I was just outside using my Central Machinery drill press. It is huge.
I paid too much for it from the son of a friend of my wife's husband-in-law .......... but that's another story.
The thing is a POS. And a very large one at that. The chuck wobbles so much that the workpiece goes in a small circle unless clamped down. I'm sure the rest of the tolerances are comparable. I don't foresee using it for any work that has less than .125" tolerances.
What's a GOOD drill press? I'd probably look for one used, unless a new one is not too much money. I want it on a pedestal, with a traveling up and down table, multi speed, and at least 1/2" chuck. I'd like it American made (if there is such an animal), and something that will last longer than I do. (at this juncture, 15 years of light use) Recirculating water flow not absolutely required, and lights on that size are pretty much a standard.
It doesn't have to be gnat's whisker engineer machinist close performance tolerances, just a whole lot better than this Jumping Betty I got.
Even Delta's current drill presses are all made in China.
Before trashing the one you own, remove the chuck that you have now and test the run out on the spindle. I suspect much of your trouble is from a cheap chuck (kinda like buying 2 buck Chuck wine, though it is quite drinkable, it's not going to win any awards) and/or a dirty taper. If the spindle is running true, buy a new chuck. Rohm makes some very good chucks for the money. Albrecht and Jacobs are top of the line. Clean the spindle taper religiously. Now clean it again. Seat the new chuck and see where you are. ______________________________ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) snipped-for-privacy@7cox.net
I just went out and looked at the thing. It looks like the spindle is threaded into the chuck. I cannot see the beginning of any threads on the spindle, so, I would ass-u-me that the spindle is bottomed into the chuck to make a tight assembly.
Do I take two pipe wrenches, a little penetrant, and go for the lefty loosie, righty tightie thing?
And when I do get the chuck off, what am I looking for? Never having done this before, I would assume (and guess) to bolt my vice offcenter on the table, get a short piece of light metal, rest it on the top of the block, spin the spindle with the motor on, and come in with the little piece of metal as an indicator of if I get a "bump bump" kind of contact with the spindle, or a smooth "rrrrrrrrr." Or maybe just spin it by hand and see if there is wobbling?
Is that right?
And then, one last question: If I were to order one of said Rohm chucks, are the threads standard? Or should I check the spindle threads with a thread gauge? (my dad had them, but I would have to go buy a set)
If your drill press has a screwed on chuck, relegate it to jobs it is fit for, and seek out something better.
There are lots of old DP's around, and you pretty much gotta shop the obits to get one, for good reason.
However.... The RF30 mill drills are stiil being sold in pretty good numbers with a Morse 3 taper spindle in them. They are a passable hobby mill, but pretty darn good indeed as a drill press, compared to the money you have to spend on a name brand one of equal capabilities these days.
I saw a Cragslist add the other day for one that the guy wanted $200 for, so they do change hands in the used market, and face it, a palmgren X-Y table is a pretty cheesy piece of work, when the other option is a full moving table.
If this is a floor mount drill press, the chuck is most likely just a friction fit on a Morse or other taper, no threads. There should be some writing on the existing chuck. It will tell you if it is thread or taper. Look for something like JT33 or JT 3 or some such. If it is threaded, it will say something like 5/8-16 and will require unscrewing. You will need this info to buy a replacement chuck if you find the spindle runout to be acceptable.
This site will give you some good general information:
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, but he didn't get the section about removing a JT taper from the end of the spindle finished. Also read through this one:
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easiest thing is to have a pair of these removal wedges, but I have done it with cut nails :
You can check run out with a dial indicator: with an appropriate stand, but you can tell a lot with any hard object that you can really control and approach the bottom of the spindle while it is running. If it's going bumpily bumpily, visibly oscillates, or you can wiggle side to side, you need to find a different DP. If you can't detect any variation at the end of the spindle, it will probably be good to go for your needs. ______________________________ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) snipped-for-privacy@7cox.net
Got a digital camera you can use to post a picture of the end of the spindle? There are a number of attachment methods and you need to know EXACTLY what it is before going any farther.
Gunner
Political Correctness
A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.
Consider a floor model. I have a 20" Jet - for going on 14 years, now. It has 3/4" chuck; Speeds (belt change) range from 140 to 4200 rpm which is a good range for a machine of that size. On the highest speed I can drill #60 holes, close to 1 in deep with no problems.
