Drill press runout.

[Doug Carpenter]

I have a PM 17" drill press. It is the Artisian model made in Taiwan.

It seems to have some runout and I am wondering if that is just a crummy design or if bearings can be replaced to fix it.

[Bob Aquino]

What is the runout? You need to measure it with a dial indicator to know for sure. They can be had for fairly cheap at HF, about 20 bucks with a magnetic base. You can try and take it on a smooth part of the chuck or chuck up some drill rod or if you have a large bit that is true, use that. Anything less than .002 or .0025 is fine. Even it it is more than that, it may be the chuck and not the spindle. Sometimes the chuck doesn't sit absolutely square on the taper, taking a soft faced mallet on the high side can sometimes help to seat it better.

Take a looksee here: http://www.rvplane.com/pdf/drill_press_tune-up.pdf, this should have all you need to get it working right.

[Paul Ryan]

Doug,

It depends when the runout occurs. If it is when the quill is are rest against a stop. You must measure as Bob mentioned the quill with a certified measuring stock in the chuck and a dial indicator up to .001 is acceptable. (I have been down this road before with WMH tool group). If the run out occurs when the quill is in motion, there is no spec for that. You could have 1" of run out and they wouldn't care. It is the sloppy crappy machining they use in their taiwanese plants. They don't make drill presses like they used to.

[Phil Thien]

Just a note that when you measure runout, you need to spin the top front pulley by hand (power unplugged). If you try to spin the chuck you will put too much side to side force for an accurate measurement.

Measure with the quill retracted, with it at half stroke, and with it at full stroke. Report back.