Questions about Powermatic PM2800 drill press

[Mark Klosky]

So I happen to own the Powermatic PM2800 Drill Press. And I will be the first to say that this tool does not live up to Powermatic's usually stellar reputation. But since I can't afford another one right now, I am stuck with what I have. To date I have gotten rid of the keyless chuck, replaced it with a chinese Jacobs chuck and quickly learned that it is far easier to make angled tables to hold the workpiece rather than loosen up and rotate the table for angled holes. To be quite honest, I am not real impressed with this drill press.

Recently while adjusting the table up for a shorter drill bit the rack that the table rides up and down on folded in half. The language that came out of my mouth because of that was indeed colorful. So I ordered a replacement and when it arrived I removed the drill press head and table so that I could clean the cast iron column and wax it. I checked the inside of the table locking collar and removed a burr that went completely around where the collar had been bored to fit the column. Hell, I even waxed where that collar was bored also. I put everything back together, lubed the gear for the height adjustment, got everything square again, and started to use the drill press again like normal. Whenever I have to adjust the tables height I am always careful to unlock the lock one full turn so that the table may move freely, not bind: and I have always been careful about that. But yesterday as I was raising the table again I notice that the rack is already starting to bow a bit, and that is telling me that it will again fold in half, probably sooner than later.

Has anyone else figured out a solution for this problem? Right now I am thinking about having a short piece of angle steel welded to a 6" c-clamp and clamping the rack against the column right about where it looks like it is bowing out the worst, in the middle. That does mean that I will need to loosen that if I need to pivot the table either left or right out of the way to drill a column and then re-tighten the clamp to protect that notched rack. Does anyone else have any other ideas for how to prevent this problem?

I am planning on calling Powermatic on Monday to see if they have any fixes, other than buy another rack for when this one folds. I am suspecting that the rack is made out of cast zinc alloy as that would be easy to machine. Seems like a really cheesy design for a drill press that I think cost me pretty close to $1000 or so when I bought it new. I know that a grand for a decent power tool isn't an awful lot of money, but when you are looking at the fact that you are now out of a thousand bucks and how much will the next one cost, well to me $1000 is a lot of money. so what say you all?

[Robert Cherry]

Well, I have a lot of Powermatic machinery and I think most of it is of very good quality. However, I have to agree with you on the PM2800. I have the PM2800B and it is definitely not up to the usual PM standards. While I have not had any issues with the rack (yet), I had to rebuild the depth stops. The factory stops were abysmal and slipped under even slight pressure. My machine is marked ‘made in China’ not Taiwan, I suspect that PM went with a different supplier for this machine and the quality has really suffered. My machine came with a mediocre paint job as well, and the lasers could not be aligned to the center of the hole without disassembly and adjustment. To say I’m disappointed in this machine is an understatement.

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[Mark Klosky]

I forgot about the depth stop. I became frustrated with PM's design for that real quick as it was so damn slow moving the 2 fine threaded nuts up and down the rod as needed. I think that I replaced it with a piece of 5/8-18 all thread and a button lock type depth stop that I found doing a Google search. I also got a quick clamp collar that clamps on that same thread to lock the quill in a partially extended position. That has proven to be really handy as well. All 3 parts, plus a few nuts to install the rod, parts were a fairly cheap upgrade and a very significant improvement over the original design.

[Mark Klosky]

I love my 209HH planer. That thing is a beast, and as reliable as the day is long. I also have the model 1791100 6 x 89" belt edge sander, and have figured out that the platen is bowed. I have been trying to figure out how to get that flat so I can use it for it's intended purpose reliably.