DP Run out, can it be fixed

[Allen Bookout]

Brian,

Did you ever find out what is going on with your drill press? I used mine yesterday and I really like it so far.

Allen

[Russ Massery]

Allan, I see you bought a new chuck. What kind did you purchase?

[Kent Fitzgerald]

I agree with Allen - spade bits are not precision tools, and are rarely perfectly straight. I suspect that they're manufactured by a forging or stamping process, rather than milling.

Try a Forstner bit before you disassemble your DP and possibly make things worse.

[Bob Dodge]

Hi Brian,

I have three drill-presses; a General 15", a Buffalo 15", and a Craftsman 32" radial drill-press. The Craftsman at one point, had some run-out, which at first I attributed to component quality of the d-p. Although this run-out was rather slight, it was annoying to say the least; especially when attempting to drill tight-tolerance holes in metal. No matter how carefully I tried to seat the drill-bit into that chuck, I ended up with a very slight travel in the bit, as I lowered the bit into the material.

The first time I really became aware of this run-out, was when I tried to drill some very small holes in mild steel, for some steel dowel pins. The dowel pins had to fit in the drilled holes, with a "friction fit". Tolerances had to be quite tight in order to achieve that goal. When I tried to insert the dowel pins, they simply fell through the "enlarged" holes. Very annoying, since this was a critical step in aligning two mating metal parts. I resigned myself to buying a better chuck, and it was then that I bought the General, and Buffalo drill-presses.

Well, one day I was looking inside the top-cover of that Craftsman press, and I noticed that there was a slight movement in the spindle-pulley. Very slight, but a distinct side-to-side movement. I reached inside the pulley cavity and tightened the nut that holds down the front pulley assembly, and that side-play disappeared; so did the run-out. Might be worth a peek.

Good luck, Bob

[Allen Bookout]

Allan, I see you bought a new chuck. What kind did you purchase?

Russ,

Actually the chuck that I bought I purchased last year some time for my old Buffalo. It is a CVS (England) from Victor Machinery and seems like OK quality but I am sure not up to Jacobs quality. It was a discontinued item so it was pretty cheap. I think that I am going to junk the old Buffalo and save the Leeson motor. Unfortunately the CVS chuck is a JT2 Short taper so of no value as far as using it on the Delta as I see that it has a JT3.

In looking around on the internet it looks like that the medium duty Jacobs, JT3, 1/8"-5/8" chucks are running between $100 and $125. Any idea who has good prices for these things?

I think that I will do as you suggested and use the supplied chuck untill it starts giving me trouble and then get a Jacobs.

Allen

[Brian Parker]

Sorry for the lack of update, I didn't recieve the centerting point until Thursday or Friday. That being said I would recomend someone to get the same centerting point as its alot straighter than any nails and it don't want to cut into the wood like a tip of a bit.

During the week I tried a few things like 4 penny nails, which the point isnt centerd on but are usually straight and also a small piece of all thread. I then decided to take a piece of 4x4 that was laying around and put it under the chuck and pulled down on it with alot of force. Its nice to see that the dolly which I attached it to is pretty solid and didn't even lift off the ground at all.

I got the chance today to test it out and it has alot less wobble, its pretty close to perfect.

Brian

[Allen Bookout]

Great news Brian. Thanks for the update and we all feel a lot better now. Allen

[Russ Massery]

Allan, I have a couple of extra jacob's chucks laying around. P.M. if your interested.