Picked up a new drill press

[fatjay]

I have to wonder if the electric motor wasn't an after-thought and it was originally designed to be run by a line shaft. It would give reason for the foot pedal to disengage the drive system without turning off the motor, which is what I suspect it does, which would be necessary if it was line shaft driven. They were popular in Massachusetts, and this thing was made there.

 

[fatjay]

I thought it might have been a line shaft machine that was later converted to electric. I took some better pictures today. This thing seems to have come with all the bells and whistles. The plate goes up and down with a half inch drive ratchet and is very solidly mounted. I already lost one drill bit that went down the hole and there's no real easy way to access the inside.