Have you contacted Harbor Frieght or tried to get a copy of the manual from their website? If the chuck is on a Tapered shank, you may be able to see a slot in the side of the spindle housing. Lower the spindle all the way. Look around that protruding part to see if there is an elongated slot that goes all the way through the spindle assembly. If so, you'll see the end of the tapered shank partially filling the slot, in the center of the spindle and you'll need a wedge designed to go into the slot that you tap with a babbit hammer and push the tapered mandrel out with the chuck on it. You can make a wedge or buy one. I think the purchased wedges are tool steel, but one made from mild steel should get the job done, at least once. I wouldn't give up on the thing until I tried a known good mandrel in the spindle.
for an explination of the Morse taper and how it fits in a drill press spindle see
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not all drill presses are like this, but the huge majority are. Morse tapers range fro 0 through 6 or7, but the mome shop normally sees #2 and #3.
to remove the drill chuck and the Morse taper arbor you need a wedge. These are also called drill drifts because the larger sized drills come with morse taper ends to fit the spindle. A jobber length drill and a large chuck is too long in man cases and mounding the drill directly in the spindle is both much shorter and much stronger. see
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?PMAKA=292-6240&PMPXNO=943920&PARTPG=INLMK32[set 1-4] This is an import, there are also made in usa and genuine jacobs drill drifts.
note that there are two types fof wedges. The other wedge allows you to remove the drill chuck from the Morse taper arbor if the chuck is mounted using a Jacobs taper. There are several of these tapers as standard. see
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an import and there are american and genuine jacobs abailable.
There are also screw mount drill chucks and morse taper arbors with threads to mount these chucks.
Thus to properly mount a drill chuck you need to know two tapers, the spindle taper [generally a morse] and the chuck taper [generally a Jacobs]
Before you take the chuck off you need several pins. These should be 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, and if your is large enough 1/2 and even
5/8. Dowel pins about 4 inches long are excelent for this and should be available at your mill supply or fastener supplier for not much money.
You will also need a dial indicator or with some additional aggrivation a set of feeler gauges. Clamp a hard flat and straight piece of metal [a high speed lathe tool is good] in your vise and clamp one of the pins in your drill chuck. gently puch the vise so that the metal piece touches the pin. DO NOT turn the drill press on. Rotate the spindle so that if there is any wobble it pushs the vise and metal piece as far as possible to one side. Rotate the spindle 180 degrees by hand, which should be the maximum gap between the metal piece and the pin, and use the feeler guage to measure the gap. Write the size of the pin and the gap down. Do this several times to make the readings are all about the same.
Repeat this for all the sizes of pins that will fit yur chuck.
The reason for using the different size pins is that a chuck can be concentric for one size and out at another.
Of course, a dial drop indicator with a magnetic base if you have one will make this much quicker.
This will establish how good your chuck is.
Next clamp the biggest pin that will fit your chuck, and push the vice and metal piece gently up against the pin. Push the pin firmly against the metal piece with your thumb. Then pull the pin or chuck back away for the metal piece and measure the gap. It is a good idea to rotate the spindle 90 degrees and repeat as it may be looser in one direction than the other. This will determine how loose your spindle is. If the spindle is loos it will not matter much how good the chuck is. Again a drop test indicator and mag base will make this much quicker.
=============== The Röhm or one of the Albrecht [keyless] style chucks are the best, but they are longer and reduce clearence. If your spindle is worn, and you need;want another chuck, you will be just as well off with a less expensive one. As indicated you will need to buy both a chuck and the correct arbor in most cases.
top of the line
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?PMAKA=290-1265&PMPXNO=952904&PARTPG=INLMK32
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value for the money
There are many other suppliers. Google and ebay are your friends.
Unka' George [George McDuffee]
------------------------------ Watch out w'en you'er gittin all you want. Fattenin' hogs ain't in luck.
Joel Chandler Harris (1848-1908), U.S. journalist. Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings, "Plantation Proverbs" (1880).
Coupla things spring to mind. I have seen some dill chuchs that were screw mounted, and retained with a socket head screw inside the chuck jaws. A determined guy can get it off, but it's ugly, unless the screw is removed. :-) Open the jaws as wide as they can, and check with a light and mirror, if required.
Some of the spindles were equipped with a "remover" nut to push the chuck off. If the chuck was installed without it.... misery is delayed until the time of most need.
I would tend to recommend an older massive Clausing or one of the other well-known manufacturers, such as this one in my shop
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. I find the rigidity in a machine like this one, compared to a woodworking-style drill press is valuable for doing high-precision work. Mine has power downfeed as well, which makes deep hole drilling easier. The table is also t-slotted, not radial holes like many normal drill presses. If you don't have the room, money, or inclination for a large floor model, the Allied Machinery benchtop model in
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. Although a benchtop machine, it is about 30 years old and is of a quality and durability I haven't yet seen equaled in a currently available product. If I were to find a similar one used, I would probably buy another one. ww88
I spent a lot of time looking. I wanted a radial arm drill that would fit in my shop. I missed just what I wanted at an auction three years ago because I was talking to a friend when item came up. That little conversation cost me three years and $900.
See mcmaster page 2376. My chuck is item 2815A15. 1/8-3/4" diameter. Its taper has largest diameter of 0.94" approximately, which makes me think that it is an MT3 taper. See picture here
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It is VERY firmly stuck inside the DeVlieg adaptor.
i
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