Help!! Jet Drill Press Wobble
Joe Fikes
I bought the Jet 17 inch drill press some time ago and have experienced what seems
to be excessive wobble with anything I put in the chuck. I bought a dial indicator
and checked the runout on the shaft that holds the chuck... about one thousandth,
and even on the nose of the chuck ( the smooth lower part) it was no worse. But if
I measure the runout of a steel dowel pin about 2 inches below the jaws I get about
15 to 20 thousandths wobble. Four inches below it's about double that.
I described the problem to the Jet service department and they sent me a replacement
chuck, and that's improved things some... about 10 to 12 thousandths, but only after
I removed the chuck body from the tapered shank and smoothed them down with crocus
cloth. I marked the shank and chuck and varied the rotation angle to get the wobble
down to the 10 - 12 thousandths.
Has anyone experienced similar problems or have any ideas I might try?
Thanks.
Joe
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RX7drivr
I'm really surprised. I have a Jet that hasn't given me any trouble in
over a year. I read a book on drill presses, and you won't believe this cure:
1. Put a bolt or heavy steel rod in the chuck and tighten.
2. Measure the runout and mark the side of the chuck that is furthest "out".
3. Take a heavy hammer (I'm not kidding! They actually wrote this!) and
hit the bolt on the side of the mark a few times.
4. Check the runout again and repeat as necessary.
I don't remember the author. It was a book on drill presses and jigs that
I picked up at the library. It was a fairly recent publish, and I seem to
remember that it was part of a workshop series that had a blue cover, (sort
of like all those Time-Life books in the '70s). If I'm not mistaken, this
was the book I used to make the quill lock for my Jet benchtop model.
Can anyone else verify this trick, or am I having flashbacks again? :-)
Just Emptying My Brain,
James
No Spam, please. I will find you, and I will give you a wedgie.
"Spam is ham that didn't pass the physical." -Hawkeye Pierce
Jack Zucker
Joe Fikes wrote:
>
> I bought the Jet 17 inch drill press some time ago and have experienced what seems
> to be excessive wobble with anything I put in the chuck.
>
> Thanks.
>
I bought the same drill press and had the same problem. They also sent
me a replacement chuck and arbor-quill. I installed the chuck but didn't
install the quill as it looked to be a nightmare to perform. It improved
the performance to acceptable levels but I can still see some wobble.
I've never bothered to measure it figuring that if I can SEE IT, it's
bad enough. Interestingly enough, I went to my dealer and looked at the
Delta 17" press and although it's also made in Taiwan and looks very
similar, it ran straight and true - even after being used for the past
year as an oscillating sander!
I originally bought the Jet because I liked the depth rod mechanism vs
the depth ring of the Delta but I now regret my purchase somewhat. As it
turns out, there's no way to "zero" the depth rod and it makes it much
harder to drill to a precise depth.
-Jaz
grace gabriel
James,
Yes, this IS a viable way to adjust a chuck that is mounted
on a tapered spindle and I think Fine Woodworking's Vaughn
showed this method in an article on tuning drill presses
that were picked up second hand.
I can only caution that first one HAS TO make certain that
it is the chuck's mount that is off and not the quill or
spindle. Drill presses are fairly simple mechanisms so the
ones made today are usually fairly concentric in the quill
assembly, but I'd check it first before I go wacking a rod
chucked in the chuck.
The check can be easily accomplished if one has a dial
indicator or a fine check can be performed using a feeler
gage and a reference surface such as a board clamped up to
the quill.
SMG
Al Amaral - SunSoft Engineering
In article <19970928092...@ladder02.news.aol.com> rx7d...@aol.com (RX7drivr) writes:
}I'm really surprised. I have a Jet that hasn't given me any trouble in
}over a year. I read a book on drill presses, and you won't believe this cure:
}
}1. Put a bolt or heavy steel rod in the chuck and tighten.
}2. Measure the runout and mark the side of the chuck that is furthest "out".
}3. Take a heavy hammer (I'm not kidding! They actually wrote this!) and
}hit the bolt on the side of the mark a few times.
}4. Check the runout again and repeat as necessary.
}
}I don't remember the author. It was a book on drill presses and jigs that
}I picked up at the library. It was a fairly recent publish, and I seem to
}remember that it was part of a workshop series that had a blue cover, (sort
}of like all those Time-Life books in the '70s). If I'm not mistaken, this
}was the book I used to make the quill lock for my Jet benchtop model.
}
}Can anyone else verify this trick, or am I having flashbacks again? :-)
First of all, using a bolt or a heavy steel rod is useless, as the runout
in the rod or bolt alone could be many times what the chuck might have.
It MIGHT be straight, but I wouldn't bet on it. Second of all, banging
on the bolt is simply going to bend the bolt and/or damage the chuck or
the bearings...
I wouldn't suggest trying it...
--Al Amaral--
--
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Al Amaral Al.A...@East.Sun.COM
"G'day, and welcome to All Things Delta. If it's not Delta, IT'S CRAP!"
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