O/T? Craftsman drill press, tiny belt?

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I have an older craftsman Industrial floor model with the skinny belt and its worked fine for almost 20 years now in home use,And yes there is a difference or at least WAS a difference between their Industrial and home owner power tools bigger shafts ,bearings etc. in the industrial I have the manual someplace and there was a jack shaft set up available for some of the presses but without the book in front of me I'm not sure how they fit.

 

After reading your post I had to go look at mine. It's a standup, floor model, 1 H.P., 15", Craftsman. Has a 5/8" chuck,12 speeds, speed range: 250-3100 RPM. The belt looks to be a 3/8", but the pullies look like they would accept a 1/2" belt. I bought it NEW from a cousin 20 years ago for $100.00; he was having $ trouble at the time. I've NEVER used it! Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

I've used one for 35 years and never had a problem with the belt.I destroyed the bushing on the chuck shaft trying to use it for a mill.bbtom30

 

If belt slippage is a problem you can get clear round polyurethane belts like from http://www.pyramidbelts.com/rbelts.php

 

I've had my Craftsman Model 113.24611 floor model drill press since early 1977. Under the model number is the date code, mine is 12-76. It is a 8 pulley 380 to 8550 speed 1/2" chuck that used belt #91745, 3/16"X45". First belt lasted a couple of years, went to Sears and bought two, one as a backup. Still haven't used the backup. Never had a problem with belt slippage and when it's not in use I release the tension on the belt. It's been a good shop press. No problems. The FOGGER

 

HAd one,,and was great

 

I looked everywhere for the 1/4" belt, and could not find one, I finally settled on a 3/8" belt that rides on top of the edges of the pulley sheaves, and it has been working that way for years.

 

Ive been had a fan belt on my drill press for the past 12 years and its worked great.
Same with my band saw, super primitive but it works, never bogs down or slips even cutting 1/2 plate

 

i have a commerical floor model from 1972, i bought it for $100 (with a new motor ) about 7 years ago and it has the black 1/4 belt (sorta like a sewing machine belt). i've never replaced it, it's never slipped or anything and i used it at work but it's home now.

 

Craftsman has never MADE anything. It's just a brand name on someone elses stuff

 

I have an old Craftsman press, it looks A LOT older than the one from 1972 pictures above.

It uses a 1/2" belt, but one of the mounts that holds the motor on and in position was broken when I got it (free about 20 years ago!). Anyway, the belt slipped for a long time, never paid it much mind until I decided to replace the belt because it got really hard and it was hard to turn.

I put a new belt on, and managed to get it where it would not slip, and in short order I figured out that I liked it BETTER when it was slipping because when the belt would slip, the piece I was drilling was less prone to beat the shit out of me when the bit would stick...

I "fixed" the belt so it would slip again...

Food for thought...

 

any good bearing house can get you a belt. i use german metric belts and have to wait sometimes but i can get them and they are 1/2 the price and same O.E.M. belts right down to the brand. the internet is your friend google width and length and you might find one. durabelt 1-800 770 23 58 hillard oh. what is length and do you have picture of belt?

 

You can get the belts from Sears Online.

Agree with 39 ALL FORD. A little slip is OK.

One of my friends has a gear driven drill press. I like it because you can slow it down to 45 RPM. Good for hole saw work. But it shows no mercy when the bit hangs up.

 

Well that's right around the age of mine about 1974 and it's still running on the same skinny belt put on 1 week before I bought if from the company I worked for because some clod hit the side of the chuck with a piece of steel and broke the lower spindle bearing.mine has a lever on the motor mount so you can release the belt tension easily I just loosen the belt when it's not being used.

 

hell the only way I remember is I've had the drillpress longer than my youngest kids been living for some reason 35 years and 1974 gotta be worked out in my mind too. for us the 70s wasn't that long ago was it ?

 

I bought a nice, used older model Crafstman drill press out of the newspaper bargain box a few years ago and was shocked when I got it home and seen how thin that drive belt was. No belt problems yet, though (knock on wood!). I do wish I could slow the thing down even slower for hole-saw work, large drill bits, etc. A lot of people think the test of a good drill press is Max RPM but that's a huge mis-conception. The TRUE test of a good drill press is how SLOW you can get the spindle to turn. I would like to install a jack-shaft on mine if possible for slower spindle speeds. Oh yeah, a quick safety tip is that I have a friend that like to install a "dead man pedal" on his drill press for operation. It's a great idea actually.......a simple pedal wired in to the motor that must be stepped on for operation. If you get in situation (and it DOES happen!) where the bit grabs the work and you have both hands occupied, all you have to do is step off the pedal and it kills the power. Great, simple idea that can save a finger or two!

