I have refurbished several Mills machines, and in almost every case, the drill plates were in poor condition, with paint flaking off or considerable rust. Generally in bad condition overall, and a PITA to deal with. Some have Cadmium plating, some don't.
So, I have left them out of the machines for the most part. In most cases, the paper tags were affixed to them so I attempted to remove them and affix to the wood inside, with little luck.
My question is, keep the plates, repaint them, put them back - or do what I normally do and leave them out? If I repaint, the paper tags take a hit. Do the plates really affect the value of the machine significantly? Stripping and painting the plates become another major project.
I can adequately reproduce the paper tags with handwriting, or serial number, and put them on back on the wood inside the machine to match.
What are your thoughts?