I went out to some garage sales this weekend as I have had luck finding old tools at these in the past. Well… It wasn’t happening this time, not an old hand-tool in sight. My five-year old son was very happy with the light-saber that he bought for a quarter, but there was no Stanley, Millers Falls, or Starrett to be seen.
Then, at the last place I stopped for the day, I found this:
A Delta Drill Press
It is a Delta 17-950L Floor Standing Drill Press. With twin lasers no less. Mr. Stanley or Mr. Disston have yet to dazzle me with a twin laser tool!
The seller and I agreed upon a price of $175 and I loaded it (with some difficulty) into my car. I got it home and set upright in the shop. It looks almost new. In fact the MDF insert in the table looks to be original and it has no holes in it, not even a scratch. The serial number plaque show that it was made in 2010, and since Delta tools have a 5-year warranty, it is still within that time.
It looks new.
I can’t remember the last time that I bought a tool that didn’t need to be restored. At this point I usually have to tear it all apart and clean, de-rust, paint, lube, and re-assemble. This drill press needs none of that.
I did go through the set-up for the drill press and make sure that the table was 90° on both adjustable axes to the bit, and I also had to adjust and re-align the lasers which must have been knocked when loading or unloading from the car. I cleaned the table top and applied a coat of Bostik Top-Cote and a coat of wax.
That’s it. Nothing else was needed. I’m kind of at a loss. Even the light bulb works great.
A nice bright light.
I set the drill press in its new home and that was that.
Set in it’s new home.
My old drill press is a Ryobi Benchtop model that I bought about 14 years ago. It was a good little press for when I was starting out with woodworking, but I felt as though I had outgrown it.
My old Ryobi Drill Press
I put the old drill press on Craigslist for $50 and it sold within an hour and a half for asking price. Perhaps I undervalued it a little, but I’d got such a good deal on the Delta, that I figured someone else could get a good deal on my Ryobi. All in all, it only cost me $125 to upgrade.
And, to top it all off, today I got to watch the World Cup Final with my dad. A pretty good weekend.
