing to the eye. 

You may want to consider a good keyless chuck. 

Over and Out ~ Dan 

Thanks guys! Thanks for the repair tip Ken.

Dan, I researched those keyless chucks in a Jacobs #33 and they are pricey let me tell you!!! Thanks for the encouragement on my pick of presses. I bought this one a few years back for 75 bucks on Ebay, it was a local pickup only. It ran and it was  being used. It sat in my dads shop for years until just a month or so ago when Larry and Ken, Shane and Jack started driving me nuts with all the fun they were having. I had to go up the mountain and bring it down to my place and start tearing into it. It's been a blast so far! Long time no see big Dan, glad you dropped in and graced us with your presence!

Dan Wyatt said:

John,

You picked an excellent drill press to restore and use as the WT 900 is rugged, dependable, and also is in my opinion a neat representation of art deco design from an era when the Industrial Designer took pride in his/her designs of what was not only very functional, but pleasing to the eye. 

You may want to consider a good keyless chuck. 

Over and Out ~ Dan 

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Looking good John,

You can probably make a replacement for the broken spring retainer out of a machine screw.

It looks like the old Walker Turner will soon have a place in your shop!

Now you're experiancing the fun we have with our Heavy Metal collections.

I myself prefer the keyed chucks, as I've had the keyless chucks slip when using them.

The manual came from The Vintage Machine website.

Keep up the good work.

 

Larry

OK John

your hooked. welcome to the asylum 

looking good.

jack

English machines

I stand corrected Larry. The Vintage Machine site it is. I am confused with OWWM and Vintage Machine, are they run by the same folks? I agree about the keyless chucks Larry.  And thanks for the encouragement!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

yep, thanks allot Jack and crew, that's all I needed was a another fanatical side of me to rear it's ugly head!

tool613 said:

OK John

your hooked. welcome to the asylum 

looking good.

jack

English machines

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Discussions on drill chucks always raise questions especially about slippage. You always have people that have opinions of both keyed and keyless chucks.......I like most machinist (check out several machinists sites) prefer keyless, but when I talk keyless I am talking about Albrecht or Jacobs and not some keyless chuck found on a cordless drill which most have now days. There are a lot of "junk" keyless chucks out on the market that produce disappointing results, but if you ever have a new Albrecht or Jacobs "High Precision" keyless chuck you will throw rocks at keyed chucks.........they are very expensive, but very smooth, lockup good, and are more accurate than most any keyed chuck out there. Most machinists in machine shops use keyless on their milling machines and can not afford slippage, but again we are comparing hand grenades and apples when you compare a quality keyless against a chepo keyless.

Another keyless chuck that I really like is a Wahlstrom and I mention it separately as it is very expensive new, but they can be sometimes found on ebay at an affordable price. The Wahlstom chuck is probably like no other chuck than most have seen, because you can change bits with the spindle is turning.....it takes practice and you can get hurt if you don't know how, but they are amazing and if you coordinate your timing correctly they are great. I have 3 Wahlstrom chucks which I use more than any other of my keyless chucks for bits 1/2" or less. I believe the Wahlstrom is the only chuck that you can change bits in while the spindle is turning as found here: http://specialtytooling.eaglerockonline.com/viewitems/milling-acces...

For most woodworkers a keyed chuck is fine, but I would still recommend a good one like a Jacobs "Super Chuck" which is a ball bearing chuck. 

To answer the question about these 2 sites. OWWM.org was founded by Keith Bohn and VintageMachinery.org was founded by Keith Rucker .........

Thanks for your time ~ Old Man Dan 

And the big issue there Dan, cost. I did some research on the keyless chucks and they are upwards of 179 bucks and then some for a good keyless. Too rich for my blood. But I am looking at a Jacobs #33 Super Chuck as you mentioned that goes for about 89 bucks and it appears to be a great chuck for woodworking. The only other problem I would have with the keyless chuck and this is purely a personal opinion and desire on my part. I don't know if they were available back in the 1940's and I would like to stay true to the design and appearance of the machine. The keyless chucks I have seen look pretty state of the artsy and would stick out on this ol Walker Turner. Opines on this welcome!

Dan Wyatt said:

Discussions on drill chucks always raise questions especially about slippage. You always have people that have opinions of both keyed and keyless chucks.......I like most machinist (check out several machinists sites) prefer keyless, but when I talk keyless I am talking about Albrecht or Jacobs and not some keyless chuck found on a cordless drill which most have now days. There are a lot of "junk" keyless chucks out on the market that produce disappointing results, but if you ever have a new Albrecht or Jacobs "High Precision" keyless chuck you will throw rocks at keyed chucks.........they are very expensive, but very smooth, lockup good, and are more accurate than most any keyed chuck out there. Most machinists in machine shops use keyless on their milling machines and can not afford slippage, but again we are comparing hand grenades and apples when you compare a quality keyless against a chepo keyless.

I also have 3 Wahlstrom chucks which I use more than any other of my keyless chucks and is I believe the only chuck that you can change while the machine is running as found here: http://specialtytooling.eaglerockonline.com/viewitems/milling-acces...

For most woodworkers a keyed chuck is fine, but I would still recommend a good one like a Jacobs "Super Chuck" which is a ball bearing chuck. 

OWWM.org was founded by Keith Bohn...........VintageMachinery.org was founded by Keith Rucker .........

Thanks for your time ~ Old Man Dan 

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

As per age of keyless chucks........I think that the first if not one of the first patents on keyless chucks was in 1864 by Beach. 

I can see your opinion of originality and I try to stay really close myself on most of my restorations, but I don't run old tech bits, blades, or chucks. Eg: I run carbide blades on both of my 1939 "4 footer" Delta Unisaws for obvious reasons vs the old school standard steel toothed blades, Wahlstrom chucks and Jacobs keyless chucks on some of my drill presses for accuracy and ease of changing bits, carbide bits in my antique metal lathes including my 1918 Rivett 608, and the list goes on........I will try to post a picture of one of my old Delta drill presses with a Jacobs keyless in the near future. 

Over and Out ~ Dan

John.....If you are patient a good chuck can be had on ebay. I found an Albrecht keyless for $60 and in good condition. Now that may be the exception but the deals are out there. Another place may be the swap meet or even CL. Keep an eye out for machine shops closing or even the odd person selling an old metal lathe. I have run the Albrecht for the past year or so and I am disappointed with it performance. It will not hold a bit over 1/2" diameter. When I say "hold" the bit slips while drilling. I am probably going to send it in to Albrecht and have it rebuilt.

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My job is to give my kids things to discuss with their therapist

Thanks Ken, I am looking as we speak on Ebay.

I got a question for you guys. Is there an advantage with a threaded chuck as opposed to a tapered chuck? The threaded seems it would go on nice and straight. I remember I tried to get a tapered chuck back on a mortiser and I had a heck of a time to get it to go on straight, so I am a little gunshy bout puttin on a tapered chuck.

Ken Rasmussen said:

John.....If you are patient a good chuck can be had on ebay. I found an Albrecht keyless for $60 and in good condition. Now that may be the exception but the deals are out there. Another place may be the swap meet or even CL. Keep an eye out for machine shops closing or even the odd person selling an old metal lathe. I have run the Albrecht for the past year or so and I am disappointed with it performance. It will not hold a bit over 1/2" diameter. When I say "hold" the bit slips while drilling. I am probably going to send it in to Albrecht and have it rebuilt.

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My job is to give my kids things to discuss with their therapist

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker