Drill press quill lock

[Ole Anderson]

I was in my local tool store a few days ago (Performance Tool in Waterford MI) and noticed that drill presses from Delta, General, Jet and Powermatic all seemed to lack a quill lock. What is up with that? I really couldn't believe my eyes. I have a Craftsman DP with a quill lock and use that feature all of the time. I wouldn't buy one without it. It is SO much quicker to just use the quill lock than to adjust the table up and down when you need a fixed chuck position like when using a drum sander. Try holding the drill point just above the work while trying to line it up with a mark and clamp the wood in place using just 2 hands. With the quill lock I can push the drill point into the wood, lock the quill, then move the fence up to the edge of the wood with 2 hands and lock it down to set the fence, and so on.

[Jesse Tutterrow]

My Jet does not have quill lock. I could see where it would be useful, but I can adjust the table.

[John Coloccia]

One of my great pet peeves, Ole. This is, I'm afraid, that pathetic state of drill presses today. No way to lock the quill, and no way to adjust for play. Want to really be shocked? Lower the quill a few inches, grab the chuck and give a wiggle. The Delta 18-900s all seem pretty tight (when new, at least). The others are hit and miss. There's one in particular that is consistently somewhere between not great and laughable.

I just modified my drill press, based on some ideas in a thread here, to take up the horrific play in my press. It's not even that old. It was junk from day one and I just didn't know any better until I started getting serious about woodworking.

There, now you got me all wound up!

[Scot wolf]

One of my great pet peeves, Ole. This is, I'm afraid, that pathetic state of drill presses today. No way to lock the quill, and no way to adjust for play. Want to really be shocked? Lower the quill a few inches, grab the chuck and give a wiggle. The Delta 18-900s all seem pretty tight (when new, at least). The others are hit and miss. There's one in particular that is consistently somewhere between not great and laughable.

I just modified my drill press, based on some ideas in a thread here, to take up the horrific play in my press. It's not even that old. It was junk from day one and I just didn't know any better until I started getting serious about woodworking.

There, now you got me all wound up!

I hear that!

[Van Huskey]

The current state is to use the depth limit stops to hold the quill down. I have not idea why quill locks have disappeared, it isn't like it is a complicated high tolerance assembly!

There is a simple solution, it is called a Powermatic 1150, Delta 16-300 et al. Plus you get the long term advantage of a split head casting!

[ray hampton]

let get this straight, do you use the quill lock when you are writing a letter ?

[pat warner]

Lots of application alright, (for a quill lock) but can be arranged without machine work or radicalization.

[Bill White]

Since I got my old C'man/King-Seeley abt. 15 yrs. ago, I haven't looked at DPs. Didn't know that they didn't have the lock. Bummer.
Bill

[Ryan Baker]

I wouldn't buy a drill press that didn't have a quill lock, plain and simple. A decent depth stop is a requirement too. Unfortunately, those things rule out a lot of the poor tools on the market now. Excessive play and other problems only make things worse.

[Phil Thien]

If you must have a quill lock, it is a pretty easy feature to add to most drill presses. Drill a hole, tape the hole, insert thumbscrew.

My drill press doesn't have a quill lock, I don't miss one.

[John Baum]

I inherited a Tiger 16 which has proved to be a real workhorse. It came to me from a neighbor 10 years my senior. He inherited it from his Uncle Bill, his mother's brother, who was apparently a metalworker, since among the other things I inherited were many straight reamers, many taps and dies (including some with adjustment screws), and a large set of rotary rasps and stones.




Does anyone know who made Tiger Tools? I've always assumed that it was Asian made.

It has both a quill lock and a depth stop. The latter is primitive, but it works. I keep a small Crescent wrench on the lock handle for the table. It serves as a lever extension for loosening and tightening the lock. The jaws are set to fit the pin on the depth stop. It needs to be tightened securely lest it loosen in the middle of a project. Don't miss the clever cam operated belt tension release that Bill made to allow for quicker speed changes.

I've used the quill lock to hold a rotary rasp or a drum sander near the table top to do edge shaping and sanding. Perhaps this is poor practice since it loads the quill bearing sideways which is not a 'design load.' A few times I've even used a compound drill press vice to hold a lathe tool to turn down a 1/2" or less diameter rod in small vertical passes. The vice allows small adjustments in the depth of cut. As I age, the one thing that becomes increasingly difficult is lifting the table back up when I've lowered it to accommodate a long wood bit. I agree, a quill lock is a serious part of a drill press.

baumgrenze

[Ole Anderson]

If you must have a quill lock, it is a pretty easy feature to add to most drill presses. Drill a hole, tape the hole, insert thumbscrew.

My drill press doesn't have a quill lock, I don't miss one.

Might bugger up the quill, running a thumbscrew into it every time you wanted to lock-er down. Maybe if you could tip the thumbscrew, or better yet, a knob, with plastic or aluminum, you might have something.

Can't miss what you don't have. Haven't seen anyone say they have a quill lock but would buy their next DP without one. I can only think that those that design drill presses without one, have never used one with the quill lock. Or the bean counters forced the designers to drop features to keep the cost down.

[Phil Thien]

Might bugger up the quill, running a thumbscrew into it every time you wanted to lock-er down. Maybe if you could tip the thumbscrew, or better yet, a knob, with plastic or aluminum, you might have something.

Can't miss what you don't have. Haven't seen anyone say they have a quill lock but would buy their next DP without one. I can only think that those that design drill presses without one, have never used one with the quill lock. Or the bean counters forced the designers to drop features to keep the cost down.

Quill locks are typically installed so the set screw lands in the same channel as the quill's adjustment screw (the screw that keeps the quill from rotating). So no real fear of hurting the quill this way.

And I did have drill presses with quill locks, and purchased a drill press without one.

[Ole Anderson]

And I did have drill presses with quill locks, and purchased a drill press without one.

Fair enough, thanks for the feedback Phil.

[Kevin Presutti]

I love my old Delta 17", spilt head, with a production table. I would however like a second DP, a Powermatic 1150 or 1200 VS. Life would be very good then!