Well,,,as usual when I can't sleep,,,I got up bout 2Am, made a pot of good strong coffee and decided to check out "The Marketplace" for funs,,,,,,  Well bout the 3rd page I see what looks like something I been lookin for,,,YEP,,it is a floor model HEAVY Duty drill press. The ad was just a couple of hours old,,so I think,,"what the hell?" and shoot em a message for specifics,,,the woman is still awake too and answers right back that it had parts broken when they were tryin to unload and it needed a new base and they were just gonna get a new one,,,,,,,Ding!,Ding!,,Ding!,,,,,,,She says everything is like new and figures it ought to be worth $** bucks,,,? "I'lLL TAKE IT",,I says,,I'll be there soon as day breaks and she says to go to their house at noon as her hubby will be there to help load as she cannot help and one man cannot load it alone.

 I show up at 11Am to make sure don't nobody gets there before me and 'tween the 3 of us we finally get it loaded,,, Thet sob is heavy!! It has a 3/4HP 1720 RPM motor with 5 speed belt drive. Also a near new 4 axis vice that looks high quality made with ways all ground., also a new 5/8" CF JT3 chuck. They were worried bout that broken base,,and I fixed that issue bout an hour after I got it home,,,,!!!! A man can do wonders with a cuttin torch, a welder and a claw hammer,,,,,

 The gear drive feels good and tight with less than .006 side play according to my dial indicator. I'm thinkin the PO used this for a light duty mill with that nice looking vice,,,,

  HMmmmmm,,,,reckon what color should I paint this thing,,??

 Oh..and the dang chuck key was MIA so gonna have to locate one of them,,,,,

 UMMMMmmm,,,,did I do good,,Shamless,,,????

 Gonna take the vise apart for a good cleaning so's I can try some light millin 

 Well,,Shameless,,,"Don't let your hear be troubled",,,,, I am gonna get up there one way or 'tother,,,,we gots lots to talk bout,,I figure even if we talk every day it be bout ,,,,6-11 days,,,,UMMm,,,you gots that many groceries,,,??? 

  Say,!!,,,maybe we can all go eat at ole Les's place like every 3-4 days,,,I Have got to go look thru his barn/shop for sure,,,,,Reckon how far it is to ole Thad's place,,??

  

 Well,,John,,since you asked,,,,I gave her exactly what she asked for,,,,I wasn't gonna try to talk her down it being so low to start with. Her askin price was ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,$50,,,

  I'm outa here,,,,,,

 Gonna try again to post some pics of the deal of the month,,,,,,

I'm surprised the police aren't at your door!  Good deal!!

Looking out across your yard reminds me of when I was not very many miles east of you for the months of May and June, 1968.  Good old Ft. Bliss!

 Yeah,,, Thad and Shameless,,,I hadn't noticed him in the pic but ole Hungry is just kickin back and watchin over me,,,, He;s always close to a point where he gets in the way,,but I guess that's the way dogs are,,,,

  Actually Dave it must of been an illusion as the drill press was leanin way over hangin off a comealong while I was trying to bolt on the new base I fashioned up for it,,,,

  John,,,Like I said,,,,SHE set the price so me being a Gentleman,,,,who was I to argue with Ms Big Ones,,,,,,,,,

  SAY,,,,!! I gots a question for whoever has a similar drill press,,,I'm thinkin I want to drill and tap a "locking bolt" into the bottom circular "base" so I can keep the whole upper part of the machine from swiveling. I have no idea how "long" the piece is that slip fits into the "base" and supports everything above this base piece. I was trying to pull the motor-spindle section up and out of the vertical section to make it easier to move the drill press into the garage,,,but it started to come out of the "base" part of the column,,,,clear as mud,,,,?? The upper section had two allens which I removed but upper section must be stuck as it would not break loose form middle section and instead started pulling out of the bottom section

  Right now,,you can swivel the work table separate from the Motor/Spindle part,,,or swivel Both sections from this "base" piece I'm talkin about. I want to be able to lock the whole thing from swiveling.

 CHIT,,Thad you think YOUR head is spinning,,,,, OK let me try one more time,,,,,

 

#1.  the rectangular "base" was broken in half is why she sold it so cheap,,,,er,,,"worth the money,,,,,  This base has a round tube bout 36" long and 4" diameter that was bolted to the rectangular piece that was broke. I cut a 1/4" plate steel , bolted it to where the broken piece was ,,,then welded it to an old 17" trk wheel. The very top of this "tube" is where I want to drill and tap  a 3/8" hole to install a locking bolt to lock the "column" from turning on the "base",,,,right so far,,,??  The tube thickness appears to be 1/2" thick,,,,no wonder it is SOOoo heavy... When I was trying to pull the motor/spindle (Head) from the column with a come a long the whole thing started to slide out of the main tube (Base) Not knowing what was inside this tube,,bearings, bushings I slid the whole thing back in,,,, I still want to remove the motor/spindle (HEAD) so it is not so top heavy when i move the drill press into garage.    Have I got ya totally confused,,,,????

"Hungry don't look happy! "

Yea, He knows how you been treatin Ol' Joe...

 Joe, thas ol' Chaskaduo thet has his head a swivelin...

 Whew,,Thad,,,I sure was worry'in I was still not sus'plainin how this thing is put together,,,,,,

  Have you ever had your column apart at this base,,?? This one must be riding on some bearings or something as it rotates very smooth with NO side play at all. The column does appear to be a machined surface, so maybe it is a close  metal to metal fit to the base,,,?? Maybe the weight of the head is what keeps it snug,,??

 I'm gonna HAVE to slide the column out of the base in order to drill and tap it so,,,,best to get on to it,,huh,,??

 OH,,and I polished the column with fine emory cloth and it sure does look nice and shiny,,also got the head and spindle cleaned up,,,lookin good,,,,,,the gray spatter lookin paint is in great condition,,I may not take time to paint it ,,,,but you know ole Joe,,,,he,,,,he,,,loves them rattle cans,,,,,

 Hey Savedallis,,,,does your drill press have a way to lock the main column to the base? This one does not have a means to stop the upper part from spinning on the base,,, if you push or pull on the work table or the motor. Looks to me to be an accident waitin to happen,,,,,??

  I'm kinda hesitant to pull the column out of the base not knowin how it anchors inside the base part. 

 Do you by chance still have your owner's manual??

 Yeah,,Thad,,,I remember ole Les goin down to your place but I thought he had made it and ya'll went ridin for bout a week,,,,,,

 Well,,,Good Buddy,,,you ought to know by now,,,I just cannot stand to leave well enough alone,,especially things I buy either to keep or for resale,,,,,,, They is ALWAYS something on pretty much everything that can stand some re-engineering,,,,and,,,,and,,who am I to stand in the way of progress,,,???

 OH,,,and by the way,,,I finished up the "rebuilding" (I likes thet word) of my latest acquisition and got some pics of the drill press yesterday but as usual,,am havin some issues on transferrin the pics to my PC,,,,dang smart phones and this Iphone 8 is one of  the worst ones,,,,,,but,,,,but  I'm gonna keep tryin cause I know how much you like them pics,,,,, (I just couldn't help myself)  OK,,I'm puttin my stick up for today,,,,