Drill Press Bent Shaft Help Please?

[Chris Fetting]

OK I bent the shaft and arbor on my drill press. Should I give up and buy a new one or try to repair this.

I am thinking the time and effort to repair is not worth it, but I am wondering if anyone has any experience. I am very handy with wood, but not such a good mechanic.

[John Bush]

Hi Chris,
I have an old C-man Heavy Duty DP that developed a lot of runout/wobble after I accidentally smacked the chuck with a slab of maple, and after searching for the repair info from the C-man web their recommendation was to determine where the excentricity is and whack it back the other way. Like you I felt I didn't have much to lose if I damaged it more, so I gave it a few good smacks and it now is working well within my tolerance. Now if I've have a bad day I just go adjust the DP and then life s good!! Good lick, John.

[Jim Thiel]

...their recommendation was to determine where the eccentricity is and whack it back the other way...


You can always count on Craftman for precise engineering:rolleyes:.

Jim

[Jim O'Dell]

Are you sure its the arbor shaft that is bent? Did you take the chuck off and measure the runout on the shaft? Could be the the chuck got knocked out of place and just needs to be taken off and reinstalled. Worth a shot anyway. You can probably do a search here and find some information about taking the chuck off. I understand you have to get a little rough with it to get it off. Maybe that one therapy session is all you'll need.:D :D Jim.

[glenn bradley]

The others have good suggestions. If it proves to be bent, consider the value of the machine. Is it a $100 HF? -- I'd use the excuse to get a better one. Was it a free hand-me-down? -- Set an amount you don't want to exceed and check out the costs. Is it an $800 Powermatic? -- Have them fix it (as you mentioned like me, you are not that mechanical). IMHO.

[David G Baker]

I did something similar with my Craftsman drill press. I used a dial indicator to see how much it was off and corrected it with a block of wood and a 10 pound sledge hammer. It took about 4 whacks before I got it back to where it was acceptable to me.
Dumb me, I tried to do some milling with the drill press. It would have worked if I had used a real small mill but of course I used a 1/2 inch cutter.
To remove the chuck on my Craftsman you need a special wedge that comes with the drill when new. I don't know how to remove any other chucks unless they are Morse taper mounts.

[Chris Fetting]

Its a Jet DP only 3 years old. I paid about $280. I think I will buy a new one because I don't want to invest the money to attempt to repair this only to find out by the time I buy the right tools I need to get it together and the pieces I need to repair it I could have bought a new one.

[Gary Keedwell]

Have you checked out the new Delta drill press? Has a nice big table that tilts 90º ( to drill into long parts like legs). It has a twin laser and the digital readout for drill speed and depth of drill. The table tilts left and right and I think forwards too.
Don't know the price and I'm not affiliated with Delta in any way.
;)
Gary K.

[brian gallagher]

give it a shot with a hammer before you give up- it is very likely the problem is just the seating of the chuck on the taper shaft (quill).

On the OWWM dot something site (old wood working machinery) there is a fellow named Robert who repairs DP's? and has lots of suggestions.
His method is using a magnetic based dial indicator (avail from 30$ and useful in checking all sorts of things out) to find out where the "high spot" or lump in the rotation is- rotate by hand on this.
Then, chuck up a 1/2" hardened rod (or old drill bit maybe) and give it the hammer- and see how it has changed.

You could have bent one of the three jaws in the chuck also.

brian

[Chris Fetting]

Thought I would show you a picture of the drilling arbor.

64470

The bearings are also damaged. I think it will be terminal.

Repair Estimate

Bearings $20
Tools $50 Need large wrench and sockets than I have
Parts ?

Time to repair 6 hours minimum at $20 / hr. I would rather be woodworking than fixing this. $120

Total Estimate $190 + parts from Jet + scuffed knuckles and frustration.

New Delta Laser DP from Lowes $369 Seems like an easy choice to upgrade.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I had that problem once. I put a tenths indicator (tenths of a thousandth of an inch) against the shaft clamped to the table and rotated it by hand taking a sledge hammer to it on the high side.

Sounds pretty far out there but I figured what the hell it's BENT~!!

Anyway some patience and time and I got it back within a tenth or two.

I am sure the bearings on most drill presses would be in rebellion at that treatment.

[Bill Huber]

I am sure you could get the parts from Jet.

If not you could find a small machine shop and they could strighten it out
I am sure with no problem.

I a sure the bearning are a standard bearing that you could get at just about any bearing house in the area.

But even after it has been strighten out it will now be a little weaker. I would sure try the parts way first.

[M Toupin]

Chris,
Price a new shaft before you decide, you'll probably find it's much cheaper to repair than buy a new one. I have no idea what the shaft will cost, but bearings are cheap, probably less than $20 for all.

If you got it that far apart then you can definitely get it back together. Don't underestimate yourself, it's just another skill set to learn and it'll serve you well. Even the highest quality mechanical equipment will eventually need minor repairs or maintenance. It gets down right expensive to replace or pay someone else to do basic repairs and maintenance on your equipment.

Here's the link to the drill press tune up article mentioned:

http://www.owwm.com/files/PDF/FAQ/drill_press_tune-up.pdf

Of course, if you're looking for an excuse to buy a new DP, then by all means play it for all it's worth:D

Mike

[Gary Keedwell]

What model you looking at? Advertisement says 20-959LX will be out pretty soon.
Gary K.

[Chris Fetting]

Model: 17-950L

The 20-959L is out of my budget for a drill press.