Replies

1. 
   cadiddlehopper | Nov 30, 2006 01:42am | #1

   The drill press may have a setscrew adjustment on the side of the housing which allows adjustment for play in the quill. Try that first. If the play goes away the wobble may be cured & your bearings are probably fine.

   If the wobble goes away, check to see if the tip of a medium sized drill bit seems to stay on center. With the drill press running, you can press the tip lightly on a piece of metal then check to see if it made a small circle or only a dimple. A circle indicates that the chuck is not quite centered on its shaft. If it is severe, you could remove the chuck, clean the tapers, & reinstall. It probably won't help much. While the chuck is off, you could check the quill for runout with a dial indicator. If it is OK, but runout is severe, you may want to buy a new chuck. Unless the runout is severe, you can probably live with it for woodworking. It is probably a small price to pay for a bargain, but it is your choice of what is too much runout. I made do with quite a bit for several years.

   Cadiddlehopper

1. 
   bigfritzcat | Nov 30, 2006 04:30pm | #2

   Thanks for the suggestions.  I will give them a try.  I find it hard to believe that the bearing are bad.  As you suggested, my first step is to remove the chuck and check the spindle for runout.  If it is the chuck, I would love to get a new keyless chuck which is now standard on the new Craftsman drill press.  Are you familiar with the the keyless chucks and whether there is a aftermarket chuck that will fit a Craftsman?

   Thanks again,  Bigfritzcat

1. 
   GW52 | Nov 30, 2006 09:38pm | #3

   See if you can take the chuck off the spindle and see if there is any runout in the spindle shaft. If there is none there might be dirt on the shaft where the chuck attaches or in the scoket of the chuck.

    

1. 
   bigfritzcat | Nov 30, 2006 09:50pm | #4

   GW52--Thanks for the suggestion.  I have been thinking about doing that.  I am also considering purchasing a new Jacobs keyless chuck for this drill press.  It may be that the chuck is worn out and the new chuck will fix the problem.  I will check the spindle first though.  Bigfritzcat

1. 
   cmiller231 | Dec 01, 2006 07:01am | #6

   I would try to determine weather it is quill slop in the head or spindle bearings  or spindle  . runout . To determine quill to housing slop extend quill all the way down  but  do not hold hard downward pressure against quill stop when you do this .then put a indicator against lower end of quill   and shake it towards the column and then pull towards yourself.If you have no adjustment to take up on the quill you can remove the quill and drill  tap a set screw through  housing , deburr the inside , reassemble . put set screw in tapped hole with a drop of locktite on it. Oh i almost forgot put a piece of plastic or brass in tapped hole so the screw won't  scar quill.Adjust as necessary to remove slop.This fix works good ,i've done it on a couple of asian  drill presses.

   I have seen Sears  drill presses that have a lot of spindle to qulll  slop . This is because the bearings are too close together .The top end of spindle moves up and down through the splined pulley and is free to wobble around because of the fact that the bearings are so close together.The clearance between these two parts are fine ..The model I seen this on was an industrial model Sears.   The guy that owned it stuck  pieces of brazing rod inbetween each spline . So this acted like a upper bearing support. This was kind of mickey mouse but it helped a LOT.Other than redesigning it i don't know what could be done .

    I had the same problem in a Montgumery Ward version of a Shop Smith (much more mickey mouse  than a real  Shop Smith..) but it was worse . ONE bearing in the quill and the other end flopped around in the splined pulley. I repaired it by remachineing  the quill and adding another bearing . It solid as a rock now .

    

    Chris

    

2. 
   GW52 | Dec 01, 2006 07:03pm | #7

   I have to agree with caddilehopper about keyless chucks on drill press. I always use the chuck key on at least 2 of the 3 holes in my chuck before I consider a bit tight in the chuck.

   Greg

2. 
   cadiddlehopper | Dec 01, 2006 02:34am | #5

   I am no expert on keyless chucks. My hand drills have them. I dislike them because I can't get them tight enough on round shafts of which I already have many. If the barrel strikes a surface while drilling, it loosens itself also. They work better with hexagonal shafts.BTW, the first thing to check is not spindle concentricity but play in the quill adjustment. That could be your only problem of significance. Removing the chuck could be fixing something that ain't broke.Cadiddlehopper