 

Get your belts quick and return your broken ratchets .Sears isn't doing that well. I heard this.

 

I have never had a problem with sears telling me who manufactured a product for them this started 35+ years go when I tried getting parts for a craftsman 1/4 HP compressor now when I check on a part from them I ask who made the particular tool.If something happens to Sears that still leaves you a way to get parts.Find out where your power tools are made now.

 

stlouisgasser
The speed reducer for your drillpress is Craftsman Catalog No. 9-24646. It reduces to 140 and 210 rpm, includes a pulley that mounts on top of the column and two belts.
Fits the following models;
113.24580 thru ***82
113.24590 thru ***92
113.21300, **310, **370,**371
113.24610, **630
113.24520
113.213720
Hope this helps.


Sorry, just checked this part has been discontinued.
CrkInsp

 

You may be able to find replacement V-belts at a True Value Hardware store.

I had no probs getting a pair of belts for my lathe there.


Add a short bolt with thick (3/16"+) washer and use it for a brace/stop when you're drilling a small enough piece that you can hold it down by hand.


Shown here is a stainless tray JB Welded to a couple pieces of 1" square tubing and bolted to the drill press base.
Very handy.


If you look close at the above pic, you'll see part of a Vise-Grip one jawed piece that they make for use as a drill-press clamp.

I have a second one that's screw operated, but seldom use it cuz the Vise-Grip model is so handy.

Note too, the drill press is a bench model mounted on a home-made stand.
Very handy and in some aspects, handier than a floor model drill press.
1" x 2" x .120 wall rect tubing fwiw.


Another pic of the stand, note the leveling bolts.


Most importantly, also shown is the drill press vise.
Goes a long ways toward safer operations.
This one is the adjustable angle model, not often used, but handy at times.

A non adjustable drill press vise doesn't cost much.


Not shown are the thin (1/16" and 1/8") aluminum angle pieces to pad the vise when you don't want to chance scratching up the workpiece.


The T-bar shown here makes for a handy height stand.


Worked out well since the bench vise wasn't too far away.

You do need a height adjustable support for the really long stuff.

A shorter one is handy for the bandsaw if you have one.

 

10 years and no problem with mine, if yours has been slipping a long time for what ever reason, the pulley grooves might be all glazed. Take some Scotchbrite pads and remove the glaze and then replace the belt, should be O.K.

 

Good info in this thread....I recently picked a press up of this vintage for $40....all works well but I'll be using this info to order a spare belt or two

 

I hear you on the workpiece getting away from you.
The stop works well on thin strap and the like as well as allows you to use one clamp where two would normally be used on other workpieces.


Found a pic of the Vise-Grip hold-down clamp.


I need to get a 2nd one, but keep forgetting.


The drill-press I have is a Taiwan made one and imo much better quality than the Chinese imports I've been seeing.

It's about 30 + years old and I bought it from Santa Fe Tools in San Fernando.

What makes it especially nice is the Taiwan copy of the self-locking Albrecht type chuck.
Only a 1/2" capacity and I do miss the 5/8" chuck I had on the press, but no big deal, I just machine drill shanks down in the lathe so they fit a 1/2" chuck.

Guess I'm not the only one, got a 1 3/8" diameter bit for a dollar at the local swap and somebody had cut it down to 1/2"....

 

Craftsman belts can be ordered from sears parts online. They are under $10.00 if memory is correct.

 

Here's a pic of a Delta Vise-Grip type drill press clamp.
http://www.toolsforless.com/product/1026/@

A little different and it looks like a little less capacity than a genuine Vise-Grip.

If that doesn't work, here's the main page, scroll to the bottom.
http://www.thefind.com/hardware/info-drill-press-vise


More than likely you can find Vise-Grip at Home Depot and similar.

 

We have several of those at work and the Skinny belt works just fine, ours are probably seventies vintage, Old BD maule bought what he could find on sale or junked or thrown out and fixed em. We probably have the oddest assortment of drill presses anyone has ever seen, everything from the usual old craftsman, to oddball Swedish presses and Finnish presses no one has ever heard of. I think we had to replace one of those skinny belts one time, that was after who knows how many hours, I remember one was split in half the belt was whipping around, and the dam thing still held up for a year. Had to order them from sears though.

 

Of course not they bought K-fart, been in one of those stores lately? it will depress you. Sears isn't sears anymore, if they would do things the way they used to, they would be fine, but they are more interested in selling womens clothes then tools. Tractor Supply reminds me of the old sears.

 

Mine has the little 1/4" belt, works fine... No problems.

Kevin
Ooltewah Speed Shop

 

If it came down to it, you could probably find 3/8" sheave replacement pulleys without too much trouble.