Drill Press Arbor Keeps Falling Out

[John Hays]

I bought the Porter Cable (PCB660DP) drill press a few weeks ago after reading many glowing reviews by fellow owners all over the net. I too was very pleased with it after tweaking out some of the minor vibration. Then a few days ago I was making parts for shop cabinets and the arbor fell out.

I know this can happen from time to time, so I thought nothing of it. I cleaned the arbor and tapped it back in. About 15 minutes later of continual use it fell out again. This time I made sure the arbor and spline were spotless (I wiped them down with acetone) and reinstalled. After about the same amount of time of use it fell out again.

At this point I'm at a loss of what to do. I must have cleaned and reinstalled that arbor 10 times now, but it keeps falling out. I also noticed some runout starting to appear and I'm becoming concerned that it's beyond repair.

Anyone have some suggestions on how to fix this?

[phil harold]

Anyone have some suggestions on how to fix this?

Return it while you can!
And buy a real drill press
For the 350 bucks you spent on this new drill press you cannot expect much
most of the money you spent was for the name
Porter Cable gained its fame from two inventions, the portable belt sander and sidewinder circular saw back in the 1920s
there drill press is not their claim to fame
Look for a used Clausing, Powermatic's 20", or an Allen

Most drill presses made 50 years ago are going to beat most Asian drill press bought new today

[Myk Rian]

Take the chuck back and get a new one.
If it continues, there is a problem with the SPINDLE.

[Dave Richards]

What really fell out? The chuck? Or the spindle?

[glenn bradley]

I'm betting spindle but, either way . . . side pressure will wobble a taper connection loose. What type of bit were you using and what type of drilling were you doing. If this was just with a typical sharp straight bit (not a circle cutter, sanding drum, etc.) then you probably have bad machining. I come to this conclusion since you have already cleaned things, dried them and reassembled.

I am curious where you found good reviews on this machine as I have only seen one and that was from a guy who had never owned a drill press before. A good drill press at home shop prices is as rare as hen's teeth at this point in history. Oddly enough, the Delta 17-959 was rated higher than cousins costing near double its price. The table is a heavier version of the woodworking table on the 17-950 which despite the name similarity is a different format of machine altogether.

If the 17-959 proves unavailable the 18-900 seems to be the new darling for under $2500 although its only about $800. The maker that comes out with a decent sub-$1000 drill press will have their name go down in history among the home shop woodworkers. I would dump my 17-950 in a heartbeat if I could find a machine under $1000 that was enough better to make it worth the effort of putting it together. . . . JMHO ;-)

[Morey St. Denis]

If you opt not to return this DP for refund, repair or replacement, then you will likely need to purchase a matching morse taper internal reamer. Assuming you've already closely inspected the external surface of the ejected spindle, the next likely culprit is a manufacturing defect to the internal taper of the quill. There should be a through-radial broached rectangular hole within the quill at the far extent of the MT. This exists to permit insertion of a small wedge to forcibly eject the spindle when changing or maintaining the tool. There may be a raised burr or some other surface defect impinging upon the female portion of the morse taper which could benefit from careful honing and a thorough clean-out. In a more crude, but potentially effective approach, you could also try smoothing the upper internal taper with a radius file, possibly like the fine toothed file one would use to resharpen a saw chain. If you're not prepared to take up the work of a skilled machinist, then return the DP as defective product.

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

I bought a Delta DP 20+ years ago and the chuck and attached arbor would occasionally fall out. I finally put some Loctite 638 retaining compound on it and it hasn't fallen out since.

[John Hays]

@ Dave: The tapered spindle (that the chuck is attached to) is what keeps falling out.

@ Glenn: I was using a common 3/8 twist bit. The reviews I found were from Lumberjocks, Lowes, Youtube and various other woodworking sites. Unfortunately, I can't really afford anything over $350, which drastically limits what is available to me on the market.

@ Morey: As far as I can tell there doesn't seem to be any surface defects in the quill or on the spindle (but my eye sight isn't as good as it used to be). However, the spindle does now have a few worn spots where it meets the quill (probably from reinserting it so many times).

On another note, I did discover that the newer presses have aluminum pulleys instead of the cast iron ones that the initial machines had when they appeared a couple of years ago, so who knows what else they changed to save a buck.

At any rate, I certainly do appreciate everyone's advice. I'm going to call Lowes and see if they will exchange the spindle. If that doesn't work, then I'll try the Loctite compound. If that fails, I'll just have to learn to live with my HF 38119 bench press.

[Thomas Hotchkin]

John
Freeze the arbor chuck and heat the arbor mating area no more then 100*. When you join the two together again, keep pressure on arbor chuck, drill column till both reach room temp. Tom

[ray hampton]

I have the same problem with my H F drill press and got a flat steel plate for the drill bit to rest on and apply as much force as I could to the press handle

[Myk Rian]

@ Dave: The tapered spindle (that the chuck is attached to) is what keeps falling out.

There should be a collar at the top of the quill, maybe 1" diameter. The spindle is held up with that. Should be a set screw to tighten it with.
If the collar isn't under the spindle pulley, it will be at the top of the quill.

[John Hays]

I think there is a disconnect with terminology here.

Take a look at the drawing below... the part (at the lower left) labled as "Arbor" is the piece that is falling out.

m1pk3rj.jpg

[Martin C Wells]

Sometimes putting on a light coat of chalk dust works.

[glenn bradley]

@ Glenn: I was using a common 3/8 twist bit. The reviews I found were from Lumberjocks, Lowes, Youtube and various other woodworking sites. Unfortunately, I can't really afford anything over $350, which drastically limits what is available to me on the market.

I apologize. I didn't mean to rattle on about expensive alternatives John. I just get so frustrated that a decent machine isn't available at a reasonable price. Sorry for venting ;-)

[Phil Thien]

Are you cleaning BOTH mating surfaces? You need to take Q-tips, dip them in your solvent (I used lacquer thinner), and turn the press on. Now push the Q-tips (one at a time) up into the female portion of the taper and keep doing that until the Q-tip doesn't show any discoloration.

Then clean the female portion of the taper with a rag dipped in solvent.

Now give them about thirty seconds for any solvent to flash-off.

Then slide them together and with the chuck opened all the way, and using a block of wood to protect the chuck, tape the two together with light hammer taps.

BTW, make sure you don't have any burrs on either surface. If this wasn't done properly the first time around, the assembly may have spun and created a burr.