I have two Craftsman drill presses made by King Seeley for Sears. I have been wanting to get them restored and working for some time. I chose this one because it was in the worst shape and was not usable. Plus it has the optional jack shaft/low speed attachment. The other was, though it sad shape has been pressed into service.

Doesn't take long to take one to pieces. There was an amazing amount of dirt inside the head. 50 years of sawdust.

The hardest part of the project was figuring out how to clean the post. I wanted to turn it on the lathe but it was to long. I spent some time thinking on it and decided to make steady rest. I tossed around a couple of ideas and as usual, when I started building it I did something totally different. Figured out how to make a quick and dirty jig and it worked very well.

The big pieces went in the soup pot for treatment with electrolysis for rust removal. Then they are wire brushed, primed and painted.

Next hurdle was the chrome parts. Most were in decent shape but there was some rust. I decided the simplest approach was to try polishing them and see what happens. To my surprise they turned out very well, not perfect though. The only way to make them perfect would have been to rechrome them. I use my machines so I don't worry about perfection.

The rest of the story is just more cleaning, painting and assembly. Pretty basic stuff. I took photos of it once it was back in place along side the other one that needs to be restored. It really shows the difference!