Affordable drill press - can chuck column play be removed?

[Njay]

Once I tried to buy an affordable drill press (in the 100€ - 100USD range; ~350W motor), but checking the ones exposed at stores I found out that even the ones up to almost 300€ (~390USD) have a play in the chuck's moving column, so gave up.

Recently I noted that these drill presses have a headless screw that serves as a pin guide to the chuck's column (the column has a small cut where the pin travels), and it reminded me that I removed the play on my dremel column by tightening this screw (also adding some lubrication to the chuck's column cut):

Now, can this screw be used to remove the play on these bigger drill presses or one really needs to put down a few thousand for a professional zero-play drill press?

 

[Njay]

No ideas guys?

 

[GMUseless]

You're not going to get $4000 performance from a $100 drill press. What you are complaining about is indeed the difference in performance.

That said, I've got crappy Skil press and I can get by with it for all sorts of things. Often I have to pre-punch the material to get the bit to hook up (since accuracy sucks due to the play you're talking about) but that works.

You are on the right path. The screw is for angular adjustment of the head. Here's the excerpt from my very similar model's manual:

 

[Harold in CR]

Check out the chinese milling machines. We bought one several years ago, for $1000.00 shipped to our door. It's HEAVY, and the drill feature works real well. You have the normal lever type down pressure, and, the minute movement for controlling the down pressure.

You also get the 2 way feed table, and, it has 18 speeds, I believe. I would LOVE to get it shipped down here, but, it's expensive to do that.

EDIT : Ours looks nearly identical to this. The base is removable, if you want to bench mount it.

Photo is from imachine.com

 

[Njay]

GMU, nice hint thanks; before posting I've actually looked at the manual for a few of the drill presses I can find here in the stores (including the one on the photo) but there's no mention whatsoever of that screw's function.
There's a bunch of parameters I can imagine for a $4K machine to be $4K, but I don't understand why these cheap machines can't have null play on the neck. Screws that push small bearings against the neck or something.

That looks a really nice machine Harold, but too expensive for me, I can't justify giving (not even half) that amount of money for the usage it will have.

 

[Harold in CR]

Don't know where you live, but, there are several used on Ebay, for around $600.00.

 

[strantor]

I wanted a drill press and looking through the stores (in my price range) all I saw was low quality crap. We have drill presses at work that are absolutely the best, and they are >30-40yrs old. I got the idea to find an old drill press from the 70's or earlier and I ended up getting a broken one for free. Fixed it, works good. I would recommend getting something used (read cheaper) from an era where qaulity was valued over quantity. Check ebay, check flea markets (or whatever they're called where you live) and classifieds.

 

[amberwolf]

That's how I got my 1940's-era SouthBend lathe. Rusty pile of crap it looks, but it does mostly work.

FWIW, people have replaced bearings in those crappy Harbor Freight drill presses and turned them into useful tools. I don't have a link to any threads, but there are several machine shop and garage shop forums I recall finding such threads on. It didn't look all that hard to do.

 

[strantor]

That's how I got my 1940's-era SouthBend lathe. Rusty pile of crap it looks, but it does mostly work. .

Oh, what I'd give to have a lathe (and room to use it). Even if it were rusted into one giant piece, I would take it.

 

[amberwolf]

This was basically one giant rusty piece, and I had to soak it in oil to get it to move at all. It still needs a fair bit of work, but it is functional enough to do a few things as it is, and has helped me considerably in a few projects. I have even used it as a kind of horizontal drill press.

 

[MidnightRider]

I tried using an old craftsman drill press as a milling machine like 30 years ago and noticed that the column had some play in it that wasn't easily removed. Thankfully Dad bought a used milling machine that I'm able to use when needed. I also have a cheap Harbor Freight 12-speed 10" drill press that works well for drilling but does have like .015" of play in the column, which wouldn't be good for milling. I would not recommend using a drill press for milling operations since it ruins the bearings in the column due to the side forces (and heat) created during milling. The miller my Dad got is a Millrite like the one in this pic (http://media.photobucket.com/image/recent/rburkheimer/RexsMillrite.jpg) and is a little smaller than a Bridgeport but uses the same popular tooling as the Bridgeport. Nowadays there's probably even smaller ones available.

