Finally a gloat for me

Hi Winston, and thanks. It was indeed those two rods which had rusted up in the casing. Judicious application of squirting and wiping and moving the lever eventually yielded the proper function, and I am now able to move the motor in and out.

Got the belts off and cleaned up the idler pulley pinion, as well.

Jon

Thanks Pete, I appreciate it. I actually pulled the bulb out yesterday just before I yarded the unit out into the carport to brush the rust off of the column.

It is a bit noisy, too; thanks for the tip about the belts.

Jon

Aye, thanks Gunner, I appreciate that. The chuck on there now was a bit rusty, but after a little squirt it's looking a lot better. It's a generic chuck, but it doesn't show much wear that I can tell, similar to the whole machine.

My guess is that this thing sat in a barn for most of its lift getting knocked around, and being used as a table. Otherwise, most of the pieces seem to show little wear (the table has nothing more than a few very light surface scratches).

Jon

Ah, thanks Bill, that is all good to know. I will yield to consensus and pick up some proper lubricant for drilling adventures.

I never knew about tightening up the chuck in all three places - thanks a TON for that one!

Jon

Hi Don, and thanks, I appreciate it. The new press has a respectable 3-3/8" plunge, which is considerably longer than my last press, and you bring up a Very Important Point that has an effect on the drilling operation for my current project.

First, I may end up using 2-1/2" square steel tubing instead of 3" (for a number of benefits), which would entail switching over to a 3/4" hole (instead of a 1" hole).

The new press obviously has the plunge reach to push the bit through both sides of 2-1/2" square tube, but will that the right procedure?

I will obviously spot drill one side of the tubing, and start drilling through that side, but then if I continue on through the tubing to drill out the other side, the bit will be starting in flat "un-spotted/un-punched" metal.

My concern is that the bit will wander, but perhaps the size of the bit (3/4") means it is stiff enough to resist skating. Also, perhaps the top hole will serve as a drill bushing and keep the bit aligned all the way through.

It would most certainly make my work a lot easier, more than twice as easy, actually, and even a little more, since it would eliminate the second spotting procedure for the other side.

Thank you for bringing this up,

Jon

Ah, thanks James, that makes a lot more sense now. It looks like there will be some new drill bits in my future, and with fancy ends, to boot!

Jon

(...)

Good on ya!

--Winston

Gunner

"First Law of Leftist Debate The more you present a leftist with factual evidence that is counter to his preconceived world view and the more difficult it becomes for him to refute it without losing face the chance of him calling you a racist, bigot, homophobe approaches infinity.

This is despite the thread you are in having not mentioned race or sexual preference in any way that is relevant to the subject." Grey Ghost

That drill press has had at least..least 8 different labels on it that Im aware of.

I had two of them years ago, each identical but for the label on the front of it. Sold one, gave one away to a friend when I upgraded to bigger drill presses.

They are a decent drill press and if you take care of them, will last you a very long long time.

Ever need that chuck and MT2 taper, simply let me know.

Gunner

"First Law of Leftist Debate The more you present a leftist with factual evidence that is counter to his preconceived world view and the more difficult it becomes for him to refute it without losing face the chance of him calling you a racist, bigot, homophobe approaches infinity.

This is despite the thread you are in having not mentioned race or sexual preference in any way that is relevant to the subject." Grey Ghost

[ ... ]

O.K.

I believe so. It will generate less position error than having to start a second hole on the other side.

The "bushing effect" from the top hole will make up for a lot with a bit that size.

The first bit in MSC of that size is #01520485 at $19.33 (Smaller gets cheaper fast.) There are 18 bits in the web page, ranging up to $324.08 as one of the "Non Catalog Items". None of them are described as split point, and the illustrations are not clear enough to let me tell from them.

If you could get one with a split point, you would not have any problems with it walking. I've even drilled a 1/16" hole in a 1/4" rod supporting a bearing on my garage door track -- using a hand held electric drill, and I had no problems with it walking without center punching beforehand.

