I just bought the 16.5" Jet JDP-17FSE from my local Rockler on sale for $299 (stealth gloat ). Assembly went smoothly for the most part, but I have a question about the mechanism that raises the table.
The DP has a rack along the DP's column that is used with a crank to raise and lower the table. There is a bracket that braces the rack and can be tighten with a threaded lock handle.
In order to be able to move the table up and down, this lock must be tight, but not too much (otherwise, the table won't move). My problem is that every time I raise or lower the table, it swings from side to side (not too much, but enough to take it off-center with respect to the chuck). If I tighten the lock even further, the table stops swinging, but now it's too tight for the crank to work. So now, once I reach the desired height, I have to swing the table so it's centered again and then tighten the lock handle so the table stays put during the drilling operation. I have checked the rack, and even though is not perfectly flush with the column, I wouldn't say is warped enough to interfere with the operation.
I am a complete newbie, so maybe this is how it's supposed to be; but I want to find out if there's something potentially wrong with it.