Welcome • User Guide
ToS • Privacy • Canary
Donate • Bugs • License

©2026 Poal.co

412

Quick question. Now that I’ve won my battle with Monkeypox, I’m on to fixing up this old radial arm drill press. Rockwell/delta 11-280 to be exact. Motor works wonderfully and she’s all apart. Should I soak rusty parts in vinegar and then grease everything involved in the drivetrain? If I paint it red, will it drill faster? How the hell does one change the speeds on such a tool? (It’s the oldest version- not the one post 1974) Thanks for the help, ridicule, whatevs. 0/

Quick question. Now that I’ve won my battle with Monkeypox, I’m on to fixing up this old radial arm drill press. Rockwell/delta 11-280 to be exact. Motor works wonderfully and she’s all apart. Should I soak rusty parts in vinegar and then grease everything involved in the drivetrain? If I paint it red, will it drill faster? How the hell does one change the speeds on such a tool? (It’s the oldest version- not the one post 1974) Thanks for the help, ridicule, whatevs. 0/

(post is archived)

[–] • 3 pts

Krud Kutter or Evap-Rust for the rusty parts. I used Evap-Rust on a rusted out cast iron pan a couple of years ago and it worked like a champ. Painting it Ferrari red should make it tear ass all over your garage. EDIT: GARAGE! Fuckin autocorrect.

[–] • 0 pt

Evaporust is magic. Gets every bit of rust, and replaces it with a carbon film that will protect the steel until you clean it off and replace it with something else. And the shit never seems to get used up, it still works long after its turned completely black.

[–] [deleted] • 2 pts

+1 on Evapo-Rust

For stuff that is single speed, this is my solution for motor speed control.

https://pic8.co/sh/igLyvn.jpg

[–] • 1 pt

Fan controller wired to a split wired recepticle?

[–] [deleted] • 1 pt

Pretty much. The common dimmer/fan controller is a rheostat. I needed a way to control the speed of a cheap blow up mattress inflator for a small smelter that I made. Used it for many other applications.

[–] • 2 pts

How the hell does one change the speeds on such a tool? (It’s the oldest version- not the one post 1974)

You move the belt from the bigger pulleys to the smaller pulleys. Moving from Smaller->Bigger on the motor side speeds up, opposite on the drill side. There is usually a chart inside the pulley cover that shows you what configs give you what RPM.

[–] • 1 pt

Yeah. This I get. I just don’t see the mechanism for switching up said ratios n sheeit. And now that it’s in pieces, I really don’t get it.

[–] • 0 pt

Yeah, you really need a diagram like this for your drill press:

https://i2.wp.com/michael-parrish.com/wp-content/uploads/dp_cm_100/dp_cm_100_spindlespeeds.jpg

There's a tensioning device somewhere (maybe a lever, for that time period more likely a set screw) that lets you slacken and re-tension the belts when they are in the right positions. The right position is going to depend on the model design.

[–] • 1 pt

I don’t think theres a tensioner on this machine. You just loosen the head, slide it back and switch the speeds. Put it back together and runs like a dream. Really a beautiful, simple heavy machine. Like someone wanted to build something that would do it’s job forever.