Looking for advice on a new drill press

[Lon Crosby]

Technatool/Novais about ready to release an 18” direct drive drill press with a “variablereluctance motor” (i.e, a switched reluctance motor - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reluctance_motor)so full torque at stall (unlike a 3 phase motor with a VFD + belts, etc.). To have a speed range from 50 to 5,500 rpm. Should beinteresting. Price of $1,499

[Scott Brandstetter]

Lon, interesting news. Any link to info on this new DP? Wouldn't mind reading up on it.

Technatool/Novais about ready to release an 18” direct drive drill press with a “variablereluctance motor” (i.e, a switched reluctance motor - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reluctance_motor)so full torque at stall (unlike a 3 phase motor with a VFD + belts, etc.). To have a speed range from 50 to 5,500 rpm. Should beinteresting. Price of $1,499

[Brian McInturff]

John, actually that is what I'm basing mine off of. I was in a Woodcraft in late October and spent a good amount of time checking out their model. I knew I was going to buy one during the next sale. Vibration - I'll check mine again as my shop has a wooden floor that is elevated and I've just gotten use to a little vibration from every piece of equipment. I'll check this evening and run it through the speed range again.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Lon, interesting news. Any link to info on this new DP? Wouldn't mind reading up on it.

http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/no...oming-january/

You can see more about their current products here, but it does not list a drill press (and I thought that they released on in 2013):
http://novatoolsusa.com/

[Roger Feeley]

Agreed on not wanting the change speeds. Mine has pulleys and I use just two speeds: kinda slow and kinda fast.

My dream DP would be one with a VFD so I can just turn a knob like I do on my lathe. How come no one sells that?

[John Ziebron]

Well it's been a month since I started this thread about my PM2800B but I was sidetracked by other issues. I did finally get to my nearest Woodcraft store to check out their floor model. I know it's subjective but I'd say their DP had about half the vibration of mine.

I finally got the time to really go through my DP and I did solve the vibration problem, at least, to my satisfaction. Here are my results and final review. I will try to be brief as possible but still cover all the issues as it may help those who have this model or may purchase it.

After removing the plastic top I checked all the bolts and cap screws and did find some that were not as tight as they should be. That did not affect the vibration issue. I removed the upper belt that drives the spindle and that did not change the vibration. Removing the lower belt from the motor showed no vibration at all with just the motor running.

So everything pointed to the problem being with the Reeves drive. With the belts off I could easily detect a lot of play on the Reeves pulley shaft. Further investigation showed that the shaft play was a result of the retaining plate assembly not being properly adjusted. This is accomplished with 4 small bolts and lock nuts (2 on each side). After adjustment, the vibration level was reduced by at least half.

I also discovered that the upper pulley on the Reeves shaft was very tight, as in I could not move it up or down by hand. Once I got the pulley off I used wet/dry sandpaper until it moved freely on the shaft. I don't know if this contributed to the vibration problem but it should help stop the tiny bits of rubber that was coming off the belts.

Next I checked the table. The factory setting for zero degrees was very good, but the table was about a 1/16th inch lower in front. There is a large 5/8 x 11 bolt that must be loosened or removed to tilt or remove the table. I think a Sumo wrestler tightened that bolt. But once I got it off I discovered some fine debris (maybe metal dust) on the mating surfaces. After a thorough cleaning and replacing the bolt (it was noticeably bent) the table checked out good from front to back. BTW, that large bolt is incorrectly identified in the parts list as a 3/8 x 16 bolt.

The laser needed alignment but that was easy and fairly quick. The table insert also needed adjusting to be flush. That was a little more time consuming as the set screws with lock nuts are underneath.

So I'm now happy with this drill press but there are still some things that I don't like. The biggest being that the display is always on when the cord is plugged in. But I will solve that problem by changing the duplex it's plugged into with a 20 amp switch/outlet combo unit. The fence is OK but I don't like that you have to flip the work stop up in order to position it. I like to put my first piece to be drilled in place and then slide the work stop up against it. But I already have a quick fix in mind for their stop.

[Ben Rivel]

Glad it worked out for you and thats good that you followed up with your fix and situation. Hopefully this will help someone else someday.