Delta / Rockwell 11-280 Drill Press

Model 11-280

Serial# DS4790

Date 1967

I have had 2 eastern type drill presses and although I was not dissatisfied with them as they did what they were intended for I still wanted something old.

Found this old Rockwell/Beaver press. It was not ideal as it was a bit small but it got cleaned up and painted with new bearings and belt. Was very happy with it apart from the fact that the throat was too small.

Got a call one day from Mike who said he had found a radial drill press and do I want it. Maybe was the answer. That afternoon one of the locals asked if I knew of a good second hand drill press for him. That solved the problem - SOLD - and the radial press was collected.

The process started again. It was cleaned, painted, new bearings and belt fitted. Stripped the motor and replaced bearings as well. One slight deviation was the choice of colour. I was getting tired of grey machines and grey tractors so opted for a different colour (John Deere Green).

It was then fitted with a VFD and 3ph motor. So much easier to turn a dial than having to move a belt.

For the table I used a Woodpecker fence and stops and T-slots. It also has replaceable inserts.

The .37kW motor bogs down when using a big forstner bit so a motor upgrade to .75kW is on the cards

After thinking about a motor upgrade I thought about the other drawbacks of the press. Limited depth as it was a bench model and the raising/lowering of the table which was manual and awkward. So a decision was made to take my metal pedestal drill and modify it suit the bigger motor and VFD

The 11-280 very quickly found a new home