Help with squaring drill press table

[Darren Vass]

I just put together this drill press from Harbor Freight. I was setting it up and I am finding it difficult to square the table. I will label pics to follow. I hope someone can give me some direction. It seems that all I can do is tilt the table one side to the other.

When I do so that one side of the square rule is adjacent to the drill bit (right front) the other sides are not quite right. A picture is worth a thousand..........

First pic is of the mobile base. I got the idea from:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=57448

Here is mine, I too put in 80lbs of ready mixed cement. I can lean on the column and it will not move. Great idea! Thanks Glenn!:

136511

Here is the chuck:

136512

Here is the right front:

136513

right left:

136514

From the side looking at the front:

136516

and at the back:

136515

Are there any other adjustments that can be made beside the table from side to side, I mean in the 90 degree tilt side to side.

Might it be the chuck? Does it look like it is sitting correctly? Should I remove the chuck again and reinsert it? BTW, do I need that wedge thing to remove the chuck? Or can I use something else?

Thanks,

Darren

[Stephen Edwards]

The first 3 things that I would check:

1. Is the drill bit straight. If you remove it from the chuck and roll it on a known flat surface does their appear to be any wobble at all in the bit.

2. Without moving the square, rotate the chuck by hand to see if the bit and the square remain in the same amount of alignment or misalignment. Rotate it 1/4 turn at a time.

3. Move the square out of the way and turn the DP on with the bit in the chuck. Turn it off and watch the bit as it slows down. If you've determined that the bit is straight in step one and if you notice wobble in the bit as the DP slows down, perhaps you don't have the bit properly seated in the chuck. I've experienced this problem myself. Sometimes just unloosening the bit, moving it a small amout in one direction or another and then retightening solves the problem for me.

That's a start...........

[Scott T Smith]

One easy method to square a drill press table is to take a stiff piece of wire - around 6" long. Put around a 30 degree bend in it about 2" from one end. Place the short end of the wire into the chuck and tighten it. Rotate the chuck by hand and align the table so that it is the same distance to the end of the wire as it rotates.

Keep in mind that you can usually adjust the actual head of the drill press from side to side, as well as the table.

[Tom Henderson2]

Using a bent wire is a very good method. The stiffer the wire the better.

A large forstner bit will work too -- when you bring it down to the work, if it scribes a circle the quill is square to the work. If it is an arc, it will show you which way the quill is pointed.

My HF drillpress only allows adjustment in one axis -- the table tilt axis. If it is off the other way, you are out of luck or need to put a top onto the table and shim the top.

-TH

[Scot Roberge]

I ran across the technique Scott suggests a while back. Lets you quickly check the alignment on both sides, front and back of the table. It's the only way I'll do drill press table alignment from now on.

[Michael Peet]

It looks to me like the table is not flat or the square is not. Look at the two pictures with the square on the right then the left sides of the bit. The square looks pretty well lined up on the right side. On the left it is way off, but the bit doesn't look *that* bent or tapered itself. I suspect the table or the square.

Mike

[glenn bradley]

Good suggestions from everyone on squaring up to the table but, I'm with Michael; place a good straight edge across that table. It appears domed.

[george wilson]

Yes,check the table's flatness with an accurate straight edge. Also,I have never bought an import drill press,including Delta,which I did not have to buy a Jacobs chuck for. They all hold a drill untrue to some extent. You also could have a bent drill as suggested.

I have adjusted import drill press tables that were not square from front to back: some have a steel,round ended rod set into the bottom area of the casting that the table screws to. I have filed this little "pip" down until the drill press table was square from front to back. Sometimes they can be really off. If the table tilts uphill,and it has the little "pip",you are lucky,and can just file the pip down.If the drill doesn't have this "pip" to file down,you can only shim the top edge of the casting behind the table until the table is true. Then,when you tilt the table,you have to be sure the shim stays in the same place. It is not very convenient.

