After many years of hard use the handles on my Delta drill press have gotten loose. In the past I have tried layers of plumbing pipe tape on the threads but the threads inside the holes are too far gone I think and the wobble has gotten so bad that one of these days the end is going to push right through into the hub when I least expect it. I guess I could get some bar stock and drill out the holes and re tap them and then make new handles but I’m looking for an easier solution. Any ideas, tricks or fixes? CA glue? : )
EDIT: I found the part that is damaged on line for the 17-900 but you have to replace the entire pinion assembly it looks like, at a cost of close to fifty bucks.
Replies
Possible fix
Silver solder ? It is reversable if you do end up retapping it larger.
If you are talking about the threads in the round plastic knobs you could use a thread repair, either an insert or HeliCoil. Available at most auto parts stores.
http://www.helicoil.in/
It's not the knobs, it's the other end of the handles where they go into the hub. The threads on the handles are fine, it's the threads in the holes in the hub that are loose. So loose that you can screw the handles right into the hollow part of the hub. In other words, instead of the handle bottoming out when the threads on it end, the unthreaded part just slides past the worn out threads in the hole. The handle threads are so loose in the worn out threads in the hub that the handles rock a whole lot when you are drilling.
Just looked at the HeliCoil site and it looks like that just might work. Headed for the auto store to see. Thanks. Thanks to Bruce S too.
HeliCoil update.
HeliCoil update, if anyone cares. I found a limited range of Helicoils at the local auto store, but found a Grainger store nearby that I didn't even know existed. FYI don't even try to lift their catalog if you have even the slightest back problem, it's about the size of three big telephone books. Helicoils look like the answer for many different stripped thread problems, but in my case, to fix three holes in a hub, the cost of the tools and coils isn't worth it. Because you are adding threads that will match the original ones you have to drill out the old threads with an odd sized drill and thread with an odd sized tap so the outside of the coil can be screwed into the hole. Then the inside of the coil matches the old threads. That means that drills and taps and insertion tools and a tool to break off the little tab inside the coil have to be purchased separately or in a kit. In my case that meant owning metric tools that were odd sized and would never be used again unless I went into the Delta Drill Press Fixing business. And the problem of having drill-out shavings and a break-off tab trapped inside the hub didn't thrill me much.
The workaround: It looks like a nut, threaded onto the shaft of the handle, makes the handle tight when it is threaded into the hole and wrenched down moderately. Lengthening the threads on the handle shaft would allow the end to go further into the hole, but I'm gonna wait to see how this works for a while.
If you got this far you now know more than you ever needed to know about drill press problems (DPPs) of the hub thread type and you should probably GET A LIFE.
I'd use jb weld to epoxy the threaded parts together. There are also other epoxies that contain metal that are very crush resistant, but jb weld does contain steel particles so that would be my first choice since its readily available. I'd give this stuff at least 24 hours to harden - if you don't it definitely won't work since it takes time to fully harden. Regular epoxy is too soft without metal particles.
Rather than spending $60 on a helicoil kit, look at ENCO and buy the generic version of the tap for less than $10 and an iimport drill bit for a few bucks more. Still I'd try jb weld or a metal filled epoxy first.
New tools
Now Ray, I'm way past the age where I want to wrestle a new heavy drill press down a flight of stairs when it is much easier to sneak a new LN plane past my wife under my shirt. That is, the plane is under my shirt, not the wife, but you know what I mean. Besides I built a big table and fence for the drill press and I like it. Please tell the review board that I have not failed in my quest for new tools, just moved on to smaller items, although not smaller in price when it's LN.
EDIT... oh now I get it. You didn't mean getting a new drill press, just the Helicoil drill and tap and insertion tool. I was thinking big when I read your note.
Yaaaaa Know . . . Nahhh . . . Wellll . . . OK what the heck
If you are considering buying some tools to fix the drill press this sort of thing (see the next link ) would be the quickest ( once you get up to speed but that's half the fun ) . . .
http://www.millerwelds.com/products/tig/product.php?model=M00337
Unless you need to take the handles off to clear the work or for shipping (?) or sumpin.
Go for It ! I like mine. Could open up a whole new direction in your woodworking. It welds bronze and stuff.
Sweet !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C5s60JMxNU&feature=fvwrel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIG_welding
Notice there is no spray of sparks or smoke. Nice and clean for a wood shop type environment. Pin point accuracy and can control the heat and size of the puddle with a foot control. I was in love at first sight. Sweep up the saw dust first just to be safe though.
If you still want to fix the threads.
There are better options than Helicoils. Helicoils are crap. They come loose and unscrew with the work in some applications rather than stay loctited in place. Best used where there is a shoulder like a spark plug but not a lot of leverage like your . . . well . . . lever arms.
Try these dudes
http://www.bjg-design.com/designbook/pdfs/INS-KNS-KNS.pdf
TIG welding
Wow! I never thought of TIG argon gas welding. And only twenty three hundred bucks for the basic kit. And after I melt down the hub on the drill press, and after my wife melts all my finger nails off with the thing, and they foreclose on my house for using the mortgage money for a TIG, I'll stand by the side of the road with all my belongings, including the drill press with the melted off hub and twisted handles and I'll look to the sky and shout THANK YOU! THANK YOU, ROC for solving my stripped thread problem. It sure was fun learning to weld things. I can now mend anything but a broken marriage.
That said, it does look kinda neat.
"You'er in shock right now.
I understand this must be very weird for you Just act normal and drive north. OK? We've got to get as much distance as we can between us and the big guy."
= Quote from the movie Paul.
>. . . foreclose on my house for using the mortgage money for a TIG, I'll stand by the side of the road with all my belongings,. . .<
Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha
Hey, that's just what happened to me. Small world. You're in luck though. This new TIG machine is only 50 pounds. My old job is 500 plus pounds. Makes hitch hiking more difficult. But not impossible.
Anyway. How about those Keen serts ? Here in the states they call them Zertserts. I couldn't find them on line right off and only noticed later the Keens are UK. Air craft supply should have them what ever they are calling them this week.
PS: TIG welders ? Hey they get chicks man. Chicks dig 'em !
Well, Harley riding women anyway. Especially the ones that want some custom mods done to their choppers.
Don't worry about it. Just be cool.
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