Steel City 17 inch quill play issue

[Greg Mckee]

Hi. I've had this drill press since new, and it seems to have developed quite a bit of quill play...it has a 6 inch quill...It is the split casing design that is supposed to allow you to adjust for play. I've been playing with the adjustments, including the grub screw, but not having any luck as the only way to remove the play makes the quill drag or bind...The grub only seems to adjust from about 10 to 2 o'clock..and does take a bit of play out from back to front, but if overtightned it binds....I am in the process of putting a vfd on this press, so had it apart a bit....I was able to look down inside the casing, and the only place the quill passes thru is at the bottom. You can see the quill move up and down thru the top of the press...I'm guessing than the quill adjustment is more of a marketing gimmick than anything as it only tightens the bottom of the quill....Has anyone had any luck taking the play out of one of these machines. It's not bad drilling wood, but deflects a fair bit on metal.
Thanks for any help,
Greg

[Tim McCarthy]

Hi Greg,

I had a Craftsman DP that acquired the same issue and I was able to fix it with stainless steel shim stock. If I am picturing it correctly and you still have it apart, you can slip the shim stock in, fold it over top and bottom, then slide the quill assy. back in. It's a fine line between still sloppy and binding so be patient. If it's just a tiny bit snug you are in good shape as it will "wear in" a bit and you can increase the tension on the quill return to compensate.

good luck

Tim

[Greg Mckee]

Hi Tim. Thank you for your reply. I was thinking of something like that as well. I didn't take the quill out, but only the pulleys and the belt guard which allowed me to look inside the head of the press so see what the quill was sliding in...I was surprised when I saw it was only sliding in the casting at the bottom of the head, but did think for a bit about doing something like you suggested...there must be some wear in the casting as the quill looks fine with no scoring but only stops moving when I lock it down...being a split quill I'm sure I could loosen it off to allow for more play and fill it with some shim stock as you suggest...kinda like sleeving it....didn't look to hard to remove the quill I'll give it a go when I get time to get back to it.
thanks, Greg