Drill press table pinions with ball bearing??

[Tai Fu]

I discovered my "new to me" Powermatic 1150 drill press has a pinion strip that sits on some kind of a 2 part ring (By the way only the production table has the rack and pinion). Top ring locks the strip to itself while there's a bottom ring (that took quite the effort to loosen) that is stationary. I discovered between these two rings is ball bearings. Basically the two collars is essentially a ball bearing system that made rotating the table very easy and quietly. I only found out when I removed the top ring (by loosening two bolts on the side of the top ring). Now I realize why the table rotates so smoothly despite the fact that the parts were heavily rusted... I only wished the pinion were longer (I solved that by moving the bottom ring up so I can have the table at a more comfortable height)

Why aren't there any modern drill press with this system?? The current system where the pinion is pinched between the base and a top collar works, but when you try to rotate the table it doesn't do it smoothly.

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Why aren't there any modern drill press with this system?? The current system where the pinion is pinched between the base and a top collar works, but when you try to rotate the table it doesn't do it smoothly.
Tai Fu
For your questions #1 $$$$$, #2 Have you cleaned the column and waxed it and replaced the grease at the lower support ring ball bearing? My Powermatic 1200 DP with the column clean and waxed I can move the table with one finger. Rust is not your friend. If you go to OWWM.org there are Powermatic manuals and parts list,PDF's that you can prints for your model that will help you better understand your DP. Tom

[Brian W Smith]

Both our W/T's are one finger adj as well.

Just sayin,"grease" isn't he only thing that can be used here.Even with zerk fittings.........this is a classic mistake on Bridgeport milling machines.Google them and you'll see that it's a well documented problem.Check if there's a factory recommended oil/grease/lube for your collars.

We're a Mobile 1 shop......it's simple,available(many different viscosity's),and it works.

[Tai Fu]

By the way to be clear, question #2 isn't about the Powermatic 1150. It works wonderfully even with the ball bearings rusted and pitted and unlubricated. I was referring to modern drill presses in "question #2" (it wasn't a question at all, but an observation) where you have a long gear strips that rides along a track on both ends, but the system doesn't work that well because there's no rolling action but instead relies on heavy grease (that gets caked with sawdust eventually) to work well. I like the ball bearing systems on the 1150 but wonder why no modern drill press use that. The table on mine isn't exactly so easy to move that a finger could do it (the production table is so heavy that the momentum alone wouldn't allow it) but it's a lot easier to rotate compared to modern drill press, without making scraping sound along the way.

I have since cleaned and lubricated the ball bearings and it works very well.