Drill Press modification: Delta 17-950L single power cord for light

[Dave MacArthur]

Hi,
Just thought I'd post this picture and idea. The drill press above is nice, and has a good light, except they didn't combine the power source... you have to plug in one cord for the 110v drill press, and a second different length cord for the 110v light...

Here's a pic of what I did to improve it, just drill a 3/8" hole into the front on/off power box. Inside are 3 wirenuts to hook the main power cord to the on/off switch and then the motor... just cut the light cord, stuff it into the box, and wire it up BEFORE the on/off switch with power, other line to the common, and ground. Use 2 sided tape and the provided hook-tabs to route the light cord up to the hole nicely.

Enjoy!

[mark page]

Dave, I have the same DP and have been wanting to do this for some time. Thanks for the project prompt again. Have to add it to my list of "rainy" day things to do.

[Mike Gager]

thats weird, i have the dp300l and it has just one cord

[Lance Norris]

I read somewhere, someone mention this(probably here and you, Dave) and thought I would do this also. Its not real high on my to-do list, but a good idea none the less. I also thought the light would make a good light for a bandsaw. You could order it from Delta as a replacement part. I think when I looked it was $20 something.

[John Pahl]

Great idea Dave. Thanks for Sharing. I have the two cord thing happening at both my bandsaw and my drill press. I'll have to look at making this modification.

John

[Jim Becker]

Good idea, Dave. Having the integral light in my Jet DP with only one cord has been a pleasure....'wish I had that on my BS as keeping a light cord out of the way just adds to the complexity. Thanks for posting this!

[Laurie Brown]

Hi, Dave! Just found this thread and that is a great idea. But for those of us with limited electrical experience, can you post a picture of what's going on INSIDE the switch box? It would help me a lot to see what you connected where.

[Dave MacArthur]

Here you go quick trip to the garage and some MS Paint and viola!

Just remove the switch plate with the two screws. You'll see a cord coming in with power, and one leaving to the motor, both with three wires (black/hot, white/neutral, green/ground). There are two wires going to the on/off switch. The black power hot comes IN, wire-nuts into the switch, flows through the switch, wire-nuts to the black flowing out to the motor. It then flows back in from the motor on the white, and joins with the white from the power cord in a wire-nut. The green grounds are wired together along with a ground wire hooked to the drill-press.

Just stuff your light cord into the box, it has a black, white and green wire.
Hook the white and green up to their respective wire nuts, then hook the black "hot" into the wire nut on the black wire from the power cord, just before the switch.

Here's a diagram and some pics

[Dave MacArthur]

Glenn Bradley's mobile base for this drill press:
See thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=57448

Glenn Bradley's table for this drill press:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=57826

[Bill Huber]

Dave, is there enough room in the main switch box to add a some toggle switch?

I have an old Craftsman and it has 2 switches one for the light and one for the motor and it is really nice to have the light on when you are setting up things, just a thought.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Clever - Never thought of this. My version years ago was to get a handy box with a duplex outlet and steel cover, run a pigtail w/male plug out of it. Connect it via extension cord to the wall. bolted a hardware store round magnet to the back, slapped it on the DP head. Both DP and light plug into the box. Excess cords rolled up and zip-tied together.

Ditto on BS.

[Rod Sheridan]

Dave, is there enough room in the main switch box to add a some toggle switch?

I have an old Craftsman and it has 2 switches one for the light and one for the motor and it is really nice to have the light on when you are setting up things, just a thought.

Hi Bill, Dave's modification took power from the line side of the motor switch so the motor doesn't have to running for the lamp to operate.

I liked Dave's modification, however I have 2 comments;

1) A strain relief device should have been installed on the flexible cord

2) This modification removes the electrical approval from the machine as it is now a field modified machine.

Regards, Rod.

[Dave MacArthur]

Bill--
Rod is right, the light is now "hot" all the time, and it has it's own switch on it. However, you could certainly fit another toggle in that box.

Rod--I did tie a knot in the light cord inside the box as a strain relief (if I understand what you're saying), you'd have to yank the box off the drill before that cord came out.

And of course you're right about it being "field modified", and it's good of you to point it out so folks are aware of any risk they assume--hadn't thought of that. I feel not really any more than every single machine that comes without an electrical cord that you then have to wire one in yourself (almost everything large) since you'd be wiring the cord right into the exact same wire nuts, and certainly nothing risky or dangerous is being done... while that argument may not pass muster against an insurance lawyer, it would certainly pass the OWWM test