JET Drill press question:

[Jon Wyatt]

I purchased an older JET JDP-20MF drill press and I am trying to repair the tension adjuster lever. It does not seem to engage the tubes mounted to the motor and I have to manually push the motor in or out to tension belts. The information in the manual and the parts list does not detail the area or parts inside the drill press head. Would like to hear from other users that may have had this problem. I would also note that the parts list shows only one size belt for this model: A-32 and indicates two required. My DP has an A-32 and a smaller belt. Two A-32 belts are too large to be tensioned. Talked to factory and they were clueless on both issues. Anyone with suggestions.....airdad100@gmail.com .

Thanks

Jon

[Jay Kepley]

Jon, let me preface this reply by saying I'm not mechanically inclined. I'm a woodworker newby and a desk jockey. I have a Jet 17" drill press, and I'm working on it now. There is some vibration I'm trying to fix. I've attached a copy of the head of the press. The mechanism to push and pull the motor includes two shafts connected to the motor mount. Those shafts are also connected in the head to a perpendicular shaft with a concentric piece (which is connected to the lever you use outside the head to move the motor back and forth). It took me some time to figure out how to remove the spindle pulley on the drill press. It ultimately took using a heat gun on the pulley to separate the pulley from a tapered shaft. I hope this is helpful. Good luck!395840

[Jon Wyatt]

Your information is very helpful. It is obvious that I will have to pull the head to correct the problem. Since this is an older machine, it will be a challenge to get the pulleys off. My guess is that the concentric piece you mentioned is broken or missing on my DP. I have some vibrations also and have changed one of the belts and will pick up the second belt and see if that helps. Worn belts and improper tensioning can cause vibrations. Your machine appears to be brand new. Thanks again for your response.

Jon

[Jay Kepley]

Thanks Jon. If the larger 20" drill press is generally the same as the 17" version but just larger, the motor pulley doesn't need to be removed. The idler pulley can simply be lifted out. It's the spindle pulley that was difficult to figure out how to remove. On my smaller version, there is a nut that must be removed. I don't recall the size of the nut, but it's approximately 32mm. I had to order a socket to do this. The pulley on mine is seated on a tapered shaft. Apparently, by age (mine is about 12 years old), the pulley somewhat "fused" to the shaft. It was actually easy to remove after I applied some heat for about five minutes while I had tension on the pulley puller. It just took me way too long to figure out I needed to apply heat. Hope this helps. On my unit, I believe the two bearings on the spindle pulley shaft are bad. I'm hopeful that replacing those bearings will get rid of some vibration. Also, I'm going to drill and tap three holes around the lower part of the head in order to get rid of all slop on the quill. I'm going to use 1/4 20 brass cup point set screws (since brass is softer than the steel quill). I've seen videos on YouTube showing how this is done, and it appears to be helpful. Again, good luck.

[Jon Wyatt]

Thanks will take all of your suggestions into consideration. I will be delayed in pursuing this as I had gallbladder surgery today and it takes about 10 days before one can start applying too much force or pick up much weight.

Jon