Power Twist Belt On Drill Press

[Lewis Cobb]

I've always noticed when I am using my drill press - a floor standing Delta 16 1/2" model 17-965 - that it's "buzzing" (the plastic cover on the top over the pulleys) and the table vibrates a little. I can't set anything on the table temporarily - it just promptly walks to the edge and then hits the the floor. Yesterday, in the middle of a several hundred hole session, I got to thinking about these red power twist link belts that I have seen advertised.

Has anyone used one of these on a drill press with any success? I seem to read about their success on contractor saws all the time but have rarely seen comments on their use in a drill press.

Maybe there are a few things I should investigate in the drill press itself that others have found to minimize the vibration. I love this drill press and if I had to give up my woodworking machines, it would be the last one to "pry out of my cold dead hands" as Charlton Heston once said, but the bit of vibration has always irked me.

Thanks for any advice.

[Tim Johnson]

I changed my drill press over to the Power Twist belts and have never regretted it. The vibration is gone and the entire operation is much quieter now. Have not noticed any downside to the upgrade.

[Lewis Cobb]

I changed my drill press over to the Power Twist belts and have never regretted it. The vibration is gone and the entire operation is much quieter now. Have not noticed any downside to the upgrade.

Looks like Woodcraft is going to be receiving some more of my money, on my next business trip through New Hampshire ! Thanks for the feedback - appreciate it.
Lewis

[Joe Spear]

I've had a power twist belt on my drill press for three years. It works well.

[Eric Mims]

Lewis, if you end up putting them on your machine, please make an update to this post and let us know how it works. I have the same drill press with the same problems.

[Lewis Cobb]

Lewis, if you end up putting them on your machine, please make an update to this post and let us know how it works. I have the same drill press with the same problems.

Eric - will do for sure. I am actually going to be driving by a Woodcraft next week on business and if I can talk the guys into stopping (hard to do when I am the only woodworker in the car) I'll pick it up then.

Cheers,
Lewis

[fred woltersdorf]

i've had one on my pm drill press for 3-4 yrs with no problems. i bought 4 of them from harbor freight when they were on sale for $5 ea.

[Tim Thomas]

Lewis, thanks for asking about this. I have that same drill press and have had the same issues. I fixed the buzzing on the top with some foam tape, but of course that doesn't address the root problem. Please post an update about how the link belt works out for you, I'd really like to know your experience especially since we have the same drill press. :)

For anyone out there who has already tried a link belt on a drill press: Do link belts make it more difficult to change the drill speed? This was my main concern when I first thought of adding link belts to my DP. The link belts are very stiff and I wondered if that would make it difficult to swap them around.

[Alan Schaffter]

I put a link belt on my 16 1/2" floor model Delta at the same time I removed the intermediate idler pulley and installed a slightly larger Leeson (3 ph) motor, variable frequency drive with remote speed control, and a digital tach- now I have a quiet, smooth running, drill press with quick and accurate dial-a-speed capability. The red speed knob and tach readout fit nicely in a blank area on the drill's plastic switch housing.

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/DP-7.JPG

The VFD is a bit ungainly, but is mounted in back, under the motor, and out of the way.

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/DP-5.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/DP-8.JPG

As a finishing touch, I also added laser alignment. I mounted it to the head casting instead of the column so I can rotate the head without messing up the laser alignment. (I replaced the two allen head set screws with knobs so I could easily unlock and rotate the head casting to drill at the side of my DP table and to drill in a clean area of the table insert)

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/DP-12.JPG

[Greg Narozniak]

Yup, I have them on my Jet DP and it made a nice reduction in the vibration. I don't regret doing it and I would do it again. All my machines get link belts right off the bat whenever possible.

[Vince Shriver]

What size belts did you get for the 16-1/2 DP? I have the 17-900 (not sure what the difference is with the 17-965 but it seems to be very similiar). I would also like to change over those belts - get rid of the rattle and vibration. Thanks, Vince

[Lewis Cobb]

I put a link belt on my 16 1/2" floor model Delta at the same time I removed the intermediate idler pulley and installed a slightly larger Leeson (3 ph) motor, variable frequency drive with remote speed control, and a digital tach- now I have a quiet, smooth running, drill press with quick and accurate dial-a-speed capability. The red speed knob and tach readout fit nicely in a blank area on the drill's plastic switch housing.


The VFD is a bit ungainly, but is mounted in back, under the motor, and out of the way.

As a finishing touch, I also added laser alignment:





:eek: - I have always wanted to come up with something like this but never took the time to research it.

Do you have to use a 3Ph motor for the VFD or can you rig something like this up with single phase 240?

Man, that looks slick - I would love to just "dial up" the speed instead of fiddling with those belts.

Just when I thought I had everything I needed in the shop.....:D

[Tom Henderson2]

For anyone out there who has already tried a link belt on a drill press: Do link belts make it more difficult to change the drill speed? This was my main concern when I first thought of adding link belts to my DP. The link belts are very stiff and I wondered if that would make it difficult to swap them around.

Hi Tim-

I put Fenner belts on my HF drill press a couple years ago, and if anything it is easier now to change speeds then it was before.

BUT -- the key to easy speed changes is getting the tension off the belt. On my HF machine, this is easy; loosen handscrews on either side of the head unit and the motor slides forward, detensioning the belts. After changing speeds, it is easy to push on the retension lever and tighten the handscrews.

