It's high time I commence working on enclosures. To assist in this endeavour is a new to me Craftsman 103-23100 benchtop drill press that evidently hasn't seen much use in a while. This is replacing a Harbor Freight special that essentially boiled down to a nightmare of radial slop. I could plunge a neater line by hand, but I digress.

I'd much rather talk about stylized mid century domestic US steel than the resulting product of decades worth of exponential bean counting. Make no mistake, it may be manufactured in China, but those cheap tools are American products. Apologies, that's just my Monday morning cheer shining through.

The prerequisite visual inspection indicates a little work is in order. While the angle of shot does not reveal it well, I can report that both legs of the early cloth covered AC mains wire have slipped their insulation at this point.

I think the motor is not original, the bolts however may be.

I'll make sure to evenly distribute those washers upon reassembly..

Removal of the AC access plate indicates some years of use as a wood working tool.

Not high tech, but the installation outlasted the wire itself.

There's a little black smudging on the soldered joint about an inch back from the stud, I'd like to know what's been going on here before putting the motor back into service.

The corresponding point in the wire...

...supports the theory that the insulation failure coupled with a conductive path of oily wood dust provided a high resistance path that could heat up with use. Or, perhaps it's just an oily spot. Either way, the motor is functional and intact. My elation at having an operational piece of equipment is evidenced by the fact that I clearly leaned forward a sixteenth of an inch while taking that photograph.

New wire snaked into place, now with a chassis ground.

While operational, I think I may have to dig into this one deeper, as the rotational assembly seems to exhibit more resistance than I would like, while the vertical travel is as lubricated as a ■■■■■■ ■■■■■ and will drop the drill via gravity feed unless I adjust tension to the point where I can no longer gauge the feel of the drill.