A little drill press maintenance

[Mark Brewer]

Did a little drill press maintenance.

Secured the rack, it was shifting as the table was raised and lowered. Also cleaned and lubed it.

Moves so much easier now.

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[Tom Bender]

Did you rivet the rack to the column? Doesn't that prevent you from swiveling the table to the side?

Did you put grease on the gear? If so will that collect dust and chips? What lube would be better?

[Frank Pratt]

Tom is right. The table no longer has the ability to swivel. Any lube that is oily or greasy will attract dust. My advice? Drill out those rivet and give the column a good cleaning & buffing to remove all rust and roughness. Then give it and the rack a coating of wax or other suitable dry lube. None of the surfaces involved there are subject to high pressure wear that would require a grease for lubrication.

An example of when you'd want to swivel the table is when there is a need to drill an accurate hole in the end of a board. The table is rotated vertically, swiveled a bit to the side & the board clamped to it. When swiveling, you just need to use care to ensure that the rack doesn't get bent.

[Mike Stelts]

I like the idea of preventing the table from pivoting. It eliminate the need for checking you won't drill into iron (or forgetting!) every time you adjust the height. You have me thinking about doing something similar, maybe, getting the best of both worlds by using a pin, instead of a rivet.

[Mark Brewer]

Hi
Thanks for the comments.
The rack is now plum and true to the column, just that made a huge difference in the raising and lowering of the table.
Just a few dabs of white lithium grease on the rack. Just enough to smooth the movement.
As for the table, it still is able to rotate to various degrees needed and still allows for longer drilling depths as needed.

It is now extremely stable, easy to adjust, any degree needed.

Thanks again for the comments, always learning…

Mark

[Dan Friedrichs]

Definitely cleaning and lubing the rack can make a big difference!

The rivets, however, are going to keep the rack from moving. While not obvious, the rack is intended to move around the circumference of the post as you shift the entire table assembly left/right. For instance, if you wanted to drill into the end of a long post, you might want to swing the entire table out of the way, which you now can't do. It's possible your rack wasn't moving very smoothly, which might be fixable by adjusting the amount of pressure that top ring is putting on it.

[Mark Brewer]

While I do not disagree with what you are saying.
I want the rack plum and true to the column. The table can be removed or pivoted out of the way in a couple of minutes.
So when the table is re-installed, it’s 90 degrees to the column and chuck, with a quick check with my Starrett square.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I'm not trying to insult you or anything, but I am curious why you want to secure the rack to the column and get the table plumb and true to the column. Granted I seldomly do it, but I do rotate the table once or twice a decade. I guess I can't see the importance of being exactly plumb. They made the table swivel around for a reason.

I use white lithium grease too. I don't think it attracts dirt and grime. I use it on my car door hinges, if dirt don't collect dirt/trash there it won't in a nice clean shop..... Cough

[Zachary Hoyt]

I swivel my drill press table about half the time, as I often need drill into the face of a piece of wood that bends down, when making necks, so I need to have the drill bit about 1" from the edge of the table. My current drill press doesn't have a rack at all, the table just goes wherever I put it instantly. The one I used to use had a rack, and I liked that it moved around the column, but for some uses that would not be necessary.

[Barry McFadden]

Just a side note...... I lube the column on my radial saw and drill press with this Dri-Slide that goes on wet and quickly dries and does a great job of keeping everything sliding smoothly without attracting any dust. I've had it for years and think I got it at a Chrysler dealer but not sure. If it is no ;longer around there is probably something like it now.

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[Mark Brewer]

Hi
No offense taken at all. I guess it comes from my background, I want the holes drilled at 90 degrees and true to the piece I am putting the holes in. I rarely move the table off of 90 degrees to the chuck.
Like wanting the blade on the table saw to be at 90 degrees for a straight cut.
To me being exact is just as easy than being off a bit….



Thanks for the info on the Dri- Slide.

[Zachary Hoyt]

Drilling the hole at 90 degrees to the workpiece is not related to the rack and pinion at all. Tilting the table is one thing, and it sounds like you can still do that if you should want to. Swiveling the table is only useful if you want to drill somewhere other than in the center of the table (as I often do) or to get the table entirely out of the way to drill something tall, which I have done a few times.

[Rick Potter]

I guess I am with Mark on this one. I never move the table side to side, and it would not bother me if it didn't. Besides, it looks pretty easy to revert if needed.

[Charles Coolidge]

I swivel the table drilling the left/right ends of a heavy item I want centered on the table for stability or odd shaped things.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Drilling the hole at 90 degrees to the workpiece is not related to the rack and pinion at all. Tilting the table is one thing, and it sounds like you can still do that if you should want to. Swiveling the table is only useful if you want to drill somewhere other than in the center of the table (as I often do) or to get the table entirely out of the way to drill something tall, which I have done a few times.


