Drill Press Quill Travel Gritty and Sticks

[Rob Newton]

I have a Delta DP-200 drill press that I took apart to clean. When I put it back together the quill travel starts off smooth, then gets harder to move, and then at the end of the travel, the spring will not return the quill to resting position.

When I took the press apart, I attempted to remove the chuck by tapping its rim with a piece of wood and hammer. When I did that the chuck, spindle, and quill came out. I must have removed the handle prior to this since it should have prevented the quill from moving although I don't remember doing that.

A visual inspection of everything revealed nothing. I'm not familiar with drill presses though and could be overlooking the obvious.

Can you tell me what I might look for to fix this?

Robert

[Andrew Fleck]

Did you line the return spring up correctly when you reinstalled it? Normally there is a slot in the (for lack of the proper term) handle shaft that the coiled spring end will slide into. On the other hand it sounds like something is binding in there. I'm not familiar with your drill press, but is there a tension bolt that tightens or loosens the quill somewhere?

[Rob Newton]

Yes, I lined up the return spring correctly and tensioned it according to the manual. I also made sure to tension the quill tension correctly according to the manual.

I did do something wrong though taking apart the press since it worked fine before taking it apart. Thanks for your help though. Maybe someone will hit on the right suggestion.