 

[Njay]

All beautiful machines, but too big (even if free) for the space I have. I've checked here on classifieds etc but all there is is professional machines in the 2K€-4K€ range. No big industry culture here. I remember having choose a "fabrication methods" class in university and there was this nice-looking SKF(?) tabletop milling machine in the classroom, which was broken and noone cared. Oh well...
Meanwhile I got to check one of those cheap drill presses (60€) at a local hackerspace, and boy, even after tightening that screw it had a big play and funny sounds when moving the head (like if the channel where the screw runs isn't flat). So I'll wait...

 

[strantor]

Meanwhile I got to check one of those cheap drill presses (60€) at a local hackerspace, [...]. So I'll wait...

good call. I've bought cheap chinese tools before and regretted it almost every time. I get in a jam, no money, need a tool, can't afford it, and a little devil whispers in my ear to go to Harbor Freight (cheap Chinese crap tools store) and just get a cheap one - "All it needs to do is just this one job" he says. Every time I've listened, I've ended up buying twice. First the Chinese crap which lasts right up to almost the very end and then shatters or sputters or bends, and then a quality tool to finish the job. Should just buy the quality tool first I tell myself, but sometimes I don't listen and I pay the price (twice).

 

[Miles]

You could split the head casting yourself......
http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/showpost.php?p=535217&postcount=37

The screw you mention is probably just to maintain alignment with the pinion of the feed mech.

 

[Njay]

Some good ideas on that thread Miles, thanks. I kind of like more the idea of drilling some holes around the casing in the neck, tap them and put screws on them that will press against the moving neck. This, I imagine, besides being much easier for me to do than cutting the casing, seems to have the ability to adjust inclination of the drill, since several sides can be adjusted. For 60€ I can buy on and run some tests...

 

[Miles]

Some good ideas on that thread Miles, thanks. I kind of like more the idea of drilling some holes around the casing in the neck, tap them and put screws on them that will press against the moving neck. This, I imagine, besides being much easier for me to do than cutting the casing, seems to have the ability to adjust inclination of the drill, since several sides can be adjusted. For 60€ I can buy on and run some tests...

I think slitting the casing would be a better solution. This will take up all of the play. One cut and a suitably sized clamp would probably work

Old industrial drill presses were sometimes made with a split head. My vertical mill has a similar arrangement.

Here's a DIY drill with a split head:

 

[Njay]

I'm just not seeing me do a reasonable cut with a hand saw , although I see there's a lot of tolerance on this cut.
I don't understand what do you mean by the side-side play; on what other play are you thinking, up-down? I'm more of thinking in let it slide up-down without play and not locking the chuck's neck and move the part.

 

[Miles]

If you slit the casing, you can have one bolt to change the fit. Easy to adjust. Screws bearing on the quill would be difficult to adjust. Why are you worried about the cut? It doesn't even matter if it's not straight...

You never know, the casting might close up after being cut....

 

[Njay]

I've seen weirder things
I guess I'll give a go then

 

[Miles]

This pic shows the slit in the head casting of my mill/drill. It was just done with a hacksaw

Anyway, show us a picture first - it might not be suitable.

 

[Njay]

This is the cheapest one, I can get it for 60€

Next in price (~100€) is the one I show on the 1st post. The lack one above seems more appropriate, no buttons in the front.

 

[Miles]

Looks doable, to me. What do the others think?

Here's the pic from the link that I posted earlier. The hole at the end of the sawcut is important.

 

[Miles]

Another slitted head casing on an industrial drill:

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Clausing-15-Drill-Press-/00/s/MTAyNFg3Njg=/$(KGrHqR,!iQE5fk!2tM2BOc18WQsvw~~60_57.JPG

 

[TylerDurden]

This pic shows the slit in the head casting of my mill/drill. It was just done with a hacksaw

Did you add a worm-drive to the pinion?

 

[Miles]

This pic shows the slit in the head casting of my mill/drill. It was just done with a hacksaw

Did you add a worm-drive to the pinion?

It has a worm drive downfeed but that's standard on the kit. It's a Dore-Westbury MkII:
http://www.lathes.co.uk/dore%20westbury/
http://www.lathes.co.uk/dore%20westbury/page2.html