Need help with D/P chuck

[Joe McMahon]

I have resurrected an early 40's Craftsman drill press. It is all together and working except for one thing: No chuck. It appears that the post the chuck mounts on is 9/16" in diameter.

What size chuck would this be and where is a good place to get one? It doesn't have to be period- I could even use a keyless one.

TIA, Joe

[Trevor Walsh]

it it's unthreaded it has some sort of taper on it. Assuming the spindle taper is a No. 3 Morse Taper, the chuck taper could be any number of things but most likely a Jacobs 2, 3 or 33 I would think. J2, J3 or J33. If you have an accurate way of measuring the top, bottom and distance of the taper THIS SITE (http://littlemachineshop.com/Reference/Tapers.php) has a chart of sizes for matching a taper. Other than that, you can buy several chucks to test and return the not fitting ones, or perhaps the easiest would be to knock out the existing Morse Taper to Jacobs arbor and buy a new arbor and chuck.

Does all that make sense? If you do some digging on a manual for your machine, that will probably have the spindle and arbor tapers on it. Let me know if you need more help.

[glenn bradley]

I have a 40's Delta and the chuck does not use a taper. If your 9/16" diameter remains the same from tip to where it enters the quill, there is probably a threaded hole in the tip. I cannot update my machine as the other end of the shaft fits the pulley mechanism. Yours may differ. If I could move to a taper, I would in a heartbeat. Please let us know what your find out. OWWM may have info on your machine as well.

[Trevor Walsh]

Glenn, That is a PITA, I hope that's not the case.