This is what I mean. On my Delta, it has a pin to lock the table at 90. But it's not exactly 90. So I tossed the lock pin out. Tightened the bolt good. I don't move that anymore.

[Mr. Jeff Smith]

Just a side note...... I lube the column on my radial saw and drill press with this Dri-Slide that goes on wet and quickly dries and does a great job of keeping everything sliding smoothly without attracting any dust. I've had it for years and think I got it at a Chrysler dealer but not sure. If it is no ;longer around there is probably something like it now.

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I use the same for gears, and it can still be bought, ~$10:
https://www.drislide.com/products/drislide-multi-purpose-moly-lubricant

Found it was better than wax alone but not critical or anything. I got mine as a gift when a friend passed away and his widow gifted me some of his old WW equipment.

[Alex Zeller]

If you haven't I would adjust the play in the quill. Most DPs have a way of doing it.

[Derek Cohen]

Mark, thank you for this mod. I've been searching for a similar method - just did not think to secure the rack.

For those who don't get it ... what happens when you need to replace a drill bit, and to do so you must raise (or lower) the table ? Well, the table wiggles from side-to-side and you lose the position of the bit.

My drill press is a Nova Voyager. I built a very nice sub-table ..

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Powered%20Tools%20and%20Machinery/BuildingADrillPressTable_html_16d3a182.jpg

I would rather keep the square and use a second sub-table when drilling angles ...

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/BuildingTheThreeCorneredStools_html_m1d0c8de0.jpg

What I value is repeatability - the ability to return the drilling action to the exact same spot.

Every single drill press I have seen or used has the same issue. The problem is caused by the round column. One individual has done what I would like to do, and that is swap to a square column. Here is a video demonstrating this ...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4_FtMMMfDw&ab_channel=Winky%27sWorkshop

I cannot do this with the Nova. Fixing the rack so that it does not move may be the next best.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Alan Schwabacher]

I wonder how difficult it is to get sufficient precision to allow raising and lowering the table without affecting the hole center. It would be nice.

I might use a machine screw rather than a rivet to make it reversible when that's wanted.

[Derek Cohen]

I...

I might use a machine screw rather than a rivet to make it reversible when that's wanted.

That is what I plan to do.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Mark Brewer]

Derek
Thank you. Very nice table you built. I also like very much the adjustable angle aux table.
I like repeatability, and with the lube and alignment, the table moves up and down the rack so much easier.

As mentioned about the quill, I check for perpendicular to the table regularly.

Appreciate all the comments.

Mark

[Keith Pitman]

I just used a C clamp on the rack on my drill press. Easy and easily removed.

[Tom Bender]

Sometimes I swing the table out of the way so I can drill the end of something long.

Sometimes I swing it out of the way to make a little elbow room for something I'm doing nearby.

[Charles Coolidge]

I just used a C clamp on the rack on my drill press. Easy and easily removed.

That right there is pure genius!

[Charles Coolidge]

And when the hole has to be absolutely dead on center...the 45x centering microscope.

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[Derek Cohen]

I tried two C-clamps today. The rack certainly was held firm. However the mechanism has slack in it, and there is about 5 or 6mm sideways movement.

Mark, have you eliminated all movement? Even a little is too much.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Frank Pratt]

And when the hole has to be absolutely dead on center...the 45x centering microscope.

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That's a cool tool. Never knew such a thing existed.

[Frank Pratt]

I tried two C-clamps today. The rack certainly was held firm. However the mechanism has slack in it, and there is about 5 or 6mm sideways movement.

Mark, have you eliminated all movement? Even a little is too much.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I don't see how one would eliminate play. The rack is not a precision machined piece. Securing the rack to the column is not a good strategy for keeping the table in a consistent vertical plane.

[Mark Brewer]

I have no movement at all in the vertical/horizontal plane or side to side.
When the locking bolt is tightened, no movement at all.

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[Tom Bender]

Precision is not easy too get. The square tubing in the video should have been milled.

For a normal drill press, a keyway could be milled into the side of the column opposite the rack gear and into the clamp with the key captured in the clamp. It could be removable to allow table rotation.

To allow easy movement the keyway in the column could be tapered so it is narrower at the bottom with a matching key.

[Frank Pratt]

I have no movement at all in the vertical/horizontal plane or side to side.
When the locking bolt is tightened, no movement at all.

Not when tightened, but it will when loose. I understood you wanted to keep the table in the same vertical plan when the table was raised or lowered. Having the rack secured to the column will not accomplish that. There's no up side to securing it, only disadvantages. Having the rack loose is a good thing. If you keep the column and collars clean and rust free, and pay attention when the table is moved horizontally there will be no issues with bending or binding the rack. I've never even lubed mine and don't see the need to.

If you do need the table to remain in the same vertical plane, then adopting a square column, as was mentioned earlier, would be a way to do it.

[Tom M King]

I did a little drill press maintenance yesterday too.