Check the table for convexity and report back. That type table has a round cylindrical extension beneath it,and it can be chucked in an ACCURATE metal lathe and be faced off flat and true. It won't be shiny and ground after that,but it will be flat. Hopefully the cast iron of the table won't be chilled in casting(which makes the iron too hard to cut),and it can be turned on a lathe. A little test with a smooth cut file on a corner will reveal the hardness of the table.

[Pete Bradley]

Stephen Edwards has some good places to start. Precision rod is a lot easier to measure than a drill bit, you might consider ordering one from a machine supply like McMaster.

It's a brand new machine. If it turns out the table really is way out of flat or can't be squared up without a bunch of rework, send it back.

[Darren Vass]

I decided to check the usual that has been advised here. The drill bit is straight and true. The table is dead flat.

The silver square is not. I placed it within another square and it was short of 90 degrees enough to see quite a bit of daylight between the edges of the two squares. This shocked me. I just took it for granted that because it looked like a machinist's square that it would be accurate. It turns out to be a piece of crap and will get tossed!

So I used my two other squares, not precision, but close enough, and the bit squares up reasonably with only slight play.

I do want to try the wire method, though, but am not sure how to do it. One place I looked at said to bend the wire into an S shape and to chuck one end and allow the tip of the other end to circumscribe the table in a circle until it scribes evenly around after adjusting the table.

This is different than the suggestion of the wire above. I think that one used the the length of the wire resting on the table?

Thanks again for all the suggestions. Yes, I am an idiot for trusting that a square would actually be square. I apologize to all of you good people. You are great folks. If you see me on the street, the beer(s) is(are) on me!

Darren

[Stephen Edwards]

You're not an idiot. An idiot would be too stubborn to ask others for advice. Furthermore, you figured out the problem!

[Myk Rian]

Check the table being square with a piece of coat hanger or stiff wire in the chuck. Turn the chuck by hand to see if it touches the table all around.

[george wilson]

Asian machinist's squares just look like the real thing!! I have a few that I keep around wet areas like the belt grinder,where I don't want to use an old Starrett or other expensive square. I take the cheap squares and donk them into being square,using my good squares to check them against.

Many guys here like to use combination squares. They,even the good ones,are not as accurate as a good machinist square. And,their slots get worn from sliding the blades back and forth,causing more error. They may be o.k. for woodworking,but as a machinist also,when I want a real accurate square( to a tenth or two),I get a real machinist's square. I have them up to 20" long,and they are very heavy when large,and cost way over $1000.00 new. I have been lucky to get them used but not abused much cheaper.

[glenn bradley]

Yes, I am an idiot for trusting that a square would actually be square. I apologize to all of you good people.

Not at all. That's what this forum is all about, helping each other, Glad you found the culprit.

[John Coloccia]

No no. An idiot would turn the drill press on when doing the bent hangar alignment thing, instead of turning the chuck by hand. There are no pictures so it didn't happen, but if it did happen, it would have gotten quite exciting for a few seconds, especially if the rod of death splayed out and made it impossible to get to the off switch. Good thing that didn't happen, because that would have made me an idiot.

[Richard Dragin]

Check the table being square with a piece of coat hanger or stiff wire in the chuck. Turn the chuck by hand to see if it touches the table all around.

I like the picture of a coat hanger measuring device along with a Wixey Digital Gauge sitting on top of the tool box in the background.

Richard, Proud owner of a WDG!

[Tom Schmidt]

"I like the picture of a coat hanger measuring device along with a Wixey Digital Gauge sitting on top of the tool box in the background."

Why can't you use the Wixey on the chuck and zero it out, and then make sure the table is at 90 degrees left to right and front to back? Is it more complicated than that?

[Myk Rian]

Why can't you use the Wixey on the chuck and zero it out, and then make sure the table is at 90 degrees left to right and front to back? Is it more complicated than that?
The coat hanger is easier.
That's why I suggested it.