I would say that you can get away with it, because the drill is being supported less than 2-1/2" from the drill point. Even if the quill has a lot of slop in the casting the first hole will serve as a one-shot bushing while you start the second side hole.

Others have mentioned vises. I didn't because your original fixture would prevent it being spun. And with that long a workpiece, putting the side of the workpiece against the left hand side of the column will control the spinning anyway. (It won't control the workpiece lifting as the bit breaks through, however.) So if you can get a lever operating drill press vise of reasonable size, and bolt that down to the table, you should be fine. (Remember to lock the table pivot under the table since yours, like mine, is a round table which can spin in its mount if not clamped.)

For a nice lever-operating vise, take a look at MSC # 09145566.

There are several sizes, and this one looks as though it will work well for your 2-1/2" square steel tubing. It has a throat depth of

1-13/16" which should be plenty. (It is similar to an old one with a Craftsman name which I picked up at a metalworking club meeting about a year ago and which is my favorite drill press vise. This one would be better in that it has more choices for clamping it to the table.

The price, however, is perhaps enough to send you elsewhere:

$283.94

Good Luck, DoN.

Thanks Gunner, I appreciate that. You have some serious looking chucks there!

Jon

Thanks Don, I appreciate it. I found a suitably-sized MT2-shanked bit on ebay, so we'll have to see how it's going to work out. Fortunately the application isn't _too_ demanding of precision, so I'll know after a few test pokes if it's going to work.

Aye, as much as I'd like to furnish my new tool with some well-needed accessories, I'm relegated to cobbling up jigs for the time being, at least as far as it is reasonably practical. Along those lines, I'm thinking of using two sections of tubing (or very sturdy angle stock) bolted securely to the table, leaving a channel between them to slide the long tubing to be drilled through.

The long section to be drilled will already be scribed and punched, and I'll tap it with a hammer from either end as required to encourage it into the correct position. I'll come up with some means to secure it from rising up off of the table in order to prevent a surprise when the bit pushes out of it's hole.

Thanks again,

Jon

[ ... ]

O.K. And you should still try the UniBit step drill in the material. I think that you'll like how it behaves. (And your work won't be trying to climb the spiral when it breaks through.)

[ ... ] [ ... ]

O.K. For that, make an extra bolt through one of the guide pipes, and a strap of steel to pivot over the workpiece to keep it from lifting. Better if you have two about equidistant on either side of the drill bit. And remember the sacrificial length of 2x4 under the workpiece -- unless you carefully position the table so the center hole will pass the drill bit. It would be a shame to drill dings into a drill press table which has lasted unscarred this many years (based on its appearance and its similarity to my 1975/76 one). :-)

Good Luck, DoN.

The big ones only go up to 3/4"

Gunner

"First Law of Leftist Debate The more you present a leftist with factual evidence that is counter to his preconceived world view and the more difficult it becomes for him to refute it without losing face the chance of him calling you a racist, bigot, homophobe approaches infinity.

This is despite the thread you are in having not mentioned race or sexual preference in any way that is relevant to the subject." Grey Ghost

People always give me strange looks when they see a small pile of scrap wood under my drill press. They also laugh when they find out that I clean and wax new tools to protect them.

The drill dosent take morse collets like those used in lathe .It uses morse taper sleeves ,so you can use larger drills with MT2 tapered shanks and MT1 tapered shanks with a MT2 to MT1 reducer sleeve

The little handle works on a cam that pushes the motor mount back to tighten the belts . Probably just squirt some anti rust lube on the motor mount shafts that are supposed to slide in and out of the head casting,and around the handle and let it soak .

Could be the idler pulley bearing , I found on my rexxon the same .I took the pulley out and found only one bearing , I machined the pulley out to take two bearings and it quietened down by 40 points on the Richter scale.

drill a pilot hole with a smaller drill first say 5/16 or 3/8 right through.Then use the 3/4 to finish to the correct size. If the 3/4 drill chatters on entry to the piloy hole get asmall piece of heavy cloth ,like denim from old jeans and put it over the hole double thick ness then drill the hole.

Must....resist....urge....

D'OH! :->

Jon