My quill fell out!

[Doug Hobkirk]

The quill on my "made in Taiwan" Reliant drill press fell out. I didn't see any threads or attachment hardware and I was in a hurry to finish the project I was doing so I just pushed it back in, tapped it, and continued using it. I haven't done much drilling since then, but what I have done didn't show any problems.

What should I do?

[Mitchell Andrus]

Assuming it has a slight taper, put it in the freezer for an hour and insert it while cold. You may have a tough time getting it out when you need to but it won't likely fall out on its own again.
.

[george wilson]

Do you mean the quill,or the chuck? Quills have been known to fall out,even in Deltas,which are now Asian made,too.

[Scot Ferraro]

Clean the taper with alcohol and the inside of your chuck and put it back on and hit it with a rubber mallet. You should be good to go. Mine fell out several years ago and this did the trick for me.

Scot

[glenn bradley]

As Scot says; my newer DP has a taper for the chuck and a second taper for the quill socket. Clean well (I used naptha) and tap in. No worries. On my 1940's Delta the chuck and quill taper are one long piece. It is "held" in the same way.

[Lee Schierer]

Assuming it has a slight taper, put it in the freezer for an hour and insert it while cold. You may have a tough time getting it out when you need to but it won't likely fall out on its own again.
.

Putting it in the freezer will make the tapered hole smaller and it won't go on the warm shaft as far. If you heated it it would go on farther and then hold tighter when it cools.

I reset my tapered chuck by placing it on the quill with the jaws fully opened and press it down against a block of wood on the table using the quill handle.

[Mitchell Andrus]

Assuming it has a slight taper, put it in the freezer for an hour and insert it while cold. You may have a tough time getting it out when you need to but it won't likely fall out on its own again.
.

"It" is the male part. Alternately, heat the female part.
.

[Doug Hobkirk]

Do you mean the quill,or the chuck? Quills have been known to fall out,even in Deltas,which are now Asian made,too.
It would be the chuck - I thought it was called a quill in a drill press, but I just visited Wikipedia. The quill shaft was still on the drill. I should mentioned that it was probably 20 degrees in the shop when this happened.

Thanks for the replies. I was surprised that tapping it back made it functional. It seemed like it would have been a big deal but I am very glad it isn't.

[george wilson]

My favorite drill press chucks are the Jacobs that have a #33 taper in them, AND ALSO a captured threaded ring that screws the chuck to the QUILL,capturing it so it cannot come loose,especially when you are routing. My old 1960 Craftsman drill press has that chuck. So did a recent variable speed Delta.

The post was confusing,as actual quills have fallen out also before.

[glenn bradley]

It seemed like it would have been a big deal but I am very glad it isn't.

Well done sir. I love it when its simple and works.

[Brian Tymchak]

I reset my tapered chuck by placing it on the quill with the jaws fully opened and press it down against a block of wood on the table using the quill handle.

This is the documented procedure for seating the chuck on my JET benchtop DP. IMHO, this procedure is better than using a mallet as the pressure is applied straight in line with the chuck. Where as with a mallet, I may not strike the chuck squarely and likely not get a good seat.

Brian