Jet drill press spindle rotational play?
Hi,
I have a Jet JDP-17MF 16 1/2″ 16 speed 3/4 HP floor drill press. It’s fairly new. There is rotational play between the spindle and the spindle pulley (holding the chuck and turning the spindle pulley by hand). Standing on a stool, looking down into the center of the pulley, lowering the quill to the point where I can clearly see the both the splines of the spindle and the splines of the “driving sleeve”, it is plain to see how the splines do not mate snugly. As I rotate the parts against each other, I can clearly see how the two sets of splines have maybe about 1/32″ of slack between them, at least 1/64″ anyway.
There is absolutely no evidence of wear. Everything looks clean, sharp, and properly greased with clean grease. It is clear that this is how the machine was manufactured. I just never checked it before.
BTW, there is no side play of the spindle in the quill.
I imagine many of you have this drill press. Will you please do me a favor? Will you check this on yours and let me know if it does the same thing? You don’t have to look down into the center of the pulley, just hold the chuck, turn the spindle pulley back and forth a bit (you might want to unplug the machine first for safety), and see if they feel tight to each other or if there’s some play.
It would help me out a lot to know if this is “normal” on this machine, so I don’t spend a lot of time and trouble trying to fix it. As far as I know, it hasn’t caused me any problems yet, but if it’s not normal, I’ll try replacing the driving sleeve first, then, if that doesn’t work, I’ll try replacing the spindle.
Your help will be much appreciated.
Todd
Replies
I have the same model, circa 1998. I checked it, and it does the same thing you describe.I had noticed it before, but it hasn't caused me any trouble, so I ignored it.
Mine had other issues, though. The chuck arbor wasn't machined accurately, and the chuck had more than an acceptable amount of runout.I ended up replacing the chuck arbor, and the chuck, and had no more problems.
Hope this helps.
Rick W
Todd,
Perfectly normal, the splines have to slide smoothly as the quill is advanced, so a loose fit, which does no harm otherwise, is used.
John White, Shop Manager, Fine Woodworking Magazine
Thanks, Rick and John, for your replies. Much appreciated. I wouldn't have thought anything of it except for an online article I read that said there shouldn't be any rotational play in a drill press. After checking mine, I called Jet tech support and asked them if the play I have is normal, and they said no, it's not. When I asked them what would cause that and how to fix it, they said the only way to find out is to take it apart and figure it out. That's when I looked down in the center of the pulley and saw how the splines of the spindle and "driving sleeve" mate loosely, which instantly made it obvious to me what caused the play, no disassembly required, thank you very much. So much for Jet tech support. They ought to hire someone like you, John, who knows what he's talking about. Not in the budget, I guess.Jet is actually sending me a new driving sleeve, but now I've little doubt that when I slide it onto the spindle shaft (which protrudes above the pulley when the quill is fully raised, so I can check this easily), it'll fit just like the other one.Thanks again for setting me straight on this and putting my mind at ease.BTW, Rick, I've got just under .001" runout reading on the inside of the spindle taper, and I was getting readings of about .006" runout on a chucked test rod, reading about 1 1/2" below the jaws of the chuck. I've just received a new Jacobs chuck and arbor, so I hope and expect that when I get these installed, I'll have minimal runout at the bit.
Todd, After you try the new sleeve, I'd appreciate it if you would let me know if the fit was better with the new one. Each manufacturer has their own way of doing things, I like to learn as much as I can about each machine.Thanks,
John White
Sure, John. Will do.
Jet Drill Press Play
I see this thread started in 2006 and here I am at the end of 2011 in the UK with a new JDP-17F drill press with play just as described in the original post. I've only just emailed my supplier with the question 'why' but maybe the driving sleeve is the culprit in mine too?
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