If you DP doesn't allow easy detensioning/retensioning, speed changes will be a pain.

I found a good deal on a box of fenner belt on eBay a couple years ago and took the plunge. After trying it on my DP I immediately replaced the V-belts on all my tools and haven't regretted it one iota.

One final comment to the OP -- the top-heavy nature of drill presses combined with their narrow footprint makes it very important to make sure it is sitting squarely on the floor... if it rocks even the slightest bit, consider shimming and/or building a wider base for it. No belt will resolve vibration problems if it doesn't have a firm footing on the floor.

-TH

[Todd Hyman]

I found out that my DP belts were narrower (3/8" I think) than the TS, So I bought them from Grizzly as Woodcraft only sells 1/2" Here is a link.

http://grizzly.com/products/Power-Twist-V-Belt-3-8-x-5-/H9816

[Glen Blanchard]

I made this change just this weekend on my Jet drill press. HUGE difference in vibration!!!! I also made just one longer belt, rather than 2 shorter ones. I left the center pulley in place however. A woodworker just does not need all the speeds that a dual belt configuration allows.

[Tom Veatch]

...Has anyone used one of these on a drill press with any success?.l.

I put a set on my Jet 17" drill press and was pleased with the results. Seems like the vibration was significantly reduced, but the biggest thing I like about it is that swapping belts around to change speeds is much easier.

YMMV.

[Eddie Darby]

I think someone should be working for Delta!!!!:eek: .....:D



I put a link belt on my 16 1/2" floor model Delta at the same time I removed the intermediate idler pulley and installed a slightly larger Leeson (3 ph) motor, variable frequency drive with remote speed control, and a digital tach- now I have a quiet, smooth running, drill press with quick and accurate dial-a-speed capability. The red speed knob and tach readout fit nicely in a blank area on the drill's plastic switch housing.

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/DP-7.JPG

The VFD is a bit ungainly, but is mounted in back, under the motor, and out of the way.

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/DP-5.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/DP-8.JPG

As a finishing touch, I also added laser alignment. I mounted it to the head casting instead of the column so I can rotate the head without messing up the laser alignment. (I replaced the two allen head set screws with knobs so I could easily unlock and rotate the head casting to drill at the side of my DP table and to drill in a clean area of the table insert)

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/DP-12.JPG

[Alan Schaffter]

:eek: - I have always wanted to come up with something like this but never took the time to research it.

Do you have to use a 3Ph motor for the VFD or can you rig something like this up with single phase 240?

Man, that looks slick - I would love to just "dial up" the speed instead of fiddling with those belts.

Just when I thought I had everything I needed in the shop.....:D

You need a 3 ph motor with a VFD. Some VFD's work on 120V some 240V. You lose a little low end torque, that is why I went with a bigger motor.

[John Gornall]

My Delta drill press vibrated too. I started looking for the problem by taking the belts off and just ran the motor - found the problem. So I replaced the motor with a Baldor and added llink belts at the same time - smooth now.

[Sean Nagle]

My Delta drill press vibrated too. I started looking for the problem by taking the belts off and just ran the motor - found the problem. So I replaced the motor with a Baldor and added llink belts at the same time - smooth now.

I have had a Delta 17-900 for over 10 years. It has always had more vibration than I would like. I replaced the belts with link belts right away. Helped a little with vibration, but not that much. As for ease of changing speeds, linked belts actually made it easier.

What I have found is that there's considerable vibration when the belt tensioning rods are locked down. If left loose there is almost no vibration, but then there's hardly any tension on the belts.

As suggested, I do need to bolt my drill press to the floor. Maybe that would help some.

I've also noticed that there is some play with my idler pulley. The motor pulley and quill pulleys are solid. One post mentioned bypassing it. I'll have to give it a try.

I was wondering if anyone has tried using bushings on the motor mount or the belt tension rod mounts?

I've also considered replacing the motor with a Baldor motor. John, what Baldor model did you replace it with. If I go that route I might as well look at adding a VFD. Eddie, what HP 3-phase motor did you use? Also, what HP VFD did you use?

Has anyone replaced their pulleys with machined pulleys? Though I wonder if that's a problem. They look adequately round and smooth.

Finally, my DP has the dial-type depth stop. I've always hated it. Has anyone retrofitted a DP like mine with the threaded-style depth stop?

I should probably just get a new drill press and seriously considered moving to the new Powermatic variable speed model recently. But the reviews have have really knocked the quality affecting its precision. My 17-900 has essentially no run-out on the quill and spindle. I'd be happy if it could just run smooth.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I have that drill press and that vibration and changed to a link belt. Now it runs so smoothly it's had to tell if it's on. Not really, since you can see the chuck turning, but you get the idea.

Link belts are directional, so read the instructions.

I may have to try that trick of bypassing that center pulley........ That would be even smoother.

[Greg Crawford]

I have the same DP, had some vibration and noise just like described. Changed to link belts, and I don't tighten them very tight. Big difference.

I didn't know about the directional part. I need to check into that.

[glenn bradley]

Link belts work fine on my 17-950 (make speed changes easier too) and lowered the vibration. The vibration went away after I had the bad bearings changed out under warranty.

[Rich Tesoroni]

Saw a comment earlier in this about just using one belt instead of two. I don't need the high speeds and doubt I've ever used, but without the middle pulley you can't get the low speeds on my 14" delta without the middle spindle and those are the ones I